One final hurdle for Lee deal
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
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. . .
freddhead - trading Blanton? You're out of your mind.— B in DC- Seems like the Phillies have a few too many starters right now: Lee, Hamels, Blanton, Moyer, Martinez, Happ, Lopez. Something needs to give. Assume Lopez goes to the bullpen until Condrey and Durbin come back. Once they get back, Lopez back to AAA (?) They would still have 6 starters. Then, what happens when (if) Myers gets back? Seems like Ruben may not be done...— PennStateProud
- Yeah I'm certainly not disparaging Moyer, the guy has been fantastic for us. But he is only effective against young, aggressive hitting teams. He's slipped noticeably from last year, and he's been past his prime for years. I don't see how you keep him in the rotation with Hamels, Lee, Blanton, Happ, and with Pedro reportedly looking and feeling good. And he's not a bullpen guy either. I expect they will either release him or try to package him in another deal before Friday, maybe with part of his 2010 salary paid.— lefty1117
I love this deal. Hooray Reube!— gho_matt- [Who's the Rookie of the Year: J.A. Happ or Ruben Amaro Jr.?] Good one andrewfrombrooklyn.— bucksphilly
Aerussll, good looking out on the Ben Francisco tip…no doubt Cliff Lee is the centerpiece in all of this, but this kid Francisco has 10 HR & 13 SB for a weak Indians team & he is only 27 years old! even though he is our RH bat off the bench, as a everyday player, in a lineup like this, he has the ability to put up some pretty impressive numbers (possibly a 20/20 guy)…Ruben, you just might be GM Of The Year…Go Phillies!- Funny how everyone is dumping Moyer based on a pitcher that has not thrown in a MLB game since last year. I hope Pedro is 50% of what he was. Moyer has a 3.30 ERA in July, so that kills the run support argument. The entire staff looked awful through the beginning of the season, but of course most of the idiots here only paid attention to the start of the season, jumped off the band wagon in June, and then jumped back on in the past week.— OMIGODEAGLES
- Wahoo!!!! Way to go Rube!!!! Now option out Bruntlett when they bring in Francisco.....— M60tanker
- I would have preferred Halladay but not at the price Toronto was asking. Now, not only do we add a top notch pitcher to the staff in Lee, but we get to keep Happ and Drabek. AND we add a much needed right handed bat off the bench. This is the kind of move Pat Gillick would have made. Not too shabby...— esesjay
- Get Peavy?? (shaking my head)Trade Blanton?? Our only RH SP?? (shaking my head) Mayberry and Lopez for Sherrill?? (shaking my head) how many of you commentors were dropped on your heads as childern? Amazing in a truely special kind of way!— J.H.S.
- Love this trade! Lee's not Halladay but he sure as hell isn't chopped liver. You get the reigning Cy Young winner and didn't have to give up Drabek OR Taylor OR Brown OR Happ! On top of that, we get a decent right-handed hitter with a little pop like Ben Francisco to replace Bruntlett. OH HAPPY DAY! THANK YOU, RUBEN!!!!— archie
- I just saw Bruntlett gasing up a rental car just outside phoenix— stoky
- let's pull the trigger tomorrow on the big trade after happ wins tonight! drabek, happ and one young outfielder for Halladay— RobertD
- Aerussll, good looking out on the Ben Francisco tip…no doubt Cliff Lee is the centerpiece in all of this, but this kid Francisco has 10 HR & 13 SB for a weak Indians team & he is only 27 years old! even though he is our RH bat off the bench, as a everyday player, in a lineup like this, he has the ability to put up some pretty impressive numbers (possibly a 20/20 guy)…Ruben, you just might be GM Of The Year…Go Phillies!
- Cito is right, we still have all the pieces for the Halladay trade, and as mentioned by a few, one or two extra starting pitchers at the moment. Why not put together the greatest team ever? Who wouldn't want that? That's assuming Lidge doesn't blow all the leads ;)— jtj06
