Phillies Expressed Interest In Yankees Reliever Joba Chamberlain

Apparently short on relievers with 5.75 ERAs, the Phillies have expressed interest in Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain, reports Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.   Feinsand indicated that Michael Young could be the one dealt.  A Young-for-Chamberlain deal would be a matter of dumping salary.

National League sources say the Phillies are amenable to dealing Michael Young and have expressed interest in Joba Chamberlain, a salary-dump swap that would save Philadelphia roughly $7 million. The sources also say Carlos Ruiz can be had before the deadline, too.

Of course, Feinsand erroneously says the deal would save the Phillies $7 million, when they are paying just $6 million of Young's salary for the whole year, with the Texas Rangers paying the rest.   The Phillies may be more interested in just having a reliever – any reliever with experience – enable them to avoid using their young relief corps so much.   Trading Carlos Ruiz would require actual prospects.

Interestingly, the Yankees drafted Chamberlain with the second round draft pick they recieved from the Phillies in compensation for the Phillies signing reliever Tom Gordon.