Phightins

Some good news... Blair Betts should be back in the lineup tomorrow night, and Darroll Powe and Simon Gagne should be back on Saturday.

I will be one of the five people in attendance.

http://prospectinsider.com/view/philly%27s-new-prospects/ Here is some more info about the guys we are getting for Lee.

Also, apparently JC Ramirez is very very good despite the poor numbers in pro-ball. The league he pitched in last year, the "Cal League", is apparently a very offense friendly league and every park is little league-ish. League-average ERA is 5.5. Makes me feel a bit better about him haha. I was talking to a Mariners fan who thinks he is better than Aumont. We will see. I hope these guys get put on one of the minor league teams around here (maybe Lakewood for Ramirez, Reading for Aumont) so I can get a first hand look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms8rMqKxoXQ&feature=player_embedded Haha, why even waste the time trying to get an interview? No kidding he's not going to be able to talk.

I forgot to congratulate the Boston Bruins on joining the New York Islanders as the only teams to lose to this group of no good "goons" in the past month. But that was a joke. I like how Fedotenko takes a run at Carcillo and only gets a 2 minute minor. If that's the other way around and it's Carcillo boarding Fedotenko, it's a game misconduct and a suspension. This league is a joke.

Also I wonder how much more Penguin [expletive] Darren Eliot could possibly slurp.

I swear they must have magnets on their sticks or something. Seriously EVERY rebound around the net is going right to one of their sticks. I actually don't think the Flyers are playing that bad, they are just getting none of the bounces.

I wonder how many lucky bounces one team can get in a game.

Kyle Drabek had Tommy John surgery a couple years ago as well. Also, Michael Taylor had absolutely no future here and does not have nearly as high a ceiling as Dom Brown (I still have no idea why the Jays didn't demand Brown be part of the trade). And Travis D'Arnaud? I am sure the Phillies were thrilled when the Jays asked that he be the final piece of the deal. The Jays have loved him for a while now, for some reason. He is middle of the road at best. The package we got back (Aumont, Gillies, and Ramirez) is almost as good as what we gave up (Drabek, Taylor, and D'Arnaud). Whatever difference there may be was certainly made up for with the fact that we now have Halladay for at least 4 years, while it would have just been 1 and done for Lee. As for why they didn't do this in July. In July, Roy Halladay did not want to sign an extension right away. He had the approach Cliff Lee has right now, he wanted to get to free agency. He had a change of heart at some point between then and now. Essentially, Doc completely drove the bus with this trade. Also, I think Phillies fans will love this even more come next year when Lee gets his new contract. The Halladay contract will look like a bargain.

Simple: They do not have a $160 million budget. Apparently they tried to deal Joe Blanton first, but they could not find somebody willing to take his entire salary and give enough back to make it worth it. They figured they were going to lose Lee anyway so they wanted to pick up another premier pitcher so that they do not miss a step in the next 3-4 years (which most would agree is the "window" for this current group to win). So since they were going to lose Lee anyway and they wanted Halladay, they decided to recoup the prospects they lost to trade for Doc.

It isn't really stupid for Seattle. Worst case is they don't sign him long term/trade him at the deadline, and they lose him to free agency and get two very high compensation picks in the 2011 draft for him. It's the money-ball philosophy.

Probably Drabek but it's close. They both have a history of injuries too. Drabek had Tommy John and Aumont has also had elbow problems I think. Who knows who will have a better MLB career. As a whole, the group the Phillies are sending to Toronto is probably better than the group we are getting from Seattle, but I don't think it's that big of a difference.

Not sure how close Aumont is. He was just drafted two years ago and has never pitched as a starter above high-A so I'd imagine he is still a year or 2 off at best. But it depends if they leave him in the bullpen or not (he has pitched as a closer in AA). It usually takes relief pitchers a shorter time to get through the minors than it takes starters. And Brown is not in the trade.

The Flyers claimed Michael Leighton off waivers from Carolina (welcome back!). So much for John Grahame I guess.

Phillippe Aumont is awesome. I have heard him called a "right-handed Randy Johnson". Real big guy with a power arm. Seattle had moved him to the bullpen but I have a feeling he will become a starter again here. I don't know a whole lot about Tyson Gillies but I have heard he is a hard-nosed, blue collar type guy. Was never that big of a prospect through high school, but has turned himself into one. Not much power but he hit .341 with a .430 OBP and 44 stolen bases in high-A this past year. The third guy we are getting from Seattle is Juan Ramirez and I would be lying if I said I knew anything about him. He is a young right handed pitcher, looks like he has struggled a bit in pro-ball so far. Apparently he is also a hard-thrower. I will read more about him in the coming days. As for what we are giving up, it obviously hurts to lose Kyle Drabek, but it hurts a lot less now that we are getting Aumont too. IMO, it has been inevitable that Taylor was going to be traded for a while now. They like Dom Brown a lot, and most feel he has a higher ceiling than Taylor. Taylor is MLB ready now, and obviously is blocked in all 3 outfield spots here, so this is a good thing for him since he is going to get a chance to play. I actually read that Toronto plans to trade him to Oakland for Brett Wallace, so I guess Taylor will get that chance to play in Oakland. The other prospect we're giving up, Travis D'Arnaud, everybody was super-high on him at the beginning of this year when Carlos Ruiz was a question mark. Now that Ruiz has proven to be a legit MLB starting catcher who is still relatively young, we don't really need to have a great catching prospect. So, it seems like the Phillies are giving up a ton, but when you break it down it's not as much as it seems at first. It's basically swapping 1 year of Cliff Lee for 4 (or more) years of Roy Halladay, all while keeping the farm system relatively in tact.

As of now it doesn't look like it but I have no idea, things can change by the time this goes official. I have heard SO many different possibilities today, I sort of gave up trying to figure out what's real.

We won't know for sure for a while. Latest report has the Phillies getting Roy Halladay, Phillippe Aumont, and Tyson Gillies (two of Seattle's better prospects), the Mariners getting Cliff Lee, and the Blue Jays getting Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis D'Arnaud (all from the Phillies).

Latest word is that Aumont is still in the deal but is going....to the Phillies? WTF. I wish they'd just announce this already. This has the potential to be the trade of the century.

I am not going to say I feel sorry for you, since the Flyers have been going through that for the past month. It is about time we catch a damn break. Also, I listened to the game on the radio so I have no comment about that play.

The Flyers beat a very good team on the road, the Sixers win by 16 points, and the Phillies are on the verge of trading for the pitcher of the decade. What is the world coming to?

That is all I can think of that makes sense. Giving Lee and Drabek in the same deal seems very fishy.

Clearly nobody knows what is happening, and it is just a bunch of reporters throwing out random bull[expletive] that they are hearing from "sources". We will not know what is actually happening until the trade is officially announced, so I give up!

Also... Per MLBTR... And the confusion continues!

Apparently Kyle Drabek is in the deal. The two prospects the Phillies are supposedly getting from Seattle better be special.