After watching my Cardinals get burned by Beane in the Mark Mulder deal, I'm always skeptical about any deal involving the A's.  On paper, it seems that the Phillies overpaid for a guy who is more then likely going to be the 3rd starter.

Man, I hope you're right. 

I'm not digging this trade yet, however if he can eat up some innings it will be good.  It's not like the Phils aren't going to hit.  If he can keep them reasonably close, he'll win a few more in Philly than he did in Oakland. 

This isn't the starter I was hoping they'd get.  At least it's not Barry Zito.

Think about it: this guy's a heck of a lot cheaper than Bedard or Burnett would be, and comes with none of the injury or head-case concerns. He's also moving from the AL to the NL, where teams haven't seen him pitch yet. Keep in mind, Kyle Lohse was an afterthought last year for the Phillies and ended up being sensational down the stretch. Plus, the best prospect the Phillies gave up was Adrian Cardenas, who plays second base. Last I checked, the Phillies were pretty set at second base for the foreseeable future with a guy named Chase Utley. And, to top it all off, this means they can get Adam Eaton out of the rotation, which is addition by subtraction.

No, it's not the splashy move a lot of people were looking for, and Blanton is not a front-line starter. But he can definitely be the type of Moyer or Kendrick type player that gives the team a chance to win more often than not, and with the Phillies' offense, that's all this team really needs.

He'll obviously be getting better run support, but he'll be giving up a whole lot of runs in his new home too.  He has an ERA+ of 77 right now.  Even last year when his value went sky high his ERA+ was only 106.  I wouldn't be giving up my 2nd and 4th best prospects for that.

Just for a reference point of how bad Blanton's ERA+ of 77 is, Bary Zito is currently sporting an ERA+ of 76.