By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies gave opportunities last season to some of their up and coming young prospects and there's a strong chance we see more of that in 2018. At the tail end of the 2017 campaign, we got to see Rhys Hoskins flourish, Jorge Alfaro get semi-regular playing time and J.P. Crawford finally broke on to the big league roster, playing 23 games between shortstop and third base. With a strong spring training, Crawford could find himself in Philadelphia as soon as Opening Day and organizational teammate Scott Kingery isn't too far behind. The duo of infielders creates a bit of a jam at the big league level with both Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez still in place at shortstop and second base.
There's no surprise that the two veteran Phillies middle infielders are the center of trade talks around the team so far this season. Both of them have garnered interest around the league, with the Padres among a number of teams interested in Galvis and the Angels are still intrigued by Hernandez, but a potential new suitor has surfaced for Cesar in the New York Mets. According to Jon Heyman of FanRagSports.com, the Mets have checked in with numerous teams on available second baseman, including the Phillies about Hernandez.
The Mets have checked in all the possibly-available second baseman – Ian Kinsler, Caeser Hernandez, Dee Gordon, Brian Dozier and Jason Kipnis. Kinsler makes sense as a short-term solution who presumably wouldn’t cost a ton of prospects, but the Mets aren’t currently engaged with Detroit.
Hernandez, 27, served as the Phillies lead-off hitter for the majority of 2017, slashing .294/.373/.421 with 26 doubles, six triples, nine home runs, 85 runs scored, 34 RBIs and 15 steals. Cesar is under team control until after the 2020 season, so with the numbers he's compiled, the Mets would need to put together an attractive package that would likely include a starting pitcher or couple of up and coming prospects.
