Phillies: Trading for pitching
By Tal Venada
In the comments section of a major site, fans recently tossed around names of hurlers the Phillies could pursue with a swap. Some would cost a Scott Kingery and a Hoskins, while others had a poor 2017 or are on clubs in the market for starters. Agreement was minimal. Basically, their reasoning depended on their perception of which stats were important. On another site, however, the solution was to spend money for an ace who will be around 36 at the end of the contract. Healthy or not!
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Of the four potential candidates to deal, Tommy Joseph will not bring back a worthwhile return, and the Philadelphia Phillies might be better-off keeping him. Yes, he smacked 22 homers last summer, but 117 MLB hitters had 20 home runs or more. And even if the front office finds a trade partner, Joseph will be a balancing piece to complete the transaction.
While receivers are always in short supply, Cameron Rupp is a solid backup who could be more valuable offensively with less exposure, but defensively he ranked 110 out of 116 big league catchers for pitch framing. Basically, Rupp alone won’t be enough, and even adding Single-A talent recently acquired from other teams provides only a marginal shot. The backstop will need at least one other player or pitcher for a potential swap.
"WORDS OF WISDOM: “Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.” – Branch Rickey"