Report – Phillies Continue to Look at Giles Market, Astros, Tigers Interested
With the Phillies seemingly not expected to compete for a pennant in 2016, a closer isn't a necessity.
According to a report, the Phillies continue to monitor and "assess" a trade market for Ken Giles.Ken Rosenthal, FOX Sports, mentions that both the Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers are interested in a trade for Giles.
It seems that a substantial market has been set for a reliable closer and Giles fits that label.
Earlier in the offseason, the Boston Red Sox landed Craig Kimbrel, but gave up four prospects to do so. This week, the Tigers gave a nice package to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for veteran closer Francisco Rodriguez.
While Giles is not as experienced as the two aforementioned closers, he is both younger and cheaper, as Rosenthal points out. Giles, 25, only made $519,000 this season and is under team control until 2020 with arbitration starting in 2017.
So it seems that the Phillies are in a prime position with their stance on Giles. He is young and cheap enough to keep around during the rebuild, but are in position to move him if a team blows them away with a trade offer.
The Winter Meetings begin on December 7th in Nashville, TN.
(MLB writer Steve Gardener from USA Today joined RIch Q on the Warm-Up)
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