Phillies Acquire 1B Justin Bour from Marlins

[LoneStarPhan]

Another trade I didn't see coming.

Guess we have first base covered for now.

Definitely some LH power off the bench for days he is not in the lineup, which I would assume would be most games.

[nycphils]

I doubt he has much offseason value, but they certainly didn’t give up a ton. Have to imagine he was a Rule V risk anyway (much better vs LH than RH) and could potentially be carried by the Os or Royals etc as a LOOGY for the year.

The legacy of Howie Kendrick lives on.

[Squire]

Mayo says its not a top 30 prospect

[nycphils]

Even better most likely, though I guess it depends.

[andyb]

Strange deal. Have to imagine some playing time will come out of Santana because he is an 835 OPS player against RHP even in an off year for him. Santana has a bit of a split this year but really none substantial for his career. But right now he is at .749 against RHP.

Bour cannot even fake the OF. I suppose Santana could but it would not be pretty. This is mostly going to be a bench move with maybe 2 starts a week IMO. Either Kingery or Crawford will undoubtedly get sent down till September 1st. Our GM really does not value defense.

Gotta be at least 50-50 he is a non-tender or nominal trade in the offseason.

[Lawman]

He's also a good DH prospect as well. We have a series coming up in Toronto, as well as the possibility of the NL adding the DH soon. And, oh yeah ,there is a DH in the World Series.

[andyb]

He's also a good DH prospect as well. We have a series coming up in Toronto, as well as the possibility of the NL adding the DH soon. And, oh yeah ,there is a DH in the World Series.

But isn't that what Cabrera (and Hoskins) to some degree are there for? We clearly have lots of DH candidates in our lineup. Starting a true SS with Cabrera or Hoskins or Santana at DH is apparently less good than going with the ultimate offensive lineup of Cabrera at SS with Bour at DH and Hoskins and Santana at their typical positions.

[zambonir]

You just never know... maybe they'd move on from Santana. With Franco sticking and Hoskins, your 4-5-6 type hitters are all RH (even if Hoskins hits higher). Not saying it is likely, but they like optionality.

And yeah, it seems like since pitching hasn't been the problem, defense isn't either. So they've gone even further in on that to try and score more runs. Maybe they are right. They say pitching and defense wins championships but that's not how I really remember 2008. Or 2011.

[Lawman]

Not disagreeing. But, I think, Cabrera is the starting SS and Hoskins RF. Your offense is now:

Santana/Bourn
Hernandez
Cabrera
Franco
Alfaro(Ramos)
Hoskins
Herrera
Williams

It's streaky, but that's the starting 9 Giving up defense for offense. Whether that's the way to go....I don't know.

[zambonir]

Heck, there isn't one "true SS" on the roster at the moment. Clearly Crawford isn't ending his rehab today (or if he is, he's either getting sent down or Kingery is).

Someone has to leave the 40 too. Lively? Gelb pointed out teams don't like to do that because then they have to pay him major league $.

[EastFallowfield]

Crawford went to San Diego, according to his social media

[EDmuch]

Wow, so much for Murphy or Bautista. Dang, Klentak is showing he can make moves when he wants to.

[zambonir]

I suppose there's no way they get Bour into the game tonight anyway.

[Squire]

Heyman confirms that it is LHP McKenzie Mills

[Squire]

but the Phillies had to DFA Jake Thompson to make room on the 40 man roster

[el-pietro]

Baseball Ref having some fun with the trade

Baseball Reference (baseball_ref)

[zambonir]

Guess they wouldn't just take Thompson eh?

[LoneStarPhan]

With Bour on board, the Phillies have a reasonable chance of having 7 players hit 20 or more home runs this season.

Hoskins, Herrera, Franco, Cabrera, Santana, Williams, and Bour.

Hoskins and Cabrera already have reached 20 for this season, Herrera and Bour 19, Franco 18, Santana 17 and Williams 16.

[montanaphil]

Is there any consideration that Carlos Santana might catch at some point? I believe that he stopped catching not because of ability but because of concussions. I know that at one point with the Indians after he had moved to 3rd there was still talk about him possibly catching when needed. Is there a chance this could still be an option or has to much time passed, or is it too big a risk physically?

[andyb]

s there any consideration that Carlos Santana might catch at some point?

Can't imagine they would even consider that with the Ramos trade. Maybe emergency catcher or late inning double switches but that would be it. Didn't Florimon have the emergency catcher job in Spring Training? Santana could already be that now for the team (3rd catcher is someone gets hurt and the other catcher is used). Not sure who else it would be.