Philadelphia Phillies: Top 5 players who could get dealt at the deadline

Vince Velasquez, SP

A player who I don’t think anyone expected to be on a list like this just a few months ago, Vince Velasquez has quietly developed himself into an attractive trade piece this season. Velasquez has made 12 starts this year and currently possess a 4.22 ERA and a 4.61 FIP. When operating solely as a starter, Velasquez’ ERA actually drops down even further to 3.99.

Set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year’s season, Velasquez is a picture perfect model of what a “rental” acquisition typically looks like for “buying” organizations. Teams that are looking to add a #4/#5 starter without being financially tied to them past 2022 should be attracted to Velasquez, especially when you consider the low asking price that Dombrowski will likely demand in return.

Many thought Vince should have been let go this past offseason – getting any sort of value for the right-hander at this year’s trade deadline would have to be viewed as a success for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies have some other internal options that they should experiment with as well this season (Bailey Falter, Adonis Medina) when it comes to a back-end rotation job, so it’s a bit of a win-win for them in that regards. Milk out the last bit of value from VV in a trade while simultaneously opening up a rotation spot for someone who will actually be on the roster in 2022.