Astros get Domingo Santana to complete Pence deal
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Astros get Domingo Santana to complete Pence deal
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
The Phillies lost another of their top prospects Monday when the team announced that minor-league outfielder Domingo Santana has been assigned to the Houston Astros to complete the July 29 Hunter Pence trade.
That means the Astros acquired pitcher Jared Cosart, first baseman Jonathan Singleton, pitcher Josh Zeid and Santana in the deal. Cosart was considered the Phillies' best pitching prospect before the deal and Singleton was considered the best position player in the organization. It could be argued that Santana was the organization's best outfield prospect.
Santana, who just turned 19 this month, was hitting .269 with 29 doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 32 RBIs for single-A Lakewood. A native of the Dominican Republic, he also played in the South Atlantic League as a 17-year-old last season, but was demoted to Williamsport after hitting .182. He had shown tremendous improvement in his second full professional season.
In other news, Baseball America reported that the Phillies have agreed to terms with first-round pick Larry Greene. The report said that the high school outfielder from Georgia received a $1 million signing bonus.
The deadline for signing drafted players is midnight Monday. The Phillies are also still hopeful they will sign second-round pick Roman Quinn, a high school shortstop from Florida.
The team also announced the official signing of a minor-league contract by pitcher David Bush, a Conestoga High product. Bush will report to triple-A Lehigh Valley.
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Zorro....great points on Santana's long and vicous swing, The Phillies loved his body and potential, but I also questioned his age when I saw him as a 17 year old....why all the hate on Taylor?...He's been real good in AAA Sacramento after being out with a bad wrist early in the season..the fact that he;s not up to me is more of a reflection that the moronic A's are stuck with big contracts to washed up players like Matsui,Crisp, and DeJesus...To me, he's a similar case to opur own john Mayberry Jr...he just needs the opportunity....As far as giving up too much? As long as we got our man, and I believe Pence is that kind of player that makes are lineup much better now...that's all that counts...like others have said, prospects crop up every year.— bearsfriend- its funny to hear phillies fans talking about the multiple ws titles they are going to win in the next few years, yet this is a franchise in existence for a 128 years and has as many championships as the florida marlins who have been in around for 18 years, talk about delusional...— smiggs13
- ATM the only prospect I can think of that the Phils traded in the last 4 years that has been successful in the bigs is Gio Gonzalez. Carlos Carrasco has been so-so. Michael Bourn was already in the bigs and we don't win the series in 08 without Lidge, so no complaints.
- Look up JA Happ, Drabek and Taylor. That's all they are (were) prospects. Pence is well worth it.— RonC1
- if youve never heard of him before, then you dont know anything bout the phillies.— crazycanez9
- Yeah, the object is to win now. But they better win the WS. If you compare what Atlanta gave up for Bourn you have to shake your head. We gave up an awful lot for Pence anyway you cut it. Way too much if it doesn't pan out in October...— Cameiros
- Why I think all four of these players can be major league players, and three of the four could be good players, this is not the worst trade by the Phillies in the last five years. That would be by the Hall of Fame GM Pat Gillick obtaining Freddy Garcia from the White Sox for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez. Though Floyd is a .500 pitcher, Gio Gonzalez is going to be a good quality pitcher, and do we need to say more about Freddy Garcia. He was still recovering from a bad injury, and his worst year-2007-as a pro. Freddy pitched 120 innings from 2007-2009. So, five years from now we'll all meet back to have at this trade.— RunningTheBases
- Oh, by the way, I believe the Phillies gave up more for Von hayes than for Hunter Pence. Those are two trades and two players to compare. That is at least 100 posts.— RunningTheBases
- You do all know that the Phillies and Astros had different objectives in the trade. The Phillies were looking for a player to hopefully get them over the top and win another World Series. The Astros were looking to trade one of their few marketable players to put talent into their system. Both teams know the Astros may have received more talent, but for the Phillies the object is WIN NOW, for the Astros it is build for the future. Those of you who want to have your cake and eat it too are not living in the real world.
It was also mentioned earlier that the Phillies may have paid more for Hunter than Doc. Well they were in different situations. Toronto need to get some return for Doc while they still could. On the other hand the Astros had control of Pence for the next two years. Also, don't forget as part of the deal for Doc they signed him to a three year sixty million dollar contract, a pretty good chunck of their annual payroll. The Phillies got the rest of this years salary from the Astros in the deal for Pence. It will be several years before we know which team received the most talent, but you should include that contract in the overall deal before deciding which player the Phillies paid more for.
For those of you who are crying because the Braves did not "pay" as much for Bourn as the Phillies paid for Pence THEY ARE DIFFERENT PLAYERS! Bourn could not bat fifth and protect Howard, Hunter CAN!— Yellow Dog - @smuggass, aka smiggs:
Please explain why you think the 128 year history of the Phillies has any relevance. No team has won any WS titles from 2011 on, which is what this is all about.
In the meantime, I hope you encounter the three billy goats gruff.
(It's a Norwegian folk tale - look it up.)— judas_priest - Hmmm...seems like the writer of this little tidbit (Brookover) has rigged to it to infer criticism of the Phillies, without actually criticizing them; he lets the fans do that. And then other fans step in to complain that those first fans are idiots. The idiots then respond, filling the message board, and the writer gets what he wanted in the first place: attention. The circle is complete.— idshull
- Considering that the Braves got Michael Bourn for basically nothing, adding a top prospect like Santana to the Pence deal is highly questionable.— Freedom Fries
- When the GM traded Cliff Lee to Seattle, the explanation was the Phillies had to make the trade to replenish their farm system. Which star player is the GM going to trade this off-season to replenish the Phillies farm system?— Freedom Fries
- smiggs is a dope for projecting 128 years, most of the 20th century a "have-not", of the Phillies on to 2011. Times don't change in a pea brain. smiggs can only wish he had the brain power to be "delusional".— road515
- Yellow Dog, good points. @Dull, I was thinking the same. Not only the Santana announcement was done after they secured their top pick, but Greene is also a young player who projects as a corner OF with pretty good power. So I guess they are more or less replacing Santana with Greene.
— EL Zorro
