There’s nothing like waking up to see your favorite baseball team has traded one of your favorite baseball players for the equivalent of a tub of Bazooka Joe. Okay, maybe the Minnesota Twins did get some good players from the Philadelphia Phillies for OF Ben Revere, but in my opinion, this was a trade the Twins didn’t need to make.
The Phillies get Ben Revere in exchange for pitchers Vance Worley and Trevor May. Philadelphia was in desperate need of a CF and they got a good one in Revere. This guy is a poor man’s Tony Gwynn. He’s a slap hitter who batted .300 at every level in the minors and .294 in just his second full season in the bigs. He also swiped 40 bags in just 124 games and was a consistent Web-Gem-in-waiting for his glove. He’s just 24 years old and not arbitration eligible until 2014. As a smaller market team, you don’t trade guys with Revere’s mix of young talent and affordability unless you’re getting a king’s ransom in return. So did the Twins? Meh.
Vance Worley is a good pitcher. He finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2011, and while struggling a bit in 2012, still had a respectable ERA. But Worley was also the number four starter in Philly. How will he fare as a number 1 or 2 in Minnesota? Can he handle the pressure of being the guy the Twins turn to when they desperately need to end a losing streak and get a W? The jury is still out on that.
As for Trevor May, he is considered the Phillies second best prospect and a Top 70 guy in all of baseball. But I’m not seeing it. This is a guy who has struggled above high-A ball. He’s 6’5″ with a lively arm, but has yet to show he can put it all together. I understand drafting (or trading) for potential in football or basketball. Those sports are more athleticism based and sometimes, speed and strength take time to develop. But baseball has a place where potential can be viewed in actuality. It’s called the minors. And when a guy hasn’t shown he can consistently get hitters out in Double-A…how can you expect him to do it in the bigs? May is still young, and the Twins have shown they can help teach control, so there is a chance May can blossom into the stud pitcher everyone thinks he is…but hasn’t yet shown.
Overall, the Phillies traded from a position of organizational strength (pitching) to fill a major hole (CF). They get a National League type hitter who will get on base a third of the time, steal a lot of bases and play great defense. The Twins traded away their second above average starting CF in 10 days. While they have young guys like Aaron Hicks and Darin Mastroianni who could fill that position, neither has proven themselves on the major league level like Revere. I also don’t get why the Twins made this trade before Michael Bourn signed. There is a severe shortage in the CF supply this off-season. Once Bourn goes, Revere’s trade value goes up. While Minnesota received two arms in return, neither is currently of the quality to justify this trade in my opinion. I think the Phillies got the better of this deal by a landslide.
