5 best trade candidates if the Philadelphia Phillies are deadline sellers
By Tim Boyle
3. Philadelphia Phillies trade candidate: Kyle Gibson.
In his second year with the club, Kyle Gibson has been pretty good for them. Brought in at last year’s trade deadline, maybe he ends up getting the Hunter Pence treatment and is traded away this summer. Gibson has pitched well enough to become yet another trade deadline asset for a losing club to deal—the situation he found himself in as a member of the Texas Rangers in 2021.
Unlike some other starters in this rotation potentially headed to free agency, Gibson is older and not exactly someone the Phillies would be wise to invest in further. Aaron Nola has a team option the club should pick up for 2023. Zach Eflin is a little tougher to know what to do with. Years younger than Gibson, he’s more worth another year although trading him as well wouldn’t be ridiculous especially if there is no intention on bringing him back.
As dire of a need as relief pitching often is around the trade deadline, starting pitching might be only slightly less desired by the best teams. The shortened spring has caused a lot of good starters to go down with injuries. Given this, the Phillies might have themselves a wide-open market to deal away players.
Obviously, Phillies fans shouldn’t be rooting for this to be the case. The team has some fight left in them. In which case, we can only hope Gibson continues to be a solid mid-rotation arm for them down the stretch.