MLB Trade Rumors: Hunter Pence Isn't Going Anywhere Anytime Soon

It’s only been a day or two since Buster Olney reported that the Astros would listen to offers for Hunter Pence, but I already get to say, “I told you so.”

In the last 48 hours there has been more chatter about Pence than almost any player on the market. But he may not be on the market at all, actually.

Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald was told by a source that Pence won’t be moved by the Astros.

I’m guessing everyone finally realized he wasn’t quite the prize everyone made him out to be.

Oh, he’s good. In fact, he’s the best hitter the Astros have—that just isn't saying a whole lot.

As I have said repeatedly the last couple of days, because he was a super two, Pence has two more rounds of arbitration and could make as much as $9-10 million in 2012 and more again in 2013. Sort of kills that, "he’s young, cheap and controlled" narrative.

It’s also more than a little bit possible that people looked at his splits (like I did) and realized that Minute Maid Park has been very, very good to him. These two facts more than likely led teams to the inescapable conclusion that the haul the Astros were said to be asking for was not even close to being all that realistic.

It’s also possible, however, that Ed Wade is stuck as a lame-duck GM with new ownership in the offing but not yet in power, and that he is kind of caught in baseball’s no-man’s land, unable to make any significant deals.

Or it could be something else. One never really knows at this time of year.

But if Silverman is right, we’re back to where we were when the week began: Carlos Beltran is the best bat available on the market.

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