Baseball Hot Stove

[BBTV]

Amaro, however, has made it clear that he's operating under tight budget strictures this winter and that the payroll for next season will probably have to be in the $140 million range. While getting Halladay will inevitably stretch that to some extent, it may be impossible to stay close to that guideline while keeping both Lee ($9 million) and Blanton (expected to get about $7 million in arbitration).

Both Lee and Blanton can be free agents at the end of the season, which is one advantage to trading for Halladay assuming an extension can be agreed on. There were reports that Braunecker told the Phillies that Lee was committed to testing the market at the end of the season.

It would suck if they're only involving the Mariners to save Lee's $9M. If Jamie Moyer would just die, they wouldn't have to pay him his $8M, and this wouldn't be an issue. They may also still be paying Adam Eaton... not sure though. Either way, this team generates so much revenue that it's a shame that they couldn't suck it up for one season, and just know that they wouldn't be bringing Lee back in '11.

Are you saying you hope Jamie Moyer dies? I know Philly fans were cold hearted but damn.

Well, he's not going to retire and forfeit his salary, and if he stays injured (he's having groin issues) they still have to pay him, so if it means another parade down broad street, sometimes you have to take one for the team. I mean, I don't want him to suffer long or be in agonizing pain or anything. I just can't think of another way that they could avoid paying him.

[epper]

Holy crap, another wrinkle!

Jays are going to flip Taylor to the A's for 3B Brett Wallace

After all that gushing about Taylor, now we get Wallace? This is craaaaazy. Wallace was the key prospect in the A's trade of Matt Holliday last summer.

Per mlb.com:

Scouting report: A pure hitter from the left side, he has good plate discipline and the ability to hit for average and power. "A good athlete stuck in a bad body" is the perfect phrase for him as he's more athletic defensively than people anticipated. He showed he may be able to stick at third as long as he watches his conditioning.

Upside potential: An All-Star-caliber bat at third base, he'll never win a Gold Glove, but he can stay at the hot corner and his bat will play in the big leagues soon.

[BigEd76]

While all of this was going on, Juan Pierre was traded to the White Sox for 2 PTBNLs...

[Shumway]

I'm not sure that Kelvim's coming back... I guess he's supposed to pitch for some NYY and NYM scouts.

One of the rumors out there is that the Halos might take a look at Ben Sheets or Justin Duchscherer. I'm hoping that's for the 4th or 5th starter. In terms of the #1 though, I could see Weaver stepping up.

I'm not expecting to see Kelvim back either. As much as I would like to see him back, I think the amount of money he'll make is too big of a risk at this point. I've heard rumblings of trading for Brad Penny. Maybe Reckling will come into his own this year, or heck, maybe Palmer will look as good as he did last year. I wish they would've brought back Arredondo, even if he would miss this year entirely. He looked to be a future closer.

[BaltimoreFan]

I still think they should have took the trade the Red Sox offered at the trade deadline last season. I know that would have been within the division, but when your trading a guy like Halladay you've got to get the best deal possible. I'm not a huge fan of any of the prospects the Jays got in this deal. I think they'd be better off with the Sox prospects.

I'm going to retract my previous statement now that more information on the deal is out. Drabek, Wallace, and D'Arnaud is very similar to the Bucholz, Boweden Westmoreland deal offered by the Red Sox at the last trade deadline. I still perfer the Red Sox deal, but the fact that Roy Halladay is going to the NL and has signed an extension makes the Phillies deal preferable.

I'm also now a little confused about the Cliff Lee trade. I thought it made since if the Mariners were sending prospects the Blue Jays way, but that no longer appears to be the case. IMO, Aumont is not going to replace Lee (or even Drabek for that matter). In fact I've heard he's most likely going to be a reliever. I think the Phillies would have been better off with Halladay and Lee in there rotation.

I've also been wondering about Billy Beane lately. He's seemed to have been settling for a lot of subpar prospects IMO. I personally would have rather have Brett Wallace than Michael Taylor. But I guess time will tell if they were the right moves.

[BBTV]

http://www.philly.co...s_physical.html

Report: Player involved in trade fails physical

FYI, Bob Elliott, a respected baseball writer at the Toronto Sun, has tweeted the following: "We're hearing that someone involved in the trade has flunked their physical."

As of 1:07pm, there have been no other reports of this. We are working on checking this out, so stay tuned. As of last night, the team expected to hold a press conference officially introducing Halladay--but, of course, they considered that to be contingent upon all the physicals and reviews of medical records.

[Davey]

http://www.philly.co...s_physical.html

Report: Player involved in trade fails physical

FYI, Bob Elliott, a respected baseball writer at the Toronto Sun, has tweeted the following: "We're hearing that someone involved in the trade has flunked their physical."

As of 1:07pm, there have been no other reports of this. We are working on checking this out, so stay tuned. As of last night, the team expected to hold a press conference officially introducing Halladay--but, of course, they considered that to be contingent upon all the physicals and reviews of medical records.

If true could this mean that the deal would be on hold if not, maybe replacing that player that failed the psychical, pretty much starting all over again.

[BBTV]

It could probably mean anything. With the caliber of prospects involved, I find it difficult to believe that they can just swap another one in there for the injured guy. Hopefully it's on e of Seattle's prospects, so the Phillies don't trade Cliff Lee. I hope they hold on to him, but if they insist on getting rid of him, there's really no rush, since the Angels and Mariners would both take him, and they can let them bid against each other.

[Audiodrama]

For our uniform number gurus, Mike Cameron will be donning #23 and John Lackey #40 for the Red Sox.

[mania]

Rich Harden will also wear #40, which is no surprise.

[BBTV]

Wonder what number Halladay will take, since 32 is retired. I hope he doesn't reverse and go with 23. Maybe he'll take Lee's 34. That'd really be weird.

[randyc]

The most likely candidate that failed the physical would be Michael Taylor since he suffered an elbow injury in the Fall League. Anyways, Phillies conference at 2pm/pacific to introduce Halladay.

[Davey]

The most likely candidate that failed the physical would be Michael Taylor since he suffered an elbow injury in the Fall League. Anyways, Phillies conference at 2pm/pacific to introduce Halladay.

Maybe AA knows what he is doing trading Taylor. If true, then trading him for Wallace is not so bad after all.

But only time will tell right.

Glad this is over with, and happy to see The Doc go to a contender, and happy with the results the Jays got in return.

[BBTV]

presser at 5:00 to introduce Halladay.

[epper]

The Breakdown:

To Toronto:

3B/1B Brett Wallace

RHP Kyle Drabek

C Travis d'Arnaud

To Philadelphia:

RHP Roy Halladay

$6 million

RHP Phillippe Aumont

OF Tyson Gillies

RHP Juan Ramirez

To Seattle:

LHP Cliff Lee

To Oakland:

OF Michael Taylor

[BigEd76]

The issue was with Wallace's shoulder but it's OK.

Halladay will wear #34

[Breakwood]

The most likely candidate that failed the physical would be Michael Taylor since he suffered an elbow injury in the Fall League. Anyways, Phillies conference at 2pm/pacific to introduce Halladay.

Maybe AA knows what he is doing trading Taylor. If true, then trading him for Wallace is not so bad after all.

But only time will tell right.

Glad this is over with, and happy to see The Doc go to a contender, and happy with the results the Jays got in return.

I think the reason they wanted Wallace over Taylor, is that they have a bigger need at 1B/3B than they do in the outfield.

[dfwabel]

Rich Harden will also wear #40, which is no surprise.

Tom Hicks also told MLB who he would like to sell the team to.

Hick's Choice to Buy the Rangers

Richard Justice thinks the Astros will be up for sale soon (if not on the market now).

Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice

[BBTV]

Ruben claims that they traded Lee specifically to replenish the system, but that's just BS. Had they just non-tendered Blanton, or shot Moyer, they'd have the money to pay Lee for this year. I'm happy, but extremely pissed off at the same time. I thought this franchise had finally developed the big-market mentality. I know they can't go as far as the Yankees and Red Sox, but $9M shouldn't be an issue when the potential pay-off is so high.

[Cujo]

Double post