PBR - Hunter Pence has dealt with trade rumors before, enduring several last season before the Astros sent him to Philadelphia. Now, his name is surfacing again as a potential trade candidate as baseball's trade deadline sits a week from today.
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com speculated this morning that the Phillies have indicated to other clubs that Pence is available. He's earning $10.4 million this season and will make somewhere between $13 and $15 million next season in his final year of arbitration.
Pence, 29, is batting .268 this year with 17 home runs, 57 RBIs and a .789 OPS through 96 games.
“I just heard [the report]. Right now. I love Philly, I love being here, I mean look at these fans. The passion is unbelievable. There’s no better place to play baseball, no better place to win, really no worse place to lose, but that’s what you’ve got to love if you’re a competitor, you love passion from your fans,” Pence told 94WIP’s Michael Barkann and Ike Reese.
“You know, we expect a lot of ourselves and I absolutely love it here, so I hope [a trade] doesn’t come through.”
The Phillies paid a hefty price to acquire Pence last season, sending prospects Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart and two other players to Houston.
- Patrick Gordon is the editor of the Philadelphia Baseball Review. Contact him at pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com or @Philabaseball on Twitter.
