Potential Philadelphia Phillies Trade Target

The Philadelphia Phillies are doing just fine this season at 41-29 on the year, 2.5 games up in the wild-card standings, and 5.5 back of the New York Mets in the NL East race. That said, the National League is highly competitive this year, and the first team that falters could be watching games in October instead of playing in them.

One area that the Phillies could use help is in left field, where Max Kepler has received most of his playing time. The 32-year-old signed with the Phillies during the off-season, and while he's had a decent season with seven home runs and 24 RBI in 63 games played, he also holds an 89 wRC+ (100 is league average).

Philadelphia could stand an upgrade at the position, and this could be an area of focus at the upcoming trade deadline.

Now, it's unclear whether this deal would be possible, given that the clubs are divisional rivals, but the Miami Marlins have a pretty solid left fielder of their own right now, and are one of the few known teams that will be selling at the deadline. We're talking about former Stanford baseball product Kyle Stowers, who is setting himself up to be an All Star for the Marlins this season.

While a trade may be tricky, Stowers is no J.T. Realmuto, and that seemed to work out fine in the past. Of course, that was different front office personnel pulling off that deal.

The 27-year-old is batting .276 with a .344 OBP, has ten home runs and 33 RBI, and has accrued a wRC+ of 123. This is compared to Kepler's .211 average with a .296 on-base. While the surface level stats seem fairly close, Stowers is putting up his production in a Miami offense that ranks No. 23 in baseball by wRC+ with a 93. That's an entire offense (aside from Stowers) of Max Keplers.

The Phillies offense ranks No. 11 overall with a 105. Stowers' counting stats would surely increase in that lineup, and he'd also make it a whole lot deeper.

Still, Stowers does strike out a bit, with his K rate sitting at 29%, which puts him in the 8th percentile across baseball. His defense is also a little below league average, with the left-hander putting up -2 Outs Above Average in left field. Still, his Baseball Savant page has tons of red filling it, including a barrel rate that sits in the 97th percentile, and his bat speed which sits in the 90th.

The added bonus in acquiring Stowers would be that he's still going to be pre-arb next season, which would mean another year of Major League minimum salary for Philadelphia, who's currently running a payroll close to $300 million. That also means that Stowers wouldn't hit free agency until after the 2029 campaign.

While Stowers could just be off to a hot start, there are some players that seem to take off once they receive consistent playing time, like Athletics slugger Brent Rooker. He bounced around, up and down between the big leagues and the minors, before getting a shot in Oakland on a waiver claim. Last year he was one of the best hitters in baseball.

While that may be the pie in the sky hope for an acquiring team, Stowers isn't going to cost a ton financially in the next couple of years, which could make him an excellent fit for the Phillies. In addition, his lack of a track record should also limit the return that's asked for, too.

While planning for the long-term is all well and good, the Phillies are playing for this season, and this season, former Cardinal Kyle Stowers has been terrific. He could also be a piece that helps get the Phillies get to the promised land.