Halladay and agent in Philadelphia UPDATED
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Halladay and agent in Philadelphia UPDATED
Andy Martino
UPDATE, 3:04-- The plot thickens: Foxsports.com has added that the Phils are in talks regading a potential three-team deal that would send lefthander Cliff Lee to an unnamed club. This makes sense for a number of reasons:
--Lee is owed $9 million next year, and the Phils need to clear payroll to sign Halladay.
--Lee will be a free agent after this season, and if he tests the open market the Phils would find it difficult to re-sign him, given their already robust payroll.
--Acquiring Lee may net the Phils some of the prospects requried to complete a deal, without having to give up players like pitcher J.A. Happ and Kyle Drabek, outfielders Domonic Brown, Michael Taylor and Anthony Gose.
UPDATE, 5:03pm
Cliff Lee's agent, Darek Brauneker, says he has not heard anything from the Phillies, Blue Jays, Mariners or anyone else today.
Multiple reports--SI.com, I believe, was the first to confirm it--have Halladay and Lee involved in a three-way that would send Lee to Seattle. A bunch of other names are surfaced, but reports are conflicting--some have Domonic Brown going to Toronto, while others have it as Michael Taylor. Pitcher Phillippe Aumont would reportedly be going to Toronto from Seattle. It should be noted that none of this is confirmed. We know that both the Jays and Phils liked Brown more than Taylor in July.
Brauneker has spoken with Lee today. "He is obviously aware of the situation,' Braunker said. "There must be something to it."
Brauneker, understandably, treaded carefully when asked if Lee was disappointed. "He certainly enjoys being in Philadelphia. There was not much for him not to enjoy."
The Phils and Lee engaged in preliminary talks about a contract extension last week. "We had a positive dialogue," the agent said. "All of the dialogue has been very positive on both sides."
Noooooo.... I'm all for Halladay.. but unless Lee is being completely stubborn, I'd rather keep him. He pitched better last season after the trade and he seems to fit Philly much more than Halladay would. This is terrible news if we have to give up Lee...— JMick1215- We need Halladay and Lee. Trade Blanton and save money that way.— ChrisM
- Just up the payroll for a couple of years. KEEP LEE IN PHILLY AND ADD HALLADAY!!!!— JHerzog
- did any of you people watch the post season? why the h*ll do we want to trade cliff lee? this deal is only awesome if we get halladay and get to keep cliff too. otherwise, it's one ace for another, and roy, as dominant as he's been, has no post season resume. C'mon, people, don't get infatuated with the shiny object you don't have.— TheKeys
- Fantastic. Would rather keep Lee... but if he doesn't want to sign an extension to stay here, good riddance. The Phils have to plan for now AND the future. Trading Lee, AND keeping our prospects, is smart... so long as getting Halladay locked into a long-term deal is part of this trade.— PSU DEJA BLUE
- For those that are excited about the great pitching rotation, did you miss the part about trading Cliff Lee? If this rumor is true, then the trade does nothing for their rotationexcept replace Lee with Halladay. Yippee!
The theory is that Lee won't resign, so trading his 1 year away would let us sign Halladay for multiple years.— Pelti
Comment removed.- I'll reserve judgment until everything shakes out but if it's true that Lee is going and Halladay is arriving I fail to see how this makes the Phils any better. No one could have have done better than Cliff Lee did in the playoffs. It was the rest of the rotation that needed improvement. If Lee is going just due to payroll restrictions, I'll be sick.
- how is that awesome? your chances still depend on hamels. lee and halladay in the same rotation, now that's something to talk about.— dreinterests
lee is better than halladay - bad move. If we can keep both so be it.- Keep Lee and Halladay - get rid of Hamels! We all saw what Lee can do - why would you send that away! C Lee is a stud and he has a lot of years left. Pay him and pay the luxury tax for having him! I'd pay a couple dollars more for a seat if 2 of every 4 games were spent watching Lee and Halladay!— jakster
- The following players I would trade for Roy Holliday: Any double A or Triple A prospects, Joe Blanton and Jimmy Rollins. Yes I would trade J Role for Holliday. Even though he is a gold glove defender, I'm getting back a strike out machine in Holliday. Pitching wins championships and the phillies have enough good fielding to make up for J Role not being their. They can find a short stop defender in free agency. So between all those I've mentioned above, their is no reason why the gm can't come up with a package deal to get holiday without trading Cliff Lee. A really good gm understands that a line up with Lee, holiday and hamels can win you another world series. A real smart GM understands that making steals in trades is how you improve. A real hungry GM who wants to win another championship sacrifices the future for an opportunity to win now. Give up those prospects, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Blanton, double A and triple A prospects for lee and the returns are another WORLD SERIES TITLE— evensteven
- Lee's not going to be traded.. The Phils should trade Haap while his value is as high as it will ever be; along with Taylor and anyone other than Brown or Drabek, just get it done now.— Guy Incognito
- If this is true, this is a big mistake to let Lee go... Isnt there any way to make the deal and hold on to Lee so that we have both Lee and Halladay for 2010? Then try to renegotiate with Lee? Those prospects are so good that they have to sit in AAA for another year because we just cant trade them away?— Brauny
