Philadelphia Phillies Could Pursue Archrival's Veteran Outfielder at Trade Deadline

The Philadelphia Phillies Could Pursue Mark Canha From Their NL East Rival Mets

The experiment to play Bryce Harper at first base to create better defensive outfields seems to be working.

The superstar has fit into the first base role seamlessly and will allow the Philadelphia Phillies to move Kyle Schwarber to the designated hitter role instead of playing left field everyday.

With Schwarber and Nick Castellanos playing corner outfield, the Phillies ranked second-worst in defense this season according to FanGraphs.

The newfound flexibility with the lefty slugger moving to DH has given the front office the ability to go after outfielders ahead of the trade deadline.

There have been many rumors of who they are interested in acquiring, headlined by Chicago Cubs' Cody Bellinger.

However, they could be looking at one of their divisional rivals to get the upgrade they want.

Eno Sarris of The Athletic, wrote about some of the smaller deadline deals that could make an impact. He highlighted that Philadelphia should pursue New York Mets' outfielder Mark Canha.

Out of the available right handed batting outfielders, Sarris highlights that Canha has the second-most defensive runs saved this year. That would go a long way to improve the major hole in the Phillies' roster.

On top of his defensive prowess, the outfielder could provide an addition at the plate as well. In 243 at-bats this season, he's hitting .235/.333/.374 with six home runs and 28 RBI which is down from his career averages of .247/.347/.422.

All nine of Canha's major league seasons have come in non-hitter friendly parks with the Oakland Athletics and Mets.

He has the potential to put up bigger numbers at a hitter friendly park like Citizens Bank.

It seems like this would be a great trade for Philadelphia, who wouldn't have to give up much in terms of prospects for the impending free agent.

The question is if New York will give up an asset to their division rivals that will help them get back into the playoffs.

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