By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Many Philadelphia Phillies fans want the team to make a run at Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton this offseason. Reports continue to suggest that one of his teammates may be a more likely target.
In a piece breaking down potential suitors for Stanton, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports poured cold water on the idea of the Phillies being a likely fit for Stanton, in part because they seem as or more interested in Christian Yelich:
They seem to have money to burn, thanks to a huge TV deal and loyal fan base. They also have some serious upper-tier prospects to form a deal. Plus, they seem to be itching to spend. But they also may be a tough one to get an approval from Stanton, as they appear headed for at least one more year of rebuilding and are no closer to Stanton’s native West Coast. There is also some belief they’d like just as much Christian Yelich, whom they are said to love.
Though Bob Nightengale of USA Today recently reported that the Phillies did inform the Marlins of their interest in Stanton, Heyman's report is in line with what we've heard regarding the two. The Phillies, as they should, seem to be doing their homework on Stanton, who could very well be traded when the Marlins new ownership group takes over this offseason. It's unclear if it came to a bidding war whether the Phillies would be serious suitors for the potential National League MVP.
As for Yelich, the Phillies interest has never seemed to waiver. The Marlins, in the midst of the aforementioned ownership change, were never going to trade Yelich this summer, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported in July that the Phillies had been 'vocal' about their desire to land the 25-year-old. He even noted that the Phillies were willing to take back bad contracts to complete a deal. At that time, despite internal discussions, Rosenthal said that the Phillies had not also made any interest in Stanton known.
Of course, the entire discussion was initially ignited by a June report from Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe which suggested that the Phillies had internally considered a mega-trade in which they would target both Stanton and Yelich. That seemed unlikely then, and seems especially unlikely now that Stanton has had the best year of his career and has turned his contract from universally looking negative to looking affordable in the minds of some. It's hard to imagine the haul that it would take to land the duo in a trade now.
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Yelich entered the evening slashing .287/.370/.447 with 16 home runs and 71 RBIs. He's closing in on his third four-win season in the last four seasons (per FanGraphs), and at 25, seemingly isn't at his ceiling yet. He also can play all three outfield positions, which seems to be something that general manager Matt Klentak (correctly) values. On top of all of that, Yelich is under contract through 2022 at an extremely team-friendly rate.
It is fair to wonder if trading for an outfielder makes sense for the Phillies. With Yelich's age and team-friendly contract, obtaining him wouldn't be cheap. The Phillies do have a ton of pitching depth in the lower levels of their minor league system, but it's fair to wonder if trading that for a pitcher makes sense for a team that's seemingly deep in outfielders and thin on pitching. Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams are all major leaguers that could potentially go back to the Marlins in a trade for Yelich, though they probably wouldn't be the headliners in a trade. 2017 first-round pick Adam Haseley could potentially be of interest, in theory, while 2016 No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak had a disappointing 2017 season.
For the Phillies, it may make sense to hold onto their pitching prospects. Those prospects will hopefully either turn into productive major leaguers or be part of a trade for a productive major league pitching. In terms of the outfield, the team has a pretty good group at the major leagues and the upper levels of their farm system. If they feel the need to add a star to their outfield, Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, Charlie Blackmon and Adam Jones are among those who can become free-agents after the 2018 season.
