MLB trade rumors: Phillies working on Jeremy Hellickson trade

UPDATE (11:15 PM): Hellickson is being traded to the Orioles, according to a report. Here’s the full story.
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ORIGINAL: The Phillies are working to trade pitcher Jeremy Hellickson and scratched him from his start Friday night at least partially due to serious trade talks, according to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki.

Wet field conditions also contributed to Hellickson being scratched, with the Phillies not wanting to risk the righty getting injured while in the midst of serious talks. Hellickson, a free agent at the end of the year, is very likely to be dealt before Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline.

Hellickson is earning $17.2 million this year after accepting Philadelphia’s qualifying offer, but has struggled to a 4.73 ERA and 5.50 FIP in 20 starts for the league’s worst team. The interest level in him so far has been “about what you’d expect,” according to a major-league source, meaning that the clubs are involved are willing to pay an appropriate price for two months of a struggling starter owed more than $5.5 million for the rest of the year.

There hasn’t been much mentioned publicly about the interest in Hellickson, though it’s known that the Brewers, Royals, Red Sox, Astros Yankees, Dodgers and Cubs are among the clubs looking for rotation help at the moment. FanRag’s Jon Heyman noted that Boston has discussed Hellickson internally with David Price out for an unknown amount of time due to a recurring elbow issue.