Philadelphia Phillies: Why They Shouldn't Make a Trade Before the Deadline

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The baseball trade deadline is fast approaching, and everyone seems to think the Phillies are going to make a big move.

It seems everyone from Carlos Beltran to Heath Bell to B.J. Upton has been linked to be coming to Philadelphia.

My question is "Why?" The best thing the Phillies can do right now is to stand pat with their roster and do nothing, and here are five reasons why.

5. The Phillies Have a Huge Playoff Lead

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They are currently six games ahead of the Braves for the division and have a 10-game lead overall for a playoff spot.

They even have a two-game lead over the Red Sox for the best major league record. There is no pressure for this team to make a move right now. They don't need anything to get them over the hump or to solidify that they are World Series contenders. This team is proving that it is fine the way it is.

4. Don't Be so Quick to Give Up on Domonic Brown

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In the last 30 games Brown is hitting .313 (that's only 12 points lower than Carlos Beltran) and has the potential to be a 30-30 player for years to come.

Trading him for a rent-a-player for this year smells like a Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson type trade, and ask any Red Sox fan how they feel about that!

Any deal that happens will either involve replacing Brown in the outfield on a permanent basis, or at least for the rest of this year or shipping him or Vance Worley somewhere else.

Which brings me to my next point...

3. Vance Worley Is Amazing and Should Be Untouchable

Vance Worley after his first complete game
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Let's just look at the numbers—he is 7-1 with a 2.02 ERA and opponents are just hitting .199 against him.

But let's go a little deeper. Vance has started 11 games, and the Phillies have gone 9-2 in those games. He has only given up three home runs all year and 19 runs.

Most people look at him as a solid third starter for a team, but I think he has the potential to be an ace.

Why should the team give up a young pitcher who has ace-like potential when we know Roy Oswalt won't be back next year? Not to mention he can help the team this year on its way to a championship.

2. Raul Ibanez Is On Fire

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Raul Ibanez was a major issue at the beginning of the year when it came to our offense.

However, he has really stepped it up. Although he only has a .247 batting average for the year, look at his last 30 games.

He has a .294 batting average, 22 RBI and six home runs. (By comparison, Hunter Pence is only batting .286 with 10 RBI and two home runs.)

Raul also leads the team in RBI in this 30-game stretch, and there are five other players with double-digit RBI totals in the past 30 games as well, which leads me to my final point....

1. The Phillies Offense Has Finally Woken Up!

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The Phillies have averaged 5.5 runs per game in their past 30 games. With the pitching staff they have, that is MORE than enough to get wins.

The bench of Michael Martinez, John Mayberry and Wilson Valdez has been doing superb. Antonio Bastardo and Ryan Madson have been doing great on the back end, and we have Brad Lidge and Jose Contreras coming off of injuries.

It would be nice to get a player like Heath Bell, but not at the expense of giving up the bench, Vance Worley or Domonic Brown. Overall, the Phillies have the firepower to get to and win the World Series...not just for this year, but for years to come.