Philadelphia Phillies Linked to Duo of Cardinals Stars at Trade Deadline

The Philadelphia Phillies have been linked to a duo of the St. Louis Cardinals star outfielders before MLB trade deadline.

It is a wholesale trade deadline for the St. Louis Cardinals this season.

After having a disappointing year compared to their expectations, they're ready to start tearing everything down and sell off their pieces. With starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery already on his way out of town, the front office is looking to send more out the door to start their rebuild.

The Philadelphia Phillies could benefit from this situation.

One of the logjams the Cardinals have is in the outfield and that is the biggest target of Philadelphia before the August 1st trade deadline.

Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote a piece about six outfielders who could be a fit.

The St. Louis duo of Tyler O'Neill and Dylan Carlson stood out on his list.

"O’Neill makes sense for the Phillies for a number of reasons. He’s a right-handed, Gold Glove-caliber left fielder who can hit for power when he’s healthy," wrote Coffey.

The righty has struggled to stay healthy the past couple seasons, which is why he could potentially be moved to another team. Despite those concerns, the Cardinals have some reluctance to sell him because they don't think the return back will be appropriate for a player of his caliber.

Carlson seems like he's the much more likely player to be moved ahead of the deadline.

Coffey wrote, "He is a 24-year-old, switch-hitting center fielder who won’t be eligible for free agency until 2027. The knock on Carlson, from the Phillies’ perspective, is that he wouldn’t provide the same offense as some of the other players on this list."

Defensive upgrades are the clear priority for Philadelphia who is at the bottom of the league in outfield defense. However, they've also lacked power in the middle of the lineup since Rhys Hoskins went down for the year.

Either one of these players would be an upgrade for the Phillies, who find themselves outside of the playoffs entering their series start on Monday.

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