Philadelphia gets Cliff Lee from Cleveland. Wow!

[Auggie]

The Phillies and Indians have agreed to a deal, pending physicals, that will send Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to Philadelphia for Minor Leaguers Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson.

LINK: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090729&content_id=6127048&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

On edit (more):

An announcement could be made later Wednesday.

The Phillies have been searching for starting pitching help for months, and they just landed the reigning American League Cy Young winner. Lee is 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA this season. He went 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA last season.

The Phillies also land Francisco, who fills a much needed void for a potent right-handed bat off the bench. Francisco is hitting .250 with 10 home runs and 33 RBIs this season.

The Indians get four of the Phillies' top prospects. But in what certainly made the deal attractive to the Phillies, they did not have to part with any of the three players the Blue Jays had been seeking for Roy Halladay: left-hander J.A. Happ, right-hander Kyle Drabek and outfielder Dominic Brown.

LINK: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090729&content_id=6127048&vkey=news_cle&fext=.jsp&c_id=cle

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Lee is 3-0 since the All Star Break. His overall record does not reflect how well he has pitched for a team with a lousy bullpen.

[PVnRT]

1. I expect Cleveland is going to do a 1980's-style fire sale (n/t)

[Auggie]

3. Last one was 2002/2003

Standard operating procedure at Cleveland -- trade the stars for prospects because you can't afford to retain them.

[MrSlayer]

2. As good as Lee is, this is a disappointment.

We really wanted Halladay here. Only 18% of minor leaguers make the show, holding on to Drabek as if he were Nolan Ryan was kind of ridiculous. Ah well, we'll see how it goes.

[inthebrain]

5. Not to mention that he's already had Tommy John surgery

[MrSlayer]

7. That's really not of consequence anymore.

Tommy John surgery today isn't the Tommy John surgery of Tommy John's day. Loads of major league pitchers have had it and a lot of them come back from it throwing harder than before. Hell, some baseball people advocate getting it before it's even needed.

[DaveinMD]

9. comparing

a top prospect to the percentage of all minor leaguers is silly.

[HughBeaumont]

4. FA NUTHIN!

Classic Pauper Dolan and Panhandler Shapiro move; send a Cy Young winner, in back-to-back seasons no less . . . FA NUTHIN! These weren't even the best prospects Philly had to offer. FA NUTHIN!

Philly knows what they're doing, unlike our stupid baseball "management". This is why they win the World Series. We get there with the best pitching and bullpen in the league and can't even beat a five-year old organization with lousy pitching and inconsistent offense. Classic.

Sell the team, you boobs. You haven't the cash, guts or smarts for the big leagues. "Little Ball" success is a shot in the dark. You're in MLB, not the NBA or the NFL.

[Auggie]

6. Been thinking about this for the past few weeks...

I've lived in the S.F. Bay area for 30 years but kept believing in Cleveland, just as I believed in them growing up in Northern Ohio. I suffered through terrible seasons in the late 60's and 70's. I saw star after star leave but I kept believing. I kept believing after the '95 and '97 series, and I kept believing even after the Red Sox debacle in 2007.

But this -- first C.C. and now Lee -- is the last straw. It's not worth the frustration. I can't care anymore.

[Capt. America]

8. The Indians are on year 7 of a 4 year rebuilding plan. Soon, we will be the Pirates.