It's official: Phillies sign Roy Halladay and say goodbye to Cliff Lee
by Scott Butler 12/16/09
The Phillies have finally made the blockbuster deal of the offseason by trading Cliff Lee and acquiring Roy Halladay. In the first of what was actually two separate deals, the Phillies traded minor league right-hander Kyle Drabek, outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis d'Arnaud to the Toronto Blue Jays for Roy Halladay. The second deal sent Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners for right-handers Phillippe Aumont and JC Ramirez and outfielder Tyson Gillies. Toronto flipped Taylor to Oakland for prospect Brett Wallace.
Halladay agreed to a three-year, $60 million contract extension with the Phillies that includes a $20 million vesting option for a fourth season. The Phillies got their man. They had been eyeing Roy Halladay for some time now and he was willing to sign for a relatively cheap price.
The Phillies just signed the best pitcher in baseball to a three year deal. Yet the big question Phillies fans have is, "why trade Cliff Lee?"
In the press conference, Ruben Amaro kept saying that they traded Lee because they needed the prospects. If that is the case, then this is a terrific deal that makes a whole lot of sense. Trading Cliff Lee basically gives us back the prospects we lost by trading for Halladay.
But I don't buy the prospect response. The more likely reason is simple: money. The ownership appears to have set $140 million as their budgetary limit, meaning that we could not afford Cliff Lee's $9 million salary. Lee also made it clear that he wanted to test the free agency market, and maybe they decided that a deal was not possible and needed to part ways. However, if the Phillies could suck up the $9 million (which is a steal for a pitcher like Lee) and are not able to re-sign him, they will get two first round draft picks anyway. And if you can work a deal, that gives them a front line rotation of Halladay and Lee. Oh well, it would have been nice.
Just don't forget that we just signed the best pitcher in baseball. Most baseball people say Halladay is a better pitcher than Cliff Lee and we were able to sign him for three years and keep the farm system healthy.
I will take that.
But it would have been nice to have both... |
