Phillies

Jayson Stark on the Phillies at the Trade Deadline

By Kyle Scott

Published: Jul 23rd, 2013 · 3:45 PM EDT

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In other words, they may or may not trade guys who may or may not be tradable. Notably, however, no mention of Cliff Lee or Chase Utley: [ESPN.com]

One team the Phillies would seem to match up with is the Marlins, on Ruggiano,Steve Cishek, Mike Dunn and Ryan Webb. But the Phillies are looking to make a deal without including Jesse Biddle, Maikel Franco, Cody Asche or any of their top tier of prospects. And the Marlins are telling teams they won’t move anyone else at this point unless they get an offer they feel they can’t say no to.

If the Phillies have a rough week in St. Louis and Detroit, on the other hand, they could still sell — with Michael Young pretty much a lock to get moved if they go that route. (“The next week,” said one exec who spoke with them, “will determine Michael Young’s fate more than anyone else on their roster.”) But even if they do decide to listen on Jonathan Papelbon, other teams increasingly view him as practically untradeable.

“He’s just not that valuable with that contract,” says one AL exec. “If the Phillies want premium players back, they’d have to take half the contract [which has two years, worth $26 million, remaining, plus a vesting $13 million option]. I don’t see any team giving up an A-list prospect and taking that entire contract. You’d be taking the worst two or three years of a bad deal andgiving them a premium prospect. That just doesn’t make sense.”

Carry on.