The Phillies’ trade for Clay Buchholz Tuesday is right out of the Chicago Cubs' rebuild playbook -- another investment in the future, and something that other teams that have slashed their payrolls should really consider.

In fact, the Phillies should think about taking advantage of the incredible bargains that are starting to take shape in the free-agent market and do more of what they'll do with Buchholz, which is the baseball equivalent of house-flipping in a hot real estate market. The Phillies gave up almost nothing in prospect value in return for Buchholz, and if he pitches effectively in the first three months of the 2017 season, for a salary of $13.5 million, they can swap him in June or July to some contending team desperate for a starting pitcher, and get in return more than they paid for the right-hander.

As they build toward their expected surge in 2019, the Phillies have the money to spend: They were 26th in payroll last season. Philadelphia’s deal with Odubel Herrera last week represents their only contractual obligation beyond 2017, and with the new collective bargaining agreement locked in and the Phillies taking in a river of revenue, the money is there for the Phillies to deploy. Not putting it to work in the market is the baseball equivalent of stuffing dollars under a mattress. The Cubs did this as they reconstructed their franchise from 2012 through 2015, signing the likes of Scott Feldman and Jason Hammel and then subsequently including them in deals for Jake Arrieta and Addison Russell.

The Phillies are well-positioned to make moves like this throughout the 2017 season, setting themselves up as a one-stop shopping place for any team in need of a veteran hitter (Howie Kendrick), relievers (Joaquin Benoit, Pat Neshek) and starting pitching (Buchholz, Jeremy Hellickson).

With the market prices for sluggers like Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista and others seemingly plummeting, it’ll be interesting to see if the Phillies pursue one or more of the free-agent hitters. The Phillies’ pick in the first round in 2017 is at No. 8 overall, so it’s protected from the draft-pick compensation process. If Philadelphia found suitable value in any deal involving Encarnacion, Bautista or Mark Trumbo, the Phillies would only have to surrender its second-round pick -- currently No. 45 overall -- and then perhaps look to flip that hitter in a midseason trade.

The Padres could pursue a similar path, although agents report that San Diego continues to maintain it has almost no available money to spend.

Let’s be clear about this: The Phillies and Padres and other rebuilding/tanking teams have a lot of money they could spend through the sport’s central fund.

The Padres have signed Clayton Richard and now they are exploring a possible reunion with Jake Peavy, writes Dennis Lin. To date, they don’t have a single pitcher slated to make more than $2 million, and if they drew on the Cubs’ blueprint, they could explore the possible pursuit of Ivan Nova, Brett Anderson and other pitchers, as well as Bautista, Trumbo and Encarnacion.

Oakland’s first-round pick is protected, giving the Athletics a chance to explore the Encarnacion/Bautista/Trumbo group for an investment that would pay off.

The Cubs’ rebuilding process involved cutting the payroll, finishing deep in the standings and being in position to pick the likes of Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber. But they also used their payroll flexibility in ways that helped them win a championship.

Joel Sherman considers the Phillies’ plan to climb out of payroll hell.