ESPN.com senior baseball writer Buster Olney reported Sunday that the Phillies have “kicked around” the idea of approaching the Cardinals about a trade involving Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols.

Olney reports that it would be a blockbuster one-for-one deal.

“Lies,” GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Olney. “That’s a lie. I don’t know who you’re talking to, but that’s a lie.”

Olney goes on to write about the logic surrounding a potenial trade:

For starters, Pujols would give the Phillies a lethal right-handed power bat in a lefty-heavy lineup.

Pujols and Howard are scheduled to be free agents after the 2011 season. The Cardinals haven’t made progress with Pujols as far as a contract extension in concerned. The Cardinals, according to Olney, could seek trade suitors for Pujols , a la Toronto and Roy Halladay, knowing they will have no chance to re-sign the reigning MVP.

The Phillies must consider the possibility of life without Howard, too. However, dealing for Pujols wouldn’t solve that problem because, in all likelihood, they wouldn’t be able to lock Pujols to a long-term contract extension, either.

Pujols is likely to command for money than Howard in the open market.

Howard is a St. Louis native and is considered a local hero.

Will this ever happen? Probably not. Fun to speculate? Definitely.