Countdown to Opening Day - 26: It's time for the Phillies to trade Chase Utley

In this 30-day series, theScore's MLB editors preview the 2015 season with an in-depth look at some of the significant numbers - milestones, jersey numbers and general miscellanea - poised to pop up throughout the campaign. 

The Philadelphia Phillies are a mess and no player personifies their current situation better than Chase Utley. 

A high-priced player past his prime, Utley represents the old guard in Philly - a hold over from the five-straight postseason appearances that peaked with a World Series win in 2008. 

Those days couldn't feel further away in Southeastern Pennsylvania, as the reeling Phillies are coming off back-to-back 89-loss campaigns and enter 2015 with the furthest odds to win a World Series of any team in the majors. 

The Phillies don't need any more reminders of the good ol' days. What they need is a breath of fresh air and a real rebuild.

In order to achieve that, the Phillies need to squeeze the last tangible bit of talent out of the 36-year-old Utley and get something for it. As much as the second baseman has done for the organization, the most beneficial thing he could do at this point in his career is allow himself to be traded away. 

Utley is what every team dreams of at the draft - a scrapper, and one who never takes a day off. The 15th-overall pick in 2000 did that for the Phillies for 12 seasons, but those years and those legs have their best days behind them. 

Handcuffing general manager Ruben Amaro is the fact that no matter how bad things have gotten in Philly, like a good captain, Utley, who owns 10-5 rights that allow him to block trades, refuses to bail on his sinking ship. 

Outside of ace Cole Hamels, no other player on the roster could bring the type of return that Utley would. The Phillies would be lucky to get to anyone to take Ryan Howard without having to eat a hefty chunk of the money, Cliff Lee's injured elbow could force him into early retirement and no one appears willing to want to pay Jonathan Papelbon the $13 million he's owed to close games, despite his cries for a taker.

With one year, $15-million remaining on his deal and coming off a season in which he managed to hit .270/.339/.407 with 11 home runs and 36 doubles in 155 games, Utley proved there's still some life in his bat at a position that isn't oozing talent. 

Though he's shown signs of regression, Utley ranked within the top-10 among second baseman in hits (7th), doubles (5th), triples (6th), home runs (9th), average (10th), on-base percentage (7th) and slugging (6th) last season.

This team will lose in 2015 and for the foreseeable future, whether it's by design or not. Making those losses more tolerable comes with the expectation that something better is coming. That begins with the Phillies dealing fan favourite Chase Utley, whether he likes it or not.