UPDATE: Today In "Did The Phillies Ask For Too Much?"

Photo credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

In fact, they did.

Bob Dutton of the News Tribune— which might be the most newspapery byline imaginable:

The Mariners inquired into the availability of Philadelphia outfielder Ben Revere, as first reported by CSNPhilly.com, but talks quickly stalled when the Phillies asked for either Taijuan Walker or James Paxton in return.

Revere, 27, has a .270/.312/.352 slash (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) in 60 games. He is making $4.1 million and is under club control, via arbitration, through the 2017 season.

The Mariners are likely to show renewed interest if Philadelphia lowers its asking price. Revere would project as the Mariners’ regular left fielder and could shift next season to center field if Austin Jackson departs as a free agent.

Revere, as we’ve discussed, sucks. Walker and Paxton are the Mariners’ two best young pitchers.

How did baseball fans on Twitter react to Rube’s reported request? The same way I imagine most GMs react when he calls:

Meanwhile, the rest of the trade market is HEATING UP,  according to Jim Salisbury:

The Toronto Blue Jays had a high-ranking scout at the Phillies-Cincinnati Reds series at Great American Ball Park the last three days. According to a well-placed source, the scout received late marching orders before the series to get to Cincinnati in a hurry.

It was not surprising to see the Toronto scout in Cincinnati. First of all, the Blue Jays have a deep professional scouting force, possibly the largest in baseball; they see a lot of games in many different cities, and it’s not unusual to see their scouts at Phillies games. Frankly, Jays scouts have been all over the Phillies all season. Last season, too.

The Jays’ scout’s trip to Cincinnati made sense because Toronto is looking for pitching help — both in the rotation and at the back of the bullpen — and the Phillies have three attractive pieces in starters Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang and closer Jonathan Papelbon.

I’ll give Rube credit if he manages to turn ugly-ass Harang into prospects. I’m sure he’ll screw it up, though.

UPDATE: The bow tie man himself, little itsy bitsy Ken Rosenthal:

The word of the lord.