The Phillies ante up last night as they acquired 28-year old righty swinging RF Hunter Pence from the Astros along with a cool $2 million bucks for 19-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Jonathan Singleton, 21-year old righty starting pitcher Jarred Cosart, 24-year old righty starter/reliever Josh Zeid and a player to be named later. Pence has played in 100 games for the Astros this year and he was 123 for 399 (.308 avg, .828 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 11 homers, 62 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Pence has played in 680 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 768 for 2,649 (.290 avg, .818 OPS) with 353 runs scored, 103 homers, 377 RBIs and 61 stolen bases. Pence will bat fifth and play RF for the Phillies, which should get Ryan Howard more pitches to hit.

Jonathan Singleton was the #2 ranked Phillies’ prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. Singleton played in 92 games in A-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 89 for 316 (.282 avg, .798 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 9 homers, 47 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Jarred Cosart came into this season as the Phillies’ #4 prospect according to Baseball America. Cosart pitched in 20 games (19 starts) in A-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 9-8 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Josh Zeid came into this year as the Phillies’ #23 prospect according to Baseball America. Zeid has pitched in 21 games (11 starts) in AA-ball this year and he was 2-3 with 2 saves, a 5.65 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP.

This was an outstanding trade for the Phillies as Pence is a very solid all-around player. The fact that the Phillies got to keep Domonic Brown and Vance Worley make this deal even more amazing. The Phillies are officially the team to beat if you want to win the World Series.

The Phillies are looking to try to make some moves to fortify the roster for another World Series run. They want another outfielder and are currently talking trade with the Rays about B.J. Upton. He won’t come cheap. If the price is too high for Upton, look for the Phillies to go after guys like Melky Cabrera, David DeJesus, Coco Crisp, Corey Patterson, Ryan Sweeney, Juan Rivera and Chris Denorfia. The Phillies could also use a utility infielder who can handle 3B. Adam Kennedy, Blake DeWitt, Aaron Miles, Jamey Carroll, Mike Aviles and Jeff Baker each fit the bill. A lefty reliever would be nice for the Phillies to add with Will Ohman and Craig Breslow at the top of their list. Jason Frasor, Michael Wuertz and Matt Lindstrom are some hard throwing righty relievers that are likely on the Phillies’ radar right now. The Phillies have never been shy at the trade deadline so look for something to go down before this Sunday’s trade deadline.

The Phillies have designated 33-year old righty reliever Danys Baez for assignment to make room on the roster for Brad Lidge who has just come off of the D.L. Baez pitched in 29 games (0 starts) for the Phillies this year and he was 2-4 with a 6.25 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Baez pitched in 80 games (0 starts) in his two years with the Phillies and he was 5-8 with a 5.81 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. The Phillies won’t miss Baez with the way he was pitching.

UPDATE: (8/1/2011) - The Phillies have released Danys Baez.

The Phillies have signed 32-year old righty reliever Aaron Heilman to a minor league deal. Heilman pitched in 32 games (0 starts) for the Diamondbacks earlier this year and he was 4-1 with a 6.88 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He has now pitched in 477 games (25 starts) in his first 9 years in the majors and he is 35-46 with 16 saves, a 4.40 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The Phillies will stash Heilman in AAA and give him a call back to the show if he earns it by pitching well in the minors.

The Phillies have signed 25-year old switch-hitting 2B/SS Steve Singleton to a minor league deal. Singleton has played in 81 games in AA+AAA-ball so far this year and he is 84 for 308 (.273 avg, .731 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 6 homers, 30 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He has now played in 615 games in his first six years in the minors and he is 636 for 2,258 (.282 avg, .747 OPS) with 301 runs scored, 36 homers, 248 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. With all of the injuries the Phillies have suffered in the infield, it never hurts to stash a guy like Singleton in AAA-ball.