Yesterday, I asked if the Phillies should let Cliff Lee and his hefty contract to go to the Dodgers after they were awarded claiming rights on him and nearly 68% of MLBTR readers voted yes. In today's column, Buster Olney of ESPN.com talks with a high-ranking rival official who calls the decision a "no-brainer". Even though Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has until 12pm CDT to move Lee, he maintains that the left-hander is staying put. Here's more from around baseball..
- The Dodgers' interest in Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez didn't advance very far as they weren't interested in giving up notable prospects or impact major leaguers, tweets Peter Gammons of MLB.com.
- Twins assistant GM Rob Antony doesn't anticipate the club making a waiver deal in August, writes Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune. The Twins were active this time last year as they traded Delmon Young to Detroit and Jim Thome to Cleveland.
- If Chris Parmelee is capable of posting a reasonable .270/.340/.430 slash line next year, Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter) suggests that the Twins should consider moving Justin Morneau for a starter.
I am glad there was no interest in moving Gonzalez. he will make a power end comeback next year, somebody with his ability has to and it’s not like he isn’t hitting. His XBH are there and he’s hitting over .300, plus playing tremendous defense.. the HR power will return.
12 PM CDT … It’s 1:20 EST now, or 12:20 PM CDT … Meaning deadline to deal Lee has passed. That doesn’t sound right, considering this story was published at 12:15 CST, or after apparent deadline.
It’s my understanding they have until August 31 to work out a deal .
I’m fairly certain teams have 72 hours to consumate a trade after claim.
With multiple sources saying this afternoon is deadline to trade Lee to Dodgers, that means LAD had to have claimed him Thursday afternoon.
It’s 48 hours
It’s 48 hour to put in a claim. But multiple sources I looked at said 72 hours to work out a deal.
It is 48 hours after the claim has been placed…..
…”If a team claims a player off waivers and has a viable claim as
described above, his current team (the “waiving team”) may choose one of the following options….
arrange a trade with the claiming team for that player within two business days of the claim….”
Okay, I did find that blurb now. But if they’re going by business days, wouldn’t that give them until Tuesday?
I don’t like the uncertainty around the dates, but that’s probably due to the fact waiver wire activity isn’t supposed to be public.
“they weren’t interested in giving up notable prospects or impact major leaguers” how many times have we read this in the past 3 weeks?
It’s really the new Dodgers ownership playing PR with their fan base to let them know they are doing their due diligence on high profile names. But in the end instead of Cliff Lee they just end with Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton.
They also made this minor move to acquire Hanley Ramirez…
and Hanley Ramirez…yes lets laugh at the Dodgers for trying to fill their needs
No one is laughing at anyone.
As for the Hanely trade that was low risk high reward. They can’t assume that teams just want their money and not any prospects. So far we have two examples of that Cliff Lee and now Adrian Gonzalez.
But you berate them for getting Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton? Both are instant upgrades over Bobby Abreu and Stephen Fife. Sure, the Dodgers could have gotten Cliff Lee and Adrian Gonzalez for the farm, but I’d rather have kept it intact and not paid Lee his enormous salary. There’s a reason why every major sports media outlet named them winners of the trade deadline. Watch Blanton’s start today, going from a hitter’s park to an extreme pitcher’s park, there’s a reason why dodger fans are pretty excited.
The parks have nothing to do with Blanton. Look at his splits they’re identical in every way.
I agree with everything but Dodger Stadium being an “extreme” pitcher’s park. At one time it was, but not so much anymore. Now it favors pitchers but only nominally.
Maybe, but going from Citizens to Dodger Stadium will be good for him, imo
I’m talking about the amount of HRs he gives up(which is a big deal to alot of Blanton naysayers). He had 14 at home and 8 on the road. I think it makes a pretty big difference pitching at Dodger Stadium vs. Citizens Bank Park for the majority of the time
Lee is an example of nothing but the peculiarities of the waiver claim system. Where’s the evidence that the GMs even talked about what the Phillies would want for for Lee? As for Gonzales, the BoSox would undoubtably want half of everyone who was any good the Dodgers’ farm system for him.
And Choate and League. The Dodgers acquired three pitchers and two position players. Did any team do more to improve their chances down the stretch?
If Lee were a free agent in the off season, would it be wise for the Phillies to sign him to a 3 year 87.5MM / 4 year 102.5MM contract?
No, it wouldn’t. So let the Dodgers sign that contract. Here’s your Get-out-jail-free card, take it.
I’m not sure why this is such a no-brainer for the Phillies. Why would they NOT consider letting him go? That salary relief, with the large contracts they currently have on the books, would be huge. They still have Halladay and Hamels in the front of the rotation.
I agree with you – this is their shot to really take a deep breath for the future.
I see it that way too but the Phillies minor league system has been decimated from past seasons although the Tommy Joseph deal was a step in the right direction for them.
Cliff Lee has to get some sort of return so that their minor league system is in good shape moving forward. I seriously think they’ll shop him over the winter to see what they can get.
This is true – That might be the only reason the keep Lee. But I think signing stop gaps for a couple years at 6-10 million would give them some financial flexibility to sign an OF in the future (Bourn?)
The Phillies need to both get younger and add some talent to it’s roster. I understand the desire to keep the MLB club competitive and drawing fans, but there are better ways to spend 87.5 million the next three years than on a 34-36 year old Cliff Lee. Here’s the Phillies chance to make some wiser investments.
I think you’ll see Lee in a different uniform next season. Amaro is just trying to build the farm back up and he will probably get some decent prospects in the off season. But I agree that it would have be wise to let him go and just let the Dodger take his salary.
How much is he willing to pay of Lee’s salary to get decent prospects though? What will throwing in 10 million get you? 20MM? 30MM? Is that really worth it for prospects?
I won’t pretend to know the specifics, but at any level, it doesn’t seem cost effect. I think the 100 million would be better spent on improving the currently MLB roster through free agency.
I guess he would want to try and fill the holes with promising young players, that don’t cost too much, are contrallable, and are around 20-25. I guess that’s what Amaro wants to do, but like I said I agree with you that Amaro should have dumped him on the Dodgers.
Lee isn’t a FA after the year. He has I think 3 more years after this…abomination.
Of course he isn’t. But if he were, would you sign him to 3 years 87.5 million?
The Phillies have already signed Lee to those silly numbers. And with with all of the other aging contracts they have on the books, this is the perfect opportunity to pick up some financial flexibility. If the Dodgers want pay the man, let em.
Very well put.
I can’t believe Phillies even are thinking about this one. This is their “Vernon Wells” moment, and they need to seize it.
Twins not expected to make a waiver trade this year…update 61 mnutes later they made a trade wow interesting
Dodgers out looking for Gonzo as a “freebie”? Now, that is naive. The Sox coughed up 3 top prospects for Gonzo. The Sox should get at least as much in return, especially if it means he, Adrian, returns to the west coast where there are many more fans of Mexican-American heritage. Zack Lee, and two other top 20 prospects at the very least…. Pick 5 and let Cherington select 2. Come on, lets make a deal!