Phillies lefty Cliff Lee is "eminently available," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

But what will it take to get him and who is the current front-runner?  The Red Sox are the biggest player in the Lee derby, writes Heyman.

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that "every indication" says the Phillies won't settle for anything less than prospect infielder Xander Bogaerts as the center piece in a trade with the Red Sox involving Cliff Lee.

Meanwhile, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Phillies are planning to call up prospect third baseman Cody Asche, presumably that means that Michael Young could be traded by the end of today.  Asche "should hit enough to have a regular big league role," wrote Baseball America before the season.

Asche, 23, is batting .295/.352/.485 with 15 home runs, 68 RBI and 11 stolen bases over 104 games this season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The Phillies are doing their best to trade Young, who according to reports will only trade his no-trade clause to head back to Texas and play with the Rangers.  Either way, Asche should get the majority of the playing time at third base regardless of whether a deal is ultimately reached.

What other Phillies could be on the move?

The Phillies are willing to listen to offers on any players except Domonic Brown, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. That includes Lee, though general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.'s preference is to hang onto him, and he'd need to be blown away to move his ace left-hander.

 

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