Philadelphia Phillies fans will get an up-close look at a potential trade target next weekend when the Oakland Athletics visit Citizens Bank Park in the final series before the All-Star Break.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Phillies are “keeping a close on eye on” A’s slugger Brent Rooker as the July 30 trade deadline approaches.
Rooker, 29, is hitting .277 with 18 home runs, 54 RBIs and an .891 OPS this season for Oakland. He was the lone All-Star representative for the A’s a year ago, and there’s a very real possibility when the full rosters are announced for the midsummer classic Sunday evening he once again gets the nod.
What’s interesting for the purposes of the Phillies is that Rooker has been the primary DH for the A’s. He played 224 innings in left field a year ago, and has 72 1/3 innings there this season. He also played 216 innings in right field a year ago. With Kyle Schwarber at DH and Nick Castellanos in right field, the Phillies likely would envision Rooker taking over as their primary left fielder if acquired.
Arguably the biggest need for the Phillies is right-handed thump, which Rooker — who homered 30 times a year ago — would provide. But while he would improve their offense, the Phillies would definitely be sacrificing some defense if they acquired Rooker to play left field. Brandon Marsh would move back to center field on close to a full-time basis in that scenario, with Johan Rojas an option to start against left-handed pitching and/or come in as as a late-game defensive replacement with Marsh shifting to left field.
Also worth noting is that Rooker won’t even become eligible for arbitration for the first time until next season, so the Phillies would potentially have Rooker for three years beyond 2024 before he reached free agency. With that amount of control, though, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski likely would have to send a pretty decent return back to Oakland for Rooker.
