Report: Phillies Considered Trading Domonic Brown In Deal For David Price

Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

I fully understand that a general manager’s job is to consider any potential transactions, as unlikely as some may be, because their job is to find the right combination of players to put their team on a parade float. But when we hear about a trade, it means that the consideration caught some fire and the front office at least seriously considering doing work to see if a trade was feasible.

So when I hear of potential trades like this, especially considering that the Phillies only won 73 games last year, I get a little infuriated. And by a little I mean, I smashed my phone.

"Amaro is encouraging his staff to seek creative, innovative solutions, and the Phillies have gone so far as to kick around a trade for Price, according to major league sources.One, clubs discuss anything and everything at this time of year. And two, the Phils probably cannot acquire Price unless they part with their top pitching prospect, left-hander Jesse Biddle. Outfielder Domonic Brown also could be part of a package, and even then the Phils likely would be outbid by teams with better young players to offer."

Are you kidding me? I like David Price, don’t love him. Don’t get me wrong, I see why a team that is one piece away would want to trade for him. He is a former Cy Young winner, and if he can stay healthy, is a front line starter. The only problem is that the Phillies aren’t one piece away. Hell, the Phillies may not even be five pieces away. Not to mention whoever trades for Price is going to end up shelling out a contract that will likely top 125 million in total value.

Oh, and the catch is that after waiting three years for Domonic Brown to develop, we would have to trade him after he turned into one of the best power hitters in the MLB last season. Not sure I’m so on bored with that one. And add in that the Phillies would likely have to trade top-prospect Jesse Biddle and maybe add in another highly ranked prospect (if they even have one), and that is all without having signed Price to the potentially record-breaking extension he could get.

Obviously this is all hypothetical, but why are the Phillies even considering this deal? They might need rotation depth, but it is at the back end. They already have to expensive lefties at the front-end of the rotation in Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, so even spending time considering David Price when you have two straight non-winning seasons, is non-productive to me. Especially considering the Phillies haven’t exactly been drowning in the runs the last few seasons.

Of course, it doesn’t appear like Amaro views Price as his first option, but that doesn’t make spending time on what is essential a hypothetical situation any less productive.

"If anything, sources say, Amaro seems to grasp that he cannot simply make a singular splash, not when the team needs to address its catching, pitching and outfield. Thus, he’s unlikely to go all-in on a trade for Price or give a massive payout to a free-agent outfielder such as Jacoby Ellsbury or Shin-Soo Choo. A more measured approach finally is appropriate."

I’ve already stated how I believe that Jacoby Ellsbury isn’t a good fit, and I think that Shin Soo-Choo is a good player, who is going to get paid like a perennial All-Star because he tore it up in his contract year. In the end, I think that Nelson Cruz or a platoon of Darin Ruf and Michael Morse would make the most sense for the Phillies. I’m glad that the Phillies appear to agree with me on that. At least the first part.

The bottom line is that the Phillies have holes in their outfield, back end of the rotation, and all over their bullpen. So the Phillies are going to have to take some low-risk, high-reward type deals and have them work out, for things to really turn around in 2013. Pat Gillick did that in bringing in players like Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino, but Gillick is also a hall of fame general manager. Ruben Amaro on the other hand, doesn’t exactly have that type of track record, and I’m unsure that he will ever be capable of making those type of moves and seeing the reward necessary to turn the Phillies around from the hole that he has essentially dug them into.