Philadelphia Phillies Urged To Pursue Superstar Slugger This Offseason

The Philadelphia Phillies were recently urged to start trade talks for one of the best young sluggers in MLB.

May 26, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker (30) runs the bases after hitting a two run home run against the Oakland Athletics during the fourth inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies were one of the teams considered to be interested in traded for one of the top sluggers at the MLB trade deadline, and are urged to continue that pursuit into the offseason.

Houston Astros superstar Kyle Tucker is going to be entering the last year of team control next season and a recent development could make him available for trade in the winter.

Zach Pressnell of FanSided suggested the Phillies should be right back to the top of the list of teams contacting the Astros about Tucker once this year ends.

The Houston superstar met an unfortunate hitch in his season early in June when he took a foul ball off the shin. While it was expected to keep him out for just a couple of weeks, he's still not back three months later.

Chandler Rome of The Athletic reported there was a misdiagnosis when the injury happened that has prolonged his return to the lineup. What was initially believed to be a bone bruise, turned out to be a small fracture.

This type of mistake could hurt the Astros' relationship with the 27-year-old and lead to him becoming open for trade once the offseason comes, rather than the team losing him for nothing in the following winter when he becomes a free agent.

Before injuring his shin, he was in the middle of a fantastic campaign that had him up in MVP conversations.

Through 60 games, he was sitting with a slash line of .266/.396/.584 and an impressive 19 home runs and 40 RBI. He was on-pace to smash his career high of 30 homers, which he has reached twice.

He's made three straight All-Star Games and continues to get better at the plate. He makes perfect sense for a contending team looking to go all-in when boosting their outfield.

Philadelphia wanted to add an impact bat in their outfield ahead of this past trade deadline, and even though they brought in Austin Hays, that wasn't the blockbuster move many had expected them to make.

The Phillies outfield has been around or below the league average for much of this year while the team itself has put together a sub-.500 record in the second half of the season.

If they fail to capture a World Series title, adding another slugger their should become a priority.

It'll take a hefty asset package, but Philadelphia has shown no qualms about trading away prospects and don't have many impact bats coming up throught their pipeline any time soon.