"Doesn't anyone remember the days of Hard Hittin' Mark Whiten or Gregg Jefferies?" the caller said. "We won the World Series last year and just got an ace. Sure, he's not the ace, but he's an ace."
Damn straight.
I hope the Phillies didn't give up too much - Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Knapp and Jason Donald are going to the Indians for Lee and Ben Francisco. Those are some of their top prospects, but not the big ones they didn't want to give up for Halladay.
Christine didn't want to give up a large haul for Halladay - the Phils were good enough to win it all without him last year and have as good of a shot as anyone to win it all again this year without mortgaging their future. She feels a bit bad for J.A. Happ, the likely candidate to get sent back to the bullpen, but pitching depth is fleeting, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some more starts even after Pedro Martinez and Cliff Lee arrive.
Heck, a few weeks ago, the Red Sox were seen as having an embarrassment of riches with their starting pitching, and now some think they need to get Halladay.
Todd Zolecki has a nice post on why the deal makes so much sense for the Phillies.
We've been upset with the way the Phillie players have been outspoken in their yen for Roy Halladay. I am concerned that they don't believe they can win without him. Hopefully, Clifton proves them wrong. He's looking forward to the opportunity:
I'm going to the defending World Champions, that's a good thing ... I'm anxious and excited to get there. ... It's the National League. I'm going to have to figure out how to get a bunt down more consistently.
This being SoxandPhils, we have to speculate what this trade means for the Red Sox deals. Will they pull the trigger on Roy? Or, since the Indians acquired Marson, does that mean Victor Martinez is coming to Fenway? We have less than 48 hours to find out. Until then, we'll think about the possibility of the World Series opening in Fenway: Lee vs. Halladay.
Today's games: After the Red Sox blew a three-run lead in the 9th last night, that World Series fantasy is starting to look like a pipe dream. They're trailing the A's again tonight, 5-3 in the 5th.
The Phillies won 4-3 last night as Brad Lidge turned a comfortable Cole Hamels performance into a squeaker against one of the worst teams in baseball, the Diamondbacks. They end the series late again tonight.
2 comments:
I like this deal. And I like that we didn't bet the farm to get him.
As for the Halladay deal, I know that there are a lot of opinions out there, but I certainly wouldn't have given up Drabek, Taylor and Brown to get him. That asking price was way too steep.
Like you said, we already won the world series without him, and we're still sitting pretty without him.
Onward march under the command of General Lee!
I sat down with Greg last night and posed the all-important question: What kind of nickname can we come up with for such a simple name like Cliff Lee?
I came up empty, but I'm liking General Lee.
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