In the last minute trade for the talents of Michael Young, the Phillies recieved the now thrice traded LHP Rob Rasmussen. Rasnussen was amongst a dominant 2010 UCLA rotation that featured Garret Cole and Trevor Bauer. He would be drafted in the second round of the 2010 draft by Miami. Miami then dealt him to Houston for Carlos Lee in 2012 who then traded him to Los Angeles last winter for John Ely.
According to the Baseball America Prospect Handbook which went to press before the trade to Los Angeles, Rasmussen was the 19th best prospect in the Houston organization. His curveball and slider are his best pitches and he's been quite durable as a starter in the minor leagues. He's split time between Triple-A Alburquerque where he struggled and Double-A Chattanooga where he pitched quite well. . Marc Hulet in his Dodgers' prospect rankings on Fangraphs seems to share the opinion of many that he will eventually be a reliever in the mold of a J.P. Howell which would be nice for the Phillies' bullpen which he may very well be in the mix for next spring.
Considering that his stock dropped a bit this season, it's not the worst score for renting out Michael Young, who is a replacement level player at this point in his career, serving no real purpose on the Phillies. I was more intrigued that the Phillies got an actual body in Nefi Ogando in return from Boston in return for John McDonald.
