Halladay May Be Heading To Philly
Reports have begun to swirl of an imminent trade that will bring pitcher Roy Halladay to the Philadephia Phillies in a three-team trade that includes both the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. The deal hinges on Halladay signing a three-year contract extension reportedly worth $60 million. The contract is expected to include performance vesting options that can trigger to extend the deal beyond the three years.
To make the deal happen, the Phillies reportedly will trade its pitching ace and postseason stud Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners and send three minor leaguers believed to be catcher Travis d’Arnaud, outfielder Michael Taylor, and top prospect pitcher Kyle Drabek to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Phillies would receive two minor leaguers Phillippe Aumont and Tyson Gillies from the Seattle Mariners farm system.
The deal is a head scratcher. Cliff Lee proved during the postseason he is an ace, someone you hand the ball when you need to win a game. Without Lee, the Phillies get swept by the Yankees in the World Series. While Halladay has an impressive resume, he has pitched in relative obscurity in Toronto without big game pressure and media focus on every pitch. There are huge question marks on Halladay’s mental makeup to handle such pressure, as the New York Yankees and Boston have taken off the table talks of a contract extension until Halladay proves he can pitch on a bigger stage.
The subplot lost in this story are the additional price tags with the prospects. Kyle Drabek was the unquestioned top pitching prospect in minor league baseball in 2009, a guaranteed major leaguer believed to have ace potential. Michael Taylor was to be the guy to take over in left field in Philadelphia after batting .320 with 20 HRs and 21 SBs in 2009. Given Raul Ibanez’s awful decline in the second half of last season, Taylor was the guy to potentially push Ibanez into early retirement. These guys are not prospects, they are major leaguers in waiting.
The details and sensibility of this trade goes beyond just the players being mentioned here, as you have to consider in the equation the cost of the Cliff Lee service rental. To obtain Lee for their unsuccessful World Series run, Philadelphia unloaded half of their minor league system. Included in that deal were Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Lou Marson and Jason Knapp. When you add this into the deal, it means the Phillies have given up six of their top eight prospects for Halladay.
The Phillies are clearly gambling for short-term wins and mortgaging their long-term success. With a team that is aging and moving from its prime into sunset years, lets hope for Ruben Amaro Jr’s sake the moves payoff. If they don’t, he’ll be the fall guy and Phillies fans will pay a significant price for years to come.
Tags: cliff lee, kyle drabek, philadephia phillies, roy halladay, ruben amaro jr, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays
