Philadelphia Phillies Rumors: Unwilling to pay the Matt Chapman price
By Tim Boyle
Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman probably looks really good in a suit, tie, and jacket. He’d look even better wearing a Philadelphia Phillies uniform and playing third base. Unfortunately, recent Phillies rumors put a damper on the possibility.
According to Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the price for the Phillies to acquire Chapman might be too steep.
Per source, A’s won’t agree to trade Matt Chapman to the Phillies unless returning package includes someone at the top of the Phillies farm system (Painter, Abel, Stott, etc). Source says that thus far, Phillies have been reluctant to deal those guys.
— Alex Coffey (@byalexcoffey) March 12, 2022
These Phillies rumors explain the A’s are looking to get as much as they possibly can in any deal involving Chapman. They were already able to pick up the fifth-best New York Mets prospect in a deal involving starting pitcher Chris Bassitt. Although they’re punting the 2022 season, the Athletics aren’t dumb.
Philadelphia Phillies rumors about Matt Chapman look to put the star third baseman out of reach.
The trouble with making any trade with the Athletics is they’re going to want minor league talent. The Phillies just don’t have much of it to spare. If Alec Bohm was at the center of the trade, a deal could get done. However, his major league clock has already begun to tick. There’s no telling when the Athletics will hope to compete again or even what city they’ll be representing when they do.
As other Phillies rumors indicate, the team isn’t looking solely to improve via trades. In fact, it might be a waste of their time to try and pry away super talented players from other organizations. They simply don’t have the cache to make a major trade occur on the level of one for Chapman would seemingly cost.
Third base is, fortunately, not as big of a priority as other positions. Even if they’ve lost some faith in Bohm, the far greater need for the club to compete in 2022 is to add to the outfield and bullpen.
For one final positive note relating to these Phillies rumors that suggest Chapman is out of reach, we should expect the Athletics to hold other teams equally as hostage. This could mean Chapman stays put for the time being which may eventually lower the price. He is coming off of a somewhat disappointing season, after all. Maybe at the trade deadline or even next offseason there’s a better deal to make.
Next. 3 Phillies who have proven we can trust them. dark
Or, perhaps even better, the farm system has some spare parts because everyone has suddenly decided to develop.