Hey, it could be worse
The latest Phillies and baseball news from Philly.com.
Hey, it could be worse
Matt Gelb
UPDATE (3:55 p.m.): Of course, now reports say talks between the Yankees and Mariners have broken down. So it's still possible Lee goes to a National League team, a far worse scenario for the Phillies. But you can go back to bashing me...
Phillies fans: It could be worse. Much, much worse.
Say the Mets acquired Cliff Lee. Or the Reds. Or even the Dodgers. Then, Lee could be directly responsible for pushing the Phillies out of the playoffs. That was the doomsday scenario for Ruben Amaro Jr. and Co.
Yes, Lee going to the Yankees will make plenty of Phillies fans angry. After all, he was the one who stuck it to the Yankees in the World Series. He made it look easy. His effortless catch in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium was the embodiment of how cool, calm and collected the ace can be.
Now he will very likely wear pinstripes and give the Yankees the finest rotation in the majors.
It's not the worst possible scenario.
Should the Yankees and Phillies somehow wind up in the World Series again, then yes, losing Lee to the Yankees will seem appropriately cruel then. But right now, given the Phillies are four games over .500 and 5.5 games back in the division, making the World Series should be the least of the Phillies' worries.
How about making the playoffs first?
And had the Mets, Reds or Dodgers -- teams who had reportedly shown interest in Lee -- won out in acquiring him, competition within the division or for the Wild Card spot would have been that much tougher.
A lot of the chatter since the original Lee trade went down centered upon the package the Phillies and Ruben Amaro Jr. received in return for Lee. Baseball America had Phillippe Aumont rated as Seattle's third best prospect at the time of the trade. J.C. Ramirez was ranked as the team's fifth best prospect.
The Yankees, it appears, will give up their top prospect, catcher Jesus Montero, in the package for Lee. Rumors are Zach McAllister, who is rated fifth best in the Yankees system by Baseball America, could also go. Is the package the Yankees are giving up for Lee better than what the Phillies got in return? On paper, yes.
Remember this, though: Amaro's trading partners were limited. Imagine the backlash had the Phillies traded Lee to a National League team in the off-season? Lee in Seattle had no direct effect on the Phillies' competition in 2010. What if he had gone to a National League contender?
Reports say the Phillies and Yankees discussed a Lee trade in the off-season, also involving Montero. But the Phillies backed out, weary of trading Lee to the team that beat them in the World Series just a few weeks earlier.
It's hard to judge what the Phillies received in return. All three prospects came to the organization with immense pressure from day one. It's been a half of a season. Aumont has already been demoted after struggling at double-A. Ramirez has been average since his promotion to Reading. Tyson Gillies, the other prospect acquired, has missed a great deal of time with a nagging hamstring injury.
Just because neither of them have reached Domonic Brown status (the benchmark, apparently, for all prospects now) doesn't mean the trade was a failure. Yet.
Should Lee have been traded originally? That debate will never end. Ultimately, the Phillies decided because they would not be able to retain Lee past 2010, they wanted to find an ace they could. That was Roy Halladay.
It was a brash move by Amaro and one that will follow his career forever -- or until he wins a championship.
The point is, today -- should a deal be consummated -- is far from a terrible day for the Phillies.
yankees offer of no. 4 prospect + 2 additonal prospects has so far been turned down so that's the minimum that can be recived for Lee now... Philly sportswriters still trying to justify amaro unloading Lee for no. 98 prospect +2 duds too remote to be ranked --they still work for bankrupt newspaper as well...— warbiscuit- This was a terrible deal no matter how you spin it. Keeping Lee for this year and getting 2 1st round compensatory draft picks if they did not sign him was a much better move than what they did. They did have a shot at greatness. I hope the bean counters are proud.— Ballgame
I heard Werth is sleeping with Utley's wife. Is there any truth to that rumor?- Lee going to the Yanks means nobody else win the WS for at least a couple of years. We traded Lee for nothing, and Seattle trades him for big-time prospects. Not good!— 4thand10
Comment removed.- Looks like the deal fell through. If Lee gets traded to Reds, it'll be interesting to see how the writers spin it.— Leron
- Lee going to Texas— rolan01us
- Lee was aquired by Texas...huh?— nwphillyguy
- Even if we still had Lee, which I do wish we had, we still wouldn't be in first place. Yeah, we would be in better shape, but the injuries have killed us this year, and the performance of the regulars who haven't gotten injured have been well below par, to make up for the difference...— phigglesfan75
- Even if we still had Lee, which I do wish we had, we still wouldn't be in first place. Yeah, we would be in better shape, but the injuries have killed us this year, and the performance of the regulars who haven't gotten injured have been well below par, to make up for the difference...— phigglesfan75
- So he's going to Texas. Great. That's fine. What really boils me is what Texas was willing to give to rent him for two months. JUSTIN SMOAK! Dude was ranked ahead of both Brown and Drabek last year, and is a stud. Plus 3 other prospects, one of which was their first round pick in 2007 (7th overall.) And Ruben could only get 3 bags of Shag balls? If they trade Werth, they better get one hell of a return.— joecatz
- Lee Trade = Amaro Fired. The worst trade in years not only for the Phillies but in MLB. God I get sick thinking about this.— gottaloveit
- What does this mean??----> "Here's what everybody always misses. Amaro exchanged one year of Cliff Lee, and the very real possibility that they would lose him to free agency, for three years of Roy Halladay. That makes incredible sense to me. Also, ask yourself this, second guessing whiney crybabies, how well do you think the Yankees would be doing with a $140M payroll?" Who cares about the Stankees payroll? They always find a way to buy what they want! Is this news? Now if the Reds get Lee, I hope he plays against us before this series is over and wins! We deserve it after letting him get away! The Fightin's are done this year. Injuries, bad pitching and weak offense will have them missing the playoffs. At least NFL training camp is right around the corner........
- ESPN announced about 15 minutes ago that Lee was traded to the Texas Rangers. Ruben Amaro breathes sigh of relief.— F. Harry Stowe
- Phillies fans would have had no reason to follow the Phillies for the remainder of the 2010 season if the Yankees had acquired Cliff Lee, because the Phillies would have had a 0% chance to beat the Bronx Bombers in the 2010 World Series. On the other hand, the Reds or Mets or Texas Rangers with Cliff Lee, while strong teams, would not have been unbeatable.— Freedom Fries
