Trade me, you say?
The Phillies are listening to trade offers for starting pitcher Cliff Lee, reports Jerry Crasnick of ESPN. Phillies General Manager isn't denying that either. Crasnick has his news and a quote from Amaro himself:
Although Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. declined to address the extent of other teams' interest in Lee, he said he's keeping an open mind on Lee and numerous other Philadelphia players who might generate interest at the deadline.
"I never put any real absolutes on anything," Amaro said by phone Friday. "Although we don't have any desire to move a guy like that because we view him as someone who will be key to our future, I am a businessperson as well and I'll be a good listener."
Here's my quick analysis of the situation:
- I would really hate to see Cliff Lee go.
- (But) I really feel the need to bring in some impact young players
- It makes little sense to trade Cliff Lee if you're going to re-sign Chase Utley and keep Jimmy Rollins around (because lets face it, Ryan Howard is immovable)
- If traded, they better get more than Tyson Gillies, Phillippe Aumont, and J.C. Ramirez for him
Back in the day I really wanted a 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas rookie card. I really really wanted it. But it was worth so much: a whole $85.00 back in 1995 when I was in eighth grade. I had a bunch of $10.00 cards, some of really promising players, such as Jeff Bagwell. But, I had nothing of equal value that I could trade back for Thomas, because my 1974 Mike Schmidt was untouchable.
So, I traded about $150.00 worth of these cards and I finally was the proud owner of a Frank Thomas rookie card. I made it so lopsided that the other kid couldn't say no.
That could, in theory, happen with Cliff Lee. If the St. Louis Cardinals want to give the Phillies Michael Wacha and Oscar Tavares, you cannot say no. The Dodgers give you Zach Lee, Joc Pederson, and Matt Magill, you don't say no. If the Pirates give you Gregory Polanco, Jonathan Taillon, and Gerrit Cole, you don't say no.
However, It's likely that no one would ever ante up enough to satisfy the Phillies, so he may still be here, since teams like the Cardinals value those prospects.
