Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
While walking through a hotel lobby trying to catch a cab, Philadelphia Phillies president Pat Gillick told a couple of reporters the secret to making a good trade was looking at it from the other team’s perspective, and that the goal has to be helping both teams, not just one.
Gillick is in the Baseball Hall of Fame for a lot of reasons and one of them is that he has been a successful trade negotiator. While Ruben Amaro Jr. is still pulling the strings as the GM for the Phillies, there can be no doubt that Gillick—a baseball guy—has more hands on Amaro than former team President David Montgomery did.
That’s why the latest prospective trade rumor involving the Phillies and the Los Angeles Angels makes perfect sense for Ben Revere. The Angels need a productive left fielder now, and the Phillies have a serious overload at left field. While Revere might be their most productive left fielder now, the Phillies really need to take a look at the future and that involves power hitters like Darin Ruf and two guys currently in the minors, Cody Asche and Domonic Brown.
They need power right now and have two slap hitters, Revere and Odubel Herrera, playing left and center on a regular basis. That’s just not good batting order balance. The Phillies have to get rid of one of them, and Herrera is a Rule 5 pickup who must stay with the team through the season or be returned to his team of origin, the Texas Rangers. The Phillies know what they have in Revere; they’d like to find out what they have in Herrera.
With left fielder Matt Joyce batting a dismal .155, the Angels can use an offensive spark. They also could use a younger, quicker outfielder to cover the spacious Angel Stadium. Revere could make an instant impact and his presence on the bases—where he stole 49 last year, including one against the Angels (pictured)—could get more fastballs for guys like Mike Trout.
Getting Revere would help the Angels and cost no more than a mid-level prospect, which would also help the Phillies and prove Gillick’s trade philosophy is a sound one.
Mike Gibson is a Phillies writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
