While we wait to see if the Phillies will end up trading aces Cole Hamels and/or Cliff Lee, it sounds likely that reliever Antonio Bastardo will be moved before July 31.
Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports that at least a handful of teams are interested in Bastardo and have been scouting the left-hander. Last night manager Ryne Sandberg was full of praise for the setup man when speaking to the media, to the point Salisbury noted that “it almost sounded like a sales pitch” to suitors.
Durability and control have been issues for Bastardo over the years, but there’s no denying his ability to dominate. He has a 3.58 ERA and 296 strikeouts in 239 career innings, including a 3.27 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 44 innings this season.
Bastardo is also under team control for 2015 via arbitration, so the Phillies should be able to get more value for him than a typical two-month rental.
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