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Michael Tucker has been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Although I never talked about Tucker much, his presence on the team was as unnecessary as it could be. I've ranted about Todd Linden's lack of playing time recently, and Tucker was the roadblock.

He was dealt for Dominican minor leaguer Kelvim Pichardo, who's minor league statistics look like this. From what I can find on Pichardo, he's a right-handed flamethrower, as you might expect from looking at the stats. Oddly, I cannot for the life of me find out how old the kid is (edit: it looks like he's 19). He's definitely a while away from contributing at the major league level. He plays in the Gulf Coast League, which is rookie ball -- not even low-A ball yet -- but his arm is apparently so lively that if he keeps putting up those high k rates and low walk rates, he could shoot up through the system pretty quickly.

Most organizational charts that I've seen lists Pichardo around 20th or so on their pitching prospects depth chart. Interesting deal from my perspective -- just as he trades away a bunch of young pitching, Brian Sabean throws an arm back into the system. With all the things that could happen to a pitcher in the minors, it's impossible to tell what might become of Pichardo, but getting him for a month of Michael Tucker has to be viewed as a good deal, I think.

As a result of this move, O&B favorite Jason Ellison has been recalled from Fresno. Much as I like Ellison, most days of what's left of the season he ought to sit in favor of Linden, who needs to be allowed to collect at least 100 plate appearance in September.