Phillies Acquire Hard-Hitting Mets Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The first place Phillies have reportedly made their first big splash before the trade deadline, acquiring infielder slugger Asdrubal Cabrera from the New York Mets.

The Phillies will send Double-A Reading pitcher Franklyn Kilome to the Mets as part of the deal, which was first reported Friday evening by Ken Rosenthal with The Athletic.

Cabrera has experience at second base and third base, but he'll likely be used primarily as a shortstop with the Phillies, who have received limited offensive production thus far this year from rookies Scott Kingery and J.P. Crawford.

Cabrera, 32, is in the midst of a stellar offensive year with the Mets, putting up career high numbers in several categories. As of Friday, he was batting .277/.329/.488, with an .817 OPS and 18 home runs.

By contrast, Kingery - who has improved his average of late - was batting .235/.278/.341 with a .619 OPS and five round-trippers this year. Crawford, currently on the disabled list as he works his way back from a fractured hand, had similar numbers.

Cabrera will be a free agent at the season's end, so he marks a rental acquisition for the Phils, and will have no negative impact on the long term development of Kingery or Crawford.

It's the first trade before the deadline for the Phillies, who lead the Braves by 2.5 games in the National League East and have the second best record in the NL heading into Friday's matchup with the Reds. Cabrera, assuming he plays mainly shortstop, fills the only truly notable offensive hole on the Phillies roster. The other two question marks earlier in the year - third base and right field - have been handled very well in recent weeks by hot-hitting Maikel Franco and Nick Williams, respectively.

Cabrera has played mostly second base with the Mets, where he has graded average defensively in recent years. He does have a .986 fielding percentage this year, which is the fourth best in the NL.

Kilome, 23, has long been one of the highest ceiling arms in the Phillies system, though he has seen his stock fall over the past year in favor of fellow prospect hurlers Sixto Sanchez and Adonis Medina. Kilome is ranked as the Phillies number 10 prospect, per MLB.com. He has a 4.24 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and 83 strikeouts over 102 innings thus far this year in Reading.

The deal is pending a medical review from both sides.

#Phillies acquiring Asdrubal Cabrera from #Mets for Double A RHP Franklyn Kilomé, sources tell The Athletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosent... 27, 2018

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