Former BJ Pence Now A Giant

The San Francisco Giants completed a trade Tuesday to acquire outfielder Hunter Pence from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for outfielder Nate Schierholtz , Double-A catcher Tommy Joseph and Class A pitcher Seth Rosin.

The Phillies had been actively shopping Pence, who is under contract for $10.4 million this season and is expected to earn in excess of $13 million in 2013. Pence is hitting .271 with 17 homers and 59 RBIs for Philadelphia this season. He led the Phillies in hits, homers, RBIs, runs scored and walks.

“Thank you Philadelphia for all your support and passion. Excited to see what awaits me in San Francisco!” Pence wrote on Twitter.
Schierholtz, 28, hit .257 with five home runs and 17 RBIs for the Giants.

The Phillies sent outfielder Shane Victorino to the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier Tuesday.
Philadelphia won a franchise-record 102 games last season, but has fallen out of contention this year.

“I don’t think anyone really anticipated the season that’s gone on,” Pence told reporters in Washington after the trade. “It was the perfect storm of injuries and things didn’t go right for us, so that’s the way the business of the game is and you have to understand that.

“Everything is understood. The Phillies are going in a different direction. We had a great run at it. Now I’m going a different way.”

The Giants are 55-47 and tied with the Dodgers for first in the National League West, but they’ve been actively searching for offensive upgrades. They’re tied for 11th in the league with the Dodgers with 408 runs scored. Los Angeles added shortstop Hanley Ramirez to the lineup last week, and further upgraded manager Don Mattingly’s batting order with the addition of Victorino.

Pence will help replace the injured Pablo Sandoval in the lineup and presumably bat fifth behind Melkey Cabrera and Buster Posey. Sandoval was placed on the disabled list last weekend with a hamstring strain.
Joseph, a 21-year-old former second-round pick, is hitting .260 with eight homers and 38 RBIs in his first season at Double-A Richmond.
Rosin, 23, is 2-1 with 10 saves and a 4.31 ERA for Class A San Jose this season. He has 68 strikeouts in 56.1 innings pitched and has made five starts.