The Philadelphia Phillies reached out to the Tampa Bay Rays regarding outfielder Brett Phillips after he was designated for assignment Monday, Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer hears.
Tampa Bay DFA’d Phillips after they acquired Jose Siri in a three-team trade with the Astros and Baltimore Orioles, the same deal that sent Trey Mancini to Houston. Interestingly, the Rays decided to designate Phillips rather than former Phillie Roman Quinn, who has five hits in 19 at-bats since joining the team.
If the Rays ultimately place Phillips on waivers, it’s unclear if he’ll make it to the Phillies or be claimed before Dave Dombrowski and company can make a claim. However, the Phillies or another interested team could work out a trade with the Rays before Phillips goes on waivers to assure that they land him.
Phillips, 28, has slashed just .190/.276/.350 with a .626 OPS in parts of six MLB seasons spent with the Rays, Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers. However, Phillips has traditionally graded out well defensively, including in center field, where he has 13 career defensive runs saved and 17 outs above average. It should be noted that the two metrics have differing views of how Phillips has done in center field this season, as he has -4 defensive runs saved but three outs above average.
Jon Heyman of Audacy Sports reported Monday morning that the Phillies are “looking for some defense in center field,” which makes sense given that Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos both have struggled in the corner outfield spots.
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