By: Tim Kelly, Managing Editor 
If the past five games have shown the Philadelphia Phillies anything, it's that they are at least a few hitters away from being able to compete with some of the league's best offensive teams.
Many of those hitters — J.P. Crawford, Nick Williams, Dylan Cozens — will eventually play for the Phillies, though they are currently in the team's minor league system. If the team wanted to attempt to circumvent their rise to contention, one league scout told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that he believes the Phillies are among the teams that are a good fit for Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun:
“He’s the hot name out there,” said one National League scout. Braun is having an outstanding year, seemingly all the way back from PED disgrace and the subsequent reduction of his numbers. Which team could benefit from the righthanded, middle-of-the-order bat? The scout thought the Astros, Cardinals, Red Sox, Phillies, Mets, Giants, and White Sox were good fits. Braun is in the first year of a five-year, $105 million extension.''
It's worth pointing out, all indications are that the Phillies will not trade a slew of prospects for a veteran like Braun. It's certainly worth checking in on Braun, but the price for Braun will likely be too high for the Phillies interest, especially if a handful of contenders are bidding for his services.
That aside, if the Phillies were somehow able to land Braun, he would be a good fit with the team. Braun not only would immediately be the best hitter on the team, but he would allow players such as Maikel Franco to see more pitches, making the lineup stronger as a whole.
Braun would come with the baggage of his past PED use and subsequent series of unethical responses, though he is a few years removed from that now. And as Cafardo noted, he's in the midst of a contract that is very affordable, and he's still just 32. The timing isn't right for the Phillies to trade prospects for a piece like Braun, though if any attainable big-name player in the league would be a fit with the team, he would seem to be it.
