blackcat15
thinks
Few teams are willing to spend in MLB. e.g. Phillies. Your stadium is taxpayer-funded & you can't squeeze an extra $9MM on Cliff Lee? C'mon.
that trade was less about dumping salary and more about keeping a strong farm system
The 3 guys Philies got in the trade are not what you expected to receive when you have a player as good as Cliff Lee.
Aumont only have 100 innings, Gilles still haven't reach AA, and Remirez basically is as raw as a prospect can be.
If Phillies really want to restock, the 2 draft picks they got when Lee is signed elsewhere will not be much different than those 3 guys.
aumont has closer-upside
gilles will play in the bigs some day
and ramirez could be a starter
for one year of cliff lee
not a bad trade. and the two draft picks come only if they offer him arbitration
right now seattle look like winners in the trade but I don't think it's that bad
If Lee really wants a CC type of contract, he will almost certainly reject arb.
of course trade is always a trade-off between present and future, but Philies had a chance to improve aprox. 6 wins by retaining Lee
that kind of opportunity doesn't occur very often