Philadelphia Phillies to Acquire Roy Halladay in Three-Team Blockbuster Deal

The Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to trade for coveted pitcher Roy Halladay in a three-team blockbuster that would send Halladay to the Phillies and Cliff Lee to the Mariners.

Sources say Halladay would agree to a long-term contract extension that would complete the deal. Halladay would go to the National league while Lee would return to the American league where he won the 2008 Cy Young award.

Details of the deal have yet to come out, however it is almost certain Philadelphia would be giving up Lee. The Phillies would acquire prospects for Lee to satisfy the Blue Jays demands, and also send some of their own prospects to Toronto. Philadelphia would also receive some money from the Jays to help pay off Halladay’s massive $15.75 million salary but that number could be negotiated down.

It was rumored that the Phillies coveted Halladay and had wished to acquire him during the summer. Instead they made a trade for Lee, for whom they gave up much less than the rumored package the Blue Jays were asking for.

Even recently, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. shot down the possibility of a possible Halladay trade.

The question that would come up is why the Phillies would trade for Halladay when they had a sure thing in Cliff Lee, who was the pitcher of the postseason. Lee was absolutely dominant and led the Phillies staff to a World Series appearance.

However the Phillies believe Halladay is a better pitcher than Lee. In the winter meetings the Phillies and Cliff Lee’s agent had some extension talks in which Lee’s agent was rumored to be demanding a CC Sabathia type contract. The Phillies thought that was unreasonable for a 31-year-old pitcher.

So how you trade a pitcher who had one of the greatest postseasons of all time for an ace who has never pitched on a championship-caliber team?

The Phillies believe that you have to go for it now because you could not just let Lee walk away as a free agent. That’s almost impossible to explain to the fans. Instead, the Phillies get a great pitcher for Lee in Halladay, whom they can sign long term.

Halladay led the American league in complete games with 9, went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA and earned an All-Star game start. He has finished in the top five in Cy Young voting each of the past four years.

Lee, meanwhile, went 4-0 in the postseason with an eye-popping 1.56 postseason ERA.

As for the Mariners, they now have a nasty one-two punch with Lee and the young, up-and-coming ace Felix Hernandez. The Mariners may now be the favorites to win the NL West, as the Angels are in the midst of losing their ace John Lackey.

The move however puts more pressure on Phillies left hander Cole Hamels, who really struggled in the postseason for the Phillies. Hamels was struggling all year and just never seemed to get it together after a great 2008 postseason.

The Phillies, though, seem optimistic about Hamels. He was mentioned in some trade rumors but Philadelphia was reluctant to let the 26-year-old left hander go.

In other baseball news, the Boston Red Sox are expected to sign John Lackey, leaving the Angels as the big losers so far this offseason. L.A. was interested in Halladay and Lackey and missed out on both.

The Red Sox have also made an offer to Cuban pitcher Arlodis Chapman, a left hander who can throw up to 100 miles per hour. But it is probably a long-term project for the time being.

The move puts both the Phillies and Mariners as the favorites to win their divisions. The big question is, who is the better pitcher: Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee?

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