FanNation

The Phillies made a horrible trade in acquiring Joe Blanton for the A???s. As I stated in my comment to Matthew Nadu???s article on the trade yesterday, Phillies GM Pat Gillick broke a cardinal rule of trading ??? one that most GMs somehow don???t get: Never trade top prospects (or even a gaggle of secondary prospects) for someone who can???t be counted on to contribute in the post-season. As with all rules, there are exceptions. Most notably, if a team is just plain awful (think Washington Nationals), maybe you trade that gaggle of secondary prospects in hopes of getting your team to the boundary of respectability. But for a team like the Phillies, which should have as its goal to go deep in the playoffs, acquiring a Blanton-type player is a no-no. Let???s understand who Blanton is. To put it simply, he???s an overweight 27-year-old average pitcher who has greatly benefited from playing his home games in Oakland. In 122 career games, his ERA+ is a perfect 100. But he has a career ERA of 3.79 at home versus 4.78 on the road. Batters are hitting .290 against him on the road. And he has a 5.1 K/9 innings ratio. Pitchers with such low K ratios generally fare quite poorly in the post-season, not to mention players with ERA???s around 5.00. So now Blanton moves to the National League. Sure he???ll benefit from facing the opposing pitcher 2-3 times per game, but that advantage is more than offset by the disadvantage of a) not playing in Oakland and b) playing in Philadelphia. I would expect his ERA in Philadelphia over the next couple of years to be right around his career road ERA of 4.78. Maybe he???ll have some success early on in his Phillies career against teams that haven???t seen him before. But by the end of this season, as scouting reports get updated and filter down to the hitters, he???ll struggle. Philadelphia now has a starting rotation that looks like this: Cole Hamels Jamie Moyer Joe Blanton Kyle Kendrick Adam Eaton Unless Brett Myers returns and is dominant, the Phillies are destined for another early playoff exit ??? if indeed they make the playoffs. And that???s just criminal. When you have Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell in the peak of their careers, you have to go for it now. And going for it surely doesn???t mean trading for Joe Blanton. I hope Gillick at least called Cincinnati to check on the availability of Aaron Harang. He???s having an off year, but he still has the ability to dominate. Blanton doesn???t, hasn???t and won???t.