Blanton is bland

I guess the Phillies improved by dealing with Oakland for Joe Blanton, but sometimes the best deal is the one that isn't made. I'm convinced that trading for Blanton is not a terrible move, but it doesn't offer much in the way of putting Philadelphia closer to a championship.

Blanton's numbers don't jump off the page in any way other than posting a 5-12 record for a winning team. It's hard to do that. For his career Blanton is closer to striking out a batter every other inning than he is every inning, and he owns a fairly ordinary career ERA of 4.25 and WHIP of 1.33. There's no reason to expect him to improve. This is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get starter who is capable of going six to seven innings but nothing more. Blanton is bland, and if he's better than Adam Eaton, well, that's not saying much. Almost every pitcher in MLB is better than Eaton. Blanton's also a flyball pitcher, which isn't good in a bandbox like Philadelphia.

Blanton owns a 9.00 ERA in the 5th inning this year, and a 6.23 mark in the 6th. He's considered an innings eater, but he's not very good the more innings he goes. He sounds more like a fifth starter than a difference maker, and that doesn't do much for the Phillies in October.

Oakland got a three-player haul, all of them minor leaguers in the deal. The fact that A's general manager Billy Beane acquired Adrian Cardenas, a very good second base prospect, plus two more players is enough to make this deal a positive for Oakland. It's not easy to find left-handed hitting second basemen, and Cardenas is a talented offensive player who is hitting .309 with a little pop (4 homers). Blanton is a number four starter at best, and the A's have the likes of Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill waiting for an opportunity in the minors. After a modest haul in the Haren trade Beane is getting a little extra value here.

One last note, with Harden, Blanton and Gaudin already traded and a rumor or two floating around regarding Justin Duchscherer's potential trade, the A's could end up with just one of their original five starters.