MLB NEWS

Chances of Phillies’ deadline overhaul slim

The Sports Xchange

July 31, 2014 at 2:43 am.

NEW YORK — With the trade deadline approaching at 4 p.m. Thursday, the Philadelphia Phillies as they are currently constructed may have taken the field for the last time Wednesday when they were routed by the New York Mets, 11-2, at Citi Field.

But first baseman Ryan Howard — one of the players who may be vulnerable if the last-place Phillies decide to embark upon a rebuilding project — said he wasn’t thinking too much about the trade deadline before, during or after the Phillies’ latest loss.

“The focus is just (Thursday) night’s game,” Howard said after he went 1-for-4 with an RBI double. “It doesn’t happen until it happens, you know what I mean?”

Odds are not much will happen. The Phillies are bogged down with players who will be difficult, if not impossible, to trade. Howard is hitting just .223 with 123 strikeouts in 391 at-bats and doesn’t appear to be a favorite of manager Ryne Sandberg, but he is due $50 million in the next two seasons plus a $10 million buyout in 2017.

Left-hander Cliff Lee, who is scheduled to start against Washington on Thursday, is a playoff-tested ace-caliber pitcher, but he just missed two months with a left elbow strain and is due $25 million in 2015 with a $27.5 million option for 2016 that vests if he throws 200 innings next year or 400 innings combined in 2014-15.

Right-hander Jonathan Papelbon has 25 saves and is as battle-tested in October (1.00 ERA over 27 postseason innings) as any closer now that Mariano Rivera is retired, but Papelbon will make $13 million next year and has a $13 million option for 2016 that vests if he finishes 55 games next year or 100 total games combined in 2014-2015.

Second baseman Jimmy Rollins and shortstop Chase Utley are each 10-5 players, which means they can decline any trade. Left-hander Cole Hamels is in the midst of a sensational season, but the Phillies would likely want a giant haul of prospects in return for a player who is due $90 million guaranteed through 2018.

So come Thursday night, the trading deadline will likely prove to be much ado about nothing — and Howard could be proven correct for adopting a relaxed attitude about it.

“If something happens, then it’s something that you’re faced with,” Howard said. “(It’s) something that you kind of just take it as it comes.”