Philadelphia Phillies Trade Rumors: Carlos Quentin Moving to South Philly?

According to Bob Nightingale of USA Today, the Phillies are now scouting Carlos Quentin just in case the White Sox decide to move him.

However, will this type of move ever even be a possibility?

The fact that the Phillies are willing to go over the luxury tax definitely makes it more of a possibility. According to an article on Philly.com, team president David Montgomery said:

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"We do whatever it takes. If there's an opportunity, we'll make adjustments."

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This does seem to indicate that the Phillies are willing to go over the luxury tax level, which would eliminate the salary constraints that have been around any deal this offseason.

Quentin is also under team control until 2012. He could easily play left field, and that means that the Phillies would have that position anchored down for the next year and a half.

Even though the White Sox are not that far out of division, Ken Rosenthal predicts that they might be selling because they want to "trim payroll." With prospect Dayan Viciedo ready in Triple-A to replace Quentin, who is on the books for $5.05 million this season, this is an obvious way to trim payroll.

It seems that he very well may be moving from Chicago, so what is the possibility that he moves to Philadelphia?

It seems as if Quentin is the type of hitter that the Phillies have been looking for all season.

He is a powerful right-handed bat to add to the middle of the lineup.

He has had pretty good success against left-handed pitchers this year by hitting .278 with six home runs in 79 at-bats.

Overall, he has 20 home runs with 62 RBI, so he is definitely capable of packing a punch in the middle of the lineup.

It is still purely speculation if Quentin will even be available on the market.

If he becomes available, his price tag will be pretty high because he is under team control through 2012 and is one of the better hitters that will be available.

However, given that the Phillies have said that they will go over the luxury tax, there is no reason to absolutely rule out Quentin as an option yet.