Ken Rosenthal and others are reporting that the Indians and Phillies have agreed on a deal that sends Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to Philly for a prospect package. Philadelphia gets its front-line starter and now there is one fewer team in the Halladay sweepstakes. Call it a hunch, but I think Halladay is heading to Boston or the Bronx before the deadline.
h/t MLBTradeRumors.com
22 replies on “Cliff Lee to the Phils”
Jon Heyman tweets:
“#redsox talking a lot about victor martinez. will #bluejays be “stuck” with roy halladay?”
I said this in the other thread, but I’ll repeat it here: Ricciardi’s insane* demands for Halladay just cost him the No. 1 bidder. The next bid from the Red Sox is unlikely to be as good as the one JP just turned down.
I say insane because while I agree with the idea of starting off by asking for the moon (you never know who might agree with you), when it’s the day before the deadline, you’ve got to be realistic and actually negotiate. There’s no evidence Ricciardi ever did that.
It’s still unclear if the Sox made any formal offer for Halladay. Olney’s sources say no.
If the Sox, Yanks, and Dodgers are all still interested in Halladay then Ricciardi has a market, and a strong one. There is no reason to believe that he can’t get a good deal from these teams if they are engaging the process with him, other than his own incompetence, which is potentially a very big factor.
Only two teams are needed to make a market, and if both of those teams have strong farm systems then Ricciardi can still do very well. We have no idea what the Phillies offered, and Shapiro himself may have been desperate, making a deal for Halladay unnecessary – this may not even have to do with JP, but rather Shapiro.
Olney’s sources say no.
McAdam > Olney
The Blue Jays have barely even acknowledged an offer from the Sox. Frankly, Buchholz/Bowden/whatever is not even close to “wow”. The Sox can make all the offers and media leaks they want, but I really don’t think they’re impressing anyone.
Lol Andrew you’re really silly. Why would the Sox make the media leaks? It’s in their best interest to keep it secret what they’re offering. If these offers are true, then the Jays are the ones leaking them to get other teams to increase their offers.
And the Sox aren’t trying to impress anyone. They probably decided: “Well we’ll offer them what we’re willing to part with. They probably won’t take it, but if so then cool.”
You know what the “wow” offer will be?
The one Ricciardi accepts.
It might be two bats and a broken bicycle wheel, but Ricciardi will tell his fanbase that’s exactly what he wanted. I’m pretty sure he won’t be trying to figure out what Andrew decides is impressive.
The Sox can make all the offers and media leaks they want
How do you know the source of the leaks? If you do know the sources, perhaps you’d be better off as a beat writer and not as a blog commenter!
;-)
… and I’m pretty sure the Sox weren’t the ones leaking that they’d offered Clay Buchholz to trade just hours before he was about to take the mound.
… and I’m pretty sure the Sox weren’t the ones leaking that they’d offered Clay Buchholz to trade just hours before he was about to take the mound.
And in fact the Red Sox organization was upset that the offer was leaked, for precisely this reason.
McAdam reports:
A baseball source with knowledge of the Red Sox’ thinking predicted this morning that a big deal is unlikely, but cautioned that the situation remained fluid and things could change – and quickly – before Friday’s deadline at 4 p.m.
Having been repeatedly rebuffed in their attempt to deal for San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, the Sox are focused on talks for Toronto starter Roy Halladay, while continuing to monitor the situation of Cleveland catcher-first baseman Victor Martinez.
The Sox have already had one offer for Halladay rejected. That package was said to be headed by Clay Buchholz and was to have included a number of other highly regarded prospects, including Michael Bowden.
According to executives who have talked to the Red Sox, the team has made two 2008 draft picks – pitcher-shortstop Casey Kelly and outfielder Ryan Westmoreland – off-limits. The Sox also do not want to part with reliever Daniel Bard…
With the acquisition of Indians southpaw Cliff Lee by the Philadelphia Phillies, the Red Sox remain a central figure in the pursuit of Halladay, and they have the prospects and financial resources to get the job done. But a source in Toronto said that the Dodgers, Angels and, perhaps, the Rangers also remain viable candidates.
I don’t see how Ricciardi would be “stuck” with Halladay unless his owners have told him they need to cut payroll now.
Otherwise, he sits until December.
How do you know they’re not the ones leaking the information? For all we know, they could be quietly talking to Cleveland about Victor Martinez and are using Halladay as leverage.
The fact that all these Boston writers and their alleged ‘sources’ are getting all this information should really tell you that it’s the Sox leaking this out, not the Jays.
All we know is that the Jays rejected the Sox’s offer of Buchholz, Bowden and whomever, a while ago. That tells me that package is not close to being one that’s accepted. To suggest otherwise goes AGAINST what we know for a fact.
Andrew: king of the trools.
Yanks acquire Jason Hirsch.
How do you know they’re not the ones leaking the information?
How do I know that Paul doesn’t like to listen to Debbie Boone albums while looking at naked pictures of Gary Coleman?
I don’t. But it doesn’t make any sense that they would leak that with Buchholz starting that night. None whatsoever.
What’s a trool? And why haven’t they adopted democracy?
How do I know that Paul doesn’t like to listen to Debbie Boone albums while looking at naked pictures of Gary Coleman?
Gee thanks, cuz I needed a highly disturbing image to push yesterday’s 9th inning right out of my brain…
And, the fact that Roy Halladay is starting today should be all the proof anyone needs that no one has even come close to giving the Jays what they want.
The Yankees should offer Hughes, one of Nova, McAllister, Melancon, and some lower level prospects. That would be a similarly strong offer to the Sox’s.
I wish there was an edit button!
“But it doesn’t make any sense that they would leak that with Buchholz starting that night. ”
Just because it doesnt make sense that the sox organization would leak this info on purpose that doesnt mean that they arent the ones responsible for the leak. Even the most controlled organizations have leaks. There is some merit to Andrew’s statement that since Boston writers are reporting this “information” someone within the Sox org. is the most likely. Its not a huge leap to assume that Boston beat writers are more likely to have cultivated sources within the Sox than the Blue Jays.
How do I know that Paul doesn’t like to listen to Debbie Boone albums while looking at naked pictures of Gary Coleman?
If that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.
There is some merit to Andrew’s statement that since Boston writers are reporting this “information” someone within the Sox org. is the most likely.
The two reporters who have reported this are Gordon Edes and Sean McAdam, the two reporters with Boston ties (Edes is no longer actually a Boston reporter) who also have the best connections to other franchises. So I’m afraid that it’s not particularly indicative of anything, other than that two of the best baseball reporters in the country got a scoop other reporters did not.
I agree it’s suspect, given the reporters, but I also agree that even a team’s peons wouldn’t risk a game for some sense of importance. I also agree that most of what we hear is bull and so I agree that all this finger pointing ends up with four fingers pointing back at each of us.
Looking at the Lee trade, I think it’s a decent deal for both sides given the value of average players. I’m also not going to doubt the guy that got Lee and Sizemore for Colon.
I’m going to guess that Halladay goes nowhere. But I think the Sox could git er dun with Buchholz+ because he’s the best prospect being mentioned and I don’t see the Yankees giving up Joba or Hughes when they wouldn’t for Santana.
I’m okay with Washburn if it’s B prospects, but I still prefer a reliever to enable Hughes to start.