A's deal again: Blanton to Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Phillies missed out on Rich Harden and CC Sabathia. Manager Charlie Manuel lobbied the front office to land his team another pitcher to throw into the rotation, and they added one on Thursday in acquiring Joe Blanton from Oakland. The Athletics have been looking to move Blanton and almost swung a deal to move him to the Reds. (The Reds offered Homer Bailey, but the A's wanted Johnny Cueto) However the Phillies seem like they will end up big losers in this deal and were in panic mode. The pitching market was razor thin since the 2 big names (Harden & Sabathia) were traded and the names out there were not as appealing (AJ Burnett, Greg Maddux, Zach Duke, Randy Wolf). The Phillies appear to have seriously overpaid for Blanton who is just 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA. Blanton is a workhorse and will throw at least 6 innings a game but he has been lit up by the AL  opponents this year. The NL is a weaker hitting league but Blanton will be a free agent after this year and could very well be a rent a player and leave for more money elsewhere. Billy Beane who seemed to get the short end of the stick in the Rich Harden deal absolutely milked the Phillies in this one. Coming over from Philly are 2B Adrian Cardenas (2nd best prospect in the Phillies system .309 4 HR and 23 RBI's at High A Clearwater), SP Josh Outman (4th best prospect in the Phillies System 5-4 3.20 ERA 1 SV 66 SO 70.1 INN at AA Reading), and OF Matt Spencer (.249 6 HR 41 RBI at High A Clearwater). Cardenas has been compared to Chase Utley with even fielding. Outman can be a solid starter and Spencer probably was the throw in in this deal. Cardenas will probably be sent to High A Stockton or AA Midland, Outman is likely headed for AA Midland and Spencer will most likely go to HIgh A Stockton