There has been a little buzz around Hunter Pence that involves the Phillies, and it leads me to believe that the Phillies don’t have much of a chance to acquire him.
Rumor has it right now that the Astros asking price is so high that he’ll probably end up staying put in Houston. It’s believed that the Astros are interested in both Vance Worley and Domonic Brown. To me that’s just crazy talk. Brown was considered untouchable in both the Halladay and Lee trades, and even though we’ve gotten to see a little more from him I believe that the Phillies are not ready to give up on him just yet. Personally I’m not ready to part with Worley since it’s unknown how soon Roy Oswalt will return to the rotation, and I haven’t a clue who could be a starter if he doesn’t come back, or God forbid something should happen to one of the healthy aces.
If the playoffs were tomorrow, I’d say go for it, but there is almost 2 1/2 months left in the season and the Braves are just 4 games back from the Phillies. That’s not that big of a gap. The Astros are not looking for a package of unproven prospects. I don’t think a combination of Singleton, Cosart, and you pick the others, would do it. They are going to want someone that they can throw out on the field right now. I was at the Lakewood BlueClaws game on Thursday to watch Phillies first round pick Jesse Biddle, and I encountered a scout from the Houston Astros that was there to watch him pitch, so I can’t say with certainty that they wouldn’t take accept a collection of prospects, but I still doubt it .
I’m interested in a “Rental” player if we don’t have to give up very much, but I don’t necessarily think that’s the long term answer. The Phillies desperately need some protection for Ryan Howard.
The teams linked to Pence right now are the Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, and now the Braves.
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