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Ken Giles, and some 17 year old shortstop, traded to Astros for a package of 5 pitchers, including Vincent Valasquez and former # 1 pick Mark Appel

As a Phils fan I give this one a thumbs up even though I hate to see Giles go. A great closer on a losing team is a luxury, not a necessity, and the Phillies got some real good young arms in return. I'm surprised Houston would make this trade.

Hated this deal with fisher in it. First glance you may think that a lot was given up, but Appel is a head case. Flat fastball that everyone can see coming. Honestly think he turns into a #3 (or setup/closer) rather than the 1-2 everyone thought he would be. Velasquez never impressed me when he was up with the stros and was glad they said no to McCullers being included in any deal. Oberholtzer nice 4-5 type guy that can eat innings during the rebuild. Elshelman could be a solid rp depth in the future. Don't really know much about the other rp.

Giles gives us a controllable power arm which we need desperately and really completes our bully now. I personally think they keep gregerson in as closer at least initially so they can use Giles in high leverage situations when they need a k. But I think it was a good deal for both teams.

I was generally pleased with the deal. If anything, they acquired multiple assets for a guy with just 3 months closing experience, albeit one with a big arm. Keep in mind, in 2015 Giles wasn't the 100 mph guy he was in 2014. He started the year throwing 92-93, though he did bump that up to the mid 90's. Also, while the Phils need help everywhere, SP is the biggest area of need, so I was happy to see Appel added to the deal over Fisher. Probably a good deal for both sides. I would have like to see what the Phils could have gotten from the D-Backs as it appears they could have benefited from Giles as well. I guess they had nobody else to give up after the Braves fleecing.

The Phils system definitely looks a lot better than it did 12 months ago. They just need 2 young arms to be able to stick in a rotation along with Nola over the next few years. Then add in 1-2 free agent arms in 2017/2018. The infield can continue to build around Franco and Crawford. There's talent in the OF, though not alot of real standout potential, but it's easier to add pieces there in the future. Also, the #1 pick is on it's way in June. Hopefully they can at least get into the Wild Card race by 2018 if not 2017, before seriously contending by 2020. That would conclude a real crappy decade of baseball. Thank god for fantasy baseball. There's nothing worse than having your favorite team out of the race by June 1.