Phillies To Send Ken Giles To Astros

And the luxury for the Astros is that Giles should be the closer for the foreseeable future since he isn’t eligible for free agency until 2020. Ken Giles of the Philadelphia Phillies appears to be their main target. Earlier in the day Salisbury pondered if the Phillies were prepping for a Giles trade after picking up a number of relievers this offseason.

Velasquez is the headliner of the group.

Oberholtzer, 26, went 2-2 with a 4.46 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP for Houston in 2015. He struck out 151 in just 115⅔ innings of work. He’s a hard-throwing righty who has a fastball that reportedly sits in between 93-96 miles per hour. He’ll also throw a changeup and slider once in a while as well. MLB.com now has Fisher listed as the Phillies’ 8th best prospect and has his Major League ETA set for 2017.

Earlier in the day, the Phillies signed right-handed pitcher David Hernandez.

Clearly, that’s not why the Phils are making him their primary piece, but it’s a possibility down the road. The 22 year-old outfielder ended the 2015 season at High-A, but undoubtedly has an above average bat. He has fantastic strikeout stuff, as he routinely posted double digit K/9 rates in the minor leagues.

But the Phillies see themselves as being several years away from contention. As for Fisher, he’s a long way from the Majors, and he’s no sure thing. Philadelphia’s front office has been rumored to be interested in starting pitcher depth to allow the team the luxury to slowly bring along its young pitching prospects, and they fulfill that need with Oberholtzer. That included a 2.61 ERA over his last 12 appearances during which he averaged one strikeout per inning.

The left-hander, still just 25 years old, has made 42 career starts for the Astros, with a career ERA of 3.94 and a FIP of 3.72.

As of this writing, the fourth player coming to the Phils has not been identified.

Yet, Giles has no more experience than other Astros now in the bullpen.

And who moves into the closer’s role for the Phils? According to Mark Berman, the Phillies will send Giles to Houston for two pitchers and an outfielder.