By: Tim Kelly, Managing Editor 
With just over a month until the MLB's non-waiver trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies rumor-mill may be beginning to spin.
According to Ryan Lawrence of Philly Voice, the Phillies top scout, Charley Kerfeld, is scouting this evening's New York Yankees-Texas Rangers matchup.
Phillies special assistant to GM/top scout Charley Kerfeld at Yankee Stadium. Probably scouting tonight's Rangers starter: Cole Hamels.
— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) June 28, 2016
Lawrence would go on to note for those that didn't catch on that the second part of this tweet was in fact a joke. Kerfeld told Lawrence that he didn't know Hamels was pitching tonight, though there's sure to be a few late night callers to either of the city's sports-talk radio stations that wants to discuss the Phillies attempt to re-acquire Cole Hamels.
All jokes aside, when a team sends their top scout to watch a game at this time of year, it's done so with a purpose.
The Yankees were 37-38 entering tonight's matchup, making them a fringe contender at best. That said, it's still early enough in the season that they could hypothetically climb back into the race. If they were able to do that, Jeremy Hellickson would seemingly be an upgrade over Nathan Eovaldi, Ivan Nova or Michael Pineda, at least based on this year's numbers, which is perhaps an indication of how unlikely the Yankees are to be buyers at this time next month.
The Rangers, on the other hand, entered the night with the most wins in the MLB, meaning they are very likely to make an addition at some point before the August 1 trade deadline. Their bullpen is very strong, though with the emphasis on having numerous elite options at the back end of the bullpen, the Rangers very well could be interested in Jeanmar Gomez or David Hernandez, though in both cases it would be in a seventh or eighth inning role, not as a closer. Carlos Ruiz or Cameron Rupp both could make sense for the Rangers as well, especially if they were looking to make a small upgrade at catcher without going all in for someone like Jonathan Lucroy of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Though most trades of veterans end in the team selling (the Phillies in this case) acquiring a minor league player, it's possible that if the Phillies sold off a player like Ruiz, they could look to get a bullpen piece that they believe has upside that could help them moving forward and/or turn into a piece to move at this time next year.
It's also possible that the Phillies, who have plenty of money to work with, could look to make an addition that they believe would benefit them in the future, even if they aren't necessarily going to be buyers. As they look to find a double-play partner for J.P. Crawford in the future, it's possible that the Phillies could show interest in someone like Jurickson Profar before the trade deadline.
