3 teams that need to call the Phillies about a Zack Wheeler trade
As the Philadelphia Phillies open themselves to offers, these 3 teams should make a call about a deal for Zack Wheeler.
The Philadelphia Phillies may lose catcher J.T. Realmuto and/or shortstop Didi Gregorius in free agency, but otherwise it seems likely they’ll be running it back pretty much as is in 2021. But according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, they are open to trade offers on right-hander Zack Wheeler.
On the heels of Olney’s report, via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, we have denials from Phillies owner John Middleton and team president Andy McPhail.
Middleton: “There’s zero truth to this,” said managing partner John Middleton, deliberately enunciating every word.
McPhail: There’s no validity to it,” he said, anticipating the question. “Zack is very much in our plans going forward.”
There’s also this quote from Middleton, via a separate piece from Olney.
“If they offered me Babe Ruth, I wouldn’t trade him,” John Middleton said angrily in a phone conversation, adding Ted Williams and Mike Schmidt to Ruth’s name for good measure. “I have authorized no one to have a conversation about trading him.”
Wheeler signed a five-year, $118 million deal with the Phillies last offseason. He was bothered by finger nail issues that required surgery in October, but he pitched well in the truncated 2020 campaign (2.92 ERA over 11 starts-71 innings). He traded strikeouts (6.7 K/9 in 2020; 9.0 K/9 with the Mets in 2019) for ground balls (55.9 percent in 2020; 43.2 percent in 2019), and his HR/rate (0.38) led the NL along with being second-best in baseball. There are no red flags in terms of lost velocity for the 30-year old.
The Phillies may want to trim some payroll after the lost revenue of last season. While there may be better avenues to do it, unloading the $96.5 million Wheeler is due over the next four years would be a big step to getting that done. Not yet having a formal general manager to replace Matt Klentak is something that shouldn’t be forgotten too.
Denials aside, the Phillies have opened themselves up to offers on Wheeler. These three teams should make a call about a deal.
3 teams who should call the Phillies about Zack Wheeler
3. Chicago White Sox
The White Sox made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2008, and the thanks AL Manager of the Year finalist Rick Renteria got was a parting of ways. That decision had owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s fingerprints all over it, which was confirmed by the hiring of Tony La Russa to come back to manage the Pale Hose.
The wisdom of the hire in a broad sense aside, the White Sox are automatically in win-now mode with the 76-year-old La Russa as skipper. They are also down a ways in projected payroll for 2021, ($92.662 million, 16th in baseball, via Spotrac). So not only are win-now moves in order, they could be done financially even in a tougher economic situation for the sport.
The White Sox could use proven reinforcements in their rotation behind Lucas Giolito and an aged Dallas Keuchel. That’s why they’re easy to tie to Blake Snell in trade speculation, and Wheeler now belongs on their list of options.