Seeking to strike while the closer iron is hot, the Philadelphia Phillies have traded right-handed pitcher Ken Giles to the Houston Astros.
Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, via MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, first reported details of the deal between Philadelphia and Houston. Per McTaggart, the Phillies are getting pitchers Brett Oberholtzer and Vincent Velasquez as well as a minor league player. Evan Drelich of the Houston Chronicle added the fourth player was pitcher Thomas Eshelman.
Giles has been one of the Phillies’ few bright spots since 2014, posting a stellar 1.56 ERA with 151 strikeouts while allowing 84 hits in 115.2 innings. He also racked up 15 saves last season after taking over the ninth-inning role when Philly traded Jonathan Papelbon to Washington.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said during an interview with MLB Network Radio in November that the team was “trying to add” talent like Giles before admitting his job requires being “opportunistic” to improve the franchise.
Even though Philadelphia fans are likely tired of seeing a talented young player get traded after suffering through stars from the past era like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins getting old, with the latter two having been traded, it’s hard to find fault with this deal for the Phillies.
David Murphy of the Daily News added another reason dealing Giles right now had to be appealing to the Phillies at this stage of his career:
For all the dominance that Giles has displayed over the last two seasons, he is not as valuable as a career back-of-the-rotation starter who has never eclipsed 200 innings in a season.
That’s not me talking. That’s the market. Happ might not have the stuff to become one of the best players at his position, but markets don’t care much for superlatives, and it is difficult to quibble with the verdict it rendered in the form of a three-year, $36 million contract with the Blue Jays.
Houston is giving up a considerable crop of talent in its package to the Phillies, but Giles is also a valuable commodity in this market for relief pitchers.
Ryan Madson, who is 35 years old and missed three seasons from 2012-14 before latching on with the Kansas City Royals last season, is reportedly getting $22 million over three years from the Oakland Athletics, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick.
For perspective, Giles isn’t going to command an annual salary of $7 million until at least 2018 unless he signs a long-term extension with his new team.
Giles’ value will likely never be higher since he’s not arbitration-eligible for two years and is under team control for five. By the time the Phillies’ young talent arrives and they are contending for a playoff spot, he will be expensive given the actual value a reliever who throws between 60 to 70 innings provides.
Before Giles was dealt, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports discussed Philadelphia’s logic behind making a trade happen:
Giles certainly doesn’t have the name recognition of Craig Kimbrel, but that’s just because the 25-year-old arrived in the big leagues on a bad team. Atlanta called up Kimbrel in 2010 as the team made it to the postseason for the first time in five years.
Power arms with Giles’ combination of stuff and results are rare. He’s the kind of reliever every team wants, especially given how cheap he will be before hitting arbitration. Bullpens are built from the back, and the Astros have resolved their late-inning issues in convincing fashion.
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