By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Though it is a little early for the hot stove to be heating up, the Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly beginning to lay the groundwork for a possible July trade.
According to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe, the team has been open about their willingness to begin discussing a potential Jeremy Hellickson trade:
Phillies personnel have made it known they’ll listen on Hellickson in trade talks. Philadelphia re-signed Hellickson (4-1, 3.49 ERA) with the idea of using him to acquire more prospects before the trading deadline.
Hellickson, 30, returned to the Phillies this past offseason after accepting the club's $17.2 million qualifying offer. As part of the league's new CBA, the Phillies can't place a qualifying offer on Hellickson again this offseason. So if he left in free-agency, the team wouldn't get any compensation for him. That dramatically increases the likelihood that general manager Matt Klentak will move him before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Through his first seven starts of the 2017 season, Hellickson is 4-1 with a 3.49 ERA. Those traditional stats have caused some — myself included — to wonder if it wouldn't make sense for the Phillies to attempt to sign Hellickson to a long-term deal to keep his stability in a young rotation. However, as our Jason Ferrie pointed out yesterday, his advanced metrics aren't pretty thus far, and suggest that his traditional statistics may begin to regress.
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If his advanced statistics begin to line up more with his traditional ones, the Phillies will probably at least consider offering Hellickson an extension. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported earlier this month that Hellickson would be open to the idea of remaining with the Phillies long-term. But because of the fact that the team can't place a qualifying offer on him after the season, any potential extension would have to be completed before the trade deadline. If one isn't done, the Phillies would have to move Hellickson to avoid having him walk this offseason for nothing.
As they did with Cole Hamels in 2012, the Phillies could both talk to Hellickson's agent, Scott Boras, about an extension and talk to potential trade suitors. If they reach an extension, then that settles that. If not, the Phillies will be able to get a return for Hellickson, who has been their Opening Day starter in consecutive seasons.
