By Sam Bush
Chase Utley has spent all season insisting that he does not want to be traded. He is reportedly happy in Philadelphia playing for the Phillies and plans to exercise his 10-5, full no-trade rightsif presented with a trade.
But Nick Carfardo of the Boston Globe, one of the best MLB reporters around, has an interesting tidbit in today’s paper that may tempt even the Philly-loving Utley, not to mention Phils management.
Cafardo says that the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants are trying to make deals for Utley:
“Right now it doesn’t appear that Utley is going anywhere because he can invoke his 10-5 rights and it looks as if he wants to remain in Philadelphia. But there’s time. And it hasn’t stopped teams such as the Blue Jays and Giants from taking their best shot, and they likely will through the end of the month.”
Given the fact that Utley would net the Phillies the largest package of prospects in a deal, the team would still be wise to engage potential trade suitors just in case a drastic change might come about. The magnitude of a deal forces them to do their due diligence.
The impact would be huge, both in terms of the Phillies’ farm system and the playoff race itself. So it is that, even with Utley’s reluctance to even consider a deal, that a couple playoff contenders are pushing to try and make a trade happen.
Utley has been outstanding this season, batting .289/.347/.441 with eight home runs and 46 RBI. Any team would benefit from acquiring that offense mid-season, especially from the second base position.
For the Blue Jays and Giants, the upgrade from their current lack of production at the position to Utley would be comical. If nothing else, that provides additional leverage to the Phillies if they tried to put together an offer to put in front of Utley.
