I have written about the possibility of getting Hunter Pence twice now with quite mixed reviews. To sum up my opinions, I wanted him once because I thought we'd get him for a great price. I then didn't really want him because the price was too high, but I also pointed out how funny-looking he is as a professional athlete. Now we have him, and, judging by the reactions I've gotten from people, you basically have no idea how I actually feel about this trade. And rightfully so. So now that the trade deadline has passed, there are new rumors to be cleared up. Does Cameron really hate Hunter Pence?
In a word, NO!
In more words, I don't hate him at all. There's no denying that he's a great addition to the team, and a huge upgrade right now over whoever it is he is replacing. It just so happens to be Domonic Brown that he is replacing currently. A big reason I didn't want to post on Saturday or Sunday is because I wanted to fully process this deal before I reacted to it publicly. My initial thoughts were:
-Great deal, we got Pence for a great price
-Are we kidding sending Domonic Brown down to Lehigh Valley to make room for him?!
Now that I've had time to find some more things out and think about the whole thing, this is how I feel some 60 hours later:
-Great deal, we got Pence for a great price
-Sending down Domonic Brown seems to be the right thing right now
The great price is easy to explain. We lost Jarred Cosart, projected to be a top-of-the-rotation guy in a few years. That's a shame, but we have plenty of pitching prospects and are not exactly hurting for a starting pitcher any time soon. I feel fine losing Jonathan Singleton. I had him projected to be an outfielder for us in the future, but he is actually a first baseman. His experiment in left field in the minors was a failure. Is that because of an ankle injury, or is it because he's just a horrible left fielder? I don't know, but it appears that his best fit right now is as a first baseman, something we will not need in the foreseeable future. Losing him is no big deal. Josh Zeid is a prospect that I had never heard of until this deal, which I think is hilarious because of how much the Astros* apparently wanted out of it. A player to be named later is something that I will only talk about if this post is extra short and you want me to get into how complicated I think that situation is. (note: "you want me to" in the previous sentence actually means "I want to")
As for the situation with Domonic Brown, it was so frustrating at first glance. I was ecstatic to keep him in Philadelphia, but I wanted to hang someone when I found out he was the one being sent down to make room for Pence. We needed a right-handed bat, and we got one. So, naturally, we would get rid of either Ben Francisco or John Mayberry, our 2 current right-handed outfielders. It would most likely be Mayberry (much to my dismay) because he has been back and forth all season. Instead of doing that, though, we got rid of our everyday right fielder in Brown. While this makes sense because Pence is a right fielder, I kind of anticipated one of those 2 moving to left or, at worst, Brown just serving as a pinch hitter and randomly giving Suckhole days off in left. So this move made me pretty angry at first.
The more I think about it, though, the more it actually does make sense. Hear me out on this one. The obvious reason that the Phillies will tell you is for Brown to continue getting at bats every day. That's legitimately important for him right now as he continues to develop as a hitter. But, the other big thing is his defense. He clearly needs to work on that if he wants to be a solid defender for us in the outfield. The exciting part is, on his player profile currently for the Iron Pigs, he is listed as a left fielder. WARNING: TWISTED INTERPRETATION AHEAD This means that Brown has been sent down to the minors with the ultimate goal of getting used to playing left field and getting better at it. Right now, Ibanez is swinging a hot bat. The good news about that, though, is that he will stop that run starting today. It's August 1, the perfect time for Ibanez to show his true colors because a new month is starting. We will hang on to this good July for another 2 weeks before we realize as an organization that he is total majokey garbage. By that time, Domonic Brown will be a Gold Glove outfielder, and he will be back up, taking Ibanez's place and forcing him to be designated for assignment so a stupid team, thinking he can make a difference, will pick him up on a run to the playoffs. This is gonna be hilarious.
Note: Will this really happen? Not at all. Can a man dream? This is America, isn't it? Aren't we in America? OK good.
*I will no longer be calling them the Asstros simply because it turned out they were all talk. The deal we made was a good one, and you have to kind of feel bad for a team that gave up the 2 players it probably didn't really want to give up, while keeping the players it was trying to move. They talked a big game, but they're just adorable in the end.
So, overall, I am absolutely thrilled with this trade. I can't wait for Brown to get back up, but I think that, without a doubt, Hunter Pence is an upgrade for the time being. He plays hard and is a perfect fit for a Philadelphia sports team. This does not, however, mean that I won't find myself hilarious for calling this the "worst trade ever" every time he fails to get a hit or make an amazing defensive play. That's not my real opinion, but, as you may know, I'll do anything for a laugh. What a sad existence.
Game 1: Cole Hamels (12-6, 2.61 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (8-8, 3.50 ERA)
The last time we faced the Rockies, we were struggling horribly to score runs. Despite that, Hamels was able to pick up a win with an 8-inning, 1-run performance as we won 2-1. At that time, we were without Victorino, Utley, and, obviously, Pence. Chacin pitched well against us, but he has gone 0-4 with a 5.82 ERA in his last 6 starts. Hamels was awful in his only career start at Coors Field, giving up 7 runs in less than 4 innings. I expect that anything could happen in this series with 2 potentially good offenses playing in the thin air of Colorado, but I am hoping that Hamels can overcome that.
Prediction: Phillies 6 Rockies 3
Keep an eye out for: production from Ryan Howard. With Hunter Pence protecting him, hopefully he sees some better pitches the rest of this season. Also, I bet on him to have over 2.5 runs/hits/RBI in this game. Gotta love gambling addictions!
Game 2: Kyle Kendrick (5-5, 3.52 ERA) vs. Aaron Cook (2-5, 5.05 ERA)
Kendrick got shellacked by the Rockies the last time he faced them, and he has a 6.35 ERA in 3 career starts at Coors Field. The good news is, Aaron Cook is 1-6 with a 6.05 ERA in 10 career starts against the Phillies. He has struggled the most against our biggest hitters. Rollins is a career .375 hitter against him, Utley a .417 hitter with 12 RBI, and Howard has hit .391 against him. Seth Smith has been Kendrick's biggest problem, going 8 for 11 against him with 3 doubles. The Rockies as a team, though, are hitting .382 against him. This does not look like it's going to end up being too much of a pitchers' duel.
Prediction: Rockies 9 Phillies 7
Keep an eye out for: lots of home runs coming from both teams, along with Christopher Wheeler having a near heart attack talking about the size of the park, the thin air, and how easy it is to hit a home run.
Game 3: Roy Halladay (13-4, 2.44 ERA) vs. Jason Hammel (6-10, 4.65 ERA)
I have an important announcement to make. This will be the last game that I predict a complete game shutout for Halladay. It will mark the 8th straight start for him that I have predicted it, and it is getting to the point where I think it's my fault that he can't throw one. Although I actually expect it in every one of his games, I don't need to put that undue pressure on Roy. I am making this my last one because he is going to be playing this game back in his hometown of Denver. He is 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA against the Rockies in his career. On the flip side, Hammel has a 5.40 ERA against the Phils and is 3-7 with a 5.10 ERA at home this season.
Prediction: Phillies 5 Rockies 0
Keep an eye out for: Ibanez going hitless in the series and, thus, pulling us one step closer to a post-Raoops era
All right I just finished this post and still have about 50 minutes until game time, so I'm going to give a few thoughts on a player to be named later. How does this make any sense? If it is what it sounds like, I'm basically to understand that we have made a trade but the conditions of that trade are not actually set. Don't we still have to negotiate to figure out that last player? Who gets to decide? We already have Hunter Pence, so can't we just keep denying the Astros whoever they want to take? Or, can't they just take anyone they want, including some high prospect we didn't anticipate giving up?
In other trades, I have heard of a player to be named later only being called that because of a rule in baseball saying that a player has to spend one full year with the first team he signs a contract with. So a draft pick from last year cannot technically be traded until the one year anniversary of him signing a contract. But in hearing Ruben Amaro Jr. talk about this player to be named later, I did not get the impression that that was the case. He said that the Astros have until August 31 to figure out who it is going to be. So, even though the trade is complete, I feel like a lot of talking still needs to happen between our two organizations. I am sure we don't want to give up a top prospect like Jesse Biddle, but I'm also sure that the Astros don't want to get stuck with someone like Raul Ibanez. It's overall just a weird concept.
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