Source: Phillies acquire Pence
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Source: Phillies acquire Pence
Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover
Ruben Amaro Jr. struck at the deadline again. Charlie Manuel finally has the righthanded bat he has craved since spring training. And the best team in baseball just added the final piece to its World Series-or-bust hopes.
The Phillies, permanently in a win-now mode, acquired outfielder Hunter Pence from the Houston Astros for four minor leaguers late Friday night, a source told The Inquirer. Two of those players — Jonathan Singleton and Jarred Cosart — were rated as the top prospects in a farm system depleted annually by summer blockbusters.
But such is the life for a franchise that had already invested $175 million in its major-league roster. The expectation in this city is to win a championship, future be damned.
Pence is not a superstar, but he is the complementary righthanded bat the Phillies have missed once Jayson Werth bolted for his mega-millions deal in Washington. He will be inserted into right field and the middle of Manuel's lineup.
In Pence, the Phillies have long-term certainty. The 28-year-old has two years of arbitration remaining. That doesn't mean he will come cheap; Pence is already making $6.9 million in 2011 and will be due a significant raise in 2012 and 2013. But with his addition, the 2012 outfield of Pence, Shane Victorino and Domonic Brown is set.
It's unclear whether the Phillies will pay the remaining $2.2 million on Pence's deal this season. If they do, it could put them dangerously close or over baseball's luxury tax limit of $178 million. No National League team has surpassed that threshold since instituted in 2003.
In the end, while top farmhands were sacrificed, no young pieces at the major-league level were required to complete the deal. The two players to be named later will come from a list that does not include Brown or 23-year-old pitcher Vance Worley.
FOXSports.com first reported the trade.
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Ok, that's not bad. Hopefully that means Brown goes to AAA to work on learning how to play baseball.— EL Zorro- I bet Ruben isn't done yet...— outta work
- Under Sandberg.— EL Zorro
- Namdi and Pence in one night? It seems like the Phils and Eagles are in fight for the soul of the Philly's sports fan! What a golden time to be a Philly Phan!— tjpup
- I cant get to excited just yet remember Cliff Lee was "close" to a deal with the yankees last year
— Joey0210 - If true, nice day for Philly sports! Of course, there will be that vocal 10% that will find fault with both deals.— jimyd0315
- Excellent if true. No doubt what we need and especially after Brown's blunders against the Giants.— Northcountry
- do we really need to continually trade all of our prospects away? Just about the time we have a prospect to get excited about, we ship them off. its really freakin' annoying, cause were gonna suck in a few years when we have no farm system, and everyone retires... were becoming the Yankees... I was fine with the other trades the bast 3 years, but its honestly getting old... Hopefully Cosart and Singleton don't every amount to anything!— phillyphan554
Comment removed.- Yeah, but its its nice to raise your own team for once, rather than buying one. People hate the spankies for that reason. most of the prospects we have traded away are still very young. Its way too early to say it hasn't haunted us... — phillyphan554
- Yeah. Let's just go back to being perennial losers. That way nobody will hate us. F them!!! — namtac
- Howard, Utley, Rollins, Ruiz, Brown, Hamels, Madson, Bastardo, Stutes, Worley etc... — SFPhillyphan
- We love to imagine our prospects becoming great but the odds are against it. Hamels, Madson and the position players are the MLB exception, not the rule ... Google "Baseball Top Prospects 2007" (4 yrs ago) or 2008 (3 yrs ago). How many of those "top" prospects have become stars? How many are contributing significantly? How many have you never heard of because they are still stuck in the minors? And those were considered the TOP PROSPECTS. We have managed to keep young cheap players in Brown, Mayberry, Worley, Stutes, and Bastardo who are major league ready and will only improve. Be excited about them! And let the Single A prospects grow and improve and prove themselves before annointing them the next Hamels, Utley, Howard, and Rollins. — Yonkersphilly
