Phillies Trade Rumors: Philadelphia Must Stay Away From Carlos Quentin

The Philadelphia Phillies are preparing to put a vice grip on the National League East, National League and major league.

They have toyed with the ideas of bringing in a veteran right fielder to cement their lineup with Names such Carlos Beltran and Hunter Pence being thrown around of late.

In wake of Beltran being shipped off to the Bay to join the Giants, the Phillies are looking to the Windy City for a new target.

“Source: Phillies have done background work on Carlos Quentin, who could be middle-of-the-order bat they covet,” according to ESPN’s Buster Olney on Twitter. 

I don’t disagree that this would be a power move for the Phils. I also don’t disagree that he would make a nice fit in the heart of the lineup because let’s be serious, you and I could do some damage in this lineup.

Yet the Phils must stay away from Quention until they exhaust all of their resources trying to land All-Star Hunter Pence from Houston. Now that would be the power move to give the Phils a stranglehold on the majors.

I’m sorry, did I say stranglehold? I meant death grip.

No team could compete with the Phillies if they land Pence over Quention because his defense is simply far superior.

Quentin is inferior in the outfield as he is slower and has a weaker arm than Pence. Though he displays fine power, he has been inconsistent during his career.

Is this man ready for the bright lights and pressure of Philly? I’m not so sure, considering he couldn’t even handle it in the Windy City.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old is in the prime of his career and has 20 homers and 62 RBI on the season. Unfortunately, he does not hit for average like Pence does.

Whereas Pence is currently hitting over .300, Quentin is hitting .265 and is a career .254 hitter. He has not lived up to his expectations since exploding on the scene in 2007 with 36 HR and 100 RBI.

Obviously, Quentin is a fine acquisition. Nobody would dispute that he could do damage in Philly’s lineup, but it’s all about Pence’s combination of defense and offense. Domonic Brown has the defense Philly wants in Quentin while Quentin has the offense Philly wants in Brown.

Why not exhaust your resources to land the man who can do it all? Philly has the ability to woo Houston into a deal for Pence because they have quality prospects a team like the Astros would covet.

Pence has every tool necessary to dominate for this team and he is younger with an affordable contract.

If Philly doesn’t do everything in its power to land Pence to secure a dynasty its fans have never seen before, they may have to consider this a disappointing trade deadline.

-Brandon Galvin is a Bleacher Report Featured Columnist and Syndicated Writer. Follow Him on Twitter.

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