Phightins

Uhm...what?

All I know is the dude had an ERA near 3 in the American League and now he's coming to the [expletive]ty NL East. I will take my chances. Only issue is he has had some problems with righties so if we play the Cardinals or Dodgers in the playoffs there might be a reason to be concerned.

It was blind robbery. The Indians could have gotten way more for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco. Jason Knapp is the only guy who it hurts the Phillies even a little bit to lose, and he is 3-4 years off so who knows what he will turn into (although I think he is the real deal). Carrasco has some talent although not as much as everybody used to think, and he is a headcase. Marson and Donald are nothing special (well Marson will be decent I think, Donald will be a utility infielder IMO). So, decent value and depth for the minor league system, but they could have done way way better. Obviously as a Phillies fan I am not complaining.

I heard a rumor that Minaya is going to be fired in the next day or so.

Well I do think he will come back to earth a LITTLE bit, but you can't really compare him to Bastardo. Bastardo just tried to fire heat right down the middle of the plate...no location or anything. Wasn't hard for guys to figure him out....by his third start he was very predictable. Happ is way more crafty and he can put his fastball literally any place he wants it..plus his offspeed stuff is more developed, unlike Bastardo who threw something like 80% fastballs. Happ already has 33 MLB appearances to his name, and the tape is out there, so I'm not sure if I buy that "when the hitters learn how to face him" thing.

I agree about Francisco. Obviously Lee is the centerpiece of that trade but people shouldn't discount the importance of adding Francisco. John Mayberry Jr. clearly is not MLB ready and is getting exposed. We now have a legit right handed presence off the bench, and with Stairs and Dobbs on the left side this bench just went from mediocre to very good. And fish nailed it. The reason they will likely not trade for Halladay is because that would mean literally gutting the entire farm system in these 2 deals. The beauty of this trade is that everybody we gave up, while they do have talent and upside, were just spare parts in our minor league system. We got to keep the real prospects that we will need in 2-3 years. I don't see them giving that away for Halladay...the rotation is loaded as it is IMO.

Eh, I would not count on that, but that would be pretty amazing...

As I posted in the other thread I think the fact that Marson is in this trade means that Victor Martinez may be on the way out.

Eh. Happ is way overvalued right now. I mean I really like him and he has been great this year but people talk about him like he is a future ace, and he really isn't.

I'm also wondering (from an Indians perspective) if this clears the way for Victor Martinez to be traded. Marson is pretty close to MLB ready, and since they're going nowhere maybe they decide to move V-Mart and get Marson some playing time.

Blind robbery. Awesome awesome job Ruben. I love this more and more the more I think about it. Also love that he was able to get Francisco out of it too. Our bench just went from [expletive]tastic on the right side to pretty freaking good with just one addition. Killed two birds with one stone and gave up absolutely nothing. Knapp is the only guy that hurts even a little bit to lose, and he's still 2-3 years off from MLB ready so who knows how he will pan out. This is seriously awesome omg. Way to go Ruben...way to not cave in to Ricciardi for Halladay.

Done deal. Phillies get Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson. I love it. Killed two birds with one stone.

And it looks like the Lee thing might be about to happen. Donald and Marson were also scratched from the Lehigh Valley lineup today.

Pirates and Mariners just completed a 7 player trade. Mariners get Jack Wilson and Ian Snell and Pirates get Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin, and Nathan Adcock. For once the Pirates didn't do too awful. Kinda surprising to see the Mariners in buy mode.

The rumored deal is Cliff Lee and perhaps another player for Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, and Jason Donald. This would IMO be a big steal if the Phillies can pull this off, especially if they can also haul in a right handed bat for the bench or a lefty for the bullpen as well. Knapp looks like he will be a monster but he is still 2 or 3 years off from the big leagues so who knows what happens between now and then. Carrasco still has the potential but he is a head case and Donald has all the makings of a utility infielder. I have always liked Marson but he projects as just an average run of the mill offensive catcher with nothing too spectacular about his defense either. I'd honestly probably rather the Phillies make this trade than send Drabek and Brown for Halladay. I may be the only Phillies fan who thinks this.

Ouch...Wang surgery <_< . Sorry somebody had to say it.

Sorry to break the news to you, but if I am "pathetic" for pointing out what the rest of the non-homer-Mets-fan-society already knows, then you are a blindly biased individual. Minaya knows how to make the sexy, big money moves, but when it comes to depth and filling out the roster he is clueless. That is what is separating them from being a contender. I know the injury bug has bitten them bad recently, but this extends beyond this one season. So, the GM is not the genius prodigy everybody thought he was coming from Montreal, the team has choked two straight seasons and is double digit games out of first in the division right now, a high ranking team official just lost his job for doing something stupid and the GM just lost a whole lot of credibility. I'd say things are not going so well in Met-ville right now.

Content seems to be the same but there's a new skin, new fonts, and new designs and I think it looks pretty cool. Player bios are better now too.

Freddy Sanchez was scratched from the Pirates lineup tonight, so one is to assume that he is probably on the move. Stay tuned I guess. Jack Wilson will probably be next.

Looks like the Lee to Boston report was actually a hoax. But I stand by my last statement: Go get Halladay Ruben!

Unfortunately there was a great deal of pain involved in this, so that is the bright side of all this...no more pain. It was amazing to me that he showed up at OTA's a few weeks ago in his little go-cart thing. Just shows how much he loved the game, to show up and help out despite being in that immense back pain.

Looks like Cliff Lee is going to the Red Sox for Michael Bowden and Josh Reddick. Go get Halladay Ruben...

Omar Minaya clearly just wanted to start [expletive], either that or he is just really dumb. It's possible that Adam Rubin wanted a job in the Mets front office, but in his current occupation as the Mets beat writer, it is his duty to inform the public of all issues relating to the team, and breaking stories like this one is what gains you credibility in the media world. The dude was just doing his job. And apparently all he had ever asked Minaya was how to go about getting a job in a MLB front office. Omar went way overboard.

http://csnphilly.com/pages/landing_09?Breaking-News-Eagles-coach-Jim-Johnson-p=1&blockID=66170&feedID=706 Here is a link. Story is coming.

No link yet...just heard it on CSN. RIP...Kind of in shock right now although I think we all saw this coming.