Phillies will send Cliff Lee to the Mariners as part of a three way deal. I’m not sure what the Mariners have to give to be in a deal like this one. Felix Hernandez? I wouldn’t see the point of making a deal like that. There’s got to be a lot of prospects involved.
This baffles me, I think given the choice of the two I’d take Lee over Halladay. Especially considering what he’s meant to the Phillies the last two seasons. Seems like Phillies would need to get a little something more back or else this seems like a lateral move at best for them.
The article says that the trade is contingent on Halladay agreeing on a long-term deal; if the Phillies can get Halladay long-term (and don’t think they’ll be able to re-sign Lee after next season), it’s a plus for them (depending on other details of the deal etc.)
So long Doc Halladay…sorry it had to end this way. May God have mercy on the Blue Jays’ soul.
The rumours are that the Jays are only receiving prospects so King Felix is staying on the west coast. The names that I’ve seen so far are Phillipe Aumont (from the Mariners) and Michael Taylor and Dominic Brown (from the Phillies)
What I’ve read has always said that Lee wants to stay in Philly but he wants to be paid market value. I’d guess that Lee and Halladay have the same value on the open market, so if they are going to pay Halladay why not just pay Lee. Of the two I think I’d rather have Lee locked up long term, dominant lefty > dominant righty.
Lee has only been with the Phillies for half a season.
From reports I have read Lee has made it clear that he has no intention of making a deal before he is a free agent. The trade makes sense if the Phillies are able to get Halliday signed to a long term deal before he has a chance to really go on the open market and enjoy the fruits of a bidding war.
I love Lee, but I consider Halladay the superior pitcher. So, I do like the deal - depending on what prospects the Phils had to give up to get him.
Excellent. Halladay out of the AL East. Egggggggggggggggsellllllent.
Yeah, I’m an idiot. For some reason I was thinking Lee came over midseason in the WS year. When does Lee’s contract conclude? Halladay is awesome but I’d hate to give away a stud lefty, those are gold.
Both Halladay and Lee become free agents at the end of the 2010 season.
It’s wishful thinking, but hopefully Hamels can mature into a stud lefty.
I suppose it adds up. Toronto was not going to resign Halladay so they probably aren’t going to get much back. Seattle is only getting a guy for 1 year, but are only giving prospects. Philly gives away 1 year and gets 1 year, but gets an exclusive chance to sign Halladay. I still find it shocking that Philly wouldn’t instead pony up players or prospects and cut Seattle out altogether and at least secure a Lee-Halladay tandem for 1 year.
The deal involves Halladay agreeing to an extension with the Phillies, which is apparently close to happening. The general word from ESPN is that Halladay would take fewer years and about the same money per year. I’m not sure if it works out for them on balance, but we’ll see if they gave away less for Lee as a half-year Halladay substitute plus Halladay long term than they would have had to give away for Halladay in mid-2008.
I’m intrigued to see what this means for Seattle. Hernandez and Lee together is intriguing and we’ll see if they can sign Lee to an extension. I’m sure they won’t be able to do it right away but they’re really going for it this offseason.
According to Jayson Stark the Phillies were indeed trying to get a deal done to keep both for at least one year but refused to part with 2 key prospects that the Blue Jays were insisting on, I’m not sure how those prospects compare to the guys Seattle gave up in the end.
I’d be curious how the players they gave up to get Lee last year compare to the guys they refused to give up for Halladay as well as the guys Seattle ended up giving up. The more I think on it the more it feels like the Phillies gave up Lee for basically nothing.
…except Roy freaking Halladay. And I’d forgotten that Lee and Halladay are very close in age - Halladay will be 33 early next season and Lee is 31.
That’s an interesting definition of nothing.
Well, considering they need to pay Halladay top dollar and that Toronto had very little bargaining power I’m not sure that it really boils down that simply.
Lee would have demanded top dollar, too. What’s the “basically nothing?” Maybe they treaded water if you include what went to Cleveland…
Well, the only reason that they gave up Lee was because they didn’t want to give away prospects. So, they could have had Lee or at least 1 more year and Halladay if only they’d have packaged some prospects. That, to me, is giving up Lee for nothing, or at the very least not a Halladay for Lee swap. Basically they decided that those prospects are better than 1 year of Lee and I think that’s patently absurd.
Toronto had been asking everyone for not just their top prospect, but their top three or four, just as a starting point. That’s why Halladay didn’t go anywhere at the deadline. The Phillies then turned around and got Lee without giving up Michael Taylor, Domonic Brown, or Kyle Drabek, all three of whom Toronto had asked for initially. Reports are now that Taylor could be involved in this trade.
It doesn’t make any sense to say the Phillies gave up Lee for nothing. They got Halladay, who is the guy they wanted all along, and Ben Francisco for exactly what they got Lee for, plus two more prospects, one of whom looks to be from the group of top-tier guys. And anyway, they only had Lee under contract for one more year, at which point there’s going to be a bidding war. Since this deal turns on an extension for Halladay, they got those additional years out of it as well.
edit - and they don’t need to pay Halladay top dollar.
We’ll have to wait and see what the final tally is on this deal, but I’ve yet to see a compelling reason to ship off Lee. The Phillies seem to be giving away prospects in this deal too and time will tell how those guys end up being valued.
Needless to say the Mariners obviously felt that Lee was worth giving a top pitching prospect for, and the Phillies weren’t. I think the Mariners are the smarter ones in that deal. It’s more accurate that the Phillies traded Lee for Aumont straight up, that is daffy.
So Aumont is a good prospect? I have to admit that when I heard that he’s Canadian I was worried that the Jays chose to acquire him because they’d like to have a high-profile Canadian player to market.