It's almost become a yearly tradition for the Phillies to make a huge trade on July 29th which happens to be my birthday. Over the past 3 years the Phillies have aquired Cliff Lee (09) Roy Oswalt (10) and now Hunter Pence for 2011. There were many rumors as to who the Phillies might get, when Carlos Beltran was aquired by the Giants, the Phils started to make their big push for Pence. Talks between Phils GM Rueben Amaro and Houston GM and former Phillies GM Ed Wade heated up yesterday which lead to the prize of the Trade Deadline coming to the City of Brotherly Love. The Phillies traded 2 pitching prospects, Jared Cosart and Josh Zeid along with Jonathan Singleton and a player to be named later for the All-Star Right Fielder.
Pence is a guy that Philly fans will fall in love with, he's hard working, he's gritty, and he just plays the game the right way. Pence is having a great year for a horrible Astros team as he's hitting .308 with 11 homers and 62 RBI's. Now while I wasn't one of the people who wanted to get rid of the future for this guy, I like this deal. While we did get rid of Jared Cosart who has the potential to be great, and Jonathan Singleton who has a lot of talent at such a young age, we didn't get rid of guys like Vance Worley, and we also were able to hold on to Trevor May another big time pitching prospect. So while we did get rid of two of our best prospects, we also didn't completely ruin the farm system.
One question that has been asked now is will Dom Brown be sent back to AAA, the Phillies haven't given any word on this of yet but it could very well happen considering he won't get much playing time now with Pence being the everyday Right Fielder. Personally I think they should keep him up, but who knows, maybe playing everyday in AAA would be better for him instead of only pinch hitting or getting a few starts in left to rest Raul if needed. The Phillies are built to win for now, and while I'd like this team to be good for now and a long time, that's not the way it's looking right now, this year and maybe the next 2 are going to probably be the last chances for the Phils to win another World Series. With the Phils getting Pence, those chances for this year increase quite a bit, But this team does still need to stay healthy, that's the key to bringing another championship to Philly. LET'S GO PHILS!
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