Phillies reached deal for Joe Blanton, particulars of the trade not known yet

Considering the price for Blanton last offseason was Hughes + Chamberlain...something tells me the price came down a bit.

You figure Adrian Cardenas has to be included in the deal.

Phils are my favorite NL team. Hopefully this is a great addition for them, and they didn't have to sell their farm.

Not a huge Blanton fan, but a move to the NL could be nice for him.

 

You know Beane likes to load up on young arms.

The Athletics get second baseman Adrian Cardenas, pitcher Josh Outman and outfielder Matthew Spencer. Its a great name for a pitcher.

Edited July 17, 200817 yr by Dick Allen

Not a huge Blanton fan, but a move to the NL could be nice for him.

With all the good things happening with the young guys in Oakland already this year, I'm actually surprised how bad Blanton has been. Went from an ERA just below 4 last year to an ERA just below 5 so far this year.

There's speculation on the A's boards that Gio will be called up to take Blanton's spot.

go gio!

Billy Beane has assembled one ridiculous allotment of prospects... risky for sure.

Billy Beane has assembled one ridiculous allotment of prospects... risky for sure.

 

and when those players reach the MLB and start playing well, he'll dump them off

 

all beane cares about is saving money, while making money. not fielding a successful MLB product

and when those players reach the MLB and start playing well, he'll dump them off

 

all beane cares about is saving money, while making money. not fielding a successful MLB product

If that's the case...it's not a mandate that comes from Beane.

1. It's not the case.

2. It would be the case, as Beane has an ownership share (if I recall correctly), were it the case.

3. It's not the case.

4. It would be if it weren't.

5. It's not.

and when those players reach the MLB and start playing well, he'll dump them off

 

all beane cares about is saving money, while making money. not fielding a successful MLB product

Too bad you don't look at results for the truth. He's been GM for 10 seasons. They made the playoffs 5 times. They had 6 90+ win seasons, 1 88 win season and 1 87 win season, all with a budget less than most teams including the White Sox.

and when those players reach the MLB and start playing well, he'll dump them off

 

all beane cares about is saving money, while making money. not fielding a successful MLB product

 

Im not sure about that... Billy Beane doesn't profit from saving the Oakland A's money (unless he's given a bonus for keeping the payroll low). The only trade that really threw me for a loop was the Haren trade, he was obviously nasty last year and was really affordable for the foreseeable future... maybe he realized that the team wasnt ready to compete and tried to capitalize while he could.... still I'm not sure if thats the right way to compete for a title, but I'm not Billy Beane so what do I know.

 

Nice pickup... he's still talented.

 

Phillies acquired RHP Joe Blanton from the Athletics for second baseman Adrian Cardenas, LHP Josh Outman and outfielder Matthew Spencer.

It's hard to argue against this one for either team. Blanton is 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA this year, but he should be a lot better in the NL, even in Philadelphia. He should be a reliable No. 3 starter, he's under control through 2010 and he's costing the Phillies nothing that was likely to help them this year. They now have the option of moving Brett Myers to the pen if they'd like, and Blanton's ability to eat innings will take pressure of the relief corps, something that could pay off in September.

 

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Beane is just sticking to the plan. He's not overreacting to his team's unexpected competitiveness. I commend him for that.

There's speculation on the A's boards that Gio will be called up to take Blanton's spot.

Looked pretty good last time I saw him. I saw him last week against the Salt Lake Bees and he was on top of his game. Got into jams, but go out of them effectively. He struck out seven over 7.1 innings and allowed only five hits and no runs. I saw his fastball at 92 consistently and it seemed to stay there for his entire stay in the game.

Looked pretty good last time I saw him. I saw him last week against the Salt Lake Bees and he was on top of his game. Got into jams, but go out of them effectively. He struck out seven over 7.1 innings and allowed only five hits and no runs. I saw his fastball at 92 consistently and it seemed to stay there for his entire stay in the game.

 

He can do wonders with his fastball, especially in the later innings. I saw him strike out 13 guys last year throwing mostly fastballs, just moving it around from corner to corner. If he doesn't make it as a starter, he would be one hell of a set up man. Plus...Gio Gonzalez = Nicest. Guy. Ever.

Atleast now in a 5 or 7 game series vs the Cubs, I have more faith in Philly now then I did yesterday. Hamels/Blanton sure as hell looks better then Hamels/Eaton especially when it could be against Zambrano/Dempster (at Wrigley) or Zambrano/Harden (at The Bank).

Too bad you don't look at results for the truth. He's been GM for 10 seasons. They made the playoffs 5 times. They had 6 90+ win seasons, 1 88 win season and 1 87 win season, all with a budget less than most teams including the White Sox.

 

Not saying that Billy doesn't know how to assemble a talented team but in any of those seasons have the A's REALLY been a contender or just good teams without the juice to go all the way. I like what Billy does in working with a low payroll but he does continue to sell off all of his talent for prospects seemingly year after year. This goes all the way back to Giambi, Mulder, Hudson, Tejada, Haren, Harden, Blanton, anybody else that I've forgotten? I'm sure there is, the only big name player that they signed to a long term deal was Eric Chavez who has had his career derailed by injuries. Guess my point is that eventually you have to stop selling off your talent and take a shot at winning it all. In the late 90's early 00's he had a rotation of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito yet chose to break up the trio by trading Hudson and Mulder, at that point all three of them were dominant pitchers, if you aren't going to make a run at the title with those three anchoring the staff, Keith Foulke closing games and Giambi, Tejada, and Dye in the lineup then when are you???? He doesn't seem willing to take the necessary risk to make a title run. That is one thing that I respect about KW- at least he's got balls.

Not saying that Billy doesn't know how to assemble a talented team but in any of those seasons have the A's REALLY been a contender or just good teams without the juice to go all the way. I like what Billy does in working with a low payroll but he does continue to sell off all of his talent for prospects seemingly year after year. This goes all the way back to Giambi, Mulder, Hudson, Tejada, Haren, Harden, Blanton, anybody else that I've forgotten? I'm sure there is, the only big name player that they signed to a long term deal was Eric Chavez who has had his career derailed by injuries. Guess my point is that eventually you have to stop selling off your talent and take a shot at winning it all. In the late 90's early 00's he had a rotation of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito yet chose to break up the trio by trading Hudson and Mulder, at that point all three of them were dominant pitchers, if you aren't going to make a run at the title with those three anchoring the staff, Keith Foulke closing games and Giambi, Tejada, and Dye in the lineup then when are you???? He doesn't seem willing to take the necessary risk to make a title run. That is one thing that I respect about KW- at least he's got balls.

Some people here need to read Moneyball

Not saying that Billy doesn't know how to assemble a talented team but in any of those seasons have the A's REALLY been a contender or just good teams without the juice to go all the way. I like what Billy does in working with a low payroll but he does continue to sell off all of his talent for prospects seemingly year after year. This goes all the way back to Giambi, Mulder, Hudson, Tejada, Haren, Harden, Blanton, anybody else that I've forgotten? I'm sure there is, the only big name player that they signed to a long term deal was Eric Chavez who has had his career derailed by injuries. Guess my point is that eventually you have to stop selling off your talent and take a shot at winning it all. In the late 90's early 00's he had a rotation of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito yet chose to break up the trio by trading Hudson and Mulder, at that point all three of them were dominant pitchers, if you aren't going to make a run at the title with those three anchoring the staff, Keith Foulke closing games and Giambi, Tejada, and Dye in the lineup then when are you???? He doesn't seem willing to take the necessary risk to make a title run. That is one thing that I respect about KW- at least he's got balls.

Well he didn't go out and get Geoff Blum if that's what you're referring to. The money situation is a bit different in Oakland than in Chicago. He's taken several shots as the record would indicate. It just hasn't worked out. I know the criticism he gets is he builds a team that is great in the regular season but isn't built to win in the playoffs. I think that's totally unfair. He's now being realistic and going to try to acquire enough young, cheap talent to get his team on another run. I think he's a good GM and it would be interesting to see what he could do with a $100+ million payroll. Of course, sometimes guys are a lot better on the cheap.

I think he's a good GM and it would be interesting to see what he could do with a $100+ million payroll. Of course, sometimes guys are a lot better on the cheap.

I think there's a good chance that Beane would be worse off if he had money to play with. The fact that he's forced to let people go or trade them early makes it so that he doesn't get caught holding the bag for very many bad contracts. Couple of example cases; look at the contract he gave to Esteban Loaiza. Look at him holding on to Zito as the veteran anchor of his pitching staff. If he had a $100 mil bill to play with, he might well have been crazy enough to get in on the bidding for Zito or something like that.