The Philadelphia Phillies need some help this summer at the MLB trade deadline, just as Bryce Harper noted after a mid-week loss to the Miami Marlins.
While there are some true superstars on this Phillies team, there are some major issues with the bullpen, the rotation, and the outfield. Dave Dombrowski has to add to this roster for it to truly be competitive with the top teams in baseball.
However, as ESPN's Jeff Passan highlighted, there is one major question, or problem, plaguing the Phillies at the deadline: their shallow farm system will limit what the Phillies can do.
"Biggest question: What will their system allow them to do?" Passan writes. "... It's not so good because there's only so much prospect capital to splash around before you've put yourself into a shell of a farm system like the Padres, for example."
The Phillies' farm system is not nearly as good as many of the top teams' farm systems around Major League Baseball, regardless of whether a club is a rebuilding team or a contender.
Looking at the Phillies prospects, it makes sense why the farm system is weak. Aidan Miller has a back issue and isn't as valuable as he once was. Francisco Renteria is a great 17-year-old prospect, but he's not likely to be dealt either.
That leaves Gage Wood and Ramon Marquez as the lone two top-tier prospects who could actually help land the Phillies a star player at the deadline.
Prospects such as Aroon Escobar, Dante Nori, Cade Obermueller, Moises Chace, Matthew Fisher, and many others could help the Phillies land someone at the deadline, but not likely a high-end player.
Dombrowski could live in the Austin Hays, Harrison Bader tier of trade targets, but adding someone as he did over the years with Brandon Marsh or Jhoan Duran will prove very difficult with this farm system.
Even if they do manage to find a trade that works, the Phillies would risk gutting their farm system, putting the future at risk.
Considering how much help this team needs, the question of how they manage the weaker farm system at the trade deadline is the biggest topic for the Phillies and Dombrowski by a wide margin.
Just about anything is on the table, as it wouldn't be a huge surprise if the Phillies went all-in or if they made just marginal upgrades to conserve the already weak farm system.
