Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said that right-hander Joe Blanton, the subject of a variety of trade rumors this offseason, will be starting for Philly in April, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.
Blanton, with two years and $17MM remaining on his contract, became prominent in rumors when the Phillies committed five years and $120MM to Cliff Lee. Those talks had seemingly cooled as we drew nearer to Spring Training, but Blanton's name resurfaced earlier Wednesday in connection with the Cardinals when it was announced that their ace, Adam Wainwright, could be headed for Tommy John surgery.
Even still, Amaro hardly shut the door on Blanton trade talks for good with his assurance that the right-hander would be starting for the Phillies in April. There's plenty of time to get a deal done thereafter.
This means he will be traded tomorrow.
Better not be to the Cardinals… I dont want to see Blanton in a Cards uniform. Id rather take the chance with Lance Lynn or someone within the club.
Side note, this actually makes me feel better about not signing Pujols long term. I hope the Cards organization realized that if Albert wont sign for a decent price to let him walk and sign elsewhere. 30 mil can buy you more talent in 2-3 players than just 1.
Love Pujols and all but his days are coming to an end. Cards dont need to rebuild they need to make smart decisions to keep this club a contender.
I would think the Cards would be a lot more interested in Oswalt. Rasmus for Oswalt by the AS break? You think either team would do it?
On second thought, I doubt the Cards even listen to it. Rasmus is very talented and Oswalt is not the youngest guy on the field….
he would have to approve it
Oswalt wouldn’t oppose it, he originally said he’d only waive his 10-5 rights for the Cards. An being with Dave Duncan would add like 5 years to his career. On a side note, could you imagine the Cards obtaining both Oswalt and Buehrle? It would be awesome.
Personally, I think without Wainwright, the Cardinals won’t even be in a realistic position to compete at the AS break. I understand it will be easier to acquire a player at the break, once teams fall out of the race, but that being said, the Phillies will not be a team out of it and will want their strong 4 man rotation in the playoffs.
You never know. Everyone seems to forget the Cardinals were in it the entire season and lost it during the stretch due to a few bad games. Im not sold on the Reds repeating the year they had. They most likely “clicked” last year and only time will tell if they will actually contend again. The Reds were the same team in 2009 before they all of a sudden got competitive last year and lets face it. If you follow baseball there is always one random team that becomes a surprise. Nothing against the Reds, they are a great organization and Im glad to see another team in the NL central is competing but at this point my guess is they will be average this year.
Brewers might compete, but again who knows. Better pitching but they tend to find problems during the year and dont do much about it till the off season.
Cubs..well are the cubs. They are up and down.
Not preaching for the Cards just trying to shine some light for STL. They have had a pretty nerve racking past few months and this is worse news than not being able to re-extend Pujols in my opinion. However, the Cards are still last years team with the possible exception of no Wainwright but they did add Berkman (hopeful to have a great year), have Westbrook for a full season, and Pujols is doing something he has never done in his entire career. Entering his “contract season”, which most players try and shine as much as they can during this time. I think the Cards still have hope in the Central. Other teams will experience injuries in the future as well. Lets hope STL is done.
Well I think your grasping at straws with Berkman and Westbrook…but yes I suppose never say never. With the loss of Wainwright I think the Cardinals come back to the pack of the Cubs and Reds, who I do agree simply “clicked” miraculously last year as you put it. I’m on the Brewers bandwagon, they really need a lot to go wrong not to win this division. Also, don’t forget while Albert is without a doubt on another planet talent wise, Fielder is also in his contract year and is quite cabaple of a ridiculous year.
I agree, I think Fielder is going to have a great year and if the Brewers dont they will be trading him to a contender so I think he is in great shape this year. I just do see the motivation in the Brewers if they flop. They have a decent fan base but a city such as STL who basically worship baseball would stick by the clubs side even if they were off to a bad start. I just see Milwaukee as a team that, when they are winning the fans are packed in and have the support but on the other hand if they are loosing for some reason, the fans will say “to hell with it” and just wait till next year. I have never seen them really “go for it” with a mid season trade (with the exception of the C.C. trade). Im pretty sure they acquired C.C. to put people in the stands. It was obvious he was just a mid season rental.
Ya I dont think that would be an option.
No chance. There’s no reason to trade one of your best young players that is under team control for another four years (3 1/2 by the time of your proposed trade) for a guy that is aging, is getting paid an ton of money, and has hinted at retirement several times in his career.
That would be a horrible trade for the Cardinals.
-C
I want to trade Kyle Kendrick. Keep Blanton until the trade deadline and maybe if his stats are good someone will give up too much. Kendrick on the other hand scares the crap out of me and I would much rather use Vance Worley as the long relief/6th starter.
I expect Blanton to have a much better year. Last year he was hurt in the pre-season and didn’t get it together until June. He was pretty solid after that and should put up his best year to date.
The question is will anyone take Kendrick.
The D’backs took Armando Galarraga. Kendrick will be valuable to some team that doesn’t have as much depth as the Phils’.
Blanton is a better pitcher than he’s given credit for. He was coming off an injury and was basically in ST mode for the first half of the year. Also the BABIP fairy bit him hard. He’s a solid #3 on almost any club.
Blanton’s second half was better than most teams #3’s.
BLANTON 4 POOHOLEZ
How about you guys make Mike Vick your 5th starter, that way the days Blanton should start Philli fans have a reason to go to the games.
Dominic Brown and Blanton (eat part of salary) to the Astros for Hunter Pence.
Atleast I can dream about it.
Since Ed Wade is the GM in Houston, the Phils’ could have Hunter Pence for Joe Blanton and Drew Carpenter if they really wanted him. /sarcasm
Domonic Brown and Blanton would get you a hell of a lot more than Hunter Pence. Domonic Brown ALONE would get you more than Hunter Pence. I’d say with a wink that I’d offer Blanton, Brown, and Howard for Pujols. But only hypothetically.
How about them for Pence and Myers?
Myers you can have him, I for one don’t want to see homerun derby again!
#1 Domonic Brown, while hyped up like crazy, is still just a prospect, Pence is a somewhat proven offensive player with multiple 25HR season with little to no protection in Houston. If I were the Phillies, I would easily trade Brown for Pence. Pence in the Philly ballpark, with that protection around him would be ideally what the Phillies hope Brown will turn into.
#2 Houston has no reason to take Blanton’s contract as they are trying to rebuild.
The Phillies are trying to dump Blanton’s contract. Why would they trade Dom Brown, who isn’t even arb eligible, to take on Pence’s $7M and still have to pay Blanton $8.5M on top of that?
Amaro said he does not want to trade Blanton, at least for now. Where does it say anywhere they want to dump his contract? Yes it makes sense to do so, but until Amaro say’s it, who are we to make those assumptions?
As far as the Dom Brown/Pence thing, I suppose we’re talking simply about a hypothetical situation, in where I would prefer Pence to Brown, however your absolutely right in your analyzation of the contracts, it does not make sense for the Phillies.
Where have you been for the last few months? Amaro’s been trying to trade Blanton since they acquired Lee. If he could find a taker, he’d dump Blanton’s contract in a second.
Amaro has said that they might trade Joe Blanton if they get a good offer, but that they in no way “have” to trade him. They are not in salary dump mode.
Joe Blanton is a good solid pitcher, and the Phillies are simply not going to give him away and eat his contract as well. They’ll take a decent prospect or two, and possibly pay some of the contract, or might take lower grade prospects but not eat any of the contract.
I don’t know, Pence is likely to be more productive than Brown over the next couple of seasons, and the Phillies are definitely looking to win right now.
Blanton would be a great pickup for the Cards, but I don’t think Philly should trade him. Joe solidifies what I consider the best 1-5 in baseball right now. If Joe Blanton is your 5th starter, you’re doing pretty damn well.
I would rather have Arron Miles as the Cards 5th starter