BREAKING NEWS: Phillies Acquire Blanton

by Eli Greenspan on Jul 17, 2008 8:22 PM EDT

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Phillies have acquired Joe Blanton from the A's for Josh Outman, Adrian Cardenas, and Matt Spencer. "Outman, 23, was 5-4 with one save and a 3.20 ERA in 33 games (5 starts) for Double-A Reading. Cardenas, 20, was hitting .309 in 67 games for Single-A Clearwater. Spencer, 22, was hitting .249 with six home runs and 41 RBIs in 84 games for Clearwater." The A's were considered to be in contention at this point -- but after trading their two best players, I expect them to fall off as the season winds down. Nevertheless, the A's have made some great trades that should help them down the road.

Tweet Comment 4 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

A change of league may indeed benefit Blanton, as well as the Phils.

The players dealt to Oakland? Well, Cardenas was somewhat exendable with Utley under contract for an extended period. Outman goes and is a decent pitcher, but you have to give to get in a trade. Spencer is an OF'er and as we all know they are a dome a dozen.

Decent trade,but the always quiet and trade sneaky Gillick just might not be finished.

by Baseball Stu on Jul 18, 2008 9:25 AM EDT reply actions

Joe Blanton was far from one of the A's best players. As a starter, he was 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA.

Besides having the worst record and highest ERA among the A's starters, he also boasted the team-worst WHIP, BAA, HR, and lowest strikeout total. The only real silver lining regarding Blanton is that he somehow managed to put up 9 QS. That's only second to Duchscherer's 12, tied with Smith and Eveland, and one more than Harden (granted, his were in less starts).

He may have been the Opening Day starter, but the fact that they squeezed even this much value out of him is ridiculously impressive. He's coming off a bad season pitching in a pitchers' haven and the Phillies, with one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball, gave up three prospects for him.

The only real reason this makes sense, is he likely takes Eaton's spot in the rotation, and there's no way he's worse than Eaton.

by Anonymous on Jul 18, 2008 10:34 AM EDT reply actions