If the Phillies front office is creative, they could manipulate their finances to pull off a stunning acquisition and simultaneously eliminate a wild-card competitor, but could general manager Matt Klentak get the higher-ups to sign off on such an ambitious deal?

All-in to win:

For the doubting Thomases among the Philadelphia Phillies faithful, the execs have a novel path to an ace and a southpaw on an above-.500 franchise mired in the National League Wild Card’s limbo. Yes, two rotation pieces! Addressing this, though, with its conceivable obstacles is the aim of this article.

IN OTHER WORDS: “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” – Audrey Hepburn

In the offseason, the brass did their due diligence for a lefty to slot second in the five-man staff, but they were unwilling to exceed the offer limits they set. Basically, they had four in-house hurlers maturing toward a developmental ceiling of 60-90 starts, and management hoped two would be effective and healthy in July.

Since Opening Day, Zach Eflin has shown the potential consistency to be a mid-rotation arm. He has accumulated 65 starts and the others have thrown between 71 and 88. Roughly, a player makes an impact after 60-90 performances. That stated, Eflin may be suffering from fatigue because he’s at 100 innings to 128 for 2018.

As for some fans, they aren’t enthusiastic about the wild-card race, thought the Fightins are one of four organizations within two games for two NL Wild Card berths. But their injuries have been a major stumbling block offensively and pitching-wise. Ergo, every contest will be a hard-fought battle with reinforcements on the way.

Regarding Klentak and his higher-ups, they have established operating patterns of due diligence and exploring creative avenues to stock their roster. And even though they could pick up pieces to plug their biggest holes, many locals would still make light of the difficulty involved due to lofty expectations.

Financially, a daring move to absorb an expensive contract and a second commitment appears on the surface to be beyond consideration. And most writers haven’t given it even a first thought, but GMs don’t just check on the obvious swaps and all possible moundsmen: They examine every conceivable angle.

On the other hand, rarely does a trading partner have talent with virtually no competition because of monetary considerations. But while the deep-pocketed clubs aren’t in a position to add $20 million or more for multiple campaigns, spending excessively isn’t realistic for wild-card hopefuls except for the Phils.