Added by Matt Ryan, 3:28 PM

UPDATE: The Deal is nearing completion, pending physicals.  This is how it breaks down, per mlbtraderumors.

Phillies Get: Roy Halladay, Phillippe Aumount, Tyson Gillies, Juan Ramirez, and $6MM from the Jays

Mariners Get: Cliff Lee and possibly another prospect

Blue Jays Get: Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis D'Arnoud

The Phillies are likely to finalize a three year contract extension with Halladay in the coming days, at approximately $20MM/year.

Obviously, the thought of Roy Halladay in a Phillies uniform is upsetting.  That being said, this deal is not a slam dunk for the Phils.  There's no question that Halladay is a better pitcher than Lee.  But is he that much better?  Lee was money in the postseason last year, and it's hard to ignore that.  If you swap Halladay for Lee last year, the Phillies still come up short.  Plus, Halladay is a 33 year old power pitcher who averages 232 innings per year.  At some point all of that wear and tear is going to catch up.  If Halladay can stay healthy this deal is a huge win for the Phils.

Another key component of this deal are the prospects.  The Phillies lose their best pitching prospect, and gain the Mariners best pitching prospect.  Who knows how each prospect will turn out.  For that reason alone, it's really hard to name a clear cut winner in this trade.  We may revisit this trade in 3 years and say "can you believe the Mariners traded Aumount?", or vice versa.  But one thing to me is clear.  As much as the Phillies getting Halladay hurts, it is not a disaster.  If the Phillies traded for Halladay and kept Lee, that team might win 120 games, and walk through the playoffs.  This team is still great, but until they address the middle of their rotation, they remain beatable.

Original Post:

Added by Mike Mariano

The trade we talked about this morning appears to be more reality than speculation. The deal is far from done, yet Sources indicate that Cliff Lee will be shipped to Seattle, Roy Halladay will come to Philadelphia and a dump truck of prospects will land in Toronto.  The kicker for the Phillies is that they'll be able to reach a deal long term with Doc Halladay that they haven't (or won't) be able to reach with Cliff Lee.

When I first heard the news, I'm mixed about my initial reaction.  Roy Halladay -- love the guy, glad to have him, however (and a big however), is the supposed upgrade from Cliff to Roy worth the price it will cost the Phillies?

At this point we won't know the specifics until the deal is announced, but of course there has been speculation.  Travis D'Arnaud and potentially Michael Taylor may be leaving Philly to bring in the new ace.  D'Arnaud is a good player, but I hate to give up Michael Taylor here.  Him and Domenick Brown are the top of our position players down on the farm and the kid has an extremely high ceiling.  You've got to give some to get some, but is the jump from Lee to Halladay really as big as Michael Taylor?

Also, how is a potential 5 year, $100 million deal for Halladay going to effect this team in the next few years?  Halladay has thrown 1000 more innings than Lee, is a year older, and has had his share of arm injuries in the past.  FIVE more years is a big risk for an aging pitcher.

We'll talk more about this after the details are announced, but as of right now, does this deal make us that much better than we were before hand?

Added by Benny B:

Well, congratulations are in order. Halliday is arguably the best pitcher in baseball (after Johan of course:). However, like you said Mike, was it really worth giving up two top prospects AND Lee? Halliday, after all can only pitch once ever 5th day and may only equate to a couple more wins when all is said and done. Lee & Halliday in your rotation would have been a MAJOR coup. And with your lineup could contend with the Yankees, Sox and whom ever else. However, being as impartial as humanly possible, I think this move is at best a step sideways, and at worst a big step backwards in terms of the Risk reward.

Lackey just signed a 5 year deal with Boston, so it is safe to assume that Halliday at the very LEAST, will get a 5 year deal.  However, if I had to guess, a player option is in there for a 6th year.  I don't think he will get 7 years like CC/Johan considering his age...but I wouldn't be surprised if he did.   We will soon find out the details, but it begs the question if Doc signs a 5 year deal what in the world was Lee demanding?  It would have to be on par with Lackey, and if Doc is gonna get a similar deal, why not just spend that on Lee?  Was this just an excuse to get a bigger name than Lee?  All speculation, and I have got to wonder if maybe doc is going to surprise the hell out of everyone and take a shorter term deal...but I just don't see a pitcher of that caliber taking any sort of discount.  Anyway, the suspense is killing me.

Another congratulations is in order Phillie:  You have now graduated and become a big market team.  Welcome to the club...but this is not necessarily a good thing.  After this deal, it is going to be awfully hard to explain to Cole, Howard & Utley why they don't deserve every cent they are looking for.  Looks like Amaro is competing with Omar on who can be the bigger free wheeler.  By my count that is 6 minor leaguers that is has taken to net Doc (4 for Lee, 2 for Doc)

As a fan of Baseball, I can't wait to see the first Johan v. Doc Halliday matchup.  It's good for baseball and great addition to the next chapter in our rivalry.   I guess it's also nice to know that Lee should be available next offseason.  Time will tell on this move, but I think I would be scratching my head if I were a Phillie fan...

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