Addition of Pence is move for present and future
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Addition of Pence is move for present and future
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Turns out the Phillies made the best trade for the present and the future.
Yes, they had to surrender the two best prospects in their minor-league system by giving up righthander Jared Cosart and first baseman Jonathan Singleton in order to pry right fielder Hunter Pence away from the Houston Astros.
Double-A Reading's Josh Zeid has the arm to be a big-league pitcher, too, and we'll have to wait to see who will be the fourth player Houston receives from the Phillies.
But while Pence was hugging his Houston teammates after coming out of his team's game in Milwaukee, Domonic Brown remained in right field for the Phillies.
The fact that Pence will be in the Phillies lineup Saturday night and for the remainder of the season makes this team infinitely better. Suddenly the Phillies have a 28-year-old two-time All-Star with a career .290 batting average who is going to end up with close to 40 doubles and 20 home runs this season.
"I think the front office knows that we're in a special time here in Philadelphia and we have a good team and if they feel like there is room for improvement, they're going to make that move," second baseman Chase Utley said.
In essence, the Phillies have found the right-handed bat they needed to replace Jayson Werth by getting a guy who has been leaps and bounds better than Werth this season. You can argue that he doesn't walk a lot and he strikes out too much, but that's the nittiest of nitpicking.
Pence has produced with a horrid Houston team and should be even better with a club that has designs of winning the World Series.
"He's a right-handed bat, a power bat, that we can insert in the middle of the lineup and I think he can do some damage," Utley said. "It will be fun to get a chance to know him and get to play with him."
The two most interesting things to watch in the coming days is how much this move impacts the Phillies' offense and what transactions follow.
You got the impression before Friday night's rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates that manager Charlie Manuel, the same man who openly campaigned for Domonic Brown to be promoted from triple-A Lehigh Valley nine weeks ago, believes that his rookie right fielder now needs more seasoning with the IronPigs.
Neither Manuel nor general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. would say what roster move they will make before Saturday's game, but Brown realizes he could be the player to go.
"I know it's a good possibility that it could happen," Brown said. "I'm not going to be bothered by it. You live and you learn and you grow. I have to play and get better."
If Pence's arrival allows Brown to hone his skills some more in Lehigh Valley, that's not the worst thing in the world either. At 23, Brown is still a kid with immense tools who should get better the more he plays the game. With Pence likely around for at least the remainder of this year and two years beyond that, Brown probably will find himself in left field if he does return to the IronPigs Saturday.
That's an adjustment he should be able to make and it's conceivable that the opening-day outfield in 2012 will be Brown in left, Pence in right and Shane Victorino in center.
"This is not a knock on Domonic Brown by any stretch of the imagination," Amaro said. "We believe and hope he is going to be a Phillie for a long time. This is one of those moves we made not just for present, but also for the future and Dom is certainly part of that."
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Posters need to stop worrying about the Giants. Anything can happen over the course of a season, including injuries like McCann going down for the Braves or potentially one of the pitchers for the Giants. More than likely, the Giants and Braves will meet in the first round of the playoffs and the Giants might get knocked out. The Phillies need to keep winning, get their big three starters well rested, and let the chips fall where they may.— chuckw
Comment removed.- Ed Wade will go down as the Greatest Front Office Secret Operative of all time. HBO is gonna make a series about how Eddie Dubs faked his own firing, infiltrated the enemy and fed All-Stars back to home base. Well done, Eddie Dubleya. Well done— stikolaboloni
- Just a thought. When Phils lost #10,000, national media made it a huge deal. Next Braves loss is #10,000. Wondering if it will even get a mention in the national sporting media?— mike 1717
- Send Brown in a package with Worley for Kemp. A lineup of Rollins, Polly, Utley, Kemp, Howard, Pence, Victorino and Ruiz, and a rotation of Doc, Cliff, Cole and Roy-O --- Oh my!
But seriously, its a very nice move by RAJ. The only problem is that Brown stock is falling. If he doesn't get himself right (particularly in the field), he's not gonna be worth much in a year. If this lets him learn, great, but this is 2 years in a row where he's failed to capitalize on opportunity. I'm not saying its his fault - I think he's been rushed twice now. But as the saying goes "perception is reality". I agree Brown should not have been moved for Pence, but I would put him in a deal for Kemp any day of the week. Finally, I think folks are missing the bigger picture too. I think Worley staying means Roy-O is a goner after this year. So many are down on the guy because of his injuries and personal issues this year, but the guy is a gamer and one of the best of the last decade. I don't think he's retiring, but I don't think he'll be playing here. Worley and Blanton will be the 4 and 5 next year to save money to pay for Pence and Hamels' raise.— guru26 - Got to love the Wadester. Pence is scrappy and talented, he'll fit in well here. Big Piece has been showing occational signs of life lately, wonder if this will spark him up even more. Chase, I apologize for thinking he was washed up. RoyO coming back. Doc shows tonight that despite Cole's brilliance this year, and Cliff's hot streaks, and Vanimal's fresh excitment, it's still Doc's world and the rest of the pitching staff is there to keep us entertained until the Ultimate Arm takes the mound.— Eephus
- Lonewolf is Harry? That explains a lot...I thought maybe Harry got locked in the mens' room at Denny's and never got out.— Eephus
- Sure Pence is great, but i hope the phillies aren't screwing up their future by trading away a lot of future talent, for this season...— Howie FelterSnatch
- That's exactly what happened and it's the right move. They have a window of a couple of years to go for it all again and they should make any move necessary to do that. That's baseball. Would you rather have a team that makes a move for a championship every year or a team that has "up and coming prospects" every year but never wins? — SFPhillyphan
- Some of the posters who are labeling Brown as a potential bust were raving about Jason Heyward of the Braves last season. Rumor has it that had the Braves acquired Pence, they were going to send Heyward down. Takes several seasons for young players to become quality Major Leaguers, so give Brown time to mature. Probably could use more seasoning at Lehigh.— chuckw
- My one worry: after Wade gets fired at the end of this season and the Phillies hire him for some position in the front office, will the commissioner investigate possible collusion between Wade and the Phillies. The man continues to demonstrate why he was dreadful as a General Manager.— chuckw
- His Rico Brogna to the Red Sox will always be proof to me of how bad he is (yes I know there were others). He's a terrible poker player who thinks he's holding his cards close then seems to panic in the end and scrambles just to make a move. Sure there will be guys here who claim Bourn was a mistake but there would be no '08 title without Lidge. As for the Brogna incident for those who don't know. Brogna wanted a trade to Boston. Boston wanted him. Wade never made the trade. Brogna was upset. Wade placed him on wavers and Boston picked him up. Instead of trading the player for at least something he just gave him away. — SFPhillyphan
- The fact that Amaro would not include Brown in a trade even one that could put them over the top tells you what he thinks of DB.— Don w
- 3 words. I love philly! Eagles phillies and AARGUABLY the flyers, all making moves to win a championship i love it!— lighterfluid
- love it— main liner
