Is the Joe Blanton Trade Enough for the Phillies?

So as you may have seen, the Phillies just acquired Oakland A's RHP Joe Blanton for minor leaguers Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman, and Matt Spencer. 

The deal was a no-brainer for the Phillies.

Cardenas, who is at Single-A Clearwater, is considered one of the Phillies better prospects. However, being a second baseman, there is no chance to play with the big league squad with Mr. Utley there for hopefully the next decade. 

Spencer is an outfielder who also plays at Clearwater who was not putting up good numbers. He is hitting just .249 with six home runs and 41 RBI.

Outman was a decent starting pitcher at Double-A Reading, but was recently moved to the pen and was not considered an immediate pitching prospect. On the year, he is 5-4 with a 3.20 ERA and has recorded one save.

So anyway, as you can see, the Phillies got themselves a semi-name pitcher for three guys that you'll never miss.

However, Blanton is struggling this year, he's 5-12 with an ERA just under five.  In his previous three seasons, Blanton was a combined 42-34 with an ERA under four.  He also averaged over 200 innings in that time frame.  He's just 27 and can't be a free agent until the 2011 season. 

A chance of scenary helped Brad Lidge, perhaps it'll help Blanton as well. He'll most certainly take over in the rotation for Adam Eaton, who will most likely head to the pen, filling the open spot left by Tom Gordon who was placed on the DL last week. 

Don't get me wrong, Eaton will by no means pitch in crucial roles, I assume he'll move to long relief, bumping Clay Condrey into a more prominent role.  When Gordon returns, the Phils will have a decision on their hands.

Also factoring into the pitching is the return of Brett Myers, who is slated to make his final minor league start tomorrow night and then rejoin the Phillies on Wednesday night to face the Mets. Meanwhile, JA Happ gvae the Phillies two good starts during a brief stint in the majors and was sent back down so he wouldn't be sitting around while the Phils had open dates on their schedule.

So if Myers, Blanton, and Happ pitch well, you've got three quality starters to go along with Hamels, Moyer and Kendrick. This is certainly a good problem to have cause there will either be an injury or someone will under-perform. 

So with this acquisition of Blanton, do you feel comfortable the rest of the way?  Well, I still think they need to get another lefty reliever, but in a sense, maybe they did. As mentioned, JA Happ has shown some good stuff, but with Brett Myers coming back and Blanton now in the rotation, he would be the odd man out. However, being a LHP, Happ could slide right into that lefty bullpen slot for the Phils. 

So for now, I think this move may have put to rest the Phillies questions on the pitching front, but are they done? 

I'm guessing no.

Charlie Manuel has been hinting for weeks that the Phillies need another bat in the outfielder and I agree.  Geoff Jenkins has been underwhelming, and both Shane Victorino and Jason Werth are hot and cold.  So Tuguchi has been bad and would definitely be the guy to go if they were to add someone.

I think as we get closer to the deadline, there could be a veteran outfielder added, most likely from the right side. 

Is Jeff Conine still alive?