Phillies Juan Soto backup plan should be another future Hall of Famer with local ties

The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to meet with Juan Soto and dole out a competitive offer, but the sweepstakes for Soto's services will get frenzied — perhaps too frenzied for the liking of John Middleton, Dave Dombrowski, and the front office. We know Philadelphia will spend to compete, but shelling out $600 million-plus in guaranteed money with the Phillies' current cap sheet is ambitious.

Now, should the Phillies do it? Of course. In an ideal world, every ownership group would accept financial losses if it meant winning at the highest level. The Phillies need outfield help. The Phillies need stability on offense. And, frankly, the Phillies need more youth to sustain and extend their World Series window. Juan Soto accomplishes all three at once.

That said, the New York teams appear far more lilkely to end up with Soto when all is said and done. As such, the Phillies should start cooking up backup plans. There are popular names in the marketplace, such Luis Robert Jr. or Cody Bellinger, but what if the Phillies want to aim even higher? Why not target arguably the best pound-for-pound position player in the MLB?

Mike Trout is just sitting there in Los Angeles Angels purgatory. It's clear the Angels want to compete this season, but at a certain point, one has to accept reality. Trout comes with more than his share of risk, but it might be worth it for the increasingly desperate Phils.

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Phillies should check in on Mike Trout if Juan Soto plans fall through

The rub on Mike Trout is simple enough. He's still immensely talented, but it's fair to wonder if he'll ever be healthy enough to mount a deep postseason run. That should obviously concern the Phillies, whose sole goal at this point is to reach the mountaintop, but Trout's talent is why he's worth the risk — even with a contract that pays him $37.1 million annually through 2030. It's an exceedingly bold investment, but if the Phillies are truly willing to throw caution to the wind in favor of winning, this sort of move checks a lot of boxes.

Trout is a genuinely elite five-tool player in centerfield. He's a slugging machine at full strength, frequently finding gaps and legging out extra-base hits. Trout once led the MLB in OBP for four straight years — and OPS for three of 'em. Injuries continue to get in his way, but when he's available, Trout remains one of the league's very best offensive weapons. In just 29 games last season, Trout managed 10 home runs and six stolen bases.

He has eclipsed 100 games played just once in the last five years, which is alarming. Especially at 33 years old. The natural decline is going to hit eventually, in addition to the production sapped away by injuries or injury prevention. There's a good chance the Phillies would need to keep Trout's reps tightly restricted during the regular season.

That said, due to their immense volume of talent, Philadelphia is probably one of the few teams that can afford to trade for Trout and not run him into the ground, despite the price of his contract. If the Angels do trade Trout, at this point, it will resemble more of a salary dump than a blockbuster haul. The Phillies can potentially add Trout for pennies on the dollar in prospect terms, while accepting the gargantuan tax bill inherent to going for it.

If this move requires trading Nick Castellanos or Alec Bohm to shed salaries, oh well. The ceiling is that high with Trout if he can put a semi-healthy campaign under his belt. He addresses such a glaring need on the roster, that it's hard not to get excited by the mere thought of it. It helps that Trout is a local kid and a lifelong Philly sports fan. He was made for that town and he would be welcomed accordingly by baseball's most ruthless fanbase.

Trout would be held to a high standard in Philadelphia, of course, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There's so much that could go wrong, but there's also so much that could go right when stacking Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Mike Trout atop your lineup.