MLB Trade Deadline: Hunter Pence to Philadelphia Phillies Imminent

It appears as though the Phillies have won the race for Hunter Pence‘s abilities.

Multiple reports are surfacing that a deal seems imminent. The trade likely involves two of the Phillies top 10 prospects: right-handed pitcher Jarred Cosart and first baseman Jonathan Singleton.

There’s no official word on this yet, but Zachary Levine of the Houston Tribune tweeted that Hunter Pence was removed from the game.

The Phillies slugging first baseman prospect, Singleton, was also removed from his minor league game.

While the Phillies have improved their chances of winning the World Series this season, it comes at a great cost. Hunter Pence is simply a good player, but he’s not overwhelmingly good at anything he does.

It begs the question: Why did the Phillies pay such a huge price and not get elite talent in return?

At least the Phillies didn’t part with Domonic Brown, whose name was tossed around briefly. Ex-Phillies general manager Ed Wade has certainly fleeced Ruben Amaro, Jr. in this one.

Pence’s value will never be this high again, and the Phillies may very well regret the move down the road. I can’t say that Pence really pushes Philly over the edge as the clear-cut favorite to win the World Series. Their chances were already pretty high with their outstanding pitching staff, so the deal only marginally improves their chances.

The real question will be whether or not Pence steals playing time from Domonic Brown instead of Raul Ibanez (with his -1.2 WAR). If it’s Brown, then the trade would almost mean nothing.

Hopefully Manuel does the right thing.

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