Earlier in the week, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. insinuated a trade for a pitcher was coming. He optioned Kendrick to triple-A on Tuesday and did not announce a replacement.
The Phillies turned their attention to acquiring one of the frontline starters on the market, Houston's Roy Oswalt or Arizona's Dan Haren. Reports said Tuesday the Phillies were close to trading for Oswalt but those talks have stalled.
"I'm not going to get into that," Amaro said Thursday of any possible deal.
Arizona CEO Derrick Hall told reporters the Diamondbacks want young, quality major-league ready pitching in return for Haren. The Phillies don't have a plethora of that.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday that the Cardinals had become Oswalt's top choice. Oswalt holds a full no-trade clause and will determine the fate of any possible deal.
It appears, at least for this weekend, the Phillies will not acquire a pitcher.
Instead, they will turn to Kendrick, who was demoted just three days ago, and Happ, who has not pitched in a major-league game since the second week of the season.
Jamie Moyer will be placed on the disabled list with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament and strained flexor pronator tendon in his left elbow.
"With one door closed, hopefully another opens up," Amaro said.
Kendrick allowed seven runs in five innings to St. Louis Monday. When he was demoted the next day, Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee said Kendrick most needed consistency.
Now he will try to attain that back in the majors.
"You better be flexible in this game, that's for sure," Dubee said. "It's another opportunity. That's how he has to approach it. We don't have a tremendous amount of depth. Kyle is one of our better guys. He has to take it as another door that opened up."
