A nice little surprise maybe?

No one really knows which teams will add talent until that talent shows up in the clubhouse and pulls on a uniform.

Everything is a rumor until that happens. Nothing is a sure thing until the deal is done.

But the Phillies are sitting on something close to a sure-thing late-season pitching addition.

And it could be a good one.

Brett Myers, who never gave up hope that he would pitch again this season after having hip surgery June 4, will throw a bullpen session Saturday. He thinks he can be ready to pitch in relief by mid-August.

That’s a nice arm to add to a pennant race – and the possibility is not just a silly-season rumor.

For weeks, Phillies officials have had Myers’ name written in pencil in their stretch-drive plans. They have been reluctant to say it, because they didn’t want Myers to put pressure on himself as he recovered from surgery.

“My rehab has been intense,” Myers said before the Phillies made it 10 wins in a row by beating the Chicago Cubs last night. “Everything is fine in the hip. I want to push everything until something says ‘Ouch.’ So far, I’ve felt nothing and I don’t expect to.”

Myers chatted with a reporter right about the time Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi was engaging in that time-honored silly-season tradition of using the media to jack up the price on a player he intends to trade.

We’re talking, of course, about pitcher Roy Halladay, who might be the key to several teams’ World Series dreams, including the Phillies, who think they can make it two in a row if they add Halladay.

Ricciardi told reporters in Toronto that it’s “probably unlikely” he will trade his ace, because “no one has really stepped up.”

Probably unlikely.

What does that mean, anyway?

Here’s what it means: Ricciardi is a sharp guy, and he was making it known that it’s time for teams to open the vault and send some serious players his way. He didn’t say Halladay was off the market. Ten days before the trade deadline, this was a negotiating ploy. He was raising the stakes, getting other teams’ attention. You still can bet the lunch money that Halladay will be traded – he sure sounded like a guy ready to go to a winner when he spoke at the All-Star Game – and the Phillies will be in it until the end.

In the meantime, get ready for more rumors, more hearsay, more posturing. Nothing brings that out quite like baseball’s silly season.

Even if the Phillies don’t get Halladay – or another pitcher – they are likely to get Myers.

It’s unrealistic to expect Myers to be ready to start by mid-August, but he could be a fresh bullpen arm at a time when teams need one.

Remember, Myers pitched out of the bullpen in 2007 and loved the role. Remember also that he will be a free agent at the end of this season and will be pitching for a contract, maybe with the Phillies, maybe with another club.

All this could help bring out the best in Myers – if he’s healthy, and he’s adamant he is.

Myers had torn cartilage and bone spurs in his right hip. Surgery cleaned up everything. Next week marks the eighth week since surgery, and he can begin running and doing fielding drills. By that time, he will be in Clearwater, Fla., at the Phils’ minor-league complex, and have a few bullpen sessions under his belt. By early August, Myers could be pitching in minor-league games.

“I miss the competition,” he said. “We’re playing good baseball. It’s amazing what happens when the pitching and hitting come together on the same page. That’s been key.”

Myers stood in a hallway outside the Phillies’ clubhouse as he spoke. Sizzling hot Jimmy Rollins walked by.

“And him,” Myers said, motioning toward another key to the Phillies’ surge.

“From a pitcher’s standpoint, I know what it means when Jimmy is going like he is,” Myers said. “It was like when Florida had [Juan] Pierre and [Luis] Castillo. Pierre would get on, and you didn’t know what to do with Castillo because you were holding the runner on. When Jimmy is on base, the pitcher has to deal with [Shane] Victorino, and then he has [Chase] Utley, [Ryan] Howard, and [Raul] Ibanez. It’s a no-win situation for the pitcher if Jimmy is on base.”

The Phils need Rollins to continue to lead their offense down the stretch.

Adding arms like Halladay’s and Myers’ also would help.