By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
In a matter of formality, it appears that the Philadelphia Phillies are indeed interested in a reunion with a former slugger.
As Sports Talk Philly's Frank Klose has suggested earlier this offseason, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports says that the Phillies have shown interest in free-agent outfielder/first baseman Brandon Moss:
Philly and Toronto have shown interest in Brandon Moss, who fell off in the second half (his decline was even steeper than Saunders’, with a disastrous final month in St. Louis). Overall, though, he hit 28 home runs.
Moss, 33, slashed .225/.300/.484 with 28 home runs and 67 RBIs. Between 2013 and 2014, which Moss spent with the Oakland Athletics, he hit 55 home runs, while driving in 168 runs. Even coming off of a down year, Moss would seemingly give the Phillies, who drastically lack power, at worst the production that Ryan Howard gave them in 2016, but probably even better, with the flexibility to also play the outfield.
Of course, Moss was in the Phillies organization for a short time, playing five games for the club in 2011. Moss had an extremely solid season in Triple-A that year with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, batting .273 while hitting 23 home runs and driving in 80 runs. Instead of promoting him prior to the very end of the season, the Phillies acquired John Bowker and never gave Moss much of a chance at the big league level. After the 2011 season, Moss joined the Athletics organization and eventually became an All-Star for the team, while the Phillies fell into what has turned into a half decade run of non-winning seasons.
If the Phillies do sign Moss, he likely wouldn't be a starter for the full season, but would have value as a fourth outfielder or someone that could also play first base. The Phillies want to give Tommy Joseph a chance to be their everyday first baseman in 2016 — just like they want their young outfielders to play as much as possible — but Moss' power will find its way into the lineup at least a few times a week in all likelihood. The possibility also exists that if none of the trio of Roman Quinn, Aaron Altherr and Tyler Goeddel stands out in Spring Training, Moss could open the season as the team's starting rightfielder, if the Phillies complete what would likely be a one-year deal.
