Phillies' reported interest in Dee Gordon makes no sense

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The Phillies are in Miami this week, and if recent reports are any indication, some Marlins could soon be in Philly.

Dee Gordon is the latest Marlin connected to the Phillies.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Phillies and Blue Jays have "sincere interest" in Gordon.

Huh???

Gordon would be an extremely odd fit here. The Phillies already have two young second basemen they like in Cesar Hernandez and Scott Kingery. Positions aside, adding another speedy player who lacks power and doesn't walk much is not a great path to upgrading to your offense.

Here's my interpretation of this report: It seems to have come from the Marlins since the news about Gordon is accompanied by 10 teams' interest in reliever David Phelps. Seems like a team trying to drum up interest in its own guys.

The Phillies are interested in Christian Yelich and have reportedly kicked around the idea of assuming Giancarlo Stanton's contract as part of a trade with the Marlins (see story). If Gordon's name came up in one of those conversations, then technically he'd be a player the Phillies have shown interest in.

The Marlins are also probably trying to get out from under Gordon's contract. It's not enormous, but $37 million over the next three seasons for a decent player on a team that constantly reloads and fails to draw fans to the ballpark is a lot. Miami could accomplish that goal by attaching Gordon to a Yelich trade, though it would detract from the prospect package it receives in return.

Yelich talks 'heating up'
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported separately that the Phils' interest in Yelich is "heating up."

"A few weeks back we wrote about the resources the Phillies have to be active in trades or free agency," Cafardo wrote Sunday. "We mentioned the possibility of them taking on Giancarlo Stanton’s contract while also having interest in Christian Yelich. Well, the Yelich part is heating up. There are conflicting stories on whether the Marlins have the OK to trade away major talent as the franchise is being sold, but it looks like the Phillies will pursue this."

Yelich is a good player on a great contract who does a solid job of controlling the strike zone. But he's not exactly a game-changer. He's a .292 lifetime hitter, and last season he hit 21 homers and 38 doubles while slugging .483. But during the rest of his career, he's slugged just .407.

Really, the best thing about Yelich is his contract. He's owed $44.5 million from 2018-21 and has a 2022 club option worth $15 million. But a team with as little proven talent and as much open payroll space as the Phillies should be more concerned with adding the best players possible rather than seeking the most bang for their buck.

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