Trade Deadline

SI's Tom Verducci weighs in on the latest, citing a scout who depicted a "tug of war" between the Phillies' brass, with senior advisor Pat Gillick and manager Charlie Manuel pushing to win now with Roy Halladay, while GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and other player development personnel are reluctant to move top prospects. Verducci's source also suggests the Jays have no interest in Triple-A right-hander Carlos Carrasco, who was offered in the Phillies' counter-proposal, and doesn't consider J.A. Happ a dealmaker for Halladay.

 

Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears that the Blue Jays insist on receiving Kyle Drabek because they consider Phillies left-hander J.A. Happ (7-1, 2.97 ERA) a middle-to-back-of-the-rotation starter. The Jays reportedly opened negotiations with the Phils by offering Roy Halladay for Drabek, Happ and Clearwater outfielder Dominic Brown, but may relent if the Phillies give up Drabek, according to the report. Jays’ scouts watched as Drabek collected his seventh win last night in Reading. Today is the day of J.P. Ricciardi’s self-made deadline, but everyone close to the action believes negotiations will go down to the wire.

If this is true, and at this point in the days before the baseball trade deadline, there's about a 10% chance that any of this is accurate, but if this is true, please, please listen to Charlie Manuel and Pat Gillick.  I can't believe I actually agree with them, but yeah, this is the Phillies time to win.  All of the offensive players are right in the middle of their prime.  We're in first place and heading toward the playoffs in a weak division.  And all we need is a stud starting pitcher to replace Brett Myers from last year's roster and we'd be the easy favorites to repeat in the National League.  A second championship is there for the taking.  Roy Halladay is there for the taking.  I completely understand the feeling that holding onto prospects is a way to build for long-term team success.  But flags fly forever, Ruben.  And there's no guarantee that Kyle Drabek will be the next Cole Hamels.  There is a guarantee that Roy Halladay is the next Roy Halladay.  Act now, Ruben.  Act now.  Throw Drabek in.  You can probably keep Happ -- the Jays don't love him.  Drabek, Brown, and whoever else the Blue Jays want from the entire minor league system.  Do it now.  Please...........

Comments

[Chris Mitchell]

WOW Bill so passionate! I have to admit that I was on the side rooting for keeping our prospects and forgetting about Halladay, as great as he is....but then again I'm the type of person who likes to know what's ahead, and likes to plan for the future :-) ...But then my husband has been bombarding me with pretty much everything you point out in your (very well written) blog here, and I am easily persuaded... So...what the hell..let's live for today!! Get Halladay, let's go the WS again...and win it..AGAIN!!!

[LegFuJohnson]

Just keep Dominic Brown out of it if at all possible.

[Bill]

Looks like Ruben Amaro listened to me (and LegFu). We didn't get Halladay, but we're getting the 2nd best pitcher out there, and we didn't give up Drabek, Happ, OR Brown. Yes, we gave up "last year's" top 3 prospects, but not this year's, and that goes to show you just how frequently these "untouchable" prospect lists change... (we also got a RH hitting reserve OF, which was another major need -- nice job, Ruben!)

12:42pm: Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi report that the sides have agreed to a deal that sends Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to Philly for Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson. The teams still have to examine medical records for the deal to go through.

[Tom]

I must say amaro played this right. The Cliff Lee deal is genius, and who cares about halladay, phillies need someone to eat up innings, which Lee leads the american league in. Ahead of Halladay. This move was great, they got a great starter and kept their best prospects.

[Bill]

I agree completely Tom. I've had my doubts all along about Amaro, but he did very well here. The difference in price between Halladay and Lee is not comparable to the difference in their abilities. I do worry about the all LH rotation (except for Blanton), but our all LH heart of the order that I was worried about certainly has proved to be just as potent as ever.

Hamels/Lee/Blanton/Happ in the playoffs is definitely more than enough rotation to go for the repeat. Now, if we can just get Lidge fixed...