MLB Trade Deadline: Why Astros Fans Should Be Thrilled with Hunter Pence Deal

It's an emotional day for any Astros fan. While those emotions will certainly be mixed, this should be seen as nothing less than a great day for the franchise.

Hunter Pence is a good player. I'm not going to argue with anyone about that. He is a solid hitter for average and power, plays a good right field and effort is never, and I mean never, a question when it comes to Pence.

Pence was the Astros one All-Star representative this year, and for better or worse, he has been the face of the franchise ever since the 2007 retirement of team icon Craig Biggio.

The hardest part of all for fans is that they are losing such a good person in Pence. He was by all accounts a friendly, personable guy who treated everyone he came into contact with well.

All that being said, you have to feel like Ed Wade and the rest of the Astros front office fleeced Ruben Amaro and the Phillies front office.

The return the Astros got was fitting for a trade involving a superstar and Pence is far from that. The Astros will receive two of the Phillies top three prospects along with two other players.

Jonathan Singleton, one of those top prospects, could be the best power hitter the Astros have had since Jeff Bagwell. Jarred Cosart, the other stud in the deal, is a 21-year-old starting pitcher with an electric arm. His appearance in the All-Star Futures Game had scouts and fans alike buzzing.

Again, Hunter Pence is a nice player. He brings a lot of good things to a ball club, but he is far from a superstar deserving this type of haul in return. He is having a career year this season, yet his numbers are still not near what you would consider outstanding.

If you rule out his rookie season when pitchers did not yet known how to pitch him, Pence's .309 average this season is 27 points higher than his highest season batting average. His on-base percentage, a career bugaboo for Pence, is 10 points higher than his highest career percentage. If there is a better regression to the mean candidate than Hunter Pence, I don't know who it is.

For that matter, that regression may have already started. Pence's average has dropped 14 points since the All-Star break, and he has yet to hit a home run in that time.

Pence will hit .280, hit 20-25 homers and drive in 85-90 runs, but he will never be a consistent .300 hitter and I have my doubts that those famous holes in his swing on breaking balls will ever go away.

The Astros truly struck while the iron is hot and sold high on Hunter Pence.

So, we as Astros fans, bid you farewell, Hunter Pence. We'll miss your unorthodox swing, your unorthodox throwing motion and your kind, congenial demeanor that is so unorthodox in pro sports today.

But to be frank, we won't miss you for long. This trade signals a new day in Houston Astros baseball. The youth movement that slowly began with the calling up of Jordan Lyles and Jose Altuve has now begun in earnest. The future is bright for the Astros largely thanks to this trade.

How far away is that future, you ask? Well, that's a story for another day.