Halladay to Phillies

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4742072"]Report: Roy Halladay dealt to Philadelphia Phillies in 3-team swap - ESPN[/ame]

All-Star pitcher Roy Halladay, who has been a regular subject of trade talk since before last July's deadline, is headed to the Philadelphia Phillies, SI.com reported on Monday.

Trading Aces

It looks like the Phillies might be dealing one ace for another. It could still be an upgrade for Philadelphia, though, as Roy Halladay fared slightly better than Cliff Lee last season.


Meanwhile, the Phillies are expected to trade Cliff Lee to Seattle as part of a three-team trade, but it's not confirmed whom the Mariners would receive in return from either Toronto or Philadelphia, SI.com reported.

Halladay is in Philadelphia talking to the Phillies about an extension, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports. Halladay has told friends he'd take less than market money to sign with the Phillies -- something in the neighborhood of five years and $100 million.

Halladay was entering the final year of his Toronto contract.

Lee has told the Phillies he would like to stay but wants market.

The Phillies tried to acquire Halladay last season but couldn't agree to terms with the Toronto Blue Jays. They then dealt for Lee instead.

Halladay, 32, is 148-76 lifetime with a 3.43 ERA. He won the 2003 Cy Young Award and finished in the top five in the Cy Young voting four other times.

Halladay went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA in 32 starts for Toronto last season. He threw 239 innings and led the league with nine complete games.

Lee, who was acquired from the Indians on July 29 for four minor leaguers, quickly became Philadelphia's ace. Lee posted a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts for the Phillies and then went 4-0 with a 1.56 mark in five postseason outings, including 2-0 in the World Series.

Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young winner with Cleveland, will make $8 million in 2010 and then be eligible for free agency.

I'm withholding judgment until the numbers on the extension are released. At first take, I'm not sure Halladay's overall value is worth that much more than Lee when factoring in the extra dollars Halladay will take. At the same time, Halladay is 32, what I would consider right in his prime. In the post steroid era of baseball, guys will start to falter off at 35 like they should.

Seattle could be very dangerous now, they didn't have a bad team last year and the addition of Lee could allow them to compete with the Angels. Again it's early but I think Seattle won in this and could contend especially with Lackey going to Boston.

King Felix and Lee make a pretty dynamic duo, they might overtake Anaheim

I'd rather have Lee over Halladay.

Lee wanted his extention to match what he would get as a free agent, while Halladay is willing to sign his extention for less than market value.

Look at some of these rotations now;

Boston:
Beckett, Lester, Lackey
Philly:
Halladay, Hamels, Pedro
Seattle:
Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee

and the Yanks keep getting better, with Granderson, the rich get richer.

Baseball needs a salary cap