Trades?

The latest reports are showing that Cliff Lee is going to be sent to the Yankees. That sucks for everyone, but before anyone complains about us getting rid of Cliff Lee, we need to remember that we got Roy Halladay. Halladay has been fantastic for us. Who knows if he is better than what Lee would have been, but we do know that he has been great.

So why does this trade matter to the Phils? Well, the Yankees will have an extra starting pitcher if they get Cliff Lee. An extra starting pitcher in the form of the struggling Javier Vazquez. Although he has not been very good this season, he pitched extremely well in the NL East last season for the Braves. Although I think we need more help hitting right now than we do pitching, the rumors are that we will trade Jayson Werth for Vazquez. Who knows how much truth there is to that rumor, but it's out there.

I think if we do this, we will undoubtedly need to get a right-handed bat somewhere. I don't know if that would occur in that trade, but it has to happen somehow. Losing Jayson Werth gets rid of our only powerful right-handed hitter. I think the top prospect within our system to replace Werth would be Domonic Brown right now, but he is left-handed. And for whatever reason, he is still only playing in AA Reading. Obviously people get called up from AA all the time, but it seems odd that they haven't made the jump to AAA with him yet.

I don't know what kind of right-handed bats/outfielders are available this year to be traded. I have a feeling somebody like Carlos Lee of the Astros would be available. They're bad, he's old, but he still has some production left in him (in theory). Although he wouldn't be my first choice by any stretch of the imagination, that's just what I came up with in a quick glance around the league.

Of course, we could always call someone up from AAA Pittsburgh. I'm thinking Andrew McCutchen would be a nice addition.