MLB Insider – Breaking Down the Roy Halladay Trade

One of the most confusing trades in MLB in years just took place today with Seattle acquiring Philadelphia ace Cliff Lee and Toronto ace Roy Halladay going to the Phillies. 

Oh, yes, we need to mention that the Boston Red Sox signed John Lackey which is huge news for BoSox fans.  That, of course, was just a free agent signing, the Lee/Halladay situation?

Craziness that involved no less than four teams. 

Anyhow, let’s break it down, shall we?

Lee/Halladay and a Mess of Players Changing Teams

Philadelphia Phillies

The rumor was that Cliff Lee was going to demand a C.C. type contract in order to stay in Philly after this upcoming season.  Lee will be a free agent and Philadelphia’s brass was afraid that he might walk or demand more money that Warren Buffet’s got in his treasure chest.  So, they called up Toronto, got Seattle involved and acquired Roy Halladay whom they just signed to a 3 year deal at 20 mil a year until 2013 plus a vesting option of 20 mil in 2014.  Good job, Phillies.  20 mil sounds like a lot but Lee was in line to get way more than that.

Philadelphia, who is +750 to win the 2010 World Series in the baseball sportsbook, also acquired Seattle’s two top pitching prospects in Phillippe Aumont and Juan Ramirez and outfielder Tyson Gillies from Seattle. From Toronto, they acquired 6 mil in cash.

The Phillies should be proud of themselves. They got an equal pitcher to their former ace Lee in Halladay, some great prospects and 6 million bucks.  Is there anything at all wrong with what Philadelphia did?  I think not!

Seattle Mariners

The truth is that Seattle got very, very good by acquiring Cliff Lee from Philadelphia.  It was an exceptional move for a team that already had an ace in Felix Hernandez .  Now, the Mariners have two aces, one Cy Young Award winner in Lee and a potential Cy Young award winner in Hernandez, in their starting rotation.  This, along with Lackey signing with Boston, is another reason for the L.A. Angels to be scared.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays acquired catching prospect Travis D’Arnaud and pitching prospect Kyle Drabek.  Those pick-ups are nice, but Toronto needed way more than that and probably wanted way more than that for Halladay. Too bad.  They also got infield player Brett Wallace from Oakland.  It doesn’t seem like Toronto got much for the fantastic Halladay.

Oakland Athletics

The Athletics acquired outfielder Michael Taylor.  Who is Michael Taylor?  Beats me.  He appears to be the lone non-entity in this entire ordeal.  We may never see Taylor play for Oakland for all I know.  He could have just been that final piece to get the rest of the deal done.  Well, whomever he is, his name is in the MLB books now.

So, who won in this deal?  It’s obvious right!

Winner:  Philadelphia Phillies

Almost Winner:  Seattle Mariners

Loser:  Nobody

Who Cares: Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics