Porcello is a ground ball pitcher on a team with lousy infield defense. A 5 ERA in the AL would be better in the NL.
as far as the return for Pence,I would like more and said as much with the idea of Castellanos. But you are also freeing yourself of 14-15 million in a salary next year for a subpar defensive outfielder . Incidentally, my master plan has Hamels for Alt and two other prospects from Texas as well.

Kareningal is right :Amaro has to be careful-however, reality needs to prevail -sell now,get younger and re-load for next year and beyond. AAA has few if any position prospects...

They could easily get Castellanos for Pence...no problem. They might even be able to get Turner.

They're not going to get much for Victorino as long as he's barely hitting .230 from the left side. Where he gets the bulk of his at bats. Not only is he hitting .325 from the right side, but he has a homer every 15 at bats. From the left side he has a homer every 73 at bats.

Plus, Yankees have Granderson in center. Reds and Dodgers are possibilities though.

I won't believe it until Ken Rosenthai says it.

Yes can't...sometimes my phone does what it wants...

Victorino has really slipped as a LH batter so why does he not try staying right handed only? His defense has slipped too and should be a future corner outfielder with a good arm.

I have no idea what has happened to Shane Victorino..he looks like an automatic out batting LH, lunges at the ball most of the time, and hits a topper..and I agree, his defense has slipped, rather pedestrian now..

Victorino is having a disappointing season. It's poorly timed and maybe it's the stress of the contract situation.

I still think his level of play over his career should earn him a little more slack than he gets from this fan base.

Here's Victorino's ranking among CFer by WAR by period:

2012 - 13th in baseball
2011 - 2012 - 7th in baseball
2010 - 2012 - 6th in baseball
2009 - 2012 - 6th in baseball
2008 - 2012 - 3rd in baseball

And if you exclude 2012 as an aberration:

2011 - 4th in baseball
2010 - 2011 - 4th in baseball
2009 - 2011 - 6th in baseball
2008 - 2011 - 2nd in baseball (ahead of Matt Kemp)

Yeah, the guy has had a tough three months, but this guy is as clearly a top quintile center fielder as there is in baseball, and the amount of posters on this board who fail to recognize and appreciate that is very surprising and very disappointing.

If it's the stress of the contract, it's the most interesting stress ever. Seems to hit him when he bats left. Doesn't bother him at all when he bats right.

You do recall that's he's been dealing with an injury that was affecting him hitting LH'ed more than RH'ed, correct?

There's no question he's a better hitter RH'ed. But you don't abandon hitting LH'ed mid-season because you're slumping (and may be injured) from that side. It's a lot more involved than that.

He's always been a better hitter from the right side.

Yup. But he hasn't always been this bad from the LH side. That's the point.

But another point is that he's had several years to start the season batting exclusively right handed. And hasn't done it.

Doesn't really matter now because he won't be with them next year, and maybe not after this month.

"...But another point is that he's had several years to start the season batting exclusively right handed. And hasn't done it..."

-- Why would he? You're reaching a foregone conclusion that Victorino would have been able to make the adjustment over the course of an off-season and that he would hit RH pitching better as a RH hitter. That's an unbelievably big leap, yet you pass it off like it's a 'no brainer.' It's anything but.

You make some really good baseball arguments, but this one isn't one of your best, to say the least. It's really pretty silly.

Why would he? That seems evident enough.

And I didn't reach any conclusion. The point is he never even tried.

He didn't try because it's an IDIOTIC IDEA. You don't abandon something you've done ALL YOUR CAREER because your splits aren't identical. Few switch-hitters don't have one side where they don't hit better. The reason they're switch-hitters in the first place is because hitting from the other side gives them a BETTER chance against the pitcher.

Sorry to be so blunt, but c'mon man. This is baseball 101 stuff.

Even though I agree with that, I do think it would be an interesting idea to see him RH all the time.