Don’t you have to at least make a call?

It is that time of year. You are a contending team and you keep looking at the market like a menu at your local diner, wanting to find something that isn’t there.

So how about a game to offer new blood in the marketplace prior to Monday’s deadline? I do not — I repeat, do not — anticipate any of this happening (sorry aggregators), and I have not heard any of these players are actually available. This is designed for fun and to think about where some organizations are at this moment. But just in case …

Why the Phillies should take the call: Why the Phillies should take the call: Yeah, owner John Middleton and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski are in the star-collecting, not disposing business. But haven’t these sides been in a slow-motion divorce for months now, since Dombrowski publicly said that Harper’s 2025 was “very good” but “not elite,” and Harper seemed to appreciate that as much as 100 mph up and in?