Ben Revere Trade Fills Philadelphia Phillies’ CF Void

December 6, 2012 by  
Filed under Fan News

According to some of baseball’s top insiders, the Philadelphia Phillies have filled their need for an outfielder today by acquiring Minnesota Twins center fielder Ben Revere.

Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com and Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com both tweeted about the trade on Thursday afternoon:

 

 

 

 

In order to acquire the speedy outfielder’s services, the Phillies gave up starter Vance Worley and pitching prospect Trevor May.

The 24-year-old Revere hit .294 and stole 40 bases in 2012, bettering his 34 steals in 2011. Those are pretty impressive numbers for a player coming off of just his second full major league season.

Revere will still have to work on raising his OBP, but there is no doubt that the Phillies filled a major need by making this deal.

They also saved a fair bit of money by trading for Revere as opposed to signing Michael Bourn or trading for Curtis Granderson.

This will allow them to make another move (Michael Young, anyone?) to bolster their lineup.

While giving up May and Worley may seem like a steep price, this move was essential in order for Philadelphia to both improve its team and leave itself with enough wiggle room financially to make another impact move.

The Phillies join their division rivals, the Washington Nationals, as teams that dealt with the Twins in order to fill a need in center field, as the Nats traded for Denard Span on November 29.

Philadelphia had been relatively quiet so far this offseason, but talks and rumors have been heating up in recent days.

 

Sound off with your thoughts on this trade in the comments section below, and check back often for more

 

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MLB Trade Rumors: Philadelphia Phillies Should Be Cautious Trading Cliff Lee

December 5, 2012 by  
Filed under Fan News

Coming into this offseason, the Philadelphia Phillies were a team hunting for some assistance in the outfield.

With B.J. Upton and Shane Victorino both off the market, Michael Bourn likely to sign elsewhere and Nick Swisher demanding a price that Philadelphia probably isn’t willing to pay, it seems as though the options are drying up.

So what now?

Well, there’s always the trade market.

According to a tweet from Pedro Gomez of ESPN on Tuesday, the Phillies may have been looking to making a splash, as they discussed potentially swapping Cliff Lee for Justin Upton of the Arizona Diamondbacks:

 

 

This wouldn’t just fill the team’s need for a big bat in the outfield, it would instantly bolster Philadelphia’s lineup in a way that none of the aforementioned free agents could (with the exception of a few of those names being switch-hitters).

At just 25 years old, Upton has averaged 23 home runs and 77.5 RBI, while swiping at least 18 bases in each of those seasons.

Upton has been sensational since arriving at the major league level.

It would surely be worth giving up Cliff Lee for him, right?

Lee is 34 years old and will be 35 by the time the 2013 season wraps up. He was injured this past season and costs Philadelphia a good chunk of change.

Trading him is not that simple, though.

If the Phillies were to trade Cliff Lee, they’d lose an integral part of their rotation.

They would still have dominant, ace-caliber starters in Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay, but Halladay is no spring chicken, either. He had a poor, injury-plagued season as well.

It’s also worth noting that Halladay will be a free agent after the 2013 season, meaning the Phillies could be faced with losing two of their best pitchers, which would make them very thin in terms of starting pitching after 2013.

Should they be able to re-sign Halladay or feel fairly confident that they can pick up a second or third starter either this offseason or next (perhaps a guy like Shaun Marcum or Brandon McCarthy), the trade would seem much more feasible.

Until then, Philadelphia would be wise in approaching this potential deal—or any potential deal involving Lee—with caution.

 

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MLB Free Agents 2013: Philadelphia Phillies Should Sign Nick Swisher

November 3, 2012 by  
Filed under Fan News

It was one of the more disappointing seasons in recent memory for the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans.

While they tried to make a long-shot run at the National League’s second wild-card spot late in the season, their sluggish start to the season was just too much to overcome.

The Phillies did manage to fight their way back to finish with a respectable 81-81 regular season record, but missed the playoffs despite having one of the biggest payrolls in major league baseball.

Phillies fans need not worry, however.

They still have key contributors like Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon all signed through at least next season.

With a core of players that are still capable of winning in place, bringing in Nick Swisher seems like a no-brainer.

Not only because Swisher is one of the better bats on the free-agent market to be signed, but also because the Phillies could use some outfielders right now. After all, they did ship Shane Victorino off to Los Angeles and Hunter Pence to San Francisco after it became apparent that they weren’t going to be contenders this year.

Even Juan Pierre, who had a terrific season for Philadelphia, leading the team in stolen bases with 37, hits free agency this offseason.

It’s understandable that some Phillies fans may be weary of taking on another big contract for the foreseeable future, but Swisher would help fill one of those outfield spots and has been consistent at the plate over the course of his career.

 

Sure, he won’t hit .300, but Swisher would bring both power and the ability to reach base to the table.

Swisher hasn’t failed to reach the 20-home-run plateau in any of his eight full major league seasons and is an absolute walk machine. In fact, he’s had an OBP over .350 in all but two of his eight full seasons, despite never hitting .300 in a single season.

The Phillies will still need some sort of table-setter atop their lineup and some bullpen help, but Nick Swisher should be high on their priority list as free agency kicks off.

 

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