The Other Side of the Trade

Many are calling the cops on Ruben Amaro Jr. for stealing. As you know by now, the Indians traded Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to the Phillies in exchange for Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson.

The edge appears to be for the Phillies who got a Cy Young winner, a right handed bat, and saved their best prosepcts in J.A Happ, Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown and Michael Taylor. While they aren't the highest ranked prospects, the Indians got four decent prospects in return, two who are very close to being Major League ready.

The Indians are set in the catching department with Victor Martinez and Kelly Shoppach, but Marson is very close to being MLB ready. The 23 year old doesn't have much power, but hits for a high average. His catching abilities are impressive; he blocks the ball well and has a strong arm.

Donald, like Marson, is returning from an injury this year. Donald can also hit for average, but has a little more pop than Marson. Donald is very versatile. Primarily a plays shortstop, he can also play second and third. In the long haul, I think second will be a better option for him because he doesn't have the greatest arm strength. Asdrubal Cabrera is doing okay for the Tribe this year, but Donald could make an impact in 2010.

Jason Knapp has the most potential of the bunch, and he was the centerpiece of this deal. He is a strikeout machine, and he is only 18. He has 111 strikeouts in 85.1 innings, that's 11.7 K/9.

Carlos Carrasco has fallen off the radar, but he once touted as the Phillies best prospect. He has a very good curveball, and people forget how young he is (22). He'll probably be a middle of the rotation starter in the future, but he has always been a top prospect despite a shaky year this season. A change of scenery might help him too. He can turn around his struggles, he is a talented pitcher.

Even though the Indians didn't get the Phillies best prospects, the Indians still received a good amount of talent in return.

Taylor Promoted, Knapp DL'd

As seen on Phillies Nation.

Top prospect Michael Taylor has been promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 23 year old batted .333 with 15 home runs and 65 runs batted in with Double-A Reading. In addition, he had an on-base plus slugging percentage of .977.

In other minor league transactions, Jason Knapp has been placed on the seven-day disabled list with shoulder fatigue. Knapp is 2-7 with a 4.01 ERA. He is eligible to come off the disabled this weekend, but will likely miss another week.

BA's Top 25 Prospects

Baseball America released their mid-season top 25 prospects today. The list features three Phillies:

17. Dominic Brown, OF
(Season with A+: .299 AVG/.379 OBP/.540 SLG/.919 OPS/9 HR/38 RBI/14 SB)

23. Michael Taylor, OF
(Season with AA: .340 AVG/.405 OBP/.583 SLG/ .989 OPS/ 15 HR/ 64 RBI/ 17 SB)

24. Kyle Drabek, RHP
(Season with A+ and AA: 9-1/108.1 IP/2.58 ERA/110 SO/ 136 BB)

In addition, Jason Knapp was listed in the top 50.
(Season with A: 2-6/84.2 IP/ 3.40 ERA/ 1.13 WHIP/ 111 SO/ 36 BB)

Jason Heyward, an outfielder in the Braves system was ranked number one. With A+ and AA, he is batting .300 with 10 HR. His OPS is .911.

Tim Beckham, the Rays first round pick in the 2008 draft, was ranked 20th.

Pharm Phriday: 5/15

This edition of Pharm Phriday is a bit more laid back. It was featured on Phillies Nation earlier in the week, but I updated the stats.


The Phillies Triple-A affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, are 14-19, 5th place in International North League.

Standout Star

Mike Cervenak: .328 AVG/ 3 HR/ 22 RBI/ .832 OPS

Jason Donald and Carlos Carrasco are two minor leaguers that everybody has their eye on. Donald has been up and down so far this season, but is tearing up lefties. He is hitting .421 against them. Overall he is batting .254 with one home run and 13 runs batted in. His on-base plus slugging percentage is .679. He has played the majority of the time at shortstop, but has played a few games at third base.

Carrasco was off to a terrific start, but has struggled in his last four starts. In his first three starts he lacked run support from the IronPigs so he had no wins to show for it. In 35.1 innings, he has 37 strikeouts, but is 0-4 with a 6.62 earned run average and allowed 1.75 walks per innings pitched.

Kyle Kendrick is 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA in seven starts. He has allowed a lot of hits (39 in 36 innings), but has been able to escape jams.

The Double-A Reading Phillies are 18-13, and in 3rd place in the Northern Eastern League.

Standout Stars

Michael Taylor: .310 AVG/ 6 HR/ 23 RBI/ 5 SB/ 9.65 OPS

Vance Worley: 3-0/ 2.11 ERA/ 0.86 WHIP/ 34 SO/ 38.1 IP

Class A Advanced team, the Clearwater Threshers, are 18-15. They are in 2nd place in the Florida State League North.

Standout Star-

Dominic Brown: .317 AVG/ 6 HR/ 26 RBI/ .974 OPS

Dominic Brown has been the standout star by far, but Kyle Drabek is a player to watch. So far he has rebounded nicely from Tommy John surgery. He is 3-0 with a 2.21 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He has struck out an amazing 51 batters in 40.2 innings.

The Class A Lakewood Blue Claws are 18-14. They are in 2nd place in the Northern South Atlantic League.

Jason Knapp is the player to watch for the Blue Claws. Overall he is 2-3 with a 3.82 ERA and 1.06 WHIP, but was practically lights out in his first four starts. He was rocked in two of his outings, but his 53 strike outs in 37.2 innings is unbelievable.

Pharm Phriday: 5/1

In this edition of Pharm Phriday, Jay from the blog Phoul Ballz helped out with a report about the 2009 Lakewood Blue Claws. IRONPIGPEN joins us again.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs (AAA): 9-11, 4th in INT North League.

John Mayberry Jr.: .269 AVG/ .956 OPS/ 5 HR/ 14 RBI/ 20 SO/ 18 G/ SB

Kyle Kendrick: 2-1/ 26 IP/ 2.77 ERA/ 15 SO/ 1.42 WHIP

IRONPIGPEN: As far as pitching is concerned, Kendrick has stopped his downwardslide and is quietly regaining his effectiveness. His performance Thursday evening (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER) was his best effort of the season so far. If his improvement trend continues, it should only be another month or sobefore the conversation turns to when the Phillies might consider another shot for Kendrick in The Show.

Andrew Carpenter: 1-0/ 23.1 IP/ 3.86 ERA/ 14 SO/ 1.33 WHIP

Carlos Carrasco: 21.2 IP/ 0-2/ 4.57 ERA/ 23 SO/ 1.15 WHIP

Jason Donald: .244 AVG/ 1 HR/ 4 RBI/ .669 OPS/ SB

IRONPIGPEN: Meanwhile, the IronPigs bullpen has produced outstanding results since theopening series debacle versus the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Mike Koplove (11.2 IP, 0.77 ERA) and Gary Majewski (12 IP, 1.50 ERA) continueto plead their case for a place in the pen at Citizens Bank Park. The mostreliable of all, however, has perhaps been Tyler Walker, the former San Francisco Giant who was signed as a free agent after the season started.

Walker, in five appearances, has been unscored upon and has allowed just one hit in ten innings pitched. The veteran Major Leaguer also sports a standoutratio of zero walks to nine strikeouts.

Reading Phillies (AA): 12-6, 2nd in EAS South

Michael Taylor: . 338 AVG/ .958 OPS/ 3 HR/ 14 RBI/ 5 SB

IRONPIGPEN:

Highly touted outfield prospect Taylor, has apparently put his pedal to the metal in recent weeks. One thing to watch for, should this kind of production continue, would be whether or not Taylor is moved up to AAA at some point in the second half of the season.

Quentin Berry: .245 AVG/ .626 OPS/ 3 RBI/ 9 SB

Antonio Bastardo: 12.1 IP/ 1-0/ 0.73 ERA/ 11 SO/ 0.57 WHIP

IRONPIGPEN: As far as R-Phils pitching goes, the one man who continues to distinguish himself would be middle reliever Matt German. German, graduated from A+ Clearwater this spring, remains unscored upon after no less than eightappearances and 11.2 innings pitched. With just six hits permitted and sixteen batters struck out, German is fast developing into one of the league's more dependable firemen.

Clearwater Threshers (A+): 11-9, 2nd in FSL North

Dominic Brown: .288 AVG/ .893 OPS/ 3 HR/ 14 RBI/ 5 SB

Kyle Draebek: 3-0/ 24.1 IP/ 0.99 WHIP/ 31 SO

Lakewood Blue Claws (A): 12-8, Tied for 2nd in SAL Northern Division

Jason Knapp: 1-2/ 24.1 IP/ 1.85 ERA/ 37 SO/ 0.74 WHIP

Jay: Jason Knapp is a name plenty of Phillies phans became familiar with early last week, when he pitched 7 shut out innings while striking out 14 for Cleveland's low A ball squad, the Lake County Captains. Lakewood pitching coach Bob Milacki told me, "if he stays healthy and keeps improving like he is, Knapp's gonna be a big leaguer in a few years." His fast ball tops off at 97 MPH, and he's developing his already solid command of his curve and change. His strike outs show that he can over power hitters. His record has suffered due to lack of run support in his starts, but his ERA, WHIP, and strike out to walk ratio (37:6) don't lie. Only 18 years old, the 2008 2nd round pick Knapp is expected to spend the full season at Lakewood, but he could very well be a quick riser through the Phillies' system.

Travis D'Arnaud: .230/ 2 HR/ 17 RBI/ .650 OPS

Jay: Travis D'Arnaud is one of the Phillies' top 10 prospects, according to Baseball America. Lakewood's starting catcher has a low batting avg. in the early going, but he has not failed to come through in key situations, as he leads the team in RBI (no other BlueClaw is in double digits in RBI yet). D'Arnaud needs to become more selective with his pitches. 3 walks in 18 games needs improvement. D'Arnaud is a good game caller. He gets credit from his pitching staff as well as coach Bob Milacki for helping the pitchers excel. The 20 year old, D'Arnaud, batted a combined .305 between Williamsport and Lakewood last season, so expect him to have a good time getting that average back where it belongs.

Jesus Villegas: .429 AVG/ 1 HR/ 9 RBI/ 1.020 OPS

Jay: Jesus Villegas Andino leads the team in average and OPS. In his first 11 games, Jesus had 16 hits. His on base percentage (.522) is jaw dropping. The 22 year old Puerto Rican infielder plays both short stop and second base. The 2007 14th round draft pick has been quite a surprise and keeps earning himself more playing time. Not in the opening day lineup, Jesus has hit safely in 9 of his 11 games, and will be one to watch this year, if he stays hot.

Jon Velasquez: 5-0/ 20 IP/ 2.25 ERA/ 0.95 WHIP/ 13 SO

Jay: Jon Velasquez has already earned a promotion from the bullpen to the starting rotation this month. The 23 year old Bronx, NY native was signed as an undrafted amateur free agent in March, after he was spotted by a Phillies scout at an independent league tryout. His 4-0 record (3 wins in relief) leads the South Atlantic League. Coach Bob feels that Velsquez certainly has the talent to play at higher levels.