Phils Still Looking For Lefty Relief Help

The Jays have a lot of lefties. In the majors: Ryan, Carlson, Tallet, Downs.

In the minors (AAA): Purcey, Chacin, Davis Romero.

Know I'm gonna catch some flack, but f-it... I was kinda hopin' for a deadline deal of Sherrill and one of Baltimore's upstart pitchers- Daniel Cabrera and (lefty) Brian Burres have been surprisingly good so far- for Adrian Cardenas, Heitor Correa, and maybe Kyle Drabek (though that might be pushing it). Cabrera, if he's really licked the control problems, is a 26 year old (crazy; seems like he's been in the league forever), very durable (a nice change for Philly), RHP with amazing pure stuff and Sherrill fills two needs with LHRP and closer (you don't really think Lidge is gonna make it through a whole season with playoff implications, without imploding, do you?). Cardenas is a stud prospect, but hopelessly blocked by Utley. Moving him takes him off his best position defensively and drops his value, so... Correa is just a personal sleeper fave and I figure that a solid SP and closer warrant a third decent prospect, so I said Drabek. He's got frontline stuff- making him desirable to the O's- but has major makeup/maturity issues and is coming off TJ surgery, so it's not like he'd be untouchable.

It's arguably a better option than Tim's (very possible) Blanton for Cardenas/Carrasco deal, as the Phils, in this case, fill two needs and keep their top pitching prospect, in Carrasco.

Anyway, just a thought. I'm sure it's obvious, but in the spirit full disclosure, I AM an O's fan. (I could also see the O's including Brandon Snyder, since the Phils need 3B prospects more than 2B prospects).

Would love to hear a Phillies fan's opinion...I think.

There is no way we trade Daniel Cabrera, not now. He has officially turned the corner. He may still have his rough patches, but he is now using off speed pitches and no longer looks like the pitcher I've watched for the last four seasons. I wouldn't trade Brian Burres either as he too is a different pitcher this year. Those two guys need to stay where they are. Cabrera has legitimate ace stuff and Burres will top out as a #3 starter I think.

Besides, a deal of Sherrill and one of Cabrera/Burres would need a much bigger return than that to get MacPhail's approval. If you asked me at the beginning of the year about DC, I would have traded him in a second. However, after I saw him make his third start this year, I knew he had turned the corner. There's no way we give him up. I would sooner trade Hayden Penn or Garrett Olson before I let someone have Burres and under no circumstances do I trade Cabrera. Jeremy Guthrie is not an ace, he just isn't. He is a great #2 starter, but the fact of the matter is that he just isn't good enough to beat other team's aces. At this rate, DC may be our ace in 2009 followed by Guthrie and Burres. Adam Loewen also has ace stuff, but it turns out he's been pitching with pain yet again this year which affected his performance. He just needs time to fully recover and when he does, we're going to have quite a rotation.

Anyways, Penn and Olson I would trade for the right price. At this rate, Sherrill is going to fetch quite a bounty by himself though.

Milehigh78: I don't see the Phils trading Cardenas anytime soon. The Ryan Howard contract situation will loom larger and larger as he approaches free agency after the 2011 season. Right now Howard is reportedly looking for $20 million a year and I just don't see the Phils ponying up that kind money for any player. I think they will hold on to Cardenas until the Howard situation pans out. If Howard walks or is traded, Utley could move to first and open second up for Cardenas.