Phillies fans stop crying for Lee!

Stop the crying! Seriously! You just got the best pitcher in baseball. Enjoy it. Remember, nothing is guaranteed. Don't listen to the sports talk people that say that the Lee/Mariners deal was a bad deal. No matter what they say you have to do your own research. Three things:


First: The Halladay deal was set on getting something back for him. In the Halladay deal we got 6$ million dollars from Toronto and gave away Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d'Arnaud. The most important part was the 3 year extension for $60 million. So for the 2010 season we have the best pitcher in baseball at a discount.
Second: We gave away Cliff Lee for Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and Juan Ramirez (all minor leaguers).
Third: Most importantly the Philadelphia Phillies organization has made a lot of money, but if you believe what President David Montgomery said then you have to applaud this deal because they are looking at the bigger picture.

Don't think that the Phillies are cheap. According to the interview the Phillies are in the red and been for awhile! So if that is true, they have to look at ways to control their payroll and everyone is baseball knows the best way to do that is to have a good farm system. That being said, let’s talk about why this deal makes sense.
The Phillies have become an elite team in baseball and players want to come here. Quality players, not just your average Joe looking for a paycheck. I think that the Roy Halladay deal has the potential to set a precedent that will allow the Phillies to negotiate with players like Jason Werth, Ryan Howard, and Shane Victorino in the near future. Halladay took less than market value ball all accounts (see C.C. Sabathia, John Lackey, and Johan Santana) because he wanted to play for a team that is dedicated to winning. Ruben Amaro's job is to keep us winning for the long haul. Spending all the money in the world on players will not make you a World Series Champion, it helps your chances but I believe what is most important is the heart of a team and the trust that management puts in these players.
Here in Philadelphia, we love one thing and ask for it every time an athlete takes the field, heart. We want them to play 110% win or lose. We want them to sign with us not for the money but for the feeling they get when they hear 15,000 fans cheering for them and booing them when they do not live up to their talent. We also want the organization to do everything they can to keep us on the winning side. We don't want to be average because we know that we are not. Now factor in all these reasons and you begin to understand why this is such a good deal.
How can Howard, Werth, Victorino, and others ask for Yankee/Red Sox type money when they know that the best pitcher in baseball took a discount to play here? How can they not work with the Phillies management knowing that they don't print money for a living? If they truly are playing the game because they love the game, then I believe this deal will make it a lot easier to sign them in order to keep winning for years down the road. Remember players do not only make money by signing huge contracts. Players sign endorsement deals too. How much easier will it be for them if they are playing for a winning team World Series Championship team? Amaro know that he is going to have to pay these guys close to what market value projects for them. But now know the players know that the Phillies are going to ask for a home town discount because of what we have here.
Remember, Ruben Amaro said that he would have kept Cliff Lee. So don't give up on getting Lee yet. All we have to do is keep being Philadelphia fans and selling out the ball park and truly believe that come 2010 offseason, we will be one of the teams Cliff Lee wants to sign with because of the atmosphere of winning that this organization has created. If he, like Halladay, truly wants to win then he will give Philadelphia a discount and come play for the best team, best franchise, and best city in all of baseball.

Also, let’s start a Cliff Lee fund this year. At every home game 950ESPN the Fanatic has suggested we collect money to help the Phillies sign Cliff Lee this offseason. I’m all for it. Imagine how much we could get if every fan gives 1-2 dollars at the game. This will show Cliff Lee that we do care about him and we want him back and put even more pressure on the Phillies and his agent to sign here.

All Phillies fans should want to be like the Yankee's!

Yes, they are the evil empire. Yes, we all hate the fact that they can buy any player in baseball during free agency but don't we want to do that? Look there is no way that the Phillies will be able to spend like the Yankees unless they can buy Comcast. Yankee money is billionaire money. Yankee money lets you make mistakes on players and not care the next season when you cut them. The Phillies do not have that kind of money but what they do have (like Yankees of old) is a good farm system. Quality farm prospects are jewels in baseball. And jewels can buy you players.

In baseball teams draft “prospects” every year and if you have an eye for talent then you can consistently replenish your system each year. I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Phillies scouting crew has done wonders for the last 10 years. They used the draft to build a team that would lead them to two World Series berths and one crown. That being said, people need to stop worrying about Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor/Dominic Brown.

The Phillies’ organization has put themselves in a very unique place. They have the opportunity to start gambling like the Yankees do, but not with money with prospects. Now the late 90s and early 2000s the world saw a Yankee team that was home grown and supplemented with great players. There is no reason in my mind that the Phillies cannot duplicate what the Yankees did. The Phillies have their entire core players signed through 2011 basically and just need to add a few pieces to make this the era of Philly dominance in baseball.

Now there are a lot of things that have to go right in order for this to happen (everyone says healthy, Brad Lidge/Cole Hamels bounce back, etc) but all aside, the Phillies need to make the deal for Roy Halladay happen. Why? Let’s call it a “safety halve.” You sign Halladay and you play for a World Series for three years straight then comes free agency for him and Cliff Lee. Now, all you have to do is sign one of them and bring up your new big name prospect and add him to the rotation for 2011, and trust me there will be. There is no reason why fans should not expect new good prospects for the next 5 years. Seriously, what has given you the impression that there won’t be another Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Carlos Carrasco, Kyle Kendrick, John Mayberry Jr., Antonio Bastardo, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, etc.. Every year we hear about these great prospects that the Phillies have and every year they draft/sign even more. And yes I know that Rollins, Howard, Hamels, and Utley are All-Stars yada yada yada….

Phillies fans, all I am saying is that I trust our farm system to replenish and that a trade for Drabek and Taylor/Brown for Halladay sounds and we should all expect them to do it. There will always be diamonds in the rough and Roy Halladay in the NL East with Lee and Hamels against the freaking Mets sounds great.