Halladay remains top choice, Lee Plan B
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Halladay remains top choice, Lee Plan B
Andy Martino
There have been numerous reports on the back-and-forth between the Phils and Jays, enough to make your head spin. So here is what we know right now:
--The Phillies’ strong preference is to acquire Halladay, but they were expected to send superscout Charley Kerfeld to watch 2008 American League Cy Young Award Winner Cliff Lee pitch for
Baseball sources indicate that the Phillies might be able to pry Lee away from Cleveland with a package of second-tier prospects like Carlos Carrasco and Jason Donald (by second-tier, I mean not phenoms like Kyle Drabek and Dominic Brown).
--The Phillies are highly reluctant to surrender both Drabek and J.A. Happ. Outfield prospects Michael Taylor and Dominic Brown have been mentioned as possible pieces in a deal, and both teams believe that Brown has more potential than
--The entire Phillies front office will be on a plane to Arizona tonight to discuss these issues. They typically only travel with one executive, but trade deadline week is a wild one. Stay tuned.
Considering Lee as a Plan B was a good one...at least until the Dodgers get him. Then what? The problem is not only do you need these back-up plans, but you need Toronto to see that you have other plans. As the Lees, Washburns, and Dukes of the world are traded, your back-up plans and smokescreens are no more, leaving you even more exposed to J.P.'s demands. Try to offer something more reasonable - let them choose between Happ and Drabek, then between Taylor and Brown, and then Carrasco, Donald, and Marson. That's fair. Or, even give them both Happ and Drabek, but then try to take Brown and Taylor off the table in favor of Donald or Marson. I just don't want to see too much posturing and stubbornness, only to find the Phillies watching the waiver wire.— fmcvey- Wow. So if the Dodgers-Lee thing happens, who does that hurt more with the Halladay negotiations? Phils (one less second tier option) or Toronto (less leverage with a big bidder gone)? I'm thinking that hurts Toronto more, actually.— sha987
- Phillyache, getting Halladay and Lee wouldn't guarantee anything. Therefore, I'd be against that.— jtj06
- I'm of the mind that Halladay gets us into the Series, so give up the farm!— spinmeister
- Theoretically, the Phillies are not in a position of leverage here b/c Halladay is under contract next year. Typically, the Jays could hold him and employ the 'at least get something for him approach" next year, instead of "at least getting something" for him this year. They can hold out a little. The problem is, the Jays have alot of good young arms on the DL this year (Shawn Marcum and Dustin McGowan), along with some solid position players in Hill and Lind. That means, they could actually be pretty good next year and be in contention. Remember, they were in contention for most of the 1st half of this year. So with that being said, if they are hell bent on unloading his salary, they may have to do it this year and get whatever they can get or face a PR nightmare. Advantage Phils— SanDiego_Phils_fan
Comment removed.- I get the feeling the Jays are afraid of a deal this size. You got Ricciardi, up there in Toronto, making believe he's Billy Beane, checking out his computer, looking at Brown's OBP, massaging pitcher era stats as they appear with two on and none out. The guy's a locker room junky who couldn't catch a ball handed to him. He's an Ivy League statistician. A bureaucrat. He's probably afraid to make the decision when it's time for fear of firing. Deal won't be done because he doesn't have the cohones to do it. I'm surprised he didn't ask for Hamels, Rollins, Utley, and Howard.— jp
- If I'm the Dodgers GM I won't make that deal. According to the report, Cleveland wants one of their young starters, either Kershaw or Billingsley and James Loney, plus other prospects. These 3 guys combine made less than $1.5 millions this year. Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez made almost $15 millions combine. The 3 Dodgers are 21, 24 and 25 years old respectively and having pretty good seasons. Kershaw is 8-5 with and ERA under 3.00, Billinsgley is 10-5 with a 3.72 ERA, but in his career his is 45-24 with 3.42. And Loney, a good defensive first baseman batting .280 with 66 RBI, in the long run could be better than Martinez, a catcher/1B with no glove. In the other hand, if this trade happens, we have no other choice but to overpay for Halladay. Bedar, who I didn’t like to begin with, went to the DL and there are not other front line pitchers available as of now because there are a few teams in the hunt.— EL Zorro
- ..there a quite a few teams in the playoff hunt, it should say.— EL Zorro
- I'll take Lee as a consolation prize. He's an innings eater like Blanton, great K/BB ratio, cheaper contract than Halladay and Phils would have a better chance of getting him to sign an extension, of which he asked for and was refused by the Indians. Plus Phils wouldn't have to give up Drabek or Brown.— yardbyrd
so the Blue Jays rejected the Phils counter offer of Happ, Taylor, Carrasco & Donald(surprise surprise). it looks as though if their is a deal done, it's not going to include Drabek, which most likely means the Phils think he is going to be ready for The Show come next season...Roy in a Phil's uniform is not looking to promising as of right now. either way I think the Phils get a quality SP before the trade deadline & will have a strong chance of repeating...Go Phillies!- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- 2 things I believe strongly: You don't give up left handed pitching (Happ), and you get it any time you can (Lee). I'd love Halladay, but if the Dodgers don't acquire Lee, I may rather have him. In any case, if the Dodgers acquire Lee, it may force the Phils hand in getting Halladay.— Ron
- I cant believe we have not made this deal... Happ is a glorified version of KK. Halladay is the BEST pitcher in the game. Hamels becomes your #2 guy!!! Pull the trigger and you have a much greater possiblility of winning in 09 and 10. I do not care about 2012!!!— Theo1980
