Phillies pick up 2011 option on Rollins

It has been a busy week for the Phillies and they will end it, most likely, with the not so dramatic news that the club has picked up the 2011 option on the contract of shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

According to Scott Lauber [link], the option for 2011 is worth $8.5 million and the move puts seven of the members of the starting lineup in line to stay with the team through the next two seasons.

This is good news for Phillies fans as the corp of the team will remain in tact for the next two seasons, with only the possible departure of Jayson Werth (free agent after 2010 season) looming. The team is certainly built to win and to win now. This is what we as fans expect from the team, especially after tasting the sweet taste of victory of 2008 and coming within two wins of doing it all over again.

I don't think anyone can argue against keeping Rollins with this team. Rollins is the team captain and the little engine that makes the team go. Having him around for two more years will be fun to watch.

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Twitter poll results - Fans love The Dude

Yesterday on Twitter I asked my followers who their favorite Phillies player from the 1993 squad was. I can not say I was surprised with how it turned out.


Lenny Dykstra, the spark plug of the cast of misfits didn't take a majority of the vote, but he came darn near close to doing so. the center fielder fell shy of winning the NL MVP in 1993 (some guy named Barry Bonds won that honor) but along the fabulous journey that was the 1993 baseball season Dykstra became a household name in Philadelphia and had one of the most memorable post seasons in franchise history.

Thanks for all who voted! Be on the look out for future polls on Twitter as we kill time in the off-season until spring training.

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Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard go to Sixers game

What better way to welcome a new athlete to town by sending them to another sporting event in the city? Well maybe the Sixers aren't a great attraction these days but the buzz has been rekindled by the addition of Allen Iverson lately. And the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James and Shaq were in town.

After signing his new contract and addressing the media Roy Halladay took in a Sixers game from a nice box seat. The Fightins provides the video clip...

But look who else was in attendance as well...

Ryan Howard, sitting next to Lou Williams. Getty Images

...no word on whether the two got a chance to meet and greet each other, although I would imagine that they did at some point.

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Happy Birthday Chase Utley

Born on this day in 1978.

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Phillies acquire Roy Halladay

Roy Halladay shakes hands with Ruben Amaro Jr. AP Photo

Cliff Lee traded to Seattle Mariners

It was the boldest "baseball move" that Ruben Amaro Jr., in his second off-season as the Phillies general manager, could make. Adding a Cy Young caliber pitcher like Roy Halladay and subsequently trading away Cliff Lee in a separate deal to make up for the lost prospects needed to acquire Halladay. However you may feel about the overall impact of the decision making process, the bottom line is that the Phillies have added perhaps the best pitcher in baseball to their roster in Halladay.

Let us get down to the basic details of the series of trades that combine to form the blockbuster off-season deal.

The Phillies acquired Roy Halladay from Toronto in exchange for Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis d'Arnaud. Toronto immediately traded Taylor to Oakland in exchange for Brett Wallace. The Phillies also acquired Phillippe Aumont, J.C. Ramirez and outfielder Tyson Gillies from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Lee.

With Halladay, who Amaro has been in pursuit for since as early as 2008, the Phillies obtain a front line ace for the starting rotation. Halladay should be the favorite to be the team's opening day starter, which would set up Cole Hamels as the number two pitcher, followed by either JA Happ or Joe Blanton. Jamie Moyer will likely start the season as the team's fifth starter. After dominating American League lineups for his entire career Halladay could be considered a favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award.

In order to complete the deal Halladay was signed by the Phillies until 2013 with an option for 2014. Reports indicate that Halladay will receive up to $20 million per season in that time.

• Introducing Phillippe Aumont
• Introducing Tyson Gillies
• Introducing J.C. Ramirez

The three prospects coming from Seattle in the highly debated Lee trade appear to be promising. They may not be as high caliber as Drabek and Taylor, who were shipped to Toronto, but they do help replenish the farm system with prospects who are on track to reach the majors down the line for the Phillies.

Filling the farm system, under the Phillies' recent strategic methods of building the team, was a necessity. Trading Lee to acquire worthwhile prospects was the only way to go about it. Lee's contract is up at the end of the 2010 season and it was very unlikely that the Phillies would have been able to keep him in town. This is why Amaro made a move to bring in Halladay, considered a better pitcher, and worked out an extension in the process for what will likely turn out to be a cheaper deal than Lee will receive on the free agent market.

Many fans in Philadelphia feel that the Phillies should have kept Lee in addition to Halladay but financially that just was not possible. The club has stated time and time again that they can not afford to go too far over $140 million and having Lee and Halladay would not have let that happen. Unable to move Joe Blanton and his contract at winter meetings, and burdened with a Jamie Moyer contract for 2010 that will be impossible to move, the only real option that would satisfy the needs of the team's budget and minor league system was to find a suitor for Lee.

The Seattle Mariners were that team. The Mariners have made some drastic moves to improve their team for the 2010 season and Lee may be the crown jewel of the off-season acquisitions for the AL West squad. The Mariners also signed Chone Figgins away from the rival Anaheim Angels and appear to be ready to make a run at the AL West title this upcoming season.

The deal is finally done. It may take some time for people to move past losing Lee, who was brilliant in the postseason. Lee's dominance of the Rockies, Dodgers and Yankees left a promising lasting image that Phillies fans had expected to see continue in 2010.

It will. Just with a different pitcher.

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Press conference set for 5pm

The Phillies have announced that they will hold a press conference at 5pm Wednesday evening. It is assumed that they will introduce Roy Halladay formally at that time as a member of the Phillies organization.

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BREAKING: Halladay trade on hold

Reports say a minor leaguer failed a physical

Hold on folks, nothing is happening yet. Tweets and reports are coming in that one of the minor leaguers in the heap of trade activity that would ultimately send Cliff Lee to Seattle and Roy Halladay to Philadelphia, thus putting everything on hold.

Scott Lauber follows up on a tweet by Toronto Sun baseball writer Bob Elliot with this offering [link]:

Halladay and Cliff Lee have passed their physicals, so the player in question is one of the minor leaguers. Keep in mind that Michael Taylor, a key component because the Jays intend to deal him to Oakland for Brett Wallace, had some minor elbow issues during the winter-ball season in Mexico. Right now, though, it would be pure speculation to assume Taylor didn’t pass.

Stay tuned for updates.

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