Lets talk about the glaring hole in the middle of the Phillies lineup that everyone has been talking about, the need for a powerful righthanded bat. The Phillies have gotten almost no power production from the right side of the plate, exemplified by Shane Victorino hitting in the 3 hole today against left hander Josh Outman. The Phillies have many interesting trade opportunities that they could inquire about, but do they have the means, or better yet, should they risk, trading away the farm when it seems the window at the top is closing? The whole world can tell what is keeping the Phillies afloat right now, their starting pitching. But thats what we expected. We expect the offense to perform as well, but the big bucks haven't paid off as much here, most noticiably Raul Ibanez seemingly not even knowing when the ball is coming at him at the plate. The fact of the matter is that the Phillies need a right handed bat if they want to make it in a post-season series. They showed last year that even with a Jayson Werth they still could be shut down by a very good staff, and you are not gonna see many bad staffs once the calender turns to October. There are some good trades out there for the Phillies to ask about, with the one I have heard the most being Ryan Ludwick from San Diego, with Heath Bell's name being thrown in, but thats another discussion for another day. Ludwick is currently hitting .254 with 9 home runs and 47 rbi's. Take him out of Petco and put him into comfy Citizen's Bank Park, and I'm sure we could see another performance like the one he had in 2008 when he hit .299 with 37 home runs and 113 rbi's for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Somebody else the Phillies could be interested is Michael Cuddyer from the Twins. With the Twins fading fast once again, it might be time for Bill Smith to look into trading away some people, and Cuddyer's right handed bat could be pretty in CBP. Currently, Cuddyer is hitting .293 with 10 hr's and 30 rbi's for the offensively challenged Twins, especially with that big ballpark taking away many potential dingers. With the power that he could bring, the Phillies could definitely look into bringing him aboard, possibly even signing him to a contract beyond this year if he plays well, for he is a free agent after the season, however he is 32 this year.
A third option who could be relatively cheap is the Kansas City Royals Jeff Francoeur. Francoeur has already hit 10 hr's, almost matching his highest since 2007. He has alot of upside being in the start of his prime, and is on a last chance contract making 2.5 mil with an option for 2012. If the Phillies are really strapped for cash, he could be a very smart option while bringing a powerful bat and a cannon arm to the team. While were on the Royals I might as well throw Melky Cabrera into the conversation. Melky is also on a last chance contract worth only $1.25 mil. He is hitting .275 with 9 homers and 43 rbi's. He would bring great defense to left field, and on top of that, he is a switch hitter, making him even easier to slip into the lineup.
These are just a few possible routes that the Phillies could look into, not nearly all. If you have any people that you think the Phillies could look into please comment and let me know what you think.
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