Japanese Cubs slugger would fix all of Phillies issues at trade deadline

Japanese Cubs slugger would fix all of Phillies issues at trade deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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More teams than not are going to be sellers, it seems, right now around Major League Baseball, and that should have a great impact on the Philadelphia Phillies. If the Phillies do what’s necessary at the deadline, there are a lot of reasons to believe that certain players could make a big-time impact for them when it matters most. 

The Phillies have been in the market for a right-handed hitting outfielder over the past few years, and if the Chicago Cubs become sellers, there might be one player in particular who could come in and make a bigger impact than most others.

That player is none other than Seiya Suzuki, a right-handed hitting outfielder who has hit 96 home runs over four and a half years in his Major League Baseball career and has posted a career 128 OPS+.

“In theory, Seiya Suzuki should have more value than Ian Happ, but I’m just not sure I buy that at the moment. Suzuki looks generally lost at the plate this year, especially in key/big moments. In fact, he’s been one of the least clutch players in baseball,” Michael Cerami wrote.

The question with Suzuki is whether the Phillies are content with putting a below-average outfielder in right field. Relatively speaking, Suzuki isn’t the worst defender baseball has ever seen, but he’s definitely not great, and that could become a problem. 

The bigger question here for the Phillies is whether they’re willing to move the necessary package to land him. Suzuki should be sought after, and that might be a problem.

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