It's not cheap, but the latest Ruben Amaro Jr shopping trip brings a nice piece of a big puzzle to Philadelphia. Hunter Pence is officially a Phillie after the two teams agreed to a deal for the 28 year-old outfielder.
The Phillies will send top minor league pitcher Jared Cosart and highly touted first baseman Jonathan Singleton along with two other prospects to Houston. Reports have pitcher Josh Zeid being one of the two players to be named later in the deal.
The deal comes one year to the day after the Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt from Houston and two years after the deal that brought Cliff Lee to the Phillies for his first stint. Apparently, Amaro likes the 29th of July.
Amaro not only acquired one of the most coveted targets on the trading table - again - but he shrewdly kept the Phillies under the luxury tax by having the Astros agree to pay $1-million of Pence's salary. That was a requirement of Phillies President Dave Montgomery, who absolutely refuses to let his club have to pay luxury taxes.
Another question that remains is who will come off of the Phillies roster? Domonic Brown could well be back at Triple-A Lehigh Valley so the Phillies can keep him playing everyday. If he does return to Lehigh Valley, he would likely be playing in left field since the Phillies view Pence as strictly a right fielder.
There's also the question of who the fourth player in the deal will be. Based on lineups and moves that were made in games Friday night, it's likely you can cross candidates like John Mayberry Jr, Drew Carpenter, Mike Zagurski and Michael Schwimer off the list of possibilities. There were also no obvious signs of any members of Lehigh Valley being included in the deal based on what was going on in the clubhouse after the game.
Hunter Pence's career stats
| Year |
Team |
G |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
SO |
BA |
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
| 2007 |
Houston |
108 |
456 |
57 |
147 |
30 |
9 |
17 |
69 |
26 |
95 |
.322 |
.360 |
.539 |
.899 |
| 2008 |
Houston |
157 |
595 |
78 |
160 |
34 |
4 |
25 |
83 |
40 |
124 |
.269 |
.318 |
.466 |
.783 |
| 2009 |
Houston |
159 |
585 |
76 |
165 |
26 |
5 |
25 |
72 |
58 |
109 |
.282 |
.346 |
.472 |
.818 |
| 2010 |
Houston |
156 |
614 |
93 |
173 |
29 |
3 |
25 |
91 |
41 |
105 |
.282 |
.325 |
.461 |
.786 |
| 2011 |
Houston |
99 |
398 |
49 |
123 |
26 |
3 |
11 |
62 |
29 |
86 |
.309 |
.356 |
.472 |
.828 |
| 5 Seasons |
679 |
2648 |
353 |
768 |
145 |
24 |
103 |
377 |
194 |
519 |
.290 |
.339 |
.480 |
.818 |