Even though I was at work all day, I am fully aware today of the Phillies earth-shattering trade. Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson to Cleveland for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco! You read that right (even though I doubt there is a person in the country that has not heard by now) Cliff Lee is a Phillie!
Instead of boring you with my unabashed joy or giving you a blockquote to a story that you already know, I'll offer up a few points on this worth considering.
First of all, what does this mean for the Phillies rotation as essentially we now have 7 active major league starting pitchers (Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, Rodrigo Lopez, and Pedro Martinez who is currently completing minor league rehab stings) another on the 60-day DL (Brett Myers). Thus now that we've got Lee, what will become of the starting pitching line-up? My best guess is is that the Phillies will in all likelihood either sent Lopez back down to the minors, release him, or put him on waivers. Seeing as the Phillies are unlikely to move Jamie Moyer or Joe Blanton at this point, it is likely that either Pedro Martinez or J.A. Happ will be sent to The Pen while the one who is not sent to the Pen will be a starter in the rotation. My guess is that Happ will be the one that ends up in The Pen just because I can't imagine the Phillies moving Hall of Fame shoe-in Martinez to the Pen and I have even bigger problems seeing Martinez excepting that role.
Another interesting point that is worth bringing up are the Phillies really going for the jugular in a way that would even make the New York Yankees envious? Think about it. The Toronto Blue Jays in their first offer to the Phillies requested J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek (the Phils top pitching prospect), and Dominic Brown (perhaps our top outfielding prospect), and none of them were traded to Cleveland. The Blue Jays' eyes are basically bugging out at the sight of Drabek, so you have to believe that that offer is still on the table. Now will the Phillies do it, I would certainly give it a less than 5% chance of happening, especially seeing as the Phillies like their prospects and with very few exceptions, are a home grown team and they value their prospect deeply (we can afford 4 for the Indians because the Phils do have great depth in the minor leagues at this point in time) but it is certainly worth thinking about it. Could you imagine a starting rotation featuring Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Pedro Martinez, and Jamie Moyer? Good grief!
Lastly, WHAT A DEAL THIS IS! As I said in the title, these are mainly 2nd tier prospects we gave up. The only one that I feel may have any chance at making it big in the majors is catcher Lou Marson. A year or 2 ago, Carlos Carrasco was seen in a light that the Phils view Kyle Drabek now. On The DL's Dan Levy put it best a week or so ago when discussing Phils trade options and some of our prospects that he has since become "persona non grata". He can get Ks, but he has struggled a bit, hence and the Phils feel that he needs to mature more. And that is evidenced just by the fact that the Phils have gone to the farm system numerous times for pitching this year (Happ, Bastardo, and Lopez) and not once has Carrasco even been brought up for a bull pen stint. Hell, Kyle Kendrick and Tyler Walker were chosen essentially over Carrasco to fill-in for what has suddenly become an injury plagued Phillies bullpen.
And you have to wonder when Cliff Lee will make his first Phillies start. Happ is scheduled to pitch tonight and even if he is destined for the bullpen, unless Cliff Lee is magically in Arizona and ready to go tonight, the Phils have no other starter that can go tonight, so he will still go. I do point out that after this trip to Arizona, the Phillies head to San Francisco for a 4-game series which will feature a Saturday showdown with Tim Lincecum. Could you imagine? Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum? Talk about one hell of a pitching duel.
Phillies land Lee from Tribe (MLB.com)
I was hoping for the scheduled Jamie Moyer vs. Tim Lincecum matchup. Talk about complete opposites.
ReplyDeleteOh by the way, MLB Network was showing the Angels-Indians game, and Lee and Francisco watched the entire game in the dugout. Harold Reynolds was talking about how the deal isn't complete until the physical from the minor league pitchers.
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