The Philadelphia Phillies won the 2011 National League Pennant after signing Cliff Lee in the offseason, and they are scheduled to face the Boston Red Sox in the World Series this year. So don't worry about watching the rest of the regular season, it was all settled in the offseason.
MLB Trade Rumors: Phillies Interested In Heath Bell, Mike Adams
Before the Phillies get there, though, they might want to stock up on some bullpen help. ESPN's Buster Olney thinks they're in on some of the members of the Padres' relief corps:
Phillies are in play for Heath Bell or Mike Adams or Chad Qualls. They have been considered frontrunner to land a SD reliever.
Here’s the trio, in order of how much it would cost in prospects, from “top prospects” to “organizational guy”:
Mike Adams
Oh, he's not the closer, but he'll cost more in prospects because a) he's only making around $2 million this year, b) he is still under team control for 2012, and c) the last time he allowed an earned run, it was on a bloop double to Ruben Sierra. The Padres have already said they'll need a top prospect for Adams.
Heath Bell
He's clearly the best closer on the market -- heck, he might be the best closer in baseball, including Mariano Rivera. He'll be a free agent after this season, and he's making $7.5 million this season, so about $3 million of that would be the Phillies' responsibility.
Chad Qualls
Qualls is a reclamation project that worked out, as he has a 2.60 ERA this season for the Padres. He was so bad for the Diamondbacks last year, thought, that he's probably still allowing earned runs for them. If the Padres could get a b-list prospect for him, they'd probably be thrilled.
If the Phillies want to part with a prospect like Jarred Cosart or Jonathan Singleton, the Padres will listen. If they don’t want to part with someone like that, the Qualls route should be a lot cheaper.
Of course, Qualls isn’t nearly as good. Adams and Bell are the best 1-2 bullpen punch in baseball, and both of them are probably top-five relievers in all of baseball. If the Phillies want them, they’ll have to load prospects onto an ark, two by two.
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