Philadelphia Phillies Must Avoid Trade For Fan Base's Dream Player at All Costs

The Philadelphia Phillies shouldn't entertain bringing in the future Hall of Famer despite it being a dream for the fan base to acquiring him.

Aug 2, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout (27) in the dugout during the MLB game against the New York Mets at Angel Stadium. / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

If the Philadelphia Phillies' interest in Juan Soto is real, they'll have to start submitting their offer to the left-handed slugger and Scott Boras this week.

The idea of signing Soto is the perfect one on paper.

While he'll likely cost more than half a billion dollars, it's impossible to ignore the talent on the field.

When at his best, one could make a strong argument that he's one of the best pure hitters baseball has ever seen.

If one thing has been true over much of the past decade, the Phillies are willing to pay the amount of money they have to in order to build a contending team.

If they believe the Dominican Republic native would help them get to the top, don't be surprised to see them offer him big money.

However, at this point, it still feels like a pipe dream.

Unless Soto wants to play in Philadelphia, which is a real possibility, it seems this could come down to the New York teams.

It's tough to walk away from an organization like the New York Yankees, and living in New York has its benefits.

That isn't to say the city of Philadelphia wouldn't give him similar opportunities, but it's a different market.

If they lose out on him for any reason, they could turn their attention elsewhere.

Christopher Kline of FanSided believes they should target Mike Trout if that's the case, but that'd be a bad decision.

"That said, the New York teams appear far more lilkely to end up with Soto when all is said and done. As such, the Phillies should start cooking up backup plans. There are popular names in the marketplace, such Luis Robert Jr. or Cody Bellinger, but what if the Phillies want to aim even higher? Why not target arguably the best pound-for-pound position player in the MLB? Mike Trout is just sitting there in Los Angeles Angels purgatory."

There's no denying the type of talent Trout is.

However, why would they think he'd be able to stay healthy?

Unless the Los Angeles Angels are willing to eat most of his contract, which remains unlikely, there isn't any reason for the Phillies to even consider trading for him.

He's only played in 319 games since the 2020 campaign, a perfect indication of who he is as a player right now instead of the former dominant MVP.

It's unfortunate that Trout got to this stage in his career, and it doesn't take away from what he did every season before that, but it's impossible to ignore and doesn't fit what Philadelphia needs right now.