Phillies Rumors: Jeremy Hellickson to Marlins trade fell through last summer

By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Miami Marlins were long rumored to be interested in Philadelphia Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson last summer. As it turns out, they nearly completed a trade for the 29-year-old last July. 

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the multiple trades the team completed with the San Diego Padres involving Colin Rea had a rather large effect on the Phillies:

The commissioner’s office offered the Marlins the opportunity to rescind the deal.

The Marlins, however, were under the impression that the commissioner’s office preferred them to seek a remedy from the Padres, sources said. That, ultimately, was the path the Marlins chose, sending Rea back to the Padres for pitching prospect Luis Castillo, who also was in the original deal.

Had the Marlins chosen to undone the deal, as Rosenthal suggests they would have liked to do, the Fish had agreed in principle to a deal that would have allowed them to acquire Hellickson: 

The Marlins’ Plan B, if they had nixed the deal, was to trade Naylor to the Phillies for right-hander Jeremy Hellickson and market Castillo for a controllable starter before the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline, sources said. The Phillies, sources said, had agreed on Hellickson-for-Naylor, only to lose out when the Marlins kept their deal with the Padres mostly intact, enabling Naylor to remain with San Diego.

The Marlins sent Rea back to San Diego on Aug. 1, which was the non-waiver trade deadline last year. Rosenthal says that by the final day of the trade deadline, the Phillies weren't interested in revisiting the Hellickson trade talks with the Marlins. This is just my opinion, but by that point the Phillies seemed content with keeping Hellickson for the rest of the year, especially since Naylor was no longer with the Marlins. 

By keeping Hellickson, the Phillies got to have him eat innings and work with their young starters for two more months. They also were able to extend a $17.2 million qualifying offer to him, one that he ultimately accepted. Had he not accepted the qualifying offer, the previous CBA would have allowed the Phillies to collect a first round pick unless a team with a protected pick signed him. 

Naylor ended up staying with the Padres, and MLB Pipeline currently ranks him as the organization's fourth best prospect. The 19-year-old former first round pick has tremendous power and would have been worth parting with Hellickson for, even had the Phillies collected a first-round pick in the event that Hellickson would have left in free-agency this offseason. 

Hellickson, as alluded to previously, accepted the Phillies qualifying offer for 2017. He said after accepting the offer that he believes the team can compete in 2017. If he pitches as well as he did against the Marlins a season ago — he posted a 2.01 ERA in six starts against the Marlins and threw a complete game on Sept. 17 — perhaps that will be the case.