Roy, John, and Cliff

DOUGHBOYS · Post by **DOUGHBOYS** » Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:41 am

Three of the games best pitchers may have changed teams today if rumors are correct.

Halladay to the Phils, Lackey to the Red Sox, and Lee to the Mariners.

If true, I don't know what the Phillies are up to. Halladay could be a step up from Lee, but there is a lot of extra money that comes with the step, not to mention the players they'll have to give up. At this time, those players are unknown.

Lackey going to the Red Sox puts him in a tougher environment. Fantasy wise, this could be a sideways step or maybe even a step back for him. For the Red Sox, they can boast a rotation of Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Dice-BB, and Buchholz/Wakefield depending on whether Buchholz is dealt during the off season. A heckuva rotation.

The Mariners get Cliff Lee, a boon for them. So far with Figgins and Lee, they have had a great off season. If they can cap it off and get either Bay or Holliday as their big bopper, they can move into contender mode. As for Lee, he goes back to the A.L., but if you're a pitcher in the A.L., the West is a good place to be. The ballpark will be a lot more agreeable for him as well. Again, we don't know what players they have given up to get Lee though.

[ December 14, 2009, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: DOUGHBOYS ]

Schwks · Post by **Schwks** » Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:07 am

When I first heard about the Phillies potentially getting Halladya, I thought that they were going straight through Toronto and I am not sure why they didnt since Toronto only netted the two or 3 Phils' prospects anyway(too much money?). If Im a Philly fan, Id have liked to have seen them take a shot for one year with a rotation of Halladay, Lee, Hamels. Im not so sure that Halladay is that big of an upgrade over Lee, considering how dominant Lee was after the trade last year.

To me, the Mariners won this thing. Yeah they gave up top two prospects in a somewhat depleted farm system, but the top of their rotation could be set for next 4 years with Felix and Lee.

I think Boston overpaid for Lackey, given his increased injury risk. I think that they will end up regretting this contract, as most teams that sign sp's to 5 year contracts do. On paper, this does make their rotation to be best in majors and I guess they had to make some bold moves after the hated Yanks did the Canyon of Heroes march. My guess is that they accede to SD's demands of Buch and one of their top prospects for Adr Gonzalez and then go toe to toe with Yankees all season long.

Toronto seemingly has a ton of young pitchers with talent now...in fact I dont even think I could list them all: Romero, Richmond, Purcey, McGowan, Rzepzcinki, Marcum, Drabek. I dont know that any of them have 1-2 potential though. They made a nice signing with Buck...good defense and avg bat with Arenciba and D'Arnaud in farm, Taylor bolsters a nice young OF with Snider, Lind, and er Wells (one of these things is not like the others) Doesnt really matter, they dont have the resources to compete in AL East anyway.

Not much chenge in balance of power overall.

rockitsauce · Post by **rockitsauce** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:25 am

As a Phillie fan, I hate to see Cliff Lee go, but we had Pedro go in game 6 b/c Lee had never pitched on 3 days rest before.

There is no doubt that Doc Halladay pitches in that game.