Phillies Trade Rumors: Philadelphia Would Be Wise to Sell Shane Victorino

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark recently wrote that the Philadelphia Phillies could “probably” move Shane Victorino before the deadline, and that would be the wisest move for them to make.

Stark lists the Dogers, Reds and Pirates as teams that could acquire Victorino, but in all honestly the Phils should just get what they can and move on from the aging outfielder.

While 31 years old in the MLB is not the same as being 31 in the NFL or NHL, it’s still the wrong side of 30 with the Phillies needing to bring young blood into an aging team.

Between Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Victorino and even Roy Halladay, it’s almost as if Philadelphia didn’t really get any younger after they cut ties with Jamie Moyer awhile back. 

Victorino is hitting a career-low .256 so far in 2012 and hasn’t shown signs of improving with his .262 mark in July.

The odd thing is that his home run and RBI totals are on pace to finish where they usually do, with a mid-high teens number in dingers with an RBI total in the 60s. That being said, his name value is worth plenty to teams like the Dodgers and Pirates trying to grab hold of a playoff spot and the Phils would be smart to take from either team’s farm system.

The Dodgers home-grown players include Andre Either, Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw. The Pirates, with a few exceptions, were built from their farm system. Philadelphia should jump at the chance to move Victorino and dip their hands into one of these teams’ minor league squads.

Whether Philly fans want to face the facts or not, the team isn’t making the playoffs this year even with the added wild card spot for each division. Injuries to Utley, Howard and Halladay have proven too much for this team, which has had to claw for every win in 2012.

This team hasn’t cracked a top 15 power ranking by ESPN standards since Week 9 of the season and is 15.5 games behind the NL East-leading Washington Nationals. The Phils are also 11.5 games behind in the NL wild card race.

Victorino has been a valued part of Phildelphia’s recent years of success, but the time has come to part ways and have a changing of the guard. The team needs to bring in some new, young talent and that means having to make some tough decisions regarding long-time players.

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