Did the Phillies Accidentally Trade a Prospect?

There have been numerous reports around the Internet claiming that the Phillies accidentally traded a prospect in the 2011 Hunter Pence deal.

In exchange for Pence, the Houston Astros received Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid, and a player to be named later, who turned out to be Domingo Santana. Singleton made his Major League debut last week after being given a 5-year, $10 million contract.  Cosart has found his way into the Astros’ rotation and Zeid remains a pitching prospect.  In Triple-A, Santana is batting .297 and may soon find his way into the Majors. Now, Santana has become the question of the trade.  According to reports, Santana was not on the list of players that the Astros were able to choose from.

Reports are saying that the mistake was made on the Phillies part, and they never intended to let Santana go. With the Phillies’ poor play and with Santana about to be the third player in the Pence deal to appear in the Majors, the trade may be receiving more attention than it should.

Ruben Amaro Jr. has denied the mistake, claiming Santana was needed to complete the deal:

“We didn’t want to put [Domingo] Santana on the list but we had to to get the deal done.  There were several prospects we didn’t want to part with in that deal but we were trying to acquire the best right-handed hitter on the market and that was the price. I understand we’re going to get picked apart because we haven’t had success for a couple of years, but this is not true.”

“There were three names that they had to have.  There was a list of three or four more guys from which they could choose one. I think they wanted more time for evaluation. Santana was on the list because Ed [Wade] asked for him to be placed on the list. There was no mistake.”

It all comes down to who got the better end of the deal. The Astros received four top prospects who are about to make an impact in the big leagues, while the Phillies got one year and a playoff appearance out of Pence.

What do you think? Was this an honest mistake on the Phillies part, or do you believe Ruben Amaro Jr.?