Phillies considering relief target that Rob Thomson specifically would love

The Philadelphia Phillies have a few pressing needs ahead of the trade deadline. Potentially their biggest need was a right-handed outfielder. They had looked through all the potential options before landing on a deal with the Baltimore Orioles that would send Austin Hays to Philadelphia for a package of reliever Seranthony Dominguez and outfielder Cristian Pache.

But their other major hole is in the bullpen. And they needed to trade Dominguez in order to add Austin Hays to the team, which further digs their hole in the bullpen.

Philadelphia wouldn't have made this deal for Hays if they didn't have a plan to address their bullpen. One name has emerged as a potential trade piece and it just makes a ton of sense.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

Phillies emerging as favorites for Blue Jays reliever Chad Green

MLB insider Jon Morosi is reporting that the Phillies will be pursuing at least one high leverage reliever in the coming days. He notes the Toronto Blue Jays reliever as a pitcher that Philadelphia has their sights set on.

This matchup just makes a ton of sense for a multitude of reasons.

First, let's look into the connection between Green and Phillies manager Rob Thomson. Thomson was once a coach with the Yankees at the same time that Green was coming up to make his debut. Thomson was a big fan of the reliever.

Next, the Toronto Blue Jays are almost certain to trade him this year. He's attached to a $10.5 million club option in 2025 and it's not known whether the Blue Jays would want to pick that option up. That means he has the potential to be seen as just a rental player and the Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins has already entered his fire sale.

Finally, Green is having a spectacular season. Through 29.2 innings, the reliever has seven saves and a sub-2.00 ERA. His WHIP is just under 1.00 as well making him one of the more impressive available relievers this deadline season.

The market for these relief pitchers has been quite intriguing. They have been going for a bit more value than they have in the past with relievers like AJ Puk and Hunter Harvey netting their teams some top prospect talent in return. Green is better than both those relievers so his value may venture even higher.