Nick Piccone
Yesterday, word hit that Chase Utley had cleared waivers and was now eligible to be traded to any team if they could work out a deal with the Phillies.
According to Jim Salisbury, the San Francisco Giants have emerged as somewhat of a favorite to land Utley, probably due to their scouts tracking him all this past weekend. Utley likely wouldn’t be their second baseman down the stretch, but would be a very good insurance policy for the Giants heading into the playoffs.
Utley would also join Hunter Pence in the Giants clubhouse, and I can just imagine seeing them go on a tear together and once again leave us without air in our gut. Utley has looked relatively good in his return to the lineup, showing no signs of an ankle injury that sidelined him for a month and a half. It seems like he’s gotten his swing back – well, at least a better flow to it – than what he was doing before. He has some value, and could land maybe one or two prospects, or draft picks.
Utley still has no-trade rights to put the kibosh on any potential deal, but I’m not sure he wants to do that. It looks like he’s having fun playing with the younger guys in the clubhouse, so I can see there being a reason he wants to stay. But his career is winding down and he has maybe one good chance left to win another World f@(%ing Series.