So there seems to be a lot of people upset about this blockbuster trade that will bring Roy Halladay to Philadlephia and send Cliff Lee to Seattle. The trade makes sense for many reasons.
The biggest, however, is money. The Phillies may have a payroll of $140 million and be the two time defending NL champions with a crazy fan following, but they still act a bit small market at times.
When the Phillies failed to get Halladay at the trading deadline, they turned their sights to Lee, who didn’t disappoint. Lee was dominant in the World Series, further backing up the trade.
With the season over, and Lee eligible for free agency after the 2010 season, talks turned toward signing Lee to a long term deal. However, after seeing the deal that C.C. Sabathia got, 7 years and $161 million, Lee wants to test the FA market. Can you really blame him?
Those kind of numbers put him out of the Phillies range. With a likely bidding war over his services after this upcoming season likely, it was wise for the Phillies to get rid of Lee when they could get a decent return for him.
The only way this all goes down is if Roy Halladay would sign an extension. He has said he’d be willing to waive his no-trade clause to join the Phillies, and would even take a “winning team” discount. He wants to pitch for a winner and he wants to pitch for them now. The talk is that Halladay has agreed to a 3 year extension through 2013 that will pay him $20 million a year with a vesting option for 2014. That’s a steal.
Doc is the best pitcher in the game and being able to get him under market value was something the Phillies had to take advantage of. This is the linchpin to the entire deal. If Halladay wouldn’t sign a long term deal at a number the Phillies didn’t like, this trade would never happen. Lee turned down an extension and set the wheels in motion.
Now, there are a few things to think about. What if the Phils had been able to dump Joe Blanton and his $7 million salary on someone? The Phillies would have done that in a heartbeat and kept Lee for this year along with Halladay, letting Lee walk at the end of the year and bagging two draft picks in return.
Others have said, what’s another $8 million when they’re already spending $140 million? The line has to be drawn somewhere. As much as we’d like it to be, the Phillies (and their owners) are not the Yankees and Red Sox. They can’t just buy everyone they want. When someone big comes along, a price has to be established. Cliff Lee was going to be over that price.
Now, pretty much every prospect in the Phillies organization has been linked to this deal, so we won’t know the full extent of the damages until it’s finalized. It could be a high price to pay for the top pitcher in baseball.
The Phillies are built to win within the next few years. Not every prospect is going to pan out. I’d take a proven winner for the next four years over some unproven prospects any day, and it seems as if Ruben Amaro is thinking the same way.
