everyones talking about "when Utley and Howard" return, as if its a sure thing they will both stay healthy and produce. im not seeing it. id be shocked if the phillies even get one of the WC spots
Skin Blues wrote:The Phillies would have absolutely no problem trading Lee for good prospects. Teams would be lining up to only have a 3-4 year burden on their hands for Lee versus the amount of years Hamels/Greinke will get at similar annual salary in the offseason (plus they get him for the playoffs this year for a cheap pro-rated $7M+). It's been a year and a half since he signed his contract. The Yankees outbid the Phillies but Lee took less money to go to Philly, so he wasn't even at market value. Since that point, he has a 2.52 ERA in almost 300 IP. Now, the question is if Philly even wants to trade him. With Utley and Howard gone all year and not much sign of hope for the future, Halladay being out 2 months and possibly more, their top prospect becoming a bust, the impending loss of Hamels... things aren't looking good. But still, Halladay/Lee is a deadly combo and all they'd have to do is make the playoffs to have a good shot at winning it all.
The question is, even if you get Lee for the rest of this season as a somewhat reasonable rate, would you pay him $25M each season for the next 3 seasons? Not many teams would do that, IMO. He's not getting any younger and $25M is a ton of money. Even if you're willing to do that, would you give up a top notch prospect or two for it? I know I wouldn't.
You also probably wouldn't spend $240M on a 32 year old Albert Pujols though, right? I'm not saying it's a smart idea to deal away top prospects in addition to paying those high salaries. But $80M for 4 playoff runs with Cliff Lee is very desirable, and I'm sure there are plenty of teams willing to give up a prospect or two for a much better chance at winning a World Series. And that's only if the Phillies make him available. How many guys of his calibre are ever available on only a 3 or 4 year commitment?
[quote="Skin Blues"]You also probably wouldn't spend $240M on a 32 year old Albert Pujols though, right? I'm not saying it's a smart idea to deal away top prospects in addition to paying those high salaries. But $80M for 4 playoff runs with Cliff Lee is very desirable, and I'm sure there are plenty of teams willing to give up a prospect or two for a much better chance at winning a World Series. And that's only if the Phillies make him available. How many guys of his calibre are ever available on only a 3 or 4 year commitment?[/quote]
That's the biggest point and why I posted the question in the first place. Hes locked for 3 at least and yea did take less money to go to the Phils, but how long does he stay happy with the season that he is producing and the results he's recieving? Money in mondern day sports, given the hefty contracts to older players in recent years and even this year, is not the object. Plus as of late prospects haven't seemed as difficult to swap in trades to get production now, especially seeing lower rated prospects blow through the minors and contribute at a rate that no scout could predict.
Some very good points against the idea, but not all are 100% true given recent history.
bayside wrote:everyones talking about "when Utley and Howard" return, as if its a sure thing they will both stay healthy and produce. im not seeing it. id be shocked if the phillies even get one of the WC spots
Pretty much this. Also Cliff Lee is #2 in baseball with a 2.64 SIERA but he doesn't win games so I would drop him. WHIR!
Hal·la·day, n. 1. every fifth day in Philadelphia. 2. a day of rest for the bullpen. 3. innings eater. 4. doc. 5. ace.
By the way, can someone teach me how to make links with just the text i want to describe the link rather than having to copy and paste the whole link...
thatguy27 wrote:By the way, can someone teach me how to make links with just the text i want to describe the link rather than having to copy and paste the whole link...
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by bayside » Thu May 31, 2012 2:08 pm 
