Hot Stove

[Article 15]

This better be to make room for Adrian Gonzalez and not Adrian Beltre ...

INDIANAPOLIS - If this is, indeed, the end of the road for Mike Lowell in Boston, remember him as one of the classiest individuals to ever don a Red Sox uniform.

If Lowell is dealt for 25-year-old Rangers catcher Max Ramirez, as reported late last night by Fox Sports, the Sox likely would have to eat a good part of Lowell’s $12 million salary, which likely would require approval from the Commissioner’s Office, since Boston would be picking up more than $1 million of the salary. The Rangers also are going to be studying Lowell’s medical records, which may not be pretty.

Boston Red Sox - Lowell going, going, gone? - The Boston Globe

Who would you rather have, Polanco or Beltre?

Neither, bro. I'd rather have a Garret Atkins for a one year deal possibly with an option and wait til next year to make a splash on a corner infielder.

 

[Paulie]

This better be to make room for Adrian Gonzalez and not Adrian Beltre ...



Boston Red Sox - Lowell going, going, gone? - The Boston Globe

Who would you rather have, Polanco or Beltre?

Neither, bro. I'd rather have a Garret Atkins for a one year deal possibly with an option and wait til next year to make a splash on a corner infielder.

Yeah my buddies and I were thinking Atkins too. I think CO needs a closer and we were hoping maybe we could move Lidge and get Atkins and maybe somehow possibly work a 3 way and get Heath Bell.

Atkins hasn't been the same since Holliday left, but he would have fit GREAT in our lineup.

 

[Article 15]

Who would you rather have, Polanco or Beltre?

Neither, bro. I'd rather have a Garret Atkins for a one year deal possibly with an option and wait til next year to make a splash on a corner infielder.

Yeah my buddies and I were thinking Atkins too. I think CO needs a closer and we were hoping maybe we could move Lidge and get Atkins and maybe somehow possibly work a 3 way and get Heath Bell.

Atkins hasn't been the same since Holliday left, but he would have fit GREAT in our lineup.

I agree that he'd slide nicely into your line up. There would be no pressure on him at all. The Palanco signing left me scratching my head ...

Buuuuut then again so does this Lackey signing. Too many years and too much money for a 31 year old guy coming off surgery, IMO. Plus, he's a douche and I don't like the guy.

He's our AJ Burnett.

 

[Paulie]

The Polanco signing was nothing other than these two things: 1. He's been here before so it's theoretically a 'safe' signing because we know what we're getting... And 2. He was the cheapest of the potentials that were available, which is vintage Phillies all the way.

We're moving a guy to an unnatural position, 3rd friggin base of all positions, to save a couple mil a year.

The only good thing about it is Polanco makes contact and gets on base. He's not that K/DP liability that Pedro was in the bottom of the lineup. But if his glove ends up being a liability there, he may very well give away in the field as much as he gets at the plate.

I said before though, I'll be the first to praise the deal if it works out well

 

[Article 15]

Interesting ...

A three-way deal that would send Roy Halladay to Philadelphia and Cliff Lee to Seattle is "close" but "not done," according to two sources familiar with the negotiations.

As part of the deal, Halladay would agree to a three-year extension through 2013, with a vesting option that could lengthen the deal by another year or two, one source said. The extension is expected to guarantee Halladay in the neighborhood of $60 million, plus the $15.75 million he would make in 2010, the final year of his current contract.

Sources: Roy Halladay to Philadelphia Phillies, Cliff Lee to Seattle Mariners deal close - ESPN

 

[Andrew2382]

i don't like the deal if I'm a phillies fan.

It's a swap and to be honest I think I like Lee more.

The guy was dominant in the playoffs and he is young and has 90 pitches.

 

[Article 15]

I hear ya, Andrew. But if they only have to extend Halladay for 3 years then it's not so bad.

Lee wants to get paid:

While the Phillies have done next to no actual negotiating with Lee, they heard enough rumblings that Lee wanted a CC Sabathia-type contract that they believed it would take a five-year or six-year deal to keep the 31-year-old left-hander. And the Phillies have an organizational philosophy that precludes deals longer than three years for starting pitchers.

 

[Andrew2382]

good..hopefully the Yankees sign him

Mariners have a lethal 1-2 combo now

 

[Article 15]

good..hopefully the Yankees sign him

Mariners have a lethal 1-2 combo now

They could be on their way to winning the west. The Angels have a lot of holes to plug up and they've been conspicuously inactive this offseason.

 

[Andrew2382]

i agree...Angels seem pretty shitty atm. They have no respectable #1.

Lackey is a nice addition to the Red Sox, and you got Cameron also which all but guarantees Bay is out of there.

I wonder where Matt Holiday is going to end up..I would still love to see the Yankees make him an offer.

I like Halladay in the NL east...we don't gotta see him anymore and if we do see him int he fall classic it will be for 2 games. Totally fine with that.

 

[Andrew2382]

also matsui to the angels

Will miss him..class act all the way through but too old and fragile for what we want to do.

Thanks for the MVP series but his better days are behind him I feel

 

[Xenophon]

ESPN reports there was more to the halladay trade, the Phils had to give Toronto a top pitching prospect, so it wasn't just Lee for Halladay.

Red Sox over paid for lackey, a good pitcher but not a #1.

I think NY wants either Bay or Holliday for left, if damon continues to be a dick, or they might just wait a year and get Crawford.

 

[Article 15]

ESPN reports there was more to the halladay trade, the Phils had to give Toronto a top pitching prospect, so it wasn't just Lee for Halladay.

Red Sox over paid for lackey, a good pitcher but not a #1.

I think NY wants either Bay or Holliday for left, if damon continues to be a dick, or they might just wait a year and get Crawford.

Toronto is getting Kyle Drabek I know that for sure and I think they are getting a top pitching prospect from Seattle as well.

 

[Xenophon]

ESPN reports there was more to the halladay trade, the Phils had to give Toronto a top pitching prospect, so it wasn't just Lee for Halladay.

Red Sox over paid for lackey, a good pitcher but not a #1.

I think NY wants either Bay or Holliday for left, if damon continues to be a dick, or they might just wait a year and get Crawford.

Toronto is getting Kyle Drabek I know that for sure and I think they are getting a top pitching prospect from Seattle as well.

Signing Lackey for 17 mil per was a panic move.

Another over priced injured pitcher is not what Boston needs.

If I were a Phils fan I'd be pissed, the best post season pitcher they ever had was kissed off for a guy who never pitched in a playoff game and is older, with similar lifetime stats.

 

[Article 15]

ESPN reports there was more to the halladay trade, the Phils had to give Toronto a top pitching prospect, so it wasn't just Lee for Halladay.

Red Sox over paid for lackey, a good pitcher but not a #1.

I think NY wants either Bay or Holliday for left, if damon continues to be a dick, or they might just wait a year and get Crawford.

Toronto is getting Kyle Drabek I know that for sure and I think they are getting a top pitching prospect from Seattle as well.

Signing Lackey for 17 mil per was a panic move.

Another over priced injured pitcher is not what Boston needs.

If I were a Phils fan I'd be pissed, the best post season pitcher they ever had was kissed off for a guy who never pitched in a playoff game and is older, with similar lifetime stats.

I could live with 17 mil a year if it were a 3 year deal ... I think you are right they panicked by paying him that kinda money ... I can only hope they did this to clear Buchholz for another move.

I don't really get the Phil's move either. They didn't want to give up Drabek to get Halladay so they got Lee instead. He turns out to be a huge success but what do they do? They trade Lee along with the prospect they weren't willing to give last summer for Halladay.

 

[Xenophon]

I could live with 17 mil a year if it were a 3 year deal ... I think you are right they panicked by paying him that kinda money ... I can only hope they did this to clear Buchholz for another move.

I don't really get the Phil's move either. They didn't want to give up Drabek to get Halladay so they got Lee instead. He turns out to be a huge success but what do they do? They trade Lee along with the prospect they weren't willing to give last summer for Halladay.

Roy is not a hugh upgrade over Cliff, and Roy has never pitched in a playoff game.

Essentially the Phills didn't improve, but got weaker trading a top pitching prospect, and they are 60 million pooer now, as that was the extention they said Roy agreed to for 3 years.

 

[Andrew2382]

The Halladay trade is a bad deal for the Phils...I simply don't like it.

Lackey is the Red Sox Burnett

Burnett isn't a #1 either...Lackey wanted the same deal and he got it.

I like Burnett more then Lackey because I think he has better stuff when he is on but unfortunately you never know when that will be.

I'd like to see the Yankees make a 8-9 mill dollar offer with 4 mill in incentives to Sheets

I think it is worth the shot to see how he does.

I wonder where Bay and Holliday go now.

I'd still love to see the Yanks try and sign Matt Holiday and then try to make a trade for crawford with a deal sending melky or something.

 

[Paulie]

ESPN reports there was more to the halladay trade, the Phils had to give Toronto a top pitching prospect, so it wasn't just Lee for Halladay.

Red Sox over paid for lackey, a good pitcher but not a #1.

I think NY wants either Bay or Holliday for left, if damon continues to be a dick, or they might just wait a year and get Crawford.

Toronto is getting Kyle Drabek I know that for sure and I think they are getting a top pitching prospect from Seattle as well.

Yeah It's Drabek, He was the one who was previously untouchable, but we weren't sure we'd be able to sign Lee after 2010 anyway.

I think this is a good move. Prospects are just prospects, and if you can get someone who is already proven to be an ace, I think you have to go for it.

I don't think we lose Dominic Brown this time, who was part of the price tag during the trade deadline, which is good.

I have to let this thing sink in a little more, but I think this will end up being a good move.

This definitely puts more pressure on Hamels to step it up now though, considering he's going to be our ace lefty again.

 

[Paulie]

The Phils are supposedly getting prospects from Seattle, I have to roll right now for work, but I'll check on these details later. I don't know the names.

 

[Paulie]

From the Phils website:

Potential Halladay-Lee deal appears near | phillies.com: News

CSNPhilly.com first reported that the Phillies would send Drabek, outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis d'Arnaud to the Blue Jays. Sources echoed that package for Halladay. Sources also told MLB.com that only the Phillies would receive Seattle's prospects in the Lee deal. None would be shipped to Toronto.

One of Seattle's prospects is expected to be right-hander Phillippe Aumont. Seattle is expected to send at least one other prospect to the Phillies.

So we're not losing Dominic Brown, who was previously part of the price during last season. Taylor is good but I can stand to lose him. Brown is just a beast and will most likely be our replacement for Ibanez.

I don't care if we lose Drabek as long as we get someone who's a real ace. We once thought Carlos Carrasco was going to be a stud and he ended up not living up to the hype. That remains to be seen I guess in Cleveland.

Also, we're getting 2 of Seattle's top pitching prospects, including Aumont who's a 1st rounder with ace potential.

The more I analyze and scrutinize this deal, the more I like it. Apparently it was either Happ or Drabek, and we chose Drabek, which is good considering how well Happ pitched for us to prove he's able to hang in the Majors. And we straight up told Toronto the Brown was off the table, and still got the deal done. Or I should say, SHOULD get the deal done. It looks to be all but done at this point.

I don't care about the whole "Halladay has never pitched in the postseason" thing. The guy is a veteran, I don't see why that would be a big deal. If it wasn't for Hamels in '08, there's no reason to think it will be for Halladay. Not to mention, Lee never pitched in the postseason before this season either.

The deal makes sense when you factor in not being able to keep Lee after 2010 anyway.