Phillies might have no choice but to trade Gage Wood originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Philadelphia Phillies might want to make a big move when the trade deadline arrives.

To do so, they might have no choice but to trade Gage Wood.

A contending team like the Phillies usually has to give up a promising prospect or two to land an MLB-ready contributor.

And with the Phillies' top prospect list scattered with injuries and ineffectiveness, that pretty much just leaves Wood.

Would they want to trade Wood? Hardly.

But sometimes, that's the way the move has to get made.

"The Phillies don’t want to trade Wood, their No. 2 prospect, and in a perfect world, he may be in a spot to impact the big league bullpen as soon as later this season," MLB.com's Paul Casella wrote as part of a new article on Thursday. "However, if the Phils get to a point where they decide they need to make a substantial splash at the Deadline, they’d almost certainly have to include Wood in any trade package. Top prospect Aidan Miller will be sidelined until right around the Deadline with his back injury, and none of the Phillies’ other top-five prospects are making much noise in the Minors. The club doesn’t have a ton of flexibility to make a big move … unless Wood is involved."

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The Phillies could end up deciding that they need to upgrade in their outfield in some shape or form.

If they have pitching attrition due to injuries, Wood might be able to fill that himself. His usefulness in a trade would be more about repurposing assets to a different position.

It's still a ways away from the trade deadline, and a lot can happen between now and then. But just the fact that Wood is involved in early speculation like this could mean he ends up moving elsewhere.