Phillies Rumors: Club ‘floated’ Herrera on trade market prior to extension

By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Philadelphia Phillies announced a five-year extension with Odubel Herrera this week — one that also included club-friendly options for 2022 and 2023 — but reportedly checked in on what Herrera's value on the trade market was prior to the new deal. 

According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, general manager Matt Klentak gauged the value of the soon-to-be 25-year-old on numerous occasions over the past six months:

It is true that the Phillies floated him on the trade market last summer and even earlier this offseason, but it was more of a challenge trade according to sources from two teams who spoke to the Phillies. They were not motivated to trade Herrera, unless another team made an overwhelming offer. (Think Ken Giles and Houston.)

Gelb is not the first person to report this, as MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan noted during the MLB Winter Meetings earlier this month that there was a belief from some around the league that the Phillies could be open to trading Herrera if the right trade presented itself. Frankly, that report was less surprising than the initial news of an extension, because it was a fairly common sentiment last summer to wonder if the Phillies would trade Herrera this offseason. As it turns out, they may have even heard some offers for him at that time. 

It should be comforting to Phillies fans to see how Klentak operated in this situation. He didn't altogether not consider moving Herrera, but when he wasn't blown away on an offer for one of the team's best young players, he signed him to an extremely team-friendly extension that could give the Phillies up to three more years of team control. 

As Gelb noted in his piece and I also discussed on Friday, the extension also makes Herrera a more intriguing trade piece to other teams, should the Phillies decide to revisit his trade candidacy down the road. If not, having Herrera under control for a few more seasons opens the door for the team to potentially complete a trade with some of their other organizational outfield talent.