He may not be Roy Halladay, but hats off to Ruben Amaro for making a terrific trade to not only bring on board a former Cy Young winner, but also a good, young right-handed bat. In the blink of an eye the Phils addressed their two biggest needs and kept their best prospects in the process.
THE PHILS GET:
SP Cliff Lee
CF Ben Francisco
THE INDIANS GET:
SP Carlos Carrasco
SP Jason Knapp
C Lou Marson
SS Jason Donald
From a Philly perspective, this is a great deal. Needless to say my faith in Ruben Amaro Jr. is restored…sorry I ever doubted you!
Lee may not be on quite the same level as Halladay, but he’s no slouch either. His 7-9 record and 3.14 ERA may not scream dominance, but over his last three starts he is 3-0 with a 1.44 ERA and a 14:0 K:BB ratio. Needless to say he is showing the same form from last season where he won the Cy Young en route to an incredible 22-3 record on a bad team.
That really is the key thing to remember here: Lee is moving to a league he has dominated in his career (12-2, 3.18 ERA against the NL) where there is no designated hitter, and he will be playing in front of one of the best defenses in the majors. Compare that to the situation he was in before in Cleveland, and we could see a Raul Ibanez-esq rennaissance from Lee. Granted our rotation is now very lefty-heavy (Hamels, Lee, and Happ are all lefties) but it’s worth it in this case.
Ben Francsico won’t get much attention in this deal, but he will add a lot to this team off the bench. I can give a bit more insight on the guy considering I just watched him play the Angels last night (and hit a home run.) He has pretty good range in center and definitely has a more than adequate arm, and while his batting average is nothing to write home about he has some pop (on pace to match his career high of 15 homers) and some speed as well (13 stolen bases this year.) He’s only in his second full season in the Majors and while he may be in a bit of a sophomore slump, his best baseball is in front of him. He’s also hitting .302 since the All Star break.
As for the package of prospects the Indians got, Lou Marson may end up being the best player out of the bunch. I really wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the Majors before the season is over considering he had been raking in Lehigh Valley (batting .294.) Carlos Carrasco at one point was at one point considered the gem of the Phillies farm system, but his struggles in AAA (5.18 ERA) seemed to kill some of the hype surrounding him. The fact that the Phillies promoted Andrew Carpenter and Rodrigo Lopez before him for spot starts really says a lot about how they viewed Carrasco. Knapp is still a ways away from contributing in the Majors but is a solid prospect, and Jason Donald is yet another name that slipped in value over the past year.
It’s not a bad haul by any means for the Indians, but the fact that the Phillies made such a big deal without giving up Kyle Drabek, J.A. Happ, Michael Taylor, or Dominic Brown is amazing.You also have to consider the fact that several of these prospects were expendable: there was no place in the infield for Donald to play, and the Phils seem content with a Ruiz-Bako catching duo. They also managed to avoid losing any pieces off the big league roster in the trade, which is always a plus.
THE VERDICT:
I really try not to judge trades before we get a better idea of how the prospects involved are developing (see: the Gavin Floyd for Freddy Garcia swap from a few years back) but you have to be pleased with what Ruben Amaro did here. He brought on an outstanding starting pitcher with a very reasonable contract and a solid right-handed bat with some upside in exchange for a group of expendable prospects.
Not to say any of the four won’t develop into fine ballplayers, but Marson, Donald, Carrasco and Knapp weren’t going to help the Phils repeat. Lee and Francisco absolutely will…that makes this a great trade for the Phillies. Ruben Amaro gets a very favorable grade in his first major move as the Phillies GM.
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