Hunter Pence Traded To Giants For 3 Players

The Hunter Pence trade we’ve been waiting on to become official is now official. The Philadelphia Phillies have sent Hunter Pence to the San Francisco Giants. The San Francisco Giants have sent Tommy Joseph, Nate Schierholtz, and Seth Rosin to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Don’t believe me? Here, read this official tweet that says the exact same thing:

Pence has another year of team control beyond this one, and it’ll be expensive, but the Giants aren’t thinking about 2013. They’re thinking about 2012, and Pence is a boost to the outfield. He’s never had a below-average offensive season in his career, and he’s on pace to break 20 homers for the fifth consecutive season. He could reach 20 this week. The Giants were looking for a righty-hitting outfielder and Pence is a significant one.

Joseph is the main piece going to the Phillies, and the Giants took him in the second round in 2009. Before the year Baseball America ranked him the No. 2 prospect in the Giants’ system. He has yet to really take off offensively, but he’s 21 and he’s a catcher holding his own in double-A. Joseph is a quality prospect.

Schierholtz is a club-control outfielder who ran out of room in San Francisco. He can do a lot of things, albeit none of them great, and he’s actually had a better offensive year than Pence in 2012 if you ignore sample sizes. He’s an average left-handed hitter and he makes for a useful stopgap.

Rosin is a 23-year-old righty reliever who’s had success in the low minors. I’m sure Seth Rosin is a really swell guy, but his significance in this trade is indicated by the fact that the Giants’ official Twitter account misspelled his last name. He could have a big-league future in relief, like so many.