Ahead of the trade deadline on July 30, the Philadelphia Phillies will certainly be buyers as they look to fill the holes on their roster prior to playoff time.
Because of all the work Dave Dombrowski and his front office have done over the years, there aren’t a whole lot of areas that need to be addressed.
However, for contending teams, there can never be enough arms, and they will certainly be looking at the reliever market to see who they can make a deal for to bring into their bullpen.
That’s not to say this unit has been bad.
Their bullpen ranked 10th in the league entering Thursday’s game with a 3.59 ERA, but it never hurts to have as many options as possible, especially with injuries to pitchers always looming.
With that in mind, it should come as no surprise the Phillies are already putting together a list of targets, and according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, they are interested in dealing for Miami Marlins star reliever Tanner Scott.
“Word is four of the World Series favorites — Yankees, Orioles, Phillies and Dodgers — have interest in the lefty who hasn’t allowed a run in 18 straight outings and is limiting opposing hitters to a .140 batting average,” he reports.
It makes sense why those clubs would be targeting Scott.
Like Heyman points out, he has put together a sensational year so far with the Marlins, and with his team almost certainly going to become sellers prior to July 30, Philadelphia is going to have some competition if they want to land him.
As Miami’s closer, he’s converted eight of his 10 save opportunities.
If the Phillies want to keep him in that role if they are able to acquire him, that would allow manager Rob Thomson to utilize Jose Alvarado in the Swiss Army Knife-type of way he has in the past when he can call upon the big lefty whenever there is a high-leverage situation.
Scott is set to hit free agency after this season, so him being a rental would likely lower the price that it would take to acquire the elite reliever.
However, with other teams also reportedly interested in his services, there could be a bidding war to land him.
