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Your potentially-irrelevant trade rumor of the day!
#Pirates see Shane Victorino as perfect fit in their OF, but they are out of mix for trade unless #Phillies drop asking price dramatically.
To be clear, I'm not attacking Rob Biertempfel or anyone else who reports this stuff; I'm sure what Biertempfel is saying is accurate, and there's obviously plenty of interest in stuff like this, which is why I keep posting it while at the same time feeling like a sucker for even paying attention.
Anyway, regarding Victorino, this all makes a lot of sense. You'd think the Phillies would ultimately be willing to part with Victorino at a reasonable price. Victorino will be a free agent at the end of the year and was recently scratched from the Phillies' lineup for being "down on himself." Then again, in an extreme seller's market, you can hardly blame the Phillies for holding out for a while and trying to get a team to do something dumb.
As I've said before, I think Victorino would be a good get for the Bucs if he's available for the right price. Even at his current level of offense, which isn't much, his defense makes him a valuable player, particularly for a team like the Pirates whose recent defensive problems in the outfield have been well-documented here. And if his offensive game were to bounce back as the Pirates headed down the stretch, he'd provide a very nice boost.