The Phillies have made it official. Roy Halladay is a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, well, after the 5 PM press conference takes place.
According to our boy Todd Zolecki, Clifton Phifer Lee has been traded to Seattle for OF Tyson Gillies, RHP Phillipe Aumont and RHP Juan Ramirez.
This has cleared the way for the Halladay trade to happen. The Phillies will be shipping Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud to get Halladay and $6 million in cash. Taylor will immediately be flipped to Oakland for Brett Wallace in another trade.
Got all that? Good.
Halladay has also agreed to the 3 year extension worth $60 million with a vesting option for a fourth year. That means the best pitcher in baseball with be in red pinstripes through at least 2013.
The two trades are separate, not a three team deal. The Lee deal allows the Phils to keep their farm system stocked and not lose Lee at the end of the season with nothing to show for it. The Halladay deal gets them a proven ace at a below market deal. It’s good to see someone take less money to play for a winner. I’m sure the players union is thrilled about that.
Either way, the Phillies have raised the bar yet again for the National League. After years of feasting on the likes of the Yankess and Red Sox, the lineups of the Nationals, Marlins, and Mets must look very appealing to Halladay.
I’ll see you on Broad Street in late October.
