What the Mariners' scuttled deal for Justin Upton says about the Phillies' position
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What the Mariners' scuttled deal for Justin Upton says about the Phillies' position
By DAVID MURPHY
If you are curious why the Phillies have not been mentioned as a serious suitor for the Diamondbacks' Justin Upton, take a look at the package of players that the Mariners were reportedly ready to send to Arizona before Upton scuttled the deal by invoking his no-trade clause.
Taijuan Walker: One of the top prospects in the game, he ranked at No. 20 on Baseball America's Top 100 prior to the 2012 season. A right-handed starter, he does not turn 21 until August.
Nick Franklin: Rated the No. 53 prospect in the game by Baseball America prior to the 2011 season, Franklin spent 2012 at Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .278/.347/.453 with 11 home runs on the season. Most importantly, he can play second base or short stop, and could be ready to contribute at the major league level this season.
Charlie Furbush: A 27-year-old reliever who logged 46 1/3 innings in 48 appearances for Seattle last season, posting a 2.72 ERA, 10.3 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 0.6 HR/9.
Stephen Pryor: A 23-year-old reliever who appeared in 26 games for the Mariners, posting an ERA of 3.91, 10.6 K/9, 5.1 BB/9, 2.0 HR/9.
Franklin is the key player in all of this, at least when it comes to making sense of the Phillies' position on the trade market. All the reports about Arizona's intentions suggest that the Diamondbacks are looking for a legit middle infielder to be a part of any Upton deal -- they have reportedly been holding out for the Rangers' Jurickson Profar or Elvis Andrus -- and Franklin is that guy. He is near major league ready, has a good ceiling, and is a favorite of scouts. In short, he is the kind of guy that the Phillies just do not have in their system. Perhaps Roman Quinn develops into that guy. But he is still at least two and probably three or four years away from even thinking about the major leagues.
The Phillies could always partner with a third team if they targeted Upton or some other high-priced player, but that third team is probably going to be looking for a blue-chip position player too. Jonathan Singleton was the kind of prospect that would ring a lot of phones, but he went to Houston in 2011 for Hunter Pence.
The Phillies have a potential blue-chip pitcher in Jesse Biddle, but all of their high-ceiling position prospects are at the lower levels of the minor leagues. Which is why a blockbuster deal involving the Phillies is not likely to happen before this year's trade deadline.
No way I would even THINK about trading Biddle.— DaveCicc- Based on what I've seen, he's the right handed Ryan Howard. STrikes out alot.......— BosoxJohnny
- Hey Biddle Biddle
Juston Upton in the middle
And the fans jump over the moon!
Won't happen. Unless of course MontCo says so.
Is it a full moon?— 24sDad - Justin Upton is not the answer. He is one of the worst defensive outfielders in the league. If he was playing "Beer League" softball, he would be the guy everyone went at. He makes Domonic Brown look like Willie Mays out there... Ok.. maybe that was a slight over exaggeration :)— FetchDixon
- I think some of that is perception because he sometimes dogs it a bit. Less than his brother but that's a knock on him. Defensively he comes in around the middle and most of his defensive numbers put him above average but not great. I think in all areas he comes up better than a guy like Pence. So it's not like there would be a huge drop-off defensively if you're looking at our recent options (Pence and Brown). — s
- I meant any likely drop-off. More than likely we'd get a little better defensively if he played RF. — s
- An outfield that depends on Ruf, Brown, Nix and Mayberry to fill two spots is an outfield that is in trouble. Revere is just a younger Pierre. This could be the worst Phillies outfield we've seen in years. Unless Howard, Utley and Halladay all drink from the fountain of youth and return to their prime, they'll be lucky to finish the year at .500. Where's Wes Chamberlin when you need him?
- Rubin and Charlie will get the team on track.— ricciaje
- The Phillies have the talent in the minors to get Upton but unlike the Mariners they would have had to pay the Luxury Tax for 2013 if they did make a deal for him. Seems like Monty might have finally stood up to Ruben and said "no" forcing him to keep the budget around $170 million going into the season.— Dull
- I like Upton but I was surprised Seattle was going to give that much up for him. Even if we had those pieces the price would have to come down. And I would not trade Biddle.
Is Hernandez that huge a step below Franklin? He's played SS and 2B and he hit .291/.329/.404 at AA/AAA last year. He's definitely got less power and isn't ranked nearly as high. He was ranked the 7th best 2B prospect in 2011 by mlb.com though. If Arizona's price came down you wonder if Hernandez might do it with the right other pieces. Of course then we'd be left with only Galvis if Utley's gone in 2014 unless pick someone up in FA or trade market. You don't hear much about Hernandez these days. Then there's Galvis which I probably wouldn't consider for someone like Upton.— s - Hey Murph,
Based on the mariners package, I think we offer something comparable:
Jesse biddle
Roman quinn
Philippe aumont
Just de fratus
That's our top pitching, infield, and relief prospects ( aumont and de fratus haven shown the ability to effectively perform at the major league level too)
Thats a heck of a package that we could offer in my mind, would you think something like that could get a deal done for upton?— sjuhawk122 - Not your lifetime.
Or mine.
— 24sDad - as I pointed out numerous times before, considering how expensive outfielders are this winter, if instead of trading Pence for close to absolutely nothing last July, is there anyone outside of the Clueless Rube who couldn't get more for Pence than a double A .250 hitting non-prospect?— warbiscuit
- MontCo wanted salary dumped too.
Likely not the best move or non-move but they were desperate at the time to turn things around. Pence was pressing and nearly worthless at that moment.
Desperation is never a good place to be especially if you are needing something in return. Unfortunately now that is where the Phil's have found themselves the last year plus.
Upton would not help this team. And not getting Upton or looking the other way while other teams slobber all over him would be a good non-move too.— 24sDad - There are trades I'd rather have before Upton but, putting cost aside, when you consider that he's the same age as Brown that's quite an upgrade in my opinion.
I liked the idea of Pence to try and get it done in 2011. Beyond that his value was always questionable to me. He stands to make 13-14 million in arbitration which is way overpriced. We probably also didn't get enough for trading him away but that's pretty much how those trade deadline deals go.— s
