Blanton Dealt To Phillies For Trio

For the second time in little more than a week, the Oakland A’s have made a major move involving a member of their league-best starting rotation. Last week, Oakland dealt right-hander Rich Harden to the Chicago Cubs. On Wednesday, the A’s traded veteran workhorse Joe Blanton to the Philadelphia Phillies for three prospects, including top infield prospect Adrian Cardenas.

After six months of speculation, the Oakland A’s have finally dealt right-hander Joe Blanton. The trade, which has now been confirmed by the A's, was first reported by Buster Olney of ESPN.com. Blanton, who was rumored to be on the move throughout the off-season, was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies for three prospects: Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman and Matt Spencer. Blanton, who was the A’s Opening Night starter, has struggled this season. At the break, the big right-hander was only 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA and only 62 strike-outs in 127 innings.

Blanton was a first-round draft pick of the A’s in 2002. He has been a regular member of the A’s rotation since 2005, when he went 12-12 with a 3.53 ERA in 201.1 innings for his rookie season. The Phillies are hoping Blanton can recover the form that he showed last season when he went 14-10 with three complete games in a career-high 230 innings. He struck-out 140 and walked only 40 last year.

The Kentucky alum has never missed a start because of injury since joining the A’s rotation in 2005. He has thrown 760.2 career innings and has a 4.25 ERA and a 47-46 record. His 12 losses this season match a career-high. Blanton was the final member of the A’s Moneyball first round draft class still in the organization. He is in his first year of arbitration-eligibility this year.

In return for Blanton, the A’s have added three more prospects to their ever-increasing bounty of talented players. Cardenas is the highlight of the package. The 20-year-old Florida native was batting .309 with an 818 OPS and 16 stolen bases in 16 chances for High-A Clearwater of the Florida State League at the time of the trade. Cardenas was ranked as the Phillies’ second-best prospect by Scout.com’s Philly Baseball News and the number one second base prospect in minor league baseball in Scout.com’s most recent prospect rankings.

Outman, a left-handed pitcher, was rated as the Phillies’ fifth-best prospect by Philly Baseball News. The Missouri native is 5-4 with a 3.20 ERA in 33 games (five starts) for Double-A Reading of the Eastern League this season. Outman has 66 strike-outs in 70.1 innings. A 10th round pick in 2005, Outman was 12-7 with a 2.99 ERA in 27 appearances (25 starts) and 159.1 innings last year at High-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading.

Spencer is an outfielder who was a third-round supplemental pick of the Phillies in the 2007 draft. He attended Arizona State and is currently at High-A Clearwater, where he is batting .249 with six homeruns and a 684 OPS in 84 games for the Threshers.

Stay tuned for scouting reports and analysis of this trade and the rest of the A's deadline moves...

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