Phillies acquire Blanton for 3 minor leaguers.

[nick]

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.

Credit rotoworld.com


Not a bad trade all things considered for either team, when you take into account Burnett is probably going to cost you more, Bedard is injury-prone and the same thing applies to him with value, and when you move Blanton the NL there's a good chance you'll get more production out of him than before (possibly equal to Burnett and Bedard even) and he'll eat more innings than both of them.

As for the A's, Outman is a nice pickup and in my eyes will wind up in their pen before their rotation (even if he's developed as a starter), but he's another option either way for their already system. Cardenas is a very nice pickup, and could possibly let Patterson slide into a utility role once developed which I think he would be much better in overall. Dunno a thing about Matt Spencer other than what I read.

[Slyder]

And Cincy loses out on its (probably) best opportunity to trade Arroyo for anything.