According to a team press release, the Phillies have signed dependable righty Joe Blanton to a three-year extension worth $24 million This is excellent news and it means that the team’s 1-2-3 pitchers are shored up for the next few years. Cole Hamels is signed through 2011 and can not become a free agent until after 2012.
Blanton, who doesn’t turn 30 until after next season, would have likely received more on the open market. Additionally, Cliff Lee would have cost the team much, much more.
Country Joe isn’t flashy, but he gets the job done and I’m thrilled he’ll be wearing red pinstripes for at least the next few years.
The Phillies couldn’t work out a deal at this summer’s trade deadline to get Halladay, although they ended up with the next best thing: Cliff Lee. Now SI’s Jon Heyman reports that the Phillies have agreed to a three-team deal with Toronto and Seattle. The Phillies would get Halladay and Seattle would get Lee. The rest of the moving parts are to be confirmed, but there is a good chance that the Phillies will not lose highly-prized prospects like Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Domonic Brown.
The deal will likely not be completed today.
Ruben Amaro, Jr. knows how to get shit done. While I would have liked to keep Lee as well, his price on the open market and his unwillingness to give any kind of discount would price him too high for Philly – likely around $23 million/year, similar to what C.C. Sabathia and Johan Santana get.
As part of this deal, Halladay would agree to a multi-year extension with the Phils.
This would be the biggest deal in Phillies history.
It’s been a week since the Phillies played their last game, defeating the Dodgers in the NLCS to move onto the World Series. The past week has seen a lot of speculation, trash talk, and a ton of nervous moments leading up to tonight’s game, but with performances like these, worrying might be all for naught.
Being a Philadelphia sports fan means that I will always have a proclivity towards nervousness, even when my team has it in the bag. I need to have that last out or for to clock to be sitting at “0:00″ to feel truly comfortable. It’s just the nature of someone that has seen his teams fail so many times.
Tonight’s game between the Phillies and the Yankees started off as a pitcher’s duel, but by the sixth inning, it looked as though Cliff Lee was the one who would be the victor. The Phillies scored first with an Utley solo shot in the third inning, and during his next about in the sixth, he added another one. In the end, the Phillies won 6-1. Lee is 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA in four postseason starts.
This truly is a team sport, and contributions came from all around – Chooch, Raul, and J-Roll, but this game truly was a masterwork by Cliff Lee. It’s one of the finest postseason pitching performances I have ever seen, backing the Yankees into a corner tomorrow night when facing a past his prime, but still effective Pedro Martinez. If the Phils win Game 2, the Yankees are fucked with the series moving to Philadelphia for games 3, 4, and potentially 5.
I’ll still be nervous. It’s not over until the fourth game is won.
According to a team press release, the Phillies have signed dependable righty Joe Blanton to a three-year extension worth $24 million This is excellent news and it means that the team’s 1-2-3 pitchers are shored up for the next few years. Cole Hamels is signed through 2011 and can not become a free agent until after 2012.
The Phillies couldn’t work out a deal at this summer’s trade deadline to get Halladay, although they ended up with the next best thing: Cliff Lee. Now SI’s Jon Heyman reports that the Phillies have agreed to a three-team deal with Toronto and Seattle. The Phillies would get Halladay and Seattle would get Lee. The rest of the moving parts are to be confirmed, but there is a good chance that the Phillies will not lose highly-prized prospects like Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Domonic Brown.
