Backing up reports from the bow tie man himself, little baby Ken Rosenthal last week, Nick Cafardo – the Boston Globe reporter who tends to always be out in front of these rumors – reports that the Phillies are serious players for Christian Yelich:

A few weeks back we wrote about the resources the Phillies have to be active in trades or free agency. We mentioned the possibility of them taking on Giancarlo Stanton’s contract while also having interest in Christian Yelich. Well, the Yelich part is heating up. There are conflicting stories on whether the Marlins have the OK to trade away major talent as the franchise is being sold, but it looks like the Phillies will pursue this.

Stanton (rightfully) got all of the headlines. He’s the megastar who can mash, but the problem is he has trouble staying on the field, having missed significant time with injuries in almost every season since 2012. He also has 11 years remaining on a heavily backloaded 13-year, $325 million contract. He has an opt-out in 2020, but otherwise the Phillies would be on the hook for roughly $30 million salaries for the better part of a decade. Money like that would probably better be spent on Bryce Harper or Mike Trout.

But Yelich… he’s only 25, is a better all-around hitter, has a much more manageable contract that would cost the Phils no more than $14 million per year through at least 2021, and better fits into the current regime’s strategy of ESCHEWING big home run hitters in favor of more SABR friendly folks. At the right price, Yelich would be an excellent addition to a team that will have plenty of money to acquire big-time free agents. Still, I don’t totally hate the idea of paying Stanton along with him, if Middleton really wants to place his testicles outside his zipper, or, as they say, go balls-out.