The Philadelphia Phillies are sellers at the trade deadline. The team has been struggling over the past few years and is hoping to capitalize at the deadline in order to get some young prospects and players to build the team around for the future. As a result, players like Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon are officially available for dealing. So who is likely to get moved before the end of the month?
Papelbon has been very vocal about wanting to get traded from the Phillies. The closer told the media that he did not sign up to be a part of a struggling team and wants out as quickly as possible. The Phillies were not appearing that aggressive in finding trade deals for Papelbon, but there is a spike in interest as the trading period is set to close soon.
According to the Washington Post, the Nationals are making a strong push to acquire Papelbon as it is expected he will be dealt soon. The Nationals have been eyeing several closers at the deadline. Washington was linked to both Craig Kimbrel and Aroldis Chapman, but both closers are much more expensive than the Nationals are looking for.
CSN Philly is reporting that Papelbon can block trades to 17 teams in the league, one of them being the Nationals. However, Washington is looking poised to make a real run this season and that could entice the pitcher to sign on. The Nationals would keep him as a closer, another key factor for Papelbon. The Nationals are really the only team interested in the closer while the Phillies continue to sift through trade deals for Hamels.
According to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com, the Phillies are making it clear that they want team's best offers by Wednesday in order to decide what will be done with Hamels. There are a lot of offers being tossed to the Phillies. The Chicago Cubs are offering Starlin Castro. The Los Angeles Dodgers are offering Yasiel Puig. The San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros and New York Yankees remain options as well. The asking price for Hamels will not be cheap, especially after his no-hitter over the weekend. With James Shields and David Price potentially off the market, Hamels is the best available.