Philadelphia Phillies Superstar Deadline Target Placed on Injured List

Another player who the Philadelphia Phillies might have had interest in acquiring ahead of the trade deadline has been placed on the injured list.

May 28, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Mason Miller (19) celebrates after beating the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

There is a lot of speculation surrounding what the Philadelphia Phillies might do ahead of the July 30 trade deadline with this campaign basically being "World Series or Bust" based on how they have dominated the regular season so far.

Because of that, the sentiment is Dave Dombrowski will be very aggressive like he has been in the past to give his team the best possible chance at winning a championship.

What positions they will pursue is anyone's guess at this point.

For a while, it seemed like adding an outfield bat was going to be their main move while they added maybe one bullpen arm to supplement that group. Then, there was a thought they were potentially interested in bringing in a shutdown closer to take over that role.

Now, new reports indicate they have discussed acquiring another starting option, something that wasn't on the radar of most people even a few days ago.

One name that's been constantly thrown around as a player who the Phillies might be interested in trading for is superstar closer Mason Miller of the Oakland Athletics who has taken Major League Baseball by storm with his overwhelming velocity.

The 25-year-old rookie has allowed just 10 earned runs in his 34 appearances and 40.2 innings pitched, striking out 70 batters for a ridiculous 15.5 K/9 ratio.

He is certainly a prized possession that would force Philadelphia to give up a haul to acquire since he has two more seasons before even being arbitration eligible.

Miller could be the game changing piece that pushes them over the top in their World Series pursuit, and even though they would have to ship out multiple star prospects to land him, many fans think a deal like that would be worth it.

Unfortunately, the Athletics have placed him on the injured list after he suffered a broken left finger.

We have made the following roster moves. pic.twitter.com/mRaSBJUrhB

— Oakland A's (@Athletics) July 25, 2024

Initial reports suggested the young star suffered this injury after slamming his hand a table out of frustration, but Martin Gallegos of MLB.com updated his report to say Miller actually got hurt by putting "his hand down awkwardly on training table while getting ready to do an exercise."

How he suffered this injury ultimately doesn't matter to the Phillies.

The important thing is that he's been moved to the 15-day injured list and will be out of action until he is eligible to return. If they were to put together a monster trade package to land the superstar, he wouldn't be available to return until August 7.

Miller suffering the broken finger on his non-throwing hand could still make Philadelphia interested if they feel like he truly is the player they want to pursue ahead of the deadline.