Phillies acquire Revere for Worley and May
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Phillies acquire Revere for Worley and May
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
NASHVILLE -- The Phillies acquired a center fielder Thursday and while the cost was not high in terms of dollars, it was substantial in terms of the players they surrendered for Minnesota's Ben Revere.
The Twins received righthanders Vance Worley and Trevor May from the Phillies. Worley finished third in the National League rookie of the year voting in 2011 and May was considered the team's best pitching prospect at the start of last season.
In Revere, the Phillies receive a former first-round draft pick who can play all three outfield positions. He did not commit an error in 282 chances last season. The 24-year-old Revere's game is all about speed because he has almost zero power. The left-handed hitter has not hit a home run in 1,064 career at-bats over three big-league seasons. He had five home runs in 1,755 minor-league plate appearances.
"I think we were dealing from a position of strength because of the young arms we have been developing in our system," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said as he prepared to board a flight back to Philadelphia. "We gave up a lot for this player, but we acquired a player who is under our control and can do a lot of things for us."
Revere could be a top-of-the-order hitter capable of wreaking havoc on the bases. He had a .326 batting average and .383 on-base percentage in the Twins' minor-league system and batted .294 in 553 plate appearances with the Twins last season. He also stole 40 base in 49 attempts and scored 70 runs. He can hit either first or second in the order.
"He could hit at the top of the order or the bottom of the order," Amaro said. "We got him for his defense, but he can hit, too."
Revere will not be eligible for salary arbitration until after the 2013 season and he will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2017 season, so his cost in terms of salary is certainly appealing to the Phillies, who balked at the idea of paying a huge contract to free agents like Michael Bourn and B.J. Upton.
"We still have plenty of flexibility monetarily to try to piece the rest of this thing together," Amaro said.
Worley, 25, had gone from a fringe prospect at the start of 2010 to a valued member of a star-studded rotation in 2011. He finished third in the rookie of the year voting that year after posting an 11-3 record and 3.01 ERA. He was unable to repeat that success in 2012 as he went 6-9 with a 4.20 ERA before being shut down late in the year with a bone spur that was surgically removed.
With Worley's departure, it's possible the Phillies could be in the market for a veteran free agent to join their rotation. Some possible names to watch for are Shaun Marcum, John Lannan and Edwin Jackson.
"We could go either way to fill the other spot," Amaro said. "We could go outside the organization or inside the organization. Jonathan Pettibone is close. Tyler Cloyd will be in the mix."
The four definite starters in the rotation are Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Kyle Kendrick.
May, a 23-year-old righthander, was considered the best pitching prospect in the Phillies organization after Jarred Cosart was traded to Houston in 2011. He was also the 69th ranked prospect in the minor leagues by Baseball America before last season. But the righthander struggled through most of last season, posting a 10-13 record and a 4.87 ERA at double-A Reading.
i laugh at the idiots who put some kind of high value on worley. this was a great trade. trade worley while his trade value is at its absolute highest. let's be realistic; worley is a back end of the rotation guy at best— AlexSp
Vance Worley is this year's JA Happ.— yourmomsfavoriteposter- It's too early to say that we gave up a lot. May and even Worley are unknown quantities. Revere is a known quanitity with very limited upside. A good defensive player in a key position but zero homeruns and only 57 walks in almost 1000 plate appearances. Highest obp was last year, .333, not a significant improvement on Rollins except that he's younger.— altoonaaslan
- Batted .294 and is ONLY 24? Welcome our new leadoff hitter. Now trade popup JR and put Freddy at SS where he belongs.
Worley was inconsistant. We didn't need him in the rotation.
This dude stole 40 bases in 124 games. wooohooo— mainstreet - The people who complain about giving up May and Worley must have forgotten about Domonic Brown. We always overrate our talent. Is May really all that good (or is he like Schwimmer, et al.?) Is Worley really anything special? His stuff doesn't look that great, and last year he got hit around a bit. Don't you wish now that we had traded Brown when we could have gotten something for him? Well, we just traded Worley when we could still get something for him. Next year would have been too late.
One thing I would like to know, though, is whether Revere strikes out a lot. If he's a good contact hitter, I'm all for this deal. If he strikes out a lot, maybe we should have kept Victorino (though this trade does make us younger).— Bartleby - he only missed the ball on 8% of his swings last year...makes great contact. Also put the ball on the ground 66% of the time, which is why he gets next to no xb hits.
No gap power - singles or doubles down the line. Will rely on the rest of the team to produce runs when he gets on base. Has great range in the outfield, but from all accounts an abysmal (Juan Pierre type) arm.— Worly? - I liked Vance and thought he had value even as a back of the rotation guy, but this was the right move to make - assuming they will use the savings at CF to strengthen another part of the team either now or in the near future. Also keeps them from overpaying for a guy like Bourn, who will get big money but should really be at most a $10m per year guy.
However, for those who say this guy is going to be the new leadoff hitter...he has a worse OBP than Rollins who you all complain about and he has absolutely no power. Why would you want him to be getting the most PA's of anyone in the lineup? He's probably an ideal 8 hitter, but there is no way he could be considered a good option to hit #1, unless all you value in that spot is speed.— Worly? - Mr. Amaro: You really need to have your head examined. With Doc suspect and Cliff another day older. Kyle was very good and Hamels was stellar. Pitching is a premium commodity. I hope this trade does not bite you. Will still need a third baseman and right fielder. How about a catcher too????.— f3408cooky
- Bartleby, Revere has struck out 100 times in 989 career AB's. He makes contact - a .325 average last year on balls put in play. Contact hitter with speed is a good combination.— Dave14
- Part of the transition period folks. We traded from our position of strength and have a lead off hitter for years to come. At 24 he sounds a little like Bourne did. Great move and Ruben isn't done yet.— pattymac3
- 989 major league ABs. ZERO HOME RUNS. He has a career .280 average with a career .317 OBP. Means he's not selective at all with pitches. Jimmy the Rollins II with no power. Another stellar move by our horrible GM. Ruben is entering Ed Stefanski territory.— vdstrading
- get this kid in the weight room. you can always add power.— Ryan
- I had this preminition...Ken Rosenthal reported that the negotiations with Zach Greinke are "critical" and the Dodgers may simply pull out to pursue other options. Why do I keep seeing Zach in Philly Red? Is this the RAJ ploy again?— drhoffman
- should have signed Melky Cabrera --and who's the bigger thief? Melky and Carlos Ruiz for transforming themselves into good players by cheating, or Ruben Amaro who steals a salary and acts like a big-shot g.m. of a major league baseball team, when in reality he has zero ability to evaluate players or assemble a roster and has absolutely no clue what he's doing ... someone give the Clueless Rube his gameboy back— warbiscuit
- only in loser-delphia can a g.m. turn a defending championship team into a 3rd place .500 team with one of the highest budgets in the league, continue to get significantly worse with no efforts at filling basic needs, and still have moronic fans act as if he must have some "plan" ....his smug arogance is a cover for his complete incompetence and cluelessness— warbiscuit
