Phillies Trade Rumors: Madison Bumgarner, Zack Greinke, Matt Boyd Interest PHI

The Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly looking to bolster their starting pitching ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. 

According to NBC Sports' Jim Salisbury, the Phillies have spoken to a handful of teams about the possibility of a deal for a starting pitcher in addition to being "in talks" to sign Drew Smyly as a free agent: 

"It is well known that the Phillies are in the market for starting pitching. They have spoken to the Texas Rangers about Mike Minor, the Detroit Tigers about Matthew Boyd and the San Francisco Giants about Madison Bumgarner. They have also investigated the possibility of trading for Zack Greinke, Arizona’s high-priced right-hander.

"In addition to inquiring about and gauging what it would take to get a top starter—the price is high and the Phils don't want to give up the multiples of top prospects that other clubs are asking for—the Phils have also considered marginal upgrades like Andrew Cashner, who was traded from Baltimore to Boston, and Homer Bailey, who went from Kansas City to Oakland."

Smyly exercised his release clause to opt out of his minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers earlier Thursday, which makes the 30-year-old starter a free agent. 

Should Smyly sign with the Phillies, he would fall under the marginal upgrade category. In nine starts for the Texas Rangers this season, Smyly posted a 1-5 record and 8.42 ERA before the club designated him for assignment last month. 

The allure of adding aces such as Bumgarner, Boyd, Minor and Greinke speaks for itself. Of those four, Minor holds the best ERA at 2.73. Greinke, the 2009 Cy Young Award winner, is slightly behind Minor with a 2.95 ERA. 

Boyd is enjoying the best season of his career with the 29-62 Tigers, who are expected to be sellers at the deadline. Boyd ranks fourth behind Gerrit Cole, Chris Sale and Max Scherzer with 12.00 strikeouts per nine innings through 19 starts, according to FanGraphs.

While Bumgarner is a four-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion as well as a former World Series MVP, the 29-year-old is having a relatively down season at 5-7 with a 3.86 ERA for the 47-49 Giants.

Prior to Salisbury's report, MLB Network's Jon Morosi linked Minor to the Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers as two teams "showing interest" as the 31-year-old southpaw being dealt has become "increasingly likely."

Philadelphia's starting rotation ranked 21st in MLB with a 6.04 defensive wins above replacement mark and 19th in the league with a 4.76 ERA as of Thursday, according to Baseball Reference and ESPN. Among the Phillies' five starters, ace Aaron Nola is the only one with an ERA below 4.00 at 3.77. 

Entering Thursday night's league action, the 50-47 Phillies are eight games back in the National League East but are tied with the Brewers for the second NL wild-card slot.