Could Phillies Pull Off Greatest Blockbuster Trade in Franchise History This Season?

During the early portion of Spring Training for the Philadelphia Phillies, their owner fired up the players by making it clear that it's time for them to win the franchise's first World Series title since 2008.

They certainly have the team to do it after making it to the Fall Classic in 2022 and NLCS in 2023.

Getting over the final hurdle is now their ultimate challenge.

John Middleton also talked about how he wouldn't be just satisfied with one championship, he wants to build a dynasty.

To do so, the Phillies could look to pluck a player from a current dynasty that is taking place in the American League.

A couple weeks ago, it was mentioned on this site that current Houston Astros superstar Kyle Tucker had been rumored as a possible trade target of Philadelphia if his current organization feels like they can't re-sign him.

In that article, it was discussed about how Tucker would fit in with the Phillies.

Nick Castellanos is the starting right fielder now, the position that the Astros star currently operates at a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger-winning level.

If Philadelphia were able to pull of this trade to get one of the best young players in the game, it's likely they would have to move Castellanos elsewhere with Whit Merrifield already on the roster.

But, how could the Phillies pull this off?

Zachary Rotman of FanSided, the original architect of this trade idea, thinks one or more of Philadelphia's top prospects out of pitcher Mick Abel, outfielder Justin Crawford and third baseman Aidan Miller would have to be included.

Ideally for the Phillies, they would be able to land Tucker with a package centered around Abel and Crawford.

While Crawford certainly has a ton of potential, their outfield would be set for the future with Brandon Marsh in left, Johan Rojas in center and Tucker in right.

Abel would be painful to give up, but their No. 1 prospect starting pitcher Andrew Painter should be back from Tommy John surgery in 2025.

Keeping Miller in their pipeline so that he could potentially become their third baseman of the future would be a huge win.

Of course, this is all predicated on Houston's willingness to ship out one of their best players before he hits free agency. They easily could hold onto him for the entirety of this year for their World Series push and past next season's trade deadline.

It will be interesting to see what ultimately happens with Tucker, but Philadelphia should keep a close eye on the situation.