Phillies Nation

Buster Olney of ESPN reported at 2:30pm Monday afternoon that the Phillies have already begun trade talks for a righthanded hitting outfielder. The two offerings he made were Josh Willingham and Michael Cuddyer.

Over at Brotherly Glove, Eric and I have discussed possible outfield solutions for the Phils a good amount, concluding that Hunter Pence would be the best player to trade for, while players of the Cuddyer mold are considerably less attractive. Cuddyer makes $11MM this season and would not be a part of the Phillies’ future even if traded here. The Phils, ideally, should obtain more than a rental.

His redeeming quality is his ability to hit lefthanded pitching – he has a 1.139 OPS vs. southpaws this year and a .902 mark the last three. He plays poor defense, however.

Willingham would be a nice get. He is considerably cheaper ($6MM in 2011,) and will almost definitely be moved by a fast-fading Athletics team. If the Phillies were to acquire Willingham at the All-Star Break, they would only be on the hook for two million dollars, provided the As don’t pick up any of that salary. Willingham and Cuddyer are similar in many ways. Willingham holds the plate discipline advantage while Cuddyer has been better against opposite-handed pitching this season. Willingham costs half the price, making him all the more enticing.

MLB Trade Rumors lists as possibilities Jeff Francoeur, Matt Diaz and Marcus Thames. I don’t know if the Phils would even sign Thames if he were released by the Dodgers tomorrow. While I’d love to have Diaz, the fact that the Phils could have had both he and Francoeur this past offseason and chose not to sign them tells you that the organization is not in love with either.

Olney’s comment comes at a strange time. It was based on information from sources within other organizations, and there is no guarantee that these “inquiries” made by the Phillies are recent. They could have come a month ago, before Domonic Brown played his way into the lineup and Raul Ibanez proved he was more than a corpse.

The Phillies are not in dire need of a stop-gap outfielder. If the cost is minimal, it would be worth it, because there is no problem with plugging small holes. But to pay Cuddyer $4 or $5 million or to part with intriguing prospects is probably unnecessary at this time. Pence naturally remains the best option, but that possibility is looking more and more far-fetched given the Astros’ ownership change and Pence’s career year.

Unless a move has an extremely high probability of being worthwhile — either financially or in terms of added production — an old team that is already spending a ton of money needn’t pull the trigger at this time.