UPDATE: Phillies GM denies report of accidentally including prospect in Hunter Pence deal

UPDATE: Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com contacted Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr,. who issued a strong denial of the report:

“There was no mistake,” Amaro said. “If someone said that, they are misinformed because it’s absolutely, unequivocally wrong. It’s false.”

10:37 a.m. ET: Well, this is something.

As you may recall, the Phillies acquired Hunter Pence from the Astros in 2011 in exchange for Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid, and Domingo Santana. Santana was a player to be named later in the deal, but according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle, it looks like the Phillies traded him by accident. Seriously:

Less than two months after they picked George Springer from the University of Connecticut, the Astros sent Pence and cash to the Phillies on July 29, 2011, for Cosart, Singleton, Zeid and a player to be named, which ended up being Santana. In spring training, a Phillies official admitted that Santana wasn’t actually supposed to be on the list that was given to the Astros to pick from to satisfy the final piece on Aug. 15, 2011.

You see, the Phillies obviously confused their “Don’t Trade Under Any Circumstances” prospect list with “Yeah, Go Ahead And Trade These Guys” prospect list. Common mistake.

Santana, a 21-year-old outfielder who was ranked as the Astros’ No. 8 prospect by Baseball America over the winter, is batting .292 with nine home runs and an .853 OPS over his first 62 games in Triple-A this season. Not only does this trade look potentially really bad for the Phillies, but it’s also embarrassing.

(Hat-tip to Eye on Baseball for the link)

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