By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Next month's July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is fast approaching. With the Philadelphia Phillies just a 1/2 game out of one of the National League's five postseason spots — with 86 games to go — the notion of acquiring assets to improve the club has become more validated for Vice President and General Manager Matt Klentak.
Trades have already begun to occur around the league, most notably the Kansas City Royals sending outfielder Jon Jay and reliever Kelvin Herrera to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Washington Nationals on June 6 and June 18, respectively.
"Those calls have started with a variety of teams. I suspect we're not alone in that department. I suspect that most teams have been doing that," Klentak said Tuesday morning on SiriusXM's "GM & Co-Mish" show. "If we think broadly about this, there's a reason we have deadlines in this game. … More than likely, the flurry of activity will not come until the end of July."
Klentak cited "perspective" as the "most important dynamic" for the Phillies and how they approach the trade deadline.
"I think just making sure whatever we do in the next month or so maintains a proper balance," Klentak said. "This is the first time in many years that the Phillies have been competitive for the first part of the year heading into July and the trade deadline. We hope it's the first of many and we don't want to do anything that's going to compromise both our short- and long-term ability to contend."
Klentak said the Phillies front office will do "everything" it can to help the Phillies "in ways that make sense," in the best interest of balancing both the short- and long-term.
"What that means in the next month, we shall see," the Phillies general manager said.
"I know we'll be working very hard to see what opportunities exist to make our club better."
