According to the great Jayson Stark of The Athletic, The Philadelphia Phillies are placing more emphasis on their pursuit of a playoff-caliber starter.
Tyler Mahle and Noah Syndergaard are explicitly mentioned within the context of Stark's tweet, but there is reason to believe the Phillies could also look at arms like the Marlins' Pablo Lopez, Giants' Carlos Rodon, Red Sox' Nathan Eovaldi, and more of the potential frontline arms prior to the August 2 deadline.
Any of the aforementioned arms would be a big get for the Phillies, shoring up their rotation for what looks to be a playoff push. Plus, in Tyler Mahle's case, they would be able to reunite him with his former assistant pitching coach from Cincinnati in Caleb Cotham.
Stark also went on to detail what has become a relatively public stance for the Phillies of late: they're not looking to move their prized prospects.
It is hard to imagine the Phillies could get a deal done for any major starter with control without the inclusion of at least one of these names, but one can never truly know how other teams value certain prospects within a given system.
The trade deadline is just two days away. It will be fascinating to see how things play out for a Phillies team which is looking for its first playoff berth in over a decade.
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