Phillies Show Interest In Blue Jays' Daulton Varsho

[Steve Drumwright]

 

With the Toronto Blue Jays in sell mode after a disappointing first four months of the season, the players on expiring contracts are more likely than not to be wearing another uniform next week.

Center fielder Daulton Varsho is one of those and he is drawing a good bit of interest, but not necessarily for his bat, but for the tremendous defense he provides.

Among the teams looking for a center fielder is the Philadelphia Phillies, who indeed have "interest" in Varsho, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman. The Phillies are 6½ games off Atlanta's NL East lead, while tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second (and third) NL wild card after Philadelphia was swept by the Miami Marlins. 

 

While the Phillies are in need of an offensive boost—they rank 22nd in team OPS at .703—Varsho would provide more experience in center field than rookie Justin Crawford with maybe a nudge in the power department. Varsho has a .247/.308/.383 slash line with seven homers and 26 RBIs in 96 games to Crawford's .257/.306/.339 with two homers and 23 RBIs in 99 games. Crawford does have more steals 13-9.

There are other pieces the Phillies and Jays match. Right-handed starters Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber are free agents after the year, while the Jays could also spin off bullpen pieces such as right-handed closer Jeff Hoffman.

 

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[Terminator]

The Phillies do make some sense as they could use damn near every trade chip we have. Gausman, Varsho, Hoffman....even Jesus Sanchez would fit for them.

I would take Crawford but I'm not sure how sold I am on him. His defensive metrics aren't great and they kind of need to be with his subpar bat.

Gage Wood and Aidan Miller are damn good prospects but they might be worth more than the type of vets we could offer. The shine is wearing off of Painter but I would be interested. Ramon Marquez is another good pitching prospect.

The rest of their prospects kind of stink. But there's probably something there though if the two sides can get creative.

[Jonn]

Tell Daulton I will be driving over the border this weekend. I will be more than happy to take him through PA in my route back to VA

[metafour]

56 minutes ago, Terminator said:

The Phillies do make some sense as they could use damn near every trade chip we have. Gausman, Varsho, Hoffman....even Jesus Sanchez would fit for them.

I would take Crawford but I'm not sure how sold I am on him. His defensive metrics aren't great and they kind of need to be with his subpar bat.

Gage Wood and Aidan Miller are damn good prospects but they might be worth more than the type of vets we could offer. The shine is wearing off of Painter but I would be interested. Ramon Marquez is another good pitching prospect.

The rest of their prospects kind of stink. But there's probably something there though if the two sides can get creative.

Its not an amazing system, but there are some interesting pieces.

Crawford is a stretch for me. His bat looks terrible with huge flaws, and the defense being mid makes him much less intriguing than you'd expect a 22 year old former top prospect to be. He needs a complete offensive overhaul, otherwise he looks like a future Raimel Tapia.

Painter is more interesting to me as a buy-low candidate. I don't see him reaching his draft hype unless the fastball changes a lot, but he's still talented enough to be a ~mid rotation or #4 starter.

If they send over Hoffman, Alex McFarlane is an interesting potential piece as a reliever only profile who could help the Jays in 2027. He throws 100+ with a big slider.

[glory]

5 hours ago, Terminator said:

The Phillies do make some sense as they could use damn near every trade chip we have. Gausman, Varsho, Hoffman....even Jesus Sanchez would fit for them.

I would take Crawford but I'm not sure how sold I am on him. His defensive metrics aren't great and they kind of need to be with his subpar bat.

Gage Wood and Aidan Miller are damn good prospects but they might be worth more than the type of vets we could offer. The shine is wearing off of Painter but I would be interested. Ramon Marquez is another good pitching prospect.

The rest of their prospects kind of stink. But there's probably something there though if the two sides can get creative.

Feels like a good match but hard to see what kind of deal could happen. I doubt the Phillies would trade one of their actual good prospects for anyone the Jays are selling, and even Crawford/Painter (while their stocks have fallen big time) might be saved for a more controllable piece. I really have no interest in a deal centered on someone like Nori, and I doubt Atkins will look at anyone in the lower minors unless it's a 2nd/3rd piece in a trade. I do think the Jays and Phillies make at least one trade this week, so curious to see what players swap. Best case might be hoping they have given up on Painter and then see if you can do something with him. 

[sliderguy35]

ramon marquez, brad pacheco and mavis graves are 3 fun arms if they end up making a deal with the phillies.

marquez especially, is a helium guy this year, with improved velocity & a bugs bunny changeup. His whiff #s look made up & fangraphs just included him in their top 100 (which you can read about here )

pacheco's an undersized righty but he's got great release traits & has a good mix of swing & miss + keeping the ball on the ground.

graves is an XXL lefty who needs to throw more strikes but gets a crazy amount of swing and miss, even at a lower velocity. fangraphs has consistently praised the jays strength & conditioning program as being world class. getting a guy like this in-house and stonger might unlock some extra velocity or command that'd make any deal with him a steal. 

[philly30]

9 hours ago, Jonn said:

Tell Daulton I will be driving over the border this weekend. I will be more than happy to take him through PA in my route back to VA

Please no

[Forever92]

15 hours ago, Steve Drumwright said:

 

With the Toronto Blue Jays in sell mode after a disappointing first four months of the season, the players on expiring contracts are more likely than not to be wearing another uniform next week.

Center fielder Daulton Varsho is one of those and he is drawing a good bit of interest, but not necessarily for his bat, but for the tremendous defense he provides.

Among the teams looking for a center fielder is the Philadelphia Phillies, who indeed have "interest" in Varsho, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman. The Phillies are 6½ games off Atlanta's NL East lead, while tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second (and third) NL wild card after Philadelphia was swept by the Miami Marlins. 

 

While the Phillies are in need of an offensive boost—they rank 22nd in team OPS at .703—Varsho would provide more experience in center field than rookie Justin Crawford with maybe a nudge in the power department. Varsho has a .247/.308/.383 slash line with seven homers and 26 RBIs in 96 games to Crawford's .257/.306/.339 with two homers and 23 RBIs in 99 games. Crawford does have more steals 13-9.

There are other pieces the Phillies and Jays match. Right-handed starters Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber are free agents after the year, while the Jays could also spin off bullpen pieces such as right-handed closer Jeff Hoffman.

 

 

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Get another Joe Ryan for Nelson Cruz type trade.