Chase Utley placed on revocable waivers

Adding a 36-year-old with two balky knees and a recent ankle injury doesn’t sound like a solution to the problem, but it apparently hasn’t stopped the team from scouting Phillies’ second baseman Chase Utley, according to reports. CSN reports the team had a scout focused on Utley the entire weekend in San Diego, and the Giants have at least a short-term need with second baseman Joe Panik on the disabled list. Utley has a full no-trade clause, and would have to approve a trade to any proposed team. Rumors of a possible move for the veteran second baseman are bubbling up, with the Giants seen as the most likely suitor. It isn’t hard to outperform what the Bronx Bombers have gotten from second base this season, and it sure wouldn’t cost much to get Utley.

Utley will have a say in the process, clearly.

Utley never figured it out through the first two-plus months of the season, however, aside from a multi-hit game here and there, highlighted by a game at Citi Field where he slugged two homers and drove in three runs in a 5-6 losing effort.

Because he is not guaranteed a contract at the end of this year, and because he is 36 years old on a team that plans to get younger, he will not be a Philadelphia Phillie next season. Double A Reading catcher Andrew Knapp, the team’s second-round pick in 2013, was named Eastern League Player of the Week yesterday, while Triple A righthander Jerad Eickhoff, acquired in the Cole Hamels trade, was named global League Pitcher of the Week.

The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Chicago Cubs all have had interest, even before Utley was activated from the disabled list. So if Brandon Belt were to suffer another freak injury that has plagued him throughout his career, Utley may be able to fill in there.

For Utley, the chance to play for a contender once again has to be enticing, especially for the Giants, who reside close to the Utley family’s offseason home.

“Chase Utley looks like a trade candidate”, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports wrote last week. Utley’s a big time gamer. Fans were able to watch their golden boy deliver one last emotional farewell to the organization that drafted him, and the only team he’s ever known.

“Who knows?” Utley said Sunday, when asked whether he expected to finish the season with the Phillies.

That performance brought Utley’s numbers on the season to a. 189 BA with four HR and 27 RBI. Any at-bat or game could be his last in the City of Brotherly Love, and in a Fightin’ Phils uniform. “I think being a little bit healthier has made a difference”.