Instant trade analysis: Joe Blanton to the Phillies
I give the Phillies the edge in this deal, and really, it's a shocker this happened at all. A's GM Billy Beane and Phillies GM Pat Gillick, arguably the top two GMs in all of baseball, have never quite been best friends.
The Phillies gave up some interesting kids, particularly Adrian Cardenas. But Cardenas is a second baseman, and the Phillies are set there for a very long time with Chase Utley.
Meanwhile, the Phillies receive Blanton, who become the second A's starting pitcher traded this month. Whereas Rich Harden, traded to the Cubs last week, has the considerably higher ceiling, Blanton is the reliable innings-eater. Despite his shaky 2008 season, Blanton figures to be an upgrade over Adam Eaton.
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Comments (5)
Blanton is not an ace, but he will help the Phillies. The Phillies didn't really have to give up their top prospects to get Blanton. It seems to me that the A's are trying to win this year but at the same time trade players they don't want anymore. Huston Street will be the next player to be traded by Billy Beane.
Ken, Marvin Miller should be in the HOF for being a pioneer in making the players union what it is today. Well what about Donald Fehr? He took the mantle from Miller, and made the union more stronger and richer.
Hey JE, when the Yanks aqcuired A-Rod, the Yanks never ask Jeter to switch positions and A-Rod wanted to get out of Texas so badly that he volunteer to play 3rd base. So get your facts right, JE.
Billy Beane is just consistently very good at what he does. There are no guarantees on any of this stuff, but he certainly does his due diligence.
The trade makes sense for both parties for the reasons outlined by Ken. That said, I'm not feeling it for Joe Blanton. He's only 27, but his WHIP of 1.417 and ERA of 4.96 are scary. It's been said that he pitches "deep" but with numbers like those he probably shouldn't be! Adrian Cardenas has a good chance of making it and being a very good player. I understand he is blocked in Philly and they needed to shore up their starting pitching, but down the road I wouldn't be surprised if the A's are judged to have gotten the better end of this deal and that's without even really looking into the other two players.
Blanton and his inability to miss bats and fly ball tendencies is going to get torched at the Bank.