One final hurdle for Lee deal
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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. . .
Comments (103)
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.
- Haha righty, that's awesome.— bucksphilly
Comment removed.- They still need a piece for the bullpen. They cannot count on Myers to come back and be effective. Put Lopez into the bullpen for the time being and then when Martinez is ready put Moyer or Happ back there.— wtphillies
- Sherrill is not being traded for Lopez & Mayberry. That's crazy. Why on earth would Baltimore take that deal? Lopez has barely pitched the last few years and he will have to clear waivers before he can be sent to AAA. If any team wanted Lopez, they just have to wait until he gets put on waivers and then claim him. The Phils can't keep him so why would you trade for a guy that the Phils cannot keep anyway. Mayberry? Nobody is high on him around the league. If Baltimore trades Sherrill, they want prospects, not spare parts.— JimG
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- Yep, Halliday, Lee, Hamels, Blanton, would win the next two world series. :-)— greenflyer
- trade Lee for Halliday - straight up— Mister Roops
- Can we still throw in Eric Bruntlett into the trade package as well? Hell, maybe we can still trade him for a stick of gum and a bottled water.— Philly Jinx
- >>OK..now trade Drabek and Happ +1 for Halladay? LOL...<<< I was thinking the same thing! Hamels, Halladay, Lee, Blanton, Moyer... not bad, not bad at all!— fafafooey
- Now, if the Jays are willing to take either Drabek or Happ [but not both] and are willing to sub in Worley, Savery and/or Carpenter for Halladay and Scutaro, the farm system will suck once again, but the Phils will be in the title chase, guaranteed, for the next 2 years.— jmk1512
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- Adding Lee, or even Halladay for that matter, won't count for so much if we don't have a reliable closer. And, obviously, that hasn't been Lidge this year. Myers is a possibility (with Lidge put on DL), but it's all pretty iffy/suspect at this point.— CarpGuy
dragoon6-- shakin' the tree. that was funny!— thebigrocketboy- Now, if we could send Happ and Mayberry to Baltimore for George Sherrill, that would be a great day for Amaro. You figure Lee would replace Happ in the rotation, Lopez will keep the #5 spot warm until Pedro is ready and Sherrill would be the insurance policy in case Lidge keeps struggling. Francisco will be the 4th outfielder and RH bat off the bench, which means that Mayberry doesn’t have a future in the organization.— EL Zorro
- Good trade...I feel good about it: we have a stronger rotation now, and we'll have an even stronger one next season, assuming Drabek is ready. The lefty concentration is a problem, but Moyer could be switched out for Martinez. I love Jamie, but that was an immensely worrisome start against the D-Backs, and remember, the guy just ran out of gas last season.— Cheesedog
- Great frekkin trade. You keep Happ and Drabek, and get a Cy Young award winner who's making much less than Halladay. You also keep Brown? This is a no brainer. Great job by Amaro.— Richard DeMarco
- What to do with Bruntlett? He is a mess.
- Wait...next year's rotation: Hamels, Lee, Blanton, Happ, Drabek. Who wouldn't go to war with that?— freddhead
- There is no possible way that Baltimore wants Rodrigo Lopez back. Also, Mayberry isn't considered a top tier prospect. Sherill is considered the top reliever on the market. If you think he's coming for those two guys your an idiot!!— FetchDixon
- Bravo, Ruben. You traded for a bonafide ace without surrendering your top 3 prospects. Would Halladay have looked in red pinstripes? Sure, but not for what Toronto was asking. Not only that, you didn't even have to deal J.A. to make it happen. Nicely done.— PhightinPhil
- Take that Eagles!! The Real Gold Standard in Philly!— BirdsSuck
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- I am estatic about this. Not only do we keep Drabek and Happ, we pick up Cleveland's starting right handed LF to come off our bench or give Ibanez a day off. His numbers are decent: .250, 10HR, 33RBI, 21 Doubles, 13 SB in 308 AB. And he's only 27! Nice work Ruben. You made the World Champs considerably better.— aerussel
- Here's the play now. Trade Mayberry, Happ & Taylor for Peavy— Wheelermustgo
- Carrasco, Marson, and Donald, see ya' later. There's not a major-league player in the bunch. But now, would you trade Happ, Blanton, Mayberry, and Brown or Taylor for Halladay? Jays might take that.— freddhead
- The Phils got way more bang for their buck with this deal than a Halladay deal, and the price tag is 6.5 million less. Lee pitched two complete games out of three when the Phils scouted him and had a seven inning effort the third game. His record may not indicate it but he is pitching for one of the worst teams in the AL. He had a Carlton like year last year for a bad Indians squad. A great trade for the Phils. Bravo Rueben, Pat taught you well.
- Any chance we can throw Chris Wheeler into the deal?— The CaptMorgan
- Peavy? You do realize he's hurt and probably won't be able to pitch again in '09, right?— Billy The Kid
- This is a decent trade, we really could have used a RHP. It becomes a good trade if Pedro Martinez works out.— PhillyInVa
- this ought to spell the end for Mr Moyer as a player in Philadelphia. Thank you so much for your great efforts the last couple of years. A class act - hopefully the Phils keep him on in some sort of coaching capacity. No room for him in the rotation with Hamels, Lee, Happ, Blanton and Pedro. What Moyer has done for us at his age is amazing, and he should be thanked and commended. But 4 lefties in your starting rotation just isn't going to work, and looking at the numbers he'll be the odd man out.— lefty1117
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- No Fredhead, Toronto would NOT take Blanton in a trade for Halladay. I guess most people don't know how these trades work. Good Lord!— Billy The Kid
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- maddy44 I absolutely agree with you. Phillies let a 6 foot tall power pitching prospect with tommy john surgery stand in the way of acquiring the best pitcher in baseball. Look what Halladay has done in the AL East in his career.— psu05
- Posted by Ed3 02:45 PM, 07/29/2009 Good deal for Phils - next Lopez & Mayberry for Sherill! Rightttttt. And in a related note. The Sixers are going to trade Willie Green and Lou Williams for LeBron James— Captain
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- Don't worry about all the lefties. When the Phils come home I'll be there to Nancy Kerrigan Moyer and that will take care of that.— Captain
- I'd take Jake Peavy in a heartbeat. He's younger than Halladay, he eats innings, he WILL get healthy, and right now he'd come cheap. I'd give the Padres Mayberry, Kendrick, and Bastardo for Peavy right now, and I bet the Pads would do the deal.— freddhead
- Ruben is NOT done yet. Happ and Drabek for Halladay on Friday... book it.— BFlint
- sounds like we also gave up on Knapp-some think he has more potential than Drabek. I have a feeling more moves are coming— djmarco
- Wow, Cliff Lee is still the reigning AL Cy Young winner and he's being dubbed a #1, not an Ace?! I don't get the terminology, but he did just win 22 games last year, and that makes me think Ace. Plus he will get much better run support from our bats.— PhillySportsPhan007
- Posted by Maddy44 03:44 PM, 07/29/2009 look again folks....how in the world is a 10 game winner the odd man out?? The 10 game winner is the odd man out b/c he gets over 8 runs a game in support and only has given you 7 out of 20 quality starts(which is the worst in MLB) and his numbers are similar to Eatons last year. It's pretty simple as to why he gets wins and the baseball people know it. He pitches agains Lincecum this week. Any faith thats not a 7-2 final for the Giants? If you do, you haven't been paying attention to 65 % of his starts— Captain
- Who's the Rookie of the Year: J.A. Happ or Ruben Amaro Jr.?— andrewfrombrooklyn
- 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
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- This has been a fantastic effort by the Phillies scouting and GM staff. 1. The Phils found a genuine partner to provide leverage against Ricciardi. 2. While Lee is not as dominant as Halliday, he is much younger, has had unbelievable success in the last 1 1/2 seasons, and is cheaper. 3. What the Phils gave up should not hurt their future success to any signficant degree. Marson would have been nice to challenge Ruiz for minutes, but his upside does not appear to be much greater. Donald simply would not have made the major league club as much more than a 3rd middle infielder for 2-3 years at best. Carrasco looks like a future bust. His stuff is OK, but his pitching IQ is limited. Knapp may be an excellent major league pitcher, but not for at least 3 years. 4. Francisco seems like a solid throw-in, although I still think that Mayberry has some upside as a late-developing player (like Werth and Victorino, but with less upside). 5. The Phillies saved face brilliantly. The Blue Jays look like dolts.
- Righties are hitting .303 vs. Lee. FYI. That'll fly in the playoffs against righty dominant lineups we're sure to face. Brilliant!— twothousandeight
- One more thing to do....get ANYONE in here to replace Bruntlett. And fire Tom McCarthy and Sarge.— brian2706
- How does a team that makes some pretty good moves have Bruntlett on this team, he's awful. Just cut him already, I guess shavin his beard didn't help him get over the 130avg hump— Living_Legend
- @ stoky: did you offer to pay?— Timmy
- Cant we include those Philly writers on DNL in a deal like Domo, Kern, Hayes, Cooney, ect ... They all wanted to deal Drabek, Taylor, Brown ... I think they all never took an analysis course in college.
- Wonderful, Wonderful Move. Lets go Repeat!— ktdb05
- 2008 i see another day and another brain dead comment from you. Forgot RH batting avg, look at his #s the past two years with wins and ERA. On this team he can win almost every game. He pitched in AL central-hmm..let me think of Cabrera, Ordonez, Konerko,Inge, Dye, Cuddyer, all pretty good RH hitters but looks like he fared well. Which means more to you cy young winner or the fact that RHs "have 300 average vs him"..ill take the results not the other useless stat. Great trade!— philsfan in the atx
- Go for it all and get Halladay!— weh38618
- Hey Philly fans, Just sending you all props for picking up Cliff Lee. He is a tremendous competitor and he and his family are a class act. He and his wife have been very active in a number of charities. Hope your organization will treat him the way he deserves to be treated. Sadly, we didn't.— Joe G
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- EEEEHHHHHHHhhh.....— remyy
- Lopez and Mayberry for Sherril is an absolute joke. Lopez won't get you anything and Mayberry can't play. But as I'm used to with Philly trade possibilities it's a one sided deal in favor of the home team. Think this stuff out before you actually say or type it for once.— jbruder02
Hamels, Lee, Blanton, Drabek, Happ ? Coming soon... Hamels, Lee, Drabek, Happ, Savery let's go all left handed :)- Funny thing...if the Halladay deal was never out there, we would all be going nuts over getting Lee. Instead it's like, "nice deal, sigh"— rwwhit
calm down my peeps. we still gotta go out & win the division…don’t count the Mets out w/ all their huge trades & colossal FA signings these past two years. they could still…BAH HA HA HA HA! I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t say that w/ a straight face…alright man, I gots to go and watch J.A. put a Happ in the Phils step…by the way Joe G, thanks for the props. Good looking’ out.— bboybeballin- JA Happ will not be in the rotation much longer. I think he's out when Pedro is ready. The Phillies know the bubble is ready to burst on Happ. He's a one pitch pitcher and he'll start getting hit once teams get a book on him. There's no way they'll stay with 4 lefthanders.— booman55
- If the Phillies didn't think Happ could continue to be an effective starting pitcher at the major league level, then they wouldn't have gone out of their way to avoid trading him. If you think Happ is a one pitch pitcher, then you obviously don't watch the Phils games. Happ has developed a good change-up and a decent curveball. He throws 3 pitches, had good control and works both sides of the plate. Reviews from scouts on Happ are way up...a lot of scouts are starting to rave about Happ. Meanwhile, Pedro has done nothing of note in 3 seasons. He's nothing but a band-aid and he's on his way to the bullpen.— JimG
- Now do something about our middle infield bench player and we are set.— MrPhillie
- Trade PHILLY10 for five twos— mick314
- Just had to point out how dumb toronto fans are-posted on ESPN-Glad to hear. No team has offered a good enough package to convince the Jays to move Halladay. No need to move him then. I'll be happy to watch Doc pitch for another 1.5 seasons in Hogtown.- Yea good move ! Now when his contract is up and hes a free agent, he won't be worth half as much ! great pickup for lee, good job Ruben !— Will.i.Am
- Again the Phils are one year to late. Lee had the best year he'll ever had last year. He only going to go backwards from that.They are just hoping for the magic like Blanton supplied last year.— MB2009
- yeaaa MB2009 that 3.14 ERA is horrific ! Think , before you speak..might have been Cy Young last year...but OBVIOUSLY is still a fantastic #1 starter !— Will.i.Am
- Does it strike you as funny that none of the Doc H tradees were in the Lee package? Nahhhhh! Just a coincidence.— LaCroix,Nolet,Gendron
- It's a good deal for the Phils but, My biggest worry is that now the Dodgers or Red Sox will now get Halladay for the same or less than we gave up for Lee— bigfootnells
Matt, I disagree. I think both Hamels and Lee are aces, Blanton is a solid #1, and Happ is on his way. This is a solid rotation, and if Martinez shows anything, we're gonna be tough to beat, especially with our run production. With any luck last night Happ is 8-2. I can see a Moyer/Martinez fifth spot...— DaveCicc- Halladay deal still a possibility - With Happ extremely expendable after acquiring Lee, if we can keep Drabek and only part with Taylor OR Brown, it can happen. PK— PhillyTheKid
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