At this point in baseball's slow-moving offseason, the Phillies have been the sport's most aggressive spender.
While rivals were sleeping in December, Philadelphia signed Pat Neshek, Tommy Hunter and Carlos Santana to multi-year deals. On the surface, none generated big headlines. But added together? A picture of a franchise ready to emerge from a rebuild comes to light.
The next move could be even bigger: Dealing for Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich.
If the Phillies truly want to obtain a 26-year-old on-base machine with one of baseball's most team-friendly contracts, it's going to cost a ton. Due to Miami shedding the contracts of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Dee Gordon, don't expect a Yelich trade to be a salary dump attached to a veteran. This time, Miami needs to bring back substantial prospect capital.
The Phillies profile as one of the teams with the kind of prospects that can suffice.
Here are a few prospects (leaving out prized arm Sixto Sanchez, MLB-ready second baseman Scott Kingery and projected 2018 shortstop J.P. Crawford) that could get the ball rolling on talks.
Adonis Medina: Jumped to the No. 4 spot in Philadelphia's system in Baseball America's end-of-year rankings. The 21-year-old Dominican enjoyed a breakout year at Single-A Lakewood (10.0 SO/9, 3.41 SO/BB) in 2017.
Mickey Moniak: Medina's Lakewood teammate. Moniak has fallen on prospect lists since the Phillies made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft. Still, we're talking about a player that was compared to Jacoby Ellsbury and called a potential "great" by prospect gurus. Will open the 2018 season as a 19-year-old.
Jorge Alfaro: This is where the Phillies can be creative to facilitate a Marlins deal. If Miami also ships away starting catcher J.T. Realmuto in a fire sale, Alfaro can be an opening day starter this April.
For Miami, the exclusion of Sanchez, Kingery, Crawford or 2017 No. 1 pick Adam Haseley could be a deal breaker. But the No. 4, No. 8 and No. 9 prospects in one of baseball's best systems feels like a starting point for potential trade talks between these NL East rivals.
Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.