Philadelphia Phillies: Top 5 players who could get dealt at the deadline
By David Esser
Odubel Herrera, CF
This one might be a bit of a stretch due to his slumping play as of late, but Odubel Herrera is a historically streaky player – one or two good weeks of form could see himself emerge as a deadline day target for teams desperate for a lefty outfielder.
Herrera’s offensive numbers have steadily come back down to earth after a scorching hot May, but he still ranks middle of the pack when compared to some of the other starting center fielders in baseball. He currently ranks 15th in fWAR amongst all center fielders with at least 200 plate appearances, and ranks fourth in FanGraph’s “defensive value” metric.
If there’s a team out there looking for a left-handed outfielder, who could also use some help on the defensive side of things, Herrera at least makes sense on paper.
The tricky part with Odubel is of course his contract situation, as he’s still being paid $10+ million per year due to the lasting effects of an extension that Matt Klentak prematurely handed out years ago. Granted any team acquiring him would only have to pay half his remaining salary, but it’s still something to consider nevertheless, especially when there’s likely to be cheaper (and better) options on the trade block.
Similar to Velasquez, Odubel likely isn’t apart of Dombrowski’s longterm vision. Getting any sort of value out of him this July would be a win.