There aren’t a lot of interesting trades that happen less than 24 hours before opening day. Any major leaguer who gets dealt didn’t fit on somebody’s roster. Any minor leaguer who gets dealt for somebody like that is essentially a penny ante. In other words, the only players who get traded this time of year are players who are, by definition, expendable.
So I’ll be careful when I use the word “interesting” to describe the Phillies’ acquisition of Cristian Pache on the eve of their season opener against the Rangers. It’d be real easy to talk yourself into thinking that this is going to end up as another example of Dave Dombrowski’s brilliance at the margins. That the Phillies have somehow managed to acquire a considerable degree of upside in addition to the exact sort of win-now player they’ve been seeking all spring. After all, Pache is just two years removed from life as a consensus top 25 prospect. The last time he was traded — exactly one year and 15 days ago — he was one of the ostensible centerpieces of a deal for an MVP-candidate third baseman who was coming off a season in which he hit 39 home runs with a .911 OPS.
And Pache is still only 24 years old!
