A Phillies-Rays trade to land Philadelphia an outfielder nobody expects

The Philadelphia Phillies are one of the best teams, if not the single-best team, in MLB this season. They're a complete team led by incredible impact bats and a tremendous pitching staff.

Even though they seem so complete from top to bottom, they still have room to improve especially in the outfield.

With OPS surpassing batting average in the minds of those in baseball, the Phillies can't continue to trot out an outfielder like Johan Rojas who holds on OPS below .600 and an OPS+ of 59. Rojas has a bright future in the big leagues, but the Phillies need an impactful player right now.

And there may not be a player with the upside as high as the Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena.

A Phillies-Rays trade that brings a high upside outfielder to Philadelphia

Arozarena makes plenty of sense as a buy low option for the Phillies for a few different reasons. Obviously, the first idea would be for Arozarena to slot in as an everyday outfielder, returning to his All-Star form and giving the Phillies the jumpstart they need.

But the worst-case scenario for the Phillies is that they have Arozarena under team control for the next two seasons after this year, even if he doesn't return to form this season. The risk is incredibly low when acquiring a talent like the struggling Randy Arozarena.

It's hard to apply a price tag too expensive on a player that's slashing .203/.313/.362 on the season. Stil, his OPS+ is near league average, which means if he can come out of his hitting slump, he'll be the player we all expect him to be.

In this hypothetical, the Phillies get to hold onto their top talent, only dealing from the depth of their farm system. Even the loss of Griff McGarry, their tenth-ranked prospect, won't hurt them too bad.

McGarry is a reliever who's pushing closer to the big leagues. He likely doesn't have the talent to be in a playoff bullpen right now, so Philadelphia has no use for his services. De La Cruz is a huge prospect with incredible potential because of his size, power and athleticism. Pouaka-Grego is the Phillies 29th-ranked prospect and he's more of a lottery ticket in this deal. He lacks the size or power to develop into a true impact bat, but he gets on base well enough to make him a valuable asset.

Acquiring Arozarena could be the perfect move for the Phillies. He would add a better bat than Rojas while also providing the Phillies with the upside of having him for the next few seasons. If Arozarena can make the necessary changes in Philadelphia, they would win this deal in a landslide.