By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Despite adding numerous offensive bats and pitching arms over the past few weeks — such as catcher Wilson Ramos, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, first baseman Justin Bour, along with southpaws Aaron Loup and Luis Avilan — the Philadelphia Phillies are clearly committed to improve their club as they look to clinch their first postseason spot in seven seasons.
The Phillies are not quite finished in adding to their roster ahead of the August 31 postseason eligibility deadline, however, as according to The Athletics's Ken Rosenthal, the club has claimed New York Mets outfielder Jose Bautista on revocable trade waivers.
The Phillies and Mets are now discussing a deal, and "would need to complete it" by Tuesday, according to Rosenthal. The Mets, per Fancred's Jon Heyman, are telling Phillies that Bautista "isn't just a giveaway," "they won't let him go for nothing," and that they "want a prospect back for him." A deal is said to be "likely," per SNY's Andy Martino.
"We have been fairly aggressive this month in claiming players on waivers. One of those claims led to a trade for Justin Bour a couple of weeks ago," Phillies Vice President and General Manager Matt Klentak told reporters when asked of the claim.
"Most of our claims have not led to any trades happening. I can't address any player specifically by name, by league rules. I think we have to keep in mind, we've added five players in the last few weeks that we feel have shored up our most pressing needs. We're very cognizant at the fact that August 31 is the postseason roster deadline. If there's anything else to do, we need to do it by Friday. At this stage, it'd be tough to handicap whether that's likely or not."
Mets right fielder Jose Bautista holding up the ‘L’ to a heckling #Phillies fan in the 2nd of Game 2. pic.twitter.com/cqrqrugNIb
— Matt Rappa (@mattrappasports) August 17, 2018
Bautista, 37, is slashing .199/.340/.368 this season with 14 doubles, 11 home runs and 42 RBI in 94 games. The six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger Award winner slashed .333/.455/.556 with 8 RBI in the recent 5-game series against the Phillies. Seven of the RBI came in the first game of August 16's single-admission doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park, a career-high mark.
The Phillies "checked in" on Bautista a day prior to the July 31 non-waiver deadline, but nothing materialized past those discussions.
If dealt to the Phillies, Bautista would be playing with his third National League East club this season, having fielded 12 games for the Atlanta Braves and 82 for the Mets. The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, native played 10 seasons with the Blue Jays from 2008-2017, and logged six home runs and 16 RBI in 20 postseason appearances from 2015-2016.
