Mackanin pushing for Phils to add bat

PHILADELPHIA — Pete Mackanin has been stumping for months for the Phillies to acquire a couple of productive everyday hitters before Spring Training.

They got one last month in Howie Kendrick, but while one hitter is nice …

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“I would like to get another guy,” Philadelphia’s manager said Tuesday afternoon at the Winter Meetings. “Yeah, it would be nice. We have to improve offensively.”

The Phillies had the worst offense in Major League Baseball last season, scoring 39 fewer runs than the 29th-ranked Braves. It is why the club continues to be linked to every outfielder available in a trade, whether or not it is realistic. The list includes the Tigers’ J.D. Martinez, the Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen and the Mets’ Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson.

Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said trade discussions have not heated up this week, but everything can change with one phone call.

“[Tuesday] has been much like [Monday],” he said. “We’ve had a lot of meetings with agents and teams, exploring different combinations and scenarios, trying to find the right balance between the present club and the long-term future of the franchise. So a lot of our meetings have been more of the same.”

The biggest question about acquiring an everyday outfielder is how the Phillies would find time to play young outfielders like …

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