Philadelphia Phillies Could See Ideal Trade Target Land With Dodgers

There will be some big decisions president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has to make ahead of the trade deadline for this Philadelphia Phillies squad.

As buyers, they have the ability to upgrade their roster by targeting certain areas of need that could benefit from having more options they turn to late in the year.

But, there’s also a risk that team chemistry could be negatively affected.

Bringing in guys from outside the clubhouse who haven’t been within this culture always presents some challenges, especially if they are taking away playing time from someone on the team who is well-liked.

Figuring this out is why Dombrowski gets paid the big bucks.

One area the Phillies will almost certainly be monitoring is bullpen help as all contending teams are looking at relievers they can use during the long year and in the playoffs.

Kenley Jansen has been a name connected to Philadelphia for a while, especially when it was thought the Boston Red Sox might look to offload his contract during the offseason. The Phillies were seen as a fit based on them losing Craig Kimbrel in free agency.

Their interest might only increase as it gets closer to the July 30 deadline since the future Hall of Famer is putting together another great year with a 2.74 ERA and 11 save opportunities converted out of 12.

However, Jon Heyman of The New York Post thinks the veteran will reunite with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season if the Red Sox do look to move him.

That would be a tough one for the Phillies if this happens, considering the Dodgers are expected to be their main competition in the National League to determine who will make the World Series.

There are questions in Philadelphia’s backend as they would ideally like to use Jose Alvarado in a spot other than their closer, being able to call upon him whenever a high-leverage situation presents itself.

It was reported that they have interest in Tanner Scott, but with him already being highly sought-after, there’s a chance they aren’t able to land the star lefty.

In that case it would make sense to turn to Jansen, but based on Heyman’s prediction, they could see him pitching against them during the most important part of the season.