Philadelphia Phillies Trade for Center Fielder Ben Revere: Now, Who Is He?

The Phillies have just traded for their center fielder of the future, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. The trade will send Ben Revere to Philadelphia and in return the Minnesota Twins will receive starting pitcher Vance Worley and starting pitching prospect Trevor May.

The Minnesota Twins selected Revere with their first-round pick (28th overall) in the 2007 draft. He made his major league debut September 7, 2010, at the age of 22. 

Revere is a speedy outfielder whose game is very similar to recently departed Phillies’ outfielder, Juan Pierre. He is a 5′ 9”, 170-pound contact hitter who has the ability to steal 40-plus bags a season and hit in the neighborhood of .300. Revere has only two years of major league service, accumulating 984 big league at-bats. He is also a versatile outfielder, seeing time in all three positions in 2012.

Last year with the Twins, Revere hit .294 with an OBP of .333. He also stole 40 bases, which ranked second in the American League. He also scored 70 runs and finished the year with a 2.4 WAR.

Revere does have some downside; he has no power whatsoever and he doesn’t walk nearly as much as your prototypical leadoff hitter should. In 2012, Revere hit zero home runs and he walked a measly 29 times in 511 at-bats.

Back to the positives, Revere will turn 25 in May of next year and will be under Phillies’ control until 2017. This will provide the Phillies with some youth in center field and a player whose best years are hopefully still to come.

The best part about Revere is his price tag. He will play 2013 for less than $500,000. Giving the Phillies a ton of flexibility to make a few more moves this offseason and set them up to possibly make a deal at next year’s trade deadline.

Revere should fit nicely into the Phillies’ mold. He could potentially bat leadoff, but everyone knows Charlie Manuel is pretty content with penciling Rollins into that spot. Only time will tell. He also can provide sound defense in center, which will really pay dividends if they go with the inexperienced Darin Ruf in left field.

The potential is there, now we can only sit back and see how Revere can handle playing in the City of Brotherly Love.

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