This whole thing is official now
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
This whole thing is official now
Andy Martino
UPDATED, 3:30
The Halladay portion of the deal is done. All players and financial figures are as expected.
UPDATED, 2:59
The Phillies have officially announced the trade of Cliff Lee to Seattle for Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies and Juan Ramirez.
UPDATED, 2:41
A source says that no Phillies prospect has failed a physical. 5pm press conference to make Roy Halladay a Phillie.
UPDATED, 2:03
A source with direct knowledge of the situation tells the Inquirer that an official announcement of this trade could still come today. There were other indications that there has been no deal-breaking issue.
Larry Stone of the Seattle Times has tweeted that is is not a Mariners prospect. If he is correct, that would make it a Phils prospect by default. You all know the potential questions about each player, and I'm not going to engage in premature speculation until I know more.
***
FYI, Bob Elliott, a respected baseball writer at the Toronto Sun, has tweeted the following: "We're hearing that someone involved in the trade has flunked their physical."
Elliott added in another tweet that it was a minor leaguer, not Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay. As of 1:07pm, there have been no other reports of this. We are working on checking this out, so stay tuned. As of last night, the team expected to hold a press conference today officially introducing Halladay--but, of course, they considered that to be contingent upon all the physicals and reviews of medical records.
Comments (128)
Aumont i bet— Raaaaauuuulllll- hrm, good, maybe this awful deal won't go through— bdm155
- OK if Aumont, keep Lee or get one of the M's top pitching prospects instead!— wintrode
- Hopefully Halladay, so we keep Lee.— Lcrest
- Since the Lee deal is completely separate, pull the trigger on the Halladay deal and keep Lee. His agent has indicated the he would like to stay in Philly, so let's keep him and negotiate an extension. There is no cap in baseball except the one the Phillies are setting for themselves! This is too good an opportunity to let pass. Keep Halladay and Lee!— veritas1325
- I bet Drabek. Since it was reported in Toronto. Just a guess!— antitrust32
- wow— JesseH
- That would be so sweet if the trade with Seattle was voided. Being stuck with Cliff Lee would not be a bad thing. Void the trade Ruben and stop worrying about 2011.— power808
- Why would you wanna keep Lee Lcrest? Are you kidding me? Then we lose Lee after this season and we dont have Lee OR Halladay. Real bright idea there— philliekev04
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Lcrest - I hope you are joking. if not, i bet you were one of the people who was bad-mouthing Lee back in July...— JesseH
- worst scenario: it was someone we sent to toronto and we cant agree on a substitute so halladay doesnt come here -AND- amaro didnt make the seattle deal contigent on the toronto deal so then we have NEITHER lee nor halladay!— zwarte piet
- worst scenario: it was someone we sent to toronto and we cant agree on a substitute so halladay doesnt come here -AND- amaro didnt make the seattle deal contigent on the toronto deal so then we have NEITHER lee nor halladay!— zwarte piet
- The trade is not official until everyone passes their physicals. If the player who did not pass his physical is a Seattle player, I hope Ruben Amaro Jr. will have the good sense to void the entire trade rather than trying to renegotiate it. Cliff Lee's agent is being quoted all around the literate world today as saying it was never Lee's intention to become a free agent after this season. It was intention to test free agency if he was still playing in Cleveland. According to his agent, Lee loves playing in Philly. If the news is correct and the trade cannot be finalized, Amaro should void the trade, bring Lee back and do some numbers crunching to figure out what it will take to extend both Lee and Halladay for as many years as it takes for Phillie fans to grow tired of winning world championships every year.
- Which trade? Hope it was one of the Seattle (garbage?) three. The Phils should keep Lee and get the picks next winter.— James TL
- Go Yankees— GetRidofIguodola
- Hey win.....Aumont IS the the M's top pitching prosepct.— HazmatCorntail
- Twitter is not a reliable newsworthy source, Andy.— PuPuMan
PLEASE be one of the Seattle players! PLEASE!!!!! Give us someone better!— dpcoz- Hallady, partially torn labrum, out 4-6 months— GetRidofIguodola
- Shi Davidi from the Canadian Press tweeted that Aumont passed his physical.....it's gotta be Drabek— HazmatCorntail
- I'm hearing (no pun intended) that it's the OF Gillies from Seattle. Apparently he's got hearing loss problems and that's caused him to fail his physical. Keeping my fingers crossed that Amaro does the smart thing and keeps Lee while still making the Halladay deal.— veritas1325
- the amount of negatively around acquiring the best pitcher in baseball AND signing him to an extension is astonishing.— psalveso
- I love it. MOST of you people are pretty stupid. lcrest... that would mean we don't have Halladay OR Lee in 2011. zwarte piet -- the deal IS contingent on the Halladay deal. Lee doesn't go ANYWHERE without getting Halladay in red pin stripes. Why do you think the Lee deal hasn't been officially announced?— PSU DEJA BLUE
- The Seattle Times is reporting that their sources say Aumont has already passed. The report is coming out of Toronto.— justafan
- word on mlb trade rumors is that lee, halladay and aumont passed physicals... leaves Drabek and Taylor as big cogs that could skuttle or change the deal. not for nothing... but can a Philly writer break any news on this deal??? Even the Toronto papers have more news on this... Andy and Murph are sucking exhaust on this...— terryharmon
- Gillies wears hearing aids. The Phils had to have known about this before he was included in the trade. As far as the Phils not getting Halladay and losing Lee in a worst case scenario, it is my understanding that the trade with Toronto for Halladay and trade sending Lee to Seattle are 2 separate trades. The best case scenario would have the Phils voiding the Seattle trade and completing the trade woth Toronto. There may be language in either or both trade agreements that makes the completion of one trade contingent on the completion of the other.
- If it's out of Toronto, that's in the deal for Halladay? If this doesn't work out, does that mean Halladay doesn't get traded and we still have to take three prospects for Lee?!!! Wow, that would be awful..— KingHoser
- onthebucks. You're more into spending OPM (other peoples money) than Vince Fumo.— jeffrey215
- Cliff Lee was amazing in the post season. Calm, powerful, stellar. Breezed through Dodgers and Yankees. Can Doc be as dominant, I dont know.— Delaware Phillies Fan
- It was a Phillies prospect that failed, Lee, Halladay, and the Mariner prospects have already been reported as passing their physicals.— phillyfan85
- I hope not, no other team in baseball values Taylor & Drabek as much as Toronto does so chances of getting anything meaningful for either isn't very good.— Rod72
- if onthebucks is telling the truth about lee liking philly, i agree with him. Also about dropping blantons 7 million this year to keep lee on for at least this year for just 2 million more. I still like how we're looking as the trade stands now, but it just seems like we could have worked something out to have a year with halladay lee and hamels eating lineups for breakfast lunch and dinner. Afterall we have given up holy drabek in this deal. But i trust amaro and gillick and they have probably thought this all through.— AlVen
- If it is a SEA prospect, then here are 3 ideas (in least advantageous to most advantageous): A- Substitute Morrow for whomever failed the physical and then make the deal. B- Or, even better, pull the deal back and shop Lee to all teams (I am looking specifically at the Angels as needing an ACE, although I would have no idea which of their prospects are worth trading for). C- Or, best yet, don't trade Lee, keep him for the year with a rotation for the ages and get two high draft picks when he leaves through free agency (this is dependant on us offering him arbitration) and that is how you replenish your farm system (which we theoretically won't need for 2-3 years). And yes, I love parantheses.— The Reddgie
- zwarte - that would be worst case... however I think Halladay wants to come here bad enough and Amaro wants him bad enough that something will get worked out regardless.— JesseH
- Comment removed.
- mlbtraderumors.com is reporting that all mariners have passed their physicals. its on the phillies end. this is bad news.— Raaaaauuuulllll
- My bet is that Drabek failed the physical. After all didn't he have TJ surgery and didn't the Phils shut him down at the end of last year? Could've been nothing... but it may have been an indicator of further problems.— terryharmon
- Do whatever have to RAJr to hold the Halladay deal together. Find a reason, create one if you have to, to nix sending off Lee to Seattle. There's a window of opportunity that teams have, and it's limited. Sixers for a bunch of years had Iverson. Only one time made it to the finals. Take the Red Sox : won the WS in 2004 ... took till 07 to win WS again. Keeping the core of this team together after 2010 will begin to get tenuous -- Werth first, then all the rest of fan-favorites will become a great juggling act. With just Halladay the NL east may be locked up a week or ten days earlier. Then what? Dodgers have gotten weaker, Cardinals and Rockies may remain the same, Phils obvious favorites to return to WS. Opponents in WS will be Red Sox or Yankees. (Angels have gotten worse). Yankees won't be weaker than they were in 2009. Red Sox have gotten better. 2010 is the Phils window -- with both Halladay AND Lee heading up the staff. Come on RAJr : do a better job selling the need for spending 149 mil for 2010 (if that is indeed what the number would be).
- We need BOTH Lee and Halladay to beat the Yankees or the Red Sox and win another championship. Halladay can't be any better than Lee was in the postseason b/c Lee was perfect. Shame on the Phillies for letting Lee and another championship go. Best they can hope for is another 2nd place finish. I would have given anybody else up over Lee to clear salary. Seattle made out like bandits in this one. I sure hope there is a way this deal with Seattle falls through so we get Halladay AND we keep Lee.— BroadStreet
- A report out of Seattle says that it is a Phillie prospect that flunked. They speculate that it maybe Taylor as he had elbow issues in the Arizona Fall League. Here's the link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/marinersblog/2010522234_cliff_lee_deal_unlikely_to_hap.html— justafan
- Could be the guy from the A's— PhillyPhantastico
- taylor was not in the arizona fall league— tkohl
- Maybe it is Drabek. They 'shut him down' after the summer so maybe there really was something wrong.— jpweisel
- If it's Drabek, then they may require a replace... but who would that be? Happ? Brown?— DCExpat
- Drabek failed— BHite15
- zwarte piet - my heart just sank with that comment! haha. let's hope this get sorted out quickly - i'm tired of waiting for the announcement, whatever it may be!— diiianaaa
- About Lee's agent's recent statement, he and Haladay knew the Phil's view regarding signing piitchers over three years, Haladay was proactive in letting the Phils know he was amenable to that. Lee left enough doubt in the Phil's minds to fear having nothing after next year.— robinlupe
- I hope when the smoke clears, Halladay is ours and Lee is still a Phil. Ask yourself this: when the Sixers traded for Moses Malone, did they then turn around and trade Dr. J. for prospects?— dasher
- Comment removed.
- Zo on MLB.com just said news conference is set for 5pm— B in DC
- The deals are official, failed physical rumor was only a rumor.— Raaaaauuuulllll
- Ummm - if it is NOT a Seattle prospect it could not be Aumont. Drabek sounds like the problem....could be a big issue..— psuwelsh
Andy "Met fan" Martino!- Get Halladay and keep General Lee. We can raise the extra revenue with both of them in the team. May be the TV contact should go up or something... everyone in the country would love to see them pitch with Howard and Worth's homeruns as a great bonus to go with it.— Seed
- Ok, if it's Drabek, we just substitute Phillipe Aumont.— booman55
- I hope is not Drabek. If he failed the physical we're stuck with him and maybe have to replace him with Happ. That means our rotation will probably include both Kendrick and Moyer next year. Yikes. Let's hope is they guy Toronto is getting from Oakland which it would have nothing to do with us.— EL Zorro
- Comment removed.
- onthebucks I agree 100 % with your statement we only beat the Royals and Rays for our only 2 WS wins I cant stand the Red Sox and Yankees. Lets go for it this year, Phillies have a waiting list for some club seating— Lenny99
- It's official, at least the Lee trade: The Phillies traded left-hander Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for minor league outfielder Tyson Gillies and right-handers Phillipe Aumont and Juan Ramirez, Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced today.— EL Zorro
- If Phillies brass can figure out away to keep both than they don't belong on the same stage as the Yankees.— LCBline
- Wish I could be excited about it - but still don't see any reason why The Phillies could not have just made the deal with Toronto, and had both Lee and Halladay for 2010, It makes no sense to move sideways while depleting the farm system.— phillydude
- If not for an idiotic contract given to Jaimee Moyer we'd have a pair of Aces before the flop!— Relocator
- This was a weak trade. Hopefully we can get Lee back if he goes into free agency next year but knowing the frugal phillies that won't be happening. Adios Cliff Lee, hope you don't no-hit us next time we play against you.— ESRD nut
- phillydude - Not a sideways move, Halladay is better than Lee..— gallen024
- I hate this pointless trade.— VonHayes09
- anyone who doesn't get the reasoning behind this trade is absolutely clueless. simple as that
- Did not get enough for Lee. There was no rush to do that trade. Angels really need pitching. I can't believe we could not get an impact bullpen addition for this year.— barry831
- I absolutely love getting Doc Halladay, but you have to be kidding me with this Lee deal. It was a complete penny pinching deal no matter what they say. The phils played at 102% of crownd capacity last year, thats more than the redsox. Are you trying to tell me they cant afford to keep Cliff Lee and Halladay. They would sell more tix this year than last, if thats even possible. The Phils need to realize that they are the best team in the NL, and their competition is the NYY and the Sox, not the dodgers and cardinals. And right now they are acting that way. The Yankess went out and got C.C. and Burnett..the Sox added Lackey to Beckett and Lester, thats what Championship teams do! And by the way neither of those rotations would have been able to touch Halladay, Lee, Hamels!— relly142
- Whoppeee we get 6 MILLLION DOLLARS TOO!!— ESRD nut
- Comment removed.
- What a move, good job RAJ!!— gallen024
- The Lee trade is horrible, this team is so CHEAP! They sell out every game and raise ticket prices but they can afford to keep Halladay and Lee? what a joke. Ruben Amaro SUCKS! I hope Lee goes 21-0 for the Mariners and that female Cole Hamels has another crappy year. Unless he develops another pitch that changeup will end up in the outfield seats again and again, what a joke this is. Amaro thinks hs is playing a game of Monopoly and not running a Baseball team.— protek67
- what's really important is dallas falls to new orleans and the giants fall to the redskins. this allows the eagles to slip by the 49er's and into the playoffs. mike vick then becomes the starting qb and we trade him to seattle for cliff lee. what do you mean it's the wrong seattle?— JACK V
- Expectation: Most likely win as many games as Cliff Lee. Too bad 9million was such a stumbling block. 9 million would move the team closer to another championship with two quality workhorses!!! 9Millio! We're talking about 9million! The Billionaire owners could afford 9million?
- your all too serious.— JACK V
- With all the sellouts, concession sales, etc at CBP, I don't want to hear about the $140 payroll cap with the Phillies. There is only a short window of opportunity and for one year they could have retained Cliff Lee along with Roy Haladay. You need the arms if you are going to compete with the Yanks & Sox. I could understand if they let Lee walk after 2010 but they had an opportunity to have both and let it pass away.— chasemutley
- Does anyone think that the Yankees would have traded for Roy Halladay, then traded away CC or Burnett? The Phils still have a huge hole in the 5th starter spot, the back end of the bullpen (including a competent closer, who can hold runners on base), and will cross their fingers that "Hollywood" Hamels returns to form. I think we are back to talking about winning the division instead of a World Series. I'm sure the Braves & Mets are smiling! Halladay and Lee would have caused them all to fold up their tent. I hope this does not mark as the turning point for a terrific uphill climb for the Phils. All I know is that I want my money back for the Cliff Lee T-shirt I bought this year. I expected it to be good for another year!— Fan4Life
- The ONLY good thing that could come out of a failed physical is if Ruben has the cojones and good sense to pay the $ to get Lee AND Halladay for 3+ years, We fans, have certainly been filling his pocket...do it Rube !— Will.i.Am
- The pair of trades reminds me of the good news/bad news scenario with the Flyers a couple years back where they signed Forsberg but traded Roenick to clear cap space the next day. Oh wait, but there's no cap in baseball.— vejjev
- We're getting Halladay for 4 years, people! Not Lee for 1. If you're not happy now, you will be once Halladay goes 4-0 in April.— everydayguy
- figured it out, 2 million + per home game ! just from fans buying tickets ! not including fanwear that is purchased & food.— Will.i.Am
- Sorry, everydayguy, I'll be happy when Halladay goes 4-0 in October.— vejjev
- I can't believe how many people are buying the "spin" and supporting this trade. Sure Doc is a great pitcher. Using the same prospects, we could have landed him last July and WON the World Series with Doc and Lee combined. Anyone remember that we lost the Series due to starting pitching? This is all about money and keeping profit....period! Lee's agent came out and said that Lee was not hard balling the Phillies, and that they were expecting to discuss an extension with the Phils. This statement ended the spin for me! Truth is, we are in no better shape for 2010. Who knows what 2011 and beyond holds.— Fan4Life
- The point is that the Phillies could have had Halladay for 4 years AND Lee for 1 more year - The only reason they don't is because of 9 million dollars?? - I thought the years of the Phillies being Cheap at the expense of Championships were over - I guess not.— phillydude
- I am getting tired of hearing about how we did not get enough back for Cliff Lee. Why would Seattle give us their BEST prospects for the "prospect" of Cliff Lee for only one-year? Lee did NOT sign an extension with Seattle, So our price cant be nearly as high as everyone wants it to be. I am on the side of keeping Lee and extending the finances for one year. But, if they are hell-bent on trading him, this was pretty good for a player who the receiving team is only guaranteed one season with.— Jaylangus100
- everydayguy, you act like it's either/or: halladay for 4 years or lee for 1. But it's not: the third option was Halladay for 4 years AND Lee for 1 if the Phils were willing to up their payroll by 6.4% and sacrifice a couple prospects.— vejjev
- I hope he doesn't turn out to be the TO of baseball!!!!— annec
- Half of this deal sucks!
- It's hard to believe in this deal as a Phillie fan. Lee was too good last year, and it's hard to forget those performances. But that's the view from the heart. We fell in love with the guy. But from a baseball point of view, from a business point of view, this deal is a winner. Halladay is better. Not a lot better, but better. And he's proved it year after year. Maybe Lee will turn out to be Roy Halladay, but he's not there yet. And he wants to be here, and is willing to take below-market money on an extension. You gotta like that. Keep in mind also that Halladay's career stats understate his performance. A full 25% of his starts have been against the Yankees or the Red Sox, not the Kansas Citys or the Pittsburghs of the world. It will take time to get over the affair with CliffLee. But Halladay will make you forget. (And BTW, I like that the Phils are thinking big these days, not standing still, working to get better. I'm believing these guys are committed to winning.)— MacLeish
- Comment removed.
- To me, and I hope to the Phillies, the reasoning is more than 9 million dollars. They probably still need to upgrade the bullpen and having that 9 million will hopefully help them do that. No one should be arguing that Lee is equal to Halladay or that this was a lateral move. Although I loved Lee when he was here and his playoff performance was dominant it is no indication that he would be that lights out again in the playoffs this year (see Cole). Did they get the same level prospects for Lee as they gave for Doc? Probably not but prospects haven't played in the major leagues so we don't know how any will turn out. Plus as others have already pointed out Lee is only in Seattle for one year most likely so they wouldn't give us their top prospects unless they could sign him long term. It's a good deal.— PhillyPhreak
- Good deal. Lee didn't want to be here after next year - and please don't tell me you're so gullible as to believe his AGENT. There was PLENTY of time to do a deal. Halladay is a more consistent pitcher over his career. The Phils would have gotten NOTHING after next year for Lee. As it is, we have a solid start to our rotation, and one just has to look at Lefty's career to see that he had some dud years as well - Hamels will be fine. Good moves to keep our rotation top-quality to support our rock solid core......BTW - F., U., Inky, for automatically deleting any comment I made and thus forcing me to change profiles. You will NEVER GET RID OF ME.— enabler1
- Comment removed.
- Wow! The Phillies dealt their playoff ace for prospects. The owners of this club ought to be ashamed of themselves.— PhillieJoe
- You don't trade a Cy Young winner if you are committed to winning. You just don't. Committed to winning is extending payroll for a year b/c minimally 17 million is coming off the books next year(Lee and Moyer)You are no better than last year with these 2 trades. And I love Roy but regardless what he does in the regular season, he has a high bar to reach in the postseason. And if he does reach it, then you are in the same situation as this past year. An ace, and a pu pu platter— Captain
- Keep Lee. Trade Blanton for a midlevel prospect and salary relief. A year from now when Lee walks, stock the minors with your two extra picks.— swash1
- Cliff Lee and his agent met with the Phillies and the result was this flurry to do a deal for Halladay. The inference and as reported was that Lee has no intention of signing an extension that he is going Free Agent at the end of the year and going to the highest longest bidder. The Phillies were not going to get in to that where we start bidding for CC Sabathia and 7yr deals. It would have been nice to have a Braves deal with two aces but the economics just aren't possible anymore. This provides some longer term stability to the Phillies. Hate to see Cliff go but hes doing what he needs to and so are the Phils— surfbear
- I guess this means that the Phillie Brass is not comitted to a 2010 WS. 9M$.
- This just in. Ruben Amaro Jr has been traded to the Houston Astros to be reunited with Ed Wade. Should have kept Cliff Lee and dump Blanton this year and Moyer next year (save $15 Millions) and use that money to sign Lee to a contract extension. The Phillies have the money and they are just CHEAP!!!— Phonak
- MacLeish, you're missing the point. WE NEEDED THEM BOTH TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES NEXT YEAR. That's this team's main goal, man.— PhillieJoe
- Ya finally see the difference??? In Philly you get one or the other. Heaven forbid you won't pay to have two excellent pitchers on your staff. On the other hand, we have the Yanks with Sabathia and Burnett. If a third top pitcher had been available, they would have paid. Final score: Yankees - 27 World Championships-Phillies 2.— MFinSC
- Mr. Mongotery is walking around with smile on his face for saving 9 million by letting our playoff hero General Lee go. But he is paying Moyer 8 million and Ledge 12 million. Now that's great use of his money....— Seed
- Bad Trades. This does not make the Phillies and better nor closer to the Yankees in the area of pitching. Halladay is great pitcher, but so is Lee. We had our own prospects, we don't need anyone else. Phils farms system was jsut rated 4th overall. I say our prospect were beeter than the ones we are getting. Phils have the money to keep both, but owners are too greedy to spend to win. I realize the spend a good deal now, but keeping Lee was worth the extra expense.— thebaron
- onthebucks, I couldn't have said it better! EVERYONE GO AND READ ONTHEBUCKS!— PhillieJoe
- so even after the phils have gone to consectuvie world series', been in the playoffs for three straight years, and sell out most if not all of their home games, they couldn't go a lousy nine mil over their self-inflicted salary cap to keep cliff lee for one more year? pathetic.— kid philly
- in 09' just from tickets..phils front office gross' over 160 mill...2 mill x 80 games..I think we can keep Lee n Halladay.. wtf Rube.— Will.i.Am
- Anyone want to buy a used Lee jersey? Seriously though, if the Phils had won the series last seaon, would Lee have stayed? Would we have fought to keep him around? I see the differences between himself and Halladay negligible at best. Halladay could win 25 games and get knocked around during the offseason and then who will say they backed this deal?— BigShow
- Reben Amaro is Quite a dealer. Is he a genius? Time will tell.— philnap
- Uhhhhhhh, sorry meant post season not off season. :><— BigShow
- Philies fans if you think Lee was something ? Wait until you see the Doc pitch . I'm from Toronto and I know this guy will win easy 20+ games , he even might get 25+ , He that good . So see you guys in the playoffs next season . We will miss you Doc , all the best !— mikebreta
- To everyone else that thinks this. It's not an either or thing. People Love Roy. But they had Lee, got Halladay. At that point you have them both. Payroll is up a little THIS YEAR BUT YOU ARE 1 OF THE WS FAVORITES. After the year, assuming Lee is gone you get 2 draft picks and his 9 mil. Moyer will be put out to pasture if not before. That's another 8 mil. Blanton probably will be gone. That's another 7-8 mil. That's 25 million off the books to get payroll back in line next year. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Cheap is not the right word for sure. But they also aren't committed to putting the team in the best position to win the WS and that is disappointing. Especially when they are selling out every game and have the third highest TV ratings in baseball.— Captain
- This makes no sense. Why didnt we trade for Halliday last year along with Cliff Lee? Could have brought another title to the city.— barefoot
- My expectations are for him to win a lot of baseball games! Remind me about this in 2 and a half months! ITS FOOTBALL season...— ryan08
- Ryan why would you care about football season? We've all seen that movie. We know how it ends. The middle part seems more exciting this year...but we know how it ends.— Captain
- Anyone who actually thinks having Halliday on the team is a bad thing is a moron. He's one of the top two pitchers in the game, and he'll be pitching for the Phils for four years !!— gwite
- gwite, i don't believe anyone is upset about having halliday, its that the phils traded cliff lee for minor league prospects. how does the trade with seattle make the phils better today? the answer: it doesn't, unless you're one of the phillies owners and can now stick a few extra bucks in your pocket. did the redsox dump beckett to sign lachey? no. when halliday was saying he would ok a trade to the yanks, does anyone think that ny would give up cc or aj to get him? no.— kid philly
- As much as we don't want to admit or fathom it, the two deals were married to one another. Essentially Amaro held the Halladay deal "ransom" so the other could get done. Crazy? Consider what would have happened if he had to deal Lee after the fact. The vultures would have come in to offer even LESS than what he got from Seattle, because they know he has to be dumped (...nobody wants Blanton or Moyer). The less than stellar prospects they got back for Lee is similar to the Flyers having to pay to dump Upshall. As crazy as it sounds, dumping a salary requires giving up something in exchange - in this case, they conceded to less attractive prospects. If you ask, then why not deal Lee beforehand for more, then he isn't guaranteed to pull off the Halladay deal (could void for whatever reason). Then you got nothing.— Danno
- I welcome Roy Halladay and I love that he wanted to come here but I am sick of the spin the Phils have put on this ("Drabek had Tommy John surgery two years back" and "Taylor was never really going to be what Brown will be", and "Lee forced the Phils hand by being focused only on dollars and greed" (since refuted by his agent and basically invented by the Phils to help sell their agenda)). I am also sick of the media buying into the Phils agenda by continuing to term this a 3-team or even 4-team deal. The reality is that it was three separate 2-team deals, none of which needed to occur on the same day, the same week or same month. Deal 1: The Phils dealt three prospects for Halladay. That's it, nothing more, nothing less. Deal 2: they dealt Cliff Lee to the Mariners for 3 prospects. That's it, nothing more and nothing less. Deal 3: The Jays dealt Taylor to the A's. I smell the Phils orchestrating this whole thing as three commingled deals that in keeping with their agenda were linked from the get-go so that they could all be sold to the public as such; otherwise, could you imagine if the Phils had picked up Halladay, signed him, introduced him, let their fans go crazy, and then a day or two later, announce that Lee was being shipped out? There would be hell to pay for them if they had done it that way, and they knew it. So, to fool the fans as much as possible, they asked all teams involved to announce all of the trades in unison. Fact is that the Phils could have traded for Halladay as they did, and also held on to Lee, paid him the contractual $9MM for 2010, trotted out a team for the ages in the hopes of recapturing the World Series next year, then let Lee go into free agency at season's end and get two sandwich picks in next year's draft as compensation. All of that was right there for the taking - a super team for 2010. Still not getting why they couldn't have given us that for just this year and very much offended that they think we're this stupid.— advantasux
- Cliff Lee was so good in the playoffs that people have forgotten how he did during the regular season. He was better than OK but not quite very good ... 7-4 with a 3.40 ERA for the Phils. He gave up six earned runs or more in six innings or fewer in three of his 12 starts. Halladay has given up 6 or more in 6 innings three times since May 2005. I loved Cliff Lee, but he is not in Halladay's league. Kudos to Rube. This will be remembered as a great day in Phillies history, & it would never have happened if he didn't have the stones to ignore the nattering dim wits in the cheap seats (I'm talking to you, Zwarte Piet.)— GoPhilsGo
- Not reasonable to compare the Phils actions to what the Yankees do. The Phillies can't generate the money the Yankees do. Unfortunate, but a reality. I wish they could have kept both too. It looks like Lee wanted what he is worth on the free market, and who can blame him? That's pretty expensive.— MacLeish
- I have a question: once it was leaked that Lee was likely to be traded, the Phils' brass said that Lee's agent told them that Lee didn't want to sign an extension, but rather wanted to test the free agent market at the end of the year. But then Lee and his agent said that Lee wanted to stay and they were working on negotiating a contract, or at least were interested in starting negotiations. Lee said that he only said he wanted to test the free agent waters when he was still with Cleveland. One of the parties is lying, or there was a huge misunderstanding whereby RAJ thought Lee said he didn't want to sign an extension with the Phils, when he meant he didn't want to sign an extension with the Indians. This is very unlikely. To my mind, it seems likely that RAJ said Lee wasn't negotiating an extension to make people more accepting of trading him. If so, this angers me, and he should have been asked about this at the press conference (if he wasn't). Was he???— Jrod00
- Lee's agent is stupid.
- Jrod00, great post. I posed the same questions in my previous write-up a few entries above yours, saying that the impasse the Phils supposedly reached with Lee was orchestrated as part of their agenda to sell this thing. Not only did Lee not have to be traded this week, he didn't have to be traded at all. Seriously, everyone, ask yourselves this question, why did Lee need to be traded now? what was the rush? Answer: the Phils created the supposed impasse with Lee to make people swallow it all. Jrod00 is right and so am I..— advantasux
- YOU PHILLY FANS HAVE GOT A FIRST CLASS PITCHER , BEING FROM TORONTO HE IS BEST PITCHER MONEY CAN BUY ,WAIT AND SEE— nascarfan212
- bEING FROM TORONTO SEEN THIS GUY PITCH HE IS AWSOME, PHILLY FANS HOPE YOU WIN WORLD SERIES, YOU HAVE AN AMAZING TEAM AND YOU JUST ACQUIRED BEST PITCHER , SINCE 2002 HE LEAD ALL PITCHERS IN COMPLETE GAMES WINS SHUTOUTS, HE IS WORK HORSE UNLIKE LEE ,IF ROY WAS THERE LAST YEAR HE COULD GO ON 2 3 DAYS REST , WAIT AND SEE UNTIL HE PITCHES, WELL ALL BEST PHILLY FANS HOPE YOU WIN WORLD SERIES 2010— nascarfan212
- bEING FROM TORONTO SEEN THIS GUY PITCH HE IS AWSOME, PHILLY FANS HOPE YOU WIN WORLD SERIES, YOU HAVE AN AMAZING TEAM AND YOU JUST ACQUIRED BEST PITCHER , SINCE 2002 HE LEAD ALL PITCHERS IN COMPLETE GAMES WINS SHUTOUTS, HE IS WORK HORSE UNLIKE LEE ,IF ROY WAS THERE LAST YEAR HE COULD GO ON 2 3 DAYS REST , WAIT AND SEE UNTIL HE PITCHES, WELL ALL BEST PHILLY FANS HOPE YOU WIN WORLD SERIES 2010— nascarfan212
1
About this blog
The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Search this blog:
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
