Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that we can add the Phillies to the list of teams interested in trading for Cliff Lee. Only a few months after sending Lee to the Mariners, the Phillies would like to reacquire the left-hander, according to Rosenthal's sources.
A source tells Rosenthal that the Phillies consider themselves long-shots in the Lee sweepstakes, given what the M's will ask for in return. Philadelphia would likely have to part with Domonic Brown to reacquire Lee, something they'd be reluctant to do with Jayson Werth facing free agency and no other blue chip, major-league-ready prospects in their farm system. Nonetheless, the Phillies would like to upgrade their rotation, and are focusing on impact starters rather than back-of-the-rotation types.
In addition to having interest in Lee, the Phillies are also expected to "move quickly" to acquire infield help, according to Rosenthal, who says the team is targeting Miguel Tejada and Ty Wigginton. Rosenthal himself speculated yesterday that Tejada and Wigginton could be possibilities for the Phils, in the wake of injuries to Chase Utley and Placido Polanco, while MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith also mentioned the pair of Orioles when he examined the Phillies' options.
Funny. Theyre long shots to acquire Lee… the pitcher that they could of had the last 3 months for just his modest salary. It took Amaro 10 years to get control of this team, and it may take him only 3 years to dismantle it.
still if I am the Phillies I explore doing exactly what it seems like theyre trying to do… trade Werth and flip the prospects they got in that deal for Lee. It is a long shot, but if the Phillies could do that, then even with their offensive woes, youre talking about having to go up against Halladay, Hamels, Lee, and Moyer.
Trading for Lee will deplete their alreade depleted prospects… isn’t that why they traded him in the first place… now they will have to give up better prospects to get him. Backwards thinking.
not if they can manage to get something for Werth. I believe that they are trying to trade Werth, and with the prospects they get for Werth, trade to Seattle for Lee. Definitely improbable, but not necessarily impossible.
yeah but then you lose Werth’s right handed bat… that’s a big hole. Counterproductive in that park.
you can replace it with Francisco, granted he is not the caliber of Werth, but he is a good player who can provide the necessary power to at least fill in.
That would make Rueben look really dumb wouldn’t it ? Well that’s exactly what he is IMO fot trading Lee in the first place. Even with the MASH unit for a lineup having Lee, Doc, Hamels and Moyer on the mound would enable them to tread water until the myriad of crippling injured players return. I say if you have give to Brown to get Cliff, give him, sell the whole danm farm if you have to but get Lee back–the team and the season is in a crisis. for chrissakes Ruebe do something NOW
Haha, I totally agree Frank… It’s almost like Ruben became so fascinated with Roy Halladay, that he forgot to add bench depth and to sure up the bullpen. The extensions to Howard and Ruiz and others have also hurt their plans for the future (As well as makes you question their explanation of not extending Lee). That’s a lot of guaranteed money… As a Braves fan I’m interested as to what they do, it’s funny how injuries to key players really expose a teams flaws. (meaning bench and bullpen)
Werth to the Red Sox for prospects.
Prospects from the Red Sox and such to Arizona for Haren and Kelly Johnson
They get a starter, 2B, and Dominic Brown in the OF
yeah, but are the Red Sox really going to give up the prospects that it would take to get Haren?
Yeah, no.
I would hope the Red Sox wouldn’t be interested in Werth…we have Daniel Nava!! and honestly I like JD Drew better than Werth
The phillies are becomig a joke.
The Phillies are becoming the Cubs.
The Royals and Pirates both fit, too.
Except that the Phillies won 3 straight division titles, 2 pennants, and a World Series in the past 3 years. Are they underachieving? Yes. But a joke?
The problem with the Phillies is they can’t score runs because while they have a lot of talented hitters, most of them have no sense of how to play situational baseball. Jimmy Rollins and his popups on the third pitch are back in the lineup. Ryan Howard will swing at low breaking balls when pitchers are trying to pitch around him. Shane Victorino has a lot of natural ability but I’m still not sure that guy actually knows how to play baseball. And even though I’m still convinced the Phillies won’t trade Jayson Werth, if he continues to hit nothing but air that might not be a bad idea. This is an entire team of streaky hitters who can score 12 runs/game for a full week and then get shut out for a month straight.
Or maybe its because they dont have a coach with binoculars in the pen anymore?? noo…nvm they just suck
Yea, because Mick Bellemeyer can look in from the bullpen, see the sign, walk over to the phone, call Shane Victorino, tell him what pitch is coming, and then Victorino can relay it out to the hitter all within the 3 or 4 seconds between when the sign is given and the pitch comes in.
And please don’t act like every team in the Major Leagues doesn’t steal signs. If you can’t steal signs, why are they signs? Here’s an idea, let’s just have the catcher yell out what pitch he wants. The batter can just pretend he didn’t hear it.
you must have missed the “noo…nvm” part but good analysis there buddy.
Im positive the Phils WILL trade Werth. Its the only option they have if they want to salvage this season. They arent going to resign him, and they could use the prospects in a deal that could acquire them Cliff Lee. I still think its a long shot that the Phils get Lee, but they certainly have incentive to do it, because if they dont, the mets might. And whether its a pitcher or a hitter, this team needs a shot in the arm, they need a pick me up, and a big acquisition can do that.
But starting pitching isn’t the problem… we get 3 or 4 quality starts every time through the rotation even with the pitchers we have. And yet night after night we lose these awful 2-0 or 3-2 games… I’m sure Lee would pitch wonderfully for the Phillies just like he did last year, but he’s just going to end up losing all of his complete games like Doc is if no one can hit the ball. As angry as I am at Werth for looking absolutely pathetic at the plate over the last few games, when he gets hot he can smash the ball. He and Howard had better step it up, and if they don’t we need a bat.
I agree. Moyer, Halladay, Hamels, have all been so good. Blanton is starting to come around too. They dont NEED another pitcher, I just think Amaro is panicking and feels the need to make a big deal to bolster the team spirits.
These guys are all going to get hot, they do play their best ball after the All Star break, its just never been this bad. My beef with Howard is not that he cant hit the lefty breaking ball, its that he needs to understand in certain situations, they are trying to pitch around him. He has improved this year, and it shows in his average. He has beaten the shift multiple times.
Injuries are no excuse. Are they better with Utley and Polly? Astronomically better. But when it comes down to it, they still have Rollins, Victorino, Werth, Howard, and Ruiz will be back soon. Along with the starting pitching that theyve gotten lately, if that isnt enough to keep this team in contention until Utley returns… then this team has bigger problems than injuries.
Ruben Amaro should be fired, and Pat Gillick must be persuaded out of retirement / his part time gig.
Amaro never should of gotten the job. That job was Mike Arbuckles, he DESERVED it. All Amaro is is a glorified accountant.
It’s a real shame to see things falling apart for Philly, it really is. They get a couple of injuries and they go to pieces. Every other team deals with an injury here or there, but not the Phillies. Miracle of all miracles happen, they go the entire season without a major injury, and still only get into the playoffs because the Mets choked down the stretch, win the WS, then proclaim how great they are! Later on, reality sets in. The injuries strike and they can’t figure out why they aren’t playing so well.
Sux to be Philly fan. Always has, always will. Now go boo Santa Claus, go get tasered on the field, and go vomit on someone already. Oh wait, you already did all that. What next?
Enough knocking the Philadelphia fans. Im not saying that because I am a Philadelphia fan, but its just getting so tired. Letting a few bad apples give an entire city a bad name.
I would quit bagging on Philly fan if I didn’t find so many of them that were so overbearing. They are almost as bad as Skanks and Sux fans these days. Ok, not quite, but they are well on their way. It seems they need to be put in their place.
Although, I would say that YOU seem to have a head on your shoulders and your thoughts seem to have some rationality and coherency to them that I’m not used to seeing from Philly fan, so I’m just gonna chalk you up as the exception to that rule.
The Phillies could use Lee yes, but I’m more worried about this offense. I say get Wiggington for third base while Polanco covers for utley until he returns and if you can find a good bullpen arm get one.