One final hurdle for Lee deal
According to several baseball sources, the only hurdle standing in the way of a blockbuster trade that will bring reigning American League Cy Young winner Cliff Lee to Philadelphia is a thorough review of medical records.
One final hurdle for Lee deal
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
According to several baseball sources, the only hurdle standing in the way of a blockbuster trade that will bring reigning American League Cy Young winner Cliff Lee to Philadelphia is a thorough review of medical records.
The trade will bring Lee, 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA, and right-handed hitter Ben Francisco to Philadelphia in exchange for heralded pitching prospect Jason Knapp, infielder Jason Donald, catcher Lou Marson, and former top pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco.
While the medical review is not expected to stand in the way of the deal, a source labelled it an "important part" of the process, given recent injuries to Donald and Knapp. As of early this afternoon, Knapp was still at a Lakewood Blue Claws team hotel in Greenville, S.C., while Donald, Marson and Carrasco were at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Carrasco was scratched from his start today. Donald and Marson did not play. Donald was not scheduled to play after returning last night following knee surgery. Marson did not catch, with an early day game after a night game.
Knapp, a 19-year-old righthander who throws in the mid-to-upper 90's, has been on the disabled list with shoulder fatigue since early July. He has been long-tossing, but has not pitched off the mound since July 11.
Word of the trade has already trickled down to Anaheim, where sources said Cleveland teammates were congratulating Lee on the deal. Lee, however, told reporters that he had no knowledge of the trade.
A Phillies source said no announcement was imminent. An Indians spokesman declined to confirm the trade.
Meanwhile, Roy Halladay took the mound in Seattle for Toronto against the Mariners.
Jays manager Cito Gaston was asked about the impending Lee trade.
“Is it official now? So what is Cleveland doing there?" he said. "I know they’re (unloading) but what are they doing?”
Gaston was then asked if it made him feel any better that one of Halladay's suitor was presumably off the board.
“Well, yeah. It tells me [Philadelphia] is not going to take him? Who knows? They might come back and get him, too," he said. "That would be a pretty good staff over there, wouldn’t it? Because from what I understand, they didn’t give up any of their [top] prospects, not the ones we [reportedly] wanted."
Then he started to laugh: "Hey, it’s still out there maybe. It’s better to have two than one, isn’t it? We’ll see what happens. Today’s the 29th. We’ve still got two days. So it’s still alive.”
More to come. . .
Lots of lefties in the rotation but overall I think Reuben did a good job of picking up a quality pitcher while retaining our Core prospects. I just hope no one else gets Halladay.— J.H.S.- Good deal for Phils - next Lopez & Mayberry for Sherill!— Ed3
- Question - it's Happ, Hamels, Blanton and Lee.. if Pedro comes up in the next week or two - what to do with Moyer if Pedro pitches well? BTW - hate losing Knapp, but otherwise, good trade...— AllDawk_AllTheTime
- could this mean that there is going to be a call-up to be the middle infield backup? Mayberry is either traded or sent down right away....I could live with Lopez & Mayberry for Sherril— MichaelJack20
- lol Ed, did you used to play in a fantasy baseball league with me? I used to get ridiculous trade offers like that all the time, ha. Do the Phillies really need to trade for a reliever now? Pedro will be going to the bullpen and Myers will be back in the bullpen in a few weeks.— JimG
- Why not trade Durbin and Condrey and Mayberry for George Sher.?? After all, Lopez, Martinez, Park could now be used for long relief. Meyers comes back with Romero, Ayers, Madson, Lidge and Sher. as the end of game relievers. Or trade Lopez in another trade for another lower end catcher with some others. Too bad that Martinez of the Indians could not be pried loose.— KGKoons
- FOUR LEFTIES AND A BLANTON.. That's the pitching rotation.. Funny how last year Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson were all considered "Untouchable".— AlonzoMoselyFBI
- JHS, I completely agree. Right now I am totally happy with this trade. Phils got great value in my opinion. If Halladay ends up going to the Sox to form a Halladay/Beckett/Lester combo or to the Dodgers for a Halladay/Billingsly/Kershaw trifecta.....I guess we'd have a close, low-scoring NLCS/World Series victory, haha.— Matt M.
- OK..now trade Drabek and Happ +1 for Halladay? LOL...— Hosehead13
- Phils are in great shape with this deal. With Drabek possibly in the rotation next year we have a great chance at multiple world series. Halladay would have been great but Lee was by far the smarter move...— MTust24
- Fantastic!!! Clifton Lee's middle name=-==is Phifer...not kidding. DESTINY.— righty
- get those records reviewed and let's get this show on the road!— bucksphilly
- KG - Is that Randy Ayers or Bill Ayers? It better be Randy, cause I don't want no terrorist on my team. No way baltimore really wants Lopez, right? As I said in another post, that would only be for the sake of nostalgia. He's old and not under contract for next year. He'd do them no good.— B in DC
- Why would anyone want Mayberry or Lopez? Seriously? Both are too old to be considered "prospects." Shake a tree and 6 Rodrigo Lopezs and 3 Mayberrys will fall out. Jeez. Why don't we trade Eric Bruntlett for Halliday?— dragoon6
- I would say that there are ace pitchers and number 1 pitchers. halladay, santana, cc last year were aces. hamels last year, cliff lee, these are number 1 guys. so our rotation looks like two #1s (Hamels, Lee), two #3s (Blanton, Happ, although he might end up more like a 4 in playoff pressure situation), and a bunch of 4/5s. Even better, we fill our RH bench role.— Matt M.
