Phillies on the Block

By Corey R. Cunningham

Now that the Philadelphia Phillies have locked up their South Paw pitcher Cole Hamels to a 6 year, $144 MM contract, look for the Phillies to be sellers in the OF and Utility. The Phillies are looking to Unload OF Hunter Pence, OF Shane Victorino and UTL man Ty Wigginton.

The only bad thing about the trade deadline is for fantasy owners, the reason for this is if you already have players for certain teams, you hate to see other players coming to that particular team. For instance, rumors have it Hunter Pence and the Dodgers have connections, and if you ar a Andre Either or Matt Kemp owner, that may take a little production away, more so from Either than Kemp, but not always a good thing when another spark plug comes to a contending team.

Hunter Pence is batting .268 with 17 HR, 58 RBI, 59 R and 4 SB. Hunter Pence is always a valuable asset to any team and any fantasy team, keep an eye out for his trade value and where he could possibly be headed to, I know his numbers have went down this year in Philly and so has the Phillies as a whole.

Shane Victorino is being targeted by many teams including the Pirates, Dodgers, and Reds. Victorino will add valuable defense to any team he joins as well as speed on the bath paths. Shane on the season is batting .253 with 8 HR, 38 RBI, 42 R, and 22 SB.

Ty Wigginton is getting attention as a utility man for many teams and not much rumor on him except for the Yankees being interested, as they are interested in just about every player out there on the trading block. Wigginton is hitting just .235 with 9 HR, 36 RBI, 33 R and 1 SB on the season, look for his bat not to be a huge impact on any team; however the Orioles could also be suitors for this once Birdland junkie player.

My Predictions:

Hunter Pence: Reds

Shane Victorino: Dodgers

Ty Wigginton: Pirates