Philadelphia Phillies Top Priority is Acquiring Outfielders at Trade Deadline

Based on this recent report, it seems like the Philadelphia Phillies know exactly what they are looking for ahead of the trade deadline.

Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski / Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

It's hard to say the Philadelphia Phillies need any upgrades to their team.

They have the best record in baseball entering Sunday's action and are doing so without their superstar shortstop, Trea Turner, who will improve this lineup even more when he comes back from his hamstring injury.

For all contending teams, their top priority is usually bolstering pitching depth.

The Phillies have been seen as a candidate to add bullpen arms around the trade deadline, especially because of the way things ended in the National League Championship Series last year when they blew multiple late leads.

However, it doesn't sound like that is what Dave Dombrowski and his front office are targeting.

According to former MLB executive Jim Bowden, Philadelphia is heavily monitoring the outfield market to see who becomes available before the trade deadline.

"I've had 3 GM's tell me this week that the Phillies No. 1 priority is outfield and they really haven't been talking to teams about bullpen," he said on MLB Network Radio.

This is certainly an interesting development.

Right now, the Phillies have four players they have been rotating throughout the season in Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas, Cristian Pache, and Nick Castellanos. Bringing in another player would certainly force them to make a roster move of some sort if no one in this group is involved in the deal.

Bowden's report also indicates Philadelphia might be concerned with how their star slugger's year has gone to date with his OPS+ and wRC+ at 75, which would be the worst of his career. Plus, Rojas is still struggling a bit at the plate, meaning there could be two below-average bats in their outfield at any given time.

"They've been out there looking for an outfielder. Outfield help. I don't think they're getting the offensive production they were hoping for in center field. I don't think they're getting the offensive production they're getting overall. That's what they've been looking for," Bowden added.

Who they are potentially targeting is unknown at this point.

It would seemingly have to be someone who provides solid defense in center field if they're looking for someone to replace Rojas.

The Phillies had been linked to Randy Arozarena and Kyle Tucker in the past, but it seems unlikely that the Houston Astros would move their superstar right fielder at this point considering he's an AL MVP candidate, but maybe the Tampa Bay Rays would be willing to ship out their star who has struggled a bit this year.

Either way, this is something fascinating to monitor as it seems like Philadelphia is locked in on an area they are looking to upgrade around the trade deadline.