Does Ruben Amaro Still Have An Ace Up His Sleeve For Philadelphia?

Puneet Singh

Now that Phillies have completed the deal for Cliff Lee they should be done doing any tinkering at this deadline and be mentally prepping themselves for the fight in October.

It was announced this afternoon that those "Fightin' Phils" had acquired Cliff Lee and OF Ben Francisco from the Cleveland Indians for minor league pitching prospects Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, catcher Lou Marson and SS Jason Donald, pending Lee passes his physical.

When it's all said and done, the Phils will have added themselves a true ace to that rotation, taking pressure of that pitching staff and putting themselves on the top of the list for favorites for the World Series title.

I hope everyone was following the Phillies trading scenarios involving pitchers though. VERY CAREFULLY none the less. Notice this: the Cliff Lee trade doesn't happen to include any of their young starting pitching gems in J.A. Happ and Kyle Drabek or their stud outfielders Michael Taylor or Dominic Brown.

The afforementioned four prospects were all supposed to be used in the Roy Hallday trade, which Philly eventually backed out of, citing that the demand was too high. Now that Cliff Lee is acquired there's no possible way they'd trade for Halladay, would they?

Well well well, look at what Ruben did. He managed to keep one deal alive, and create another. GM's take note. This is called smart managing and business.

Is there a chance for Halladay to move to the city of Brotherly Love, where the Fresh Prince once grew up? Take a look at this.

A rotation with Halladay:

Halladay-Lee-Hamels-Blanton-Pedro

A rotation WITHOUT Halladay:

Lee-Hamels-Blanton-Pedro-Moyer

A rotation with Halladay instantly makes the Phillies the WS favorites by a long shot. Is there still a need for Halladay to join that team? Maybe. Would it be great if they could get him? Abso-friggin-lutely.

Any time you have the opportunity to land a Cy Young caliber pitcher you do it. Anytime you have the opportunity to land TWO Cy Young caliber pitchers in the same season, you thank God and tell him you owe him one.

If Toronto are willing to accept a deal based around Happ, Drabek and Taylor; do it in a heartbeat. They're called prospects for a reason; they may never reach the potential or ever scratch the surface of it. Roy Halladay is considered a workhorse and a stud for a reason; he's an absolute beast and quite possibly the best pitcher in the game right now.

Face it; J.P Riccardi is in a pressure situation to sell, he's come this far and now there is no turning back. If Philly comes at him with the offer he was demanding for Halladay and he declines, he will look like a fool to not only the rest of BlueJay's management, but all other MLB teams, offices and the fans or Toronto as well.

My advice: get this deal done at all costs. Both Lee and Halladay are under contract until the end of NEXT year. That gives Philly plenty of time to work out a negotiation to keep them both there for a VERY long time.

End of the day the deciding factor is this: Are Happ and Drabek really THAT good and does Amaro have the balls to shake up baseball and give everyone a wake up call?

Time will tell. By 4:00 pm on Friday July 31st, everyone will know the Phillies and Amaro's intention. Lee makes getting through the postseason a little easier; getting Halladay will make lifting the World Series trophy a LOT easier.