Philadelphia Phillies Reportedly Eyeing Specific Player as Outfield Addition

An MLB insider has shared who exactly the Philadelphia Phillies are targeting ahead of the trade deadline.

Apr 10, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski before game against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies are going to be buyers ahead of the trade deadline that takes place on July 30. This has been known basically since the first couple weeks of the season when they emerged as a top team in the league.

Outside of the usual bullpen additions, it wasn't clear what exactly Dave Dombrowski would be targeting with this roster already loaded as is, but things started to crystalize over the course of the year when their outfield wasn't quite performing as expected.

Nick Castellanos was going through a major slump, Johan Rojas hadn't taken the next step on offense, Cristian Pache was little more than a platoon option, and super utilityman Whit Merrifield has put together the worst performance of his career.

Outfield became an obvious target for the Phillies.

Who they might look to acquire became the next question.

With things so tight in Wild Card races across the board in both the National and American Leagues, it's not certain who exactly are going to be sellers except for the few who are already way out of the mix.

One of those teams is the Oakland Athletics, and according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY, Philadelphia has their eyes on one of their players.

"The Philadelphia Phillies are keeping a close eye on Oakland A's left fielder Brent Rooker. The Phillies rank 26th in OPS among left fielders this season," he reports.

Following Brandon Marsh's 2-for-3 performance with a home run on Tuesday night, those numbers will certainly look better, but the point still remains that the Phillies could use some help in the outfield when it comes to offensive output.

Brent Rooker would be an interesting addition.

Through 78 games, the 29-year-old is slashing .282/.360/.542 with 18 homers, 55 RBI, an OPS+ of 155, and wRC+ of 153, easily the best numbers of his career.

He would certainly give Philadelphia the boost they are looking for.

What it might take to acquire the up-and-coming outfielder is unknown since he has three more seasons of club control. The Athletics will probably be searching for talented prospects and maybe a piece like Pache in return.

Based on Nightengale's report, it sounds like the Phillies already have a clear target in mind, so this is something worth keeping an eye on.