This 3 (or 4)-team mega deal isn’t 100% finalized yet but is close enough that I think we can dissect it properly.

The Deal:

Seattle Mariners acquire: Cliff Lee (signed for 2010 for $9 million)

Philadelphia Phillies acquire: Roy Halladay (signed for 2010 for $15.75 million) and $6 million from the Toronto Blue Jays, and LHP Phillippe Aumont (AA), CF Tyson Gillies (A+), RHP Juan Ramirez (A+) from the Seattle Mariners

Toronto Blue Jays acquire: RHP Kyle Drabek (AA), C Travis D’Arnaud (A-) From Philadelphia, and 1B/3B Brett Wallace (AAA) from the Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics acquire: OF Michael Taylor (AAA)

*Note the Athletics-Toronto portion doesn’t have anything to do with the overall Halladay-Lee trade

From the Blue Jays perspective they did well in receiving three top prospects for Roy Halladay. Halladay is one of the top five pitchers in the game, but he was going to leave as a free agent after this season, which would only bring back a pair of high draft picks in the 2011 draft. I think the Blue Jays were smart adding $6 million in cash to make this deal work, Toronto will still save almost $10 million and they increased the level of prospects they received.

While all three prospects are legit players with unlimited potential, Drabek and Taylor are the real prizes here. Drabek, son of the former big leaguer Doug Drabek, is a top of the rotation prospect that should move up to AAA this season. If he keeps dominating like he did last season and works on his changeup he could be ready to fill Roy Halladay’s place in the rotation by mid-season. Taylor is even more likely to help in the majors this season as he is ready to step into either corner outfield spot. Taylor doesn’t do any one thing exceptionally well, but does offer major league tools across the board. D’Arauad is a longer way away, but does have the talent to become a quality major league starting catcher.

Now it appears that Toronto is flipping Taylor to the Athletics for 1B/3B prospect Brett Wallace. Wallace offers more power and natural hitting ability than Taylor, but doesn’t have the speed or defensive ablity that Taylor brings to the table. This component of the deal I’m not as crazy about from a Blue Jay’s point of view. Wallace is almost as major league ready as Taylor, but the Blue Jays have Lyle Overbay and Edwin Encarnacion at 1B and 3B respectively. While we are at it lets put to bed the Brett Wallace at 3B idea, he’s an awful defender there and not worth the headaches. He should be viewed as a 1B/DH type (potentially could play a little LF but think Adam Dunn). And unless the Jays have a plan to move Overbay Wallace is their DH, meaning Lind and Snider are manning the corner outfield spots. Offensively that has the chance to be great…defensively it could be disastrous. I think I would have rather had Taylor giving you you a defensive boost (while still giving you some offensive value) over Wallace and the home runs. Overall though the Blue Jays end up with three top prospects for Halladay and that is what’s important at the end of the day.

The A’s did pretty good in this side trade. Wallace is a top notch hitting prospect but the A’s already have Jake Fox in the majors, and Chris Carter, Daric Barton and Sean Dolittle in the wings as well. First base was a log jam for the A’s so moving Wallace to get a quality OF prospect is well worth it. Taylor’s defense should be very noticeable in the spacious Oakland Coliseum. His defensive ability and speed will be a solid boost to a young and promising Athletics team.

The Mariners for their part did well in this deal. You can’t argue at adding Cliff Lee to your staff. Lee has been among the elite pitchers in the league for the last two seasons. He had a spotty track record before that, but all in all is a top notch pitcher. When it comes to top notch pitchers who have been traded or signed recently Lee is a slight notch below Santana and Sabathia, about even with Halladay (for one year Halladay though Lee is a few years younger). He is probably slightly above Bedard and Haren, and above Burnett and Lackey as well. In Lee the Mariners get another front of the rotation starter to go next to Felix Hernandez. That is a 1-2 punch that is very capable of winning the A.L. West and doing some serious damage come playoff time. Seattle does take a risk in giving up three highly rated prospects for Lee, because he will likely leave via free agency next season. But the risk is worth it if Seattle is challenging for the playoffs come September. As for the prospects Aumont and Ramirez are nice arms, but nothing to really worry about losing. Gillies is the one player who could really come back to haunt them. He seems to be a great CF prospect, albeit 2-3 years away. The real thing I wonder about this deal from Seattle’s perspective is, why not just increase your offer and trade for Halladay and sign him to an extension like the Phillies are doing? Money is an issue sure, but the Mariners have been among the top payroll teams over the last 7-8 years (easily in the same range as the Phillies), and have even more payroll flexibility than Philadelphia. I would have paid the higher prospect price for the assurance of locking up an ace for 4-5 years. Regardless, the Mariners are going for it out West this season, and should look to acquire a few more bats to give them the edge over the Angels.

It took 5 months but the Phillies finally got their man. Roy Halladay was their target all throughout July, before they “settled” on Cliff Lee for their playoff run. On paper it looks like the Phils made out like bandits in this deal. They got Halladay for 2010 at Cliff Lee prices ( after the $6 million from Toronto), and three young prospects to replace the three they sent for Halladay. In reality though I don’t know if the Phillies gained any ground in this deal. Halladay is an elite pitcher and has been better than Lee, but he’s also a little older and will likely cost more (slightly) per season than what Lee will get in his next deal. Overall I don’t mind the prospects they gave up to Toronto for Halladay, they were going to have to pay a premium price for a pitcher of Halladay’s status. What I do mind is the return they got for Lee. Aumont and Ramirez are both quality arms, but also both profile as relievers, and combined aren’t as valuable as Drabek. Drabek is also within one year away from the majors, while Aumont and Ramirez both are a little further off. Gillies could end up being the best player Philadelphia received, but even his best case scenario he is equal to Taylor as a prospect, and is two or three years behind him in terms of being major league ready.

I think the Phillies really blew it here with this deal. If they weren’t going to be able to lock up Lee long term, then I don’t have a problem with trading for Halladay, but why does that mean you need to trade Lee? Why not have Lee, Halladay, and Hamels in the same rotation together? It can’t be money because for this up coming season Lee is only costing $9 million, not bad for your third starter. The Phillies could have easily traded Joe Blanton and his $8 million dollar salary for prospects, and be able to afford Lee and Halladay in the same rotation. While it is true any potential Blanton trade wouldn’t return you near as much in prospects as Lee did, but the value of Lee over Blanton for one season would be worth it.

Winner(s): No team really lost here though I think there is a definite pecking order. I like what the Blue Jays did here, acquiring three upside players, two of which are nearly ML ready (though I still wonder about the Wallace-Taylor swap), next I like what the Athletics did coming late to the party. Wallace was redundant in Oakland where as Taylor fills a need. After Oakland I like Seattle taking a chance on Lee and going for the ring this season. They gave up nice prospects, but no one they can live without. The Phillies got their man, but I really think they outsmarted themselves here, keeping Lee probably would have been the way to go, or getting back at least one player who could help them this season. Instead they got three prospects who will need some work in the minors before they make their way up to Philadelphia.

While the Phillies failed to win two out of three home games, they are in prime position to win their second game on the road tonight in New York. The Yankees are once again throwing their starter, Andy Pettitte on short rest, the third game in a row that they’ve done so. Now Sabathia is a tank and can handle the extra workload, but A.J. Burnett didn’t look like his dominate self in Game 5. If Pettitte pitches closer to Burnett than Sabathia on the spectrum, then the Yankees will need a Game 7 if they hope to get their 27th World Series Title.

I understand that the Yankees pitching options are limited, especially since Joba Chamberlain hasn’t been pitching well of late, but the Yankees are taking a big gamble here. Pettitte is 37 years old and has already thrown 220 innings between the regular and postseason, and starting him on three days rest just doesn’t seem like a good idea. Especially with the struggles the Yankees are facing in their bullpen, where everyone not named Robertson or Rivera has had some struggles this postseason (Marte hasn’t allowed a run yet, but I don’t trust him in a crucial situation). On short rest the Yankees will be lucky if they can get between 5-6 quality innings out of Pettitte. If the Yankees need their bullpen for four or more innings I don’t see them winning this game.

The Phillies are countering Pettitte with their own crafty veteran, Pedro Martinez. Martinez pitched a masterful game in New York in Game 2, giving up 3 runs, but really shut down the Yankees bats overall. He began to struggle as his pitch count went up, but should give the Phillies a pretty strong 5-6 innings tonight. Martinez also showed that he can handle the New York stage, which many people thought would be too much for him.

The real key for the Phillies will be their bats, they came in to this World Series as a good matchup against the Yankees, because they had the hitters that would balance out the Yankees big boppers. So far this series only Chase Utley and Jason Werth have come to play. Unless Philadelphia gets some production tonight from a few of their other hitters, they might not make it to Game 7 no matter how off Pettitte is. Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino are both hitting under .200 for the series with nine total bases between them. They will need to step up in these final games if the Phillies have any shot of repeating as Champs. Because right now there is not a reason on the planet for the Yankees to throw Utley anything even close to the center of the plate. It will be up to Victorino and Howard to take advantage of that. Victorino needs to get on base before Utley, forcing the Yankees to pitch to Utley. And if the Yankees try to pitch around him, Howard has to make them pay in a big way.

We all knew it was coming, but could do nothing to avoid it from happening, when Brad Lidge came in against the Yankees in the 9th inning with the game on the line. There was no way this was going to end well for the Phillies. Lidge who was perfect in save opportunities last season, and brilliant on their way to the World Series, has been a disaster for the Phillies bullpen this year. What’s more disheartening for the Phillies, is last night’s game was pretty much was the end of their repeat chances.

Philadelphia had the Yankees right where they wanted them. They went into the 9th inning tied 4-4 due to a pair of late home runs (Utley in the 7th, Feliz in the 8th), and all they needed was 3 outs and and they wouldn’t face face Teixera, ARod, or closer Mariano Rivera. With the score tied the Yankees were prepared to go with Phil Coke to handle the 9th, meaning the Phillies could walk-off in the 9th without having to face the best pitcher in the game. All the Phillies had to do was get three outs and keep the score tied. Initially it looked as though Lidge would get the job done, he got Matsui to pop out and struck out Jeter. All Lidge had to do was get one more out, and he would have done his job. Lidge had so far been untouched this postseason, giving up just one hit and no runs in four innings. But that changed when Johnny Damon fought him off to get a single. Damon then stole second, but the shift was on and 3B Pedro Feliz covered second base and no one was on third. With a bad throw to second, Feliz was out of position and Damon was easily able to beat him to third base. After that you knew that Lidge wouldn’t be able to get out of the inning unscathed. When one thing goes wrong for Lidge, five things are bound to go wrong for him. What happened with Damon was in his head. And with the lead run 90 feet away, Lidge didn’t throw his nasty slider, and it left him a one pitch pitcher. A hit batter and a pair of hits later the Yankees were up 7-4, and bringing in their stopper Mariano Rivera to close out their third win of the Series.

A lot of credit should go to Damon, first in fighting off Lidge during a nine pitch at bat, to just get on base. Then the heads up base running taking two bases on the steal was huge. Mentally and strategically Damon’s steal set up the Yankees win and really ended the Phillies title hopes. Had Lidge gotten them out of that inning, and their offense had scored in the bottom of the 9th, the Phillies would have had a real shot to win this series. They would have been tied 2-2 going into tonight, with Cliff Lee on the mound. The way Lee has been pitching, and being at home, the Phillies would have likely headed back to New York up 3-2, which would have given them a fair shot to win the Series. Now down 3-1, the Phillies will have to hope they can even make it back to New York.

Now I think the Yankees can and will win the World Series, but boy did the Phillies put New York on notice last night. Cliff Lee was just dominate, in complete control against the best lineup in baseball. The Yankees managed just one extra base hit and one unearned run in 9 innings against Lee. Lee has been in the zone this entire postseason, but last night’s start was brilliant for many reasons. He out dueled his former Indians teammate, CC Sabathia, who has always been considered the better pitcher. Lee didn’t allow a single walk, and had 10 strikeouts, setting the tone of the game in the very first at bat, striking out Derek Jeter. And the biggest reason Lee’s start was brilliant last night was the attitude he brought to the mound.

Lee was not affected by the history, prestige, or hoopla surrounding the Yankees going for their 27th title, nor was he affected by the 50,000+ screaming New York fans. Instead Lee simply went out there and pitched Game 1 of the World Series like it was any other ball game. And no matter what the pundits or bloggers said, Lee knew that he was the better pitcher last night. Lee made some interesting defensive plays that just showed how much he was in the zone; catching balls behind his back, catching balls without getting under them. It was incredible to see how much Cliff Lee was cool and collected in his first ever World Series game. Lee’s attitude seemed to carry over to the rest of the Phillies as they were able to get Sabathia in some trouble early. While Sabathia got out of the early jam, it showed that he was fallible, and Chase Utley took advantage hitting two big home runs last night off the Yankees starter.  After Sabathia was pulled the Phillies took advantage of the Yankee’s bullpen and took a 6-0 lead that was too much for New York to overcome.

With the Game 1 win, the Phillies took away the Yankees home field advantage and now can wrap up the series at home in either Game 4 or 5. The pressure is now on the Yankees to win Game 2 tonight against Pedro Martinez to even the series before it heads back to Philadelphia. This is a big blow for New York as the Phillies neutralized their best pitcher, Sabathia. Now the pressure is on Burnett tonight and Pettitte on Saturday to right the ship and help the Yankees win number 27. Tonight’s game should be a good matchup for the Phillies since Burnett can be susceptible to the long ball, but I think the Yankees professionalism will come through in the end tonight and get them their much needed first win. Either way the Phillies showed that they will not be walked over in this series and that they are more than capable of beating the vaunted Yankees.

Well at least the Phillies gave us some drama in an otherwise boring first round of the playoffs. For the first time since 2001 neither wild card team advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs. And while all four series had at least one game that was decided in the final innings, the Phillies-Rockies series had three games that went down to the wire. Giving baseball fans something fun to watch, and Philadelphia fans something to give them an ulcer.

The good news for for the Philly faithful, is that their troubled bullpen held firm in the close games down the stretch. Giving up a total of two runs in the 7th-9th innings. And their much beleagured closer Brad Lidge, who was awful during the season, had a very good series, collecting saves in games three and four.

Now if a starter not named Cliff Lee (how brillant is that deadline deal looking now for the Phils) can throw a quality start for Philadelphia, the Dodgers could be in some trouble in the NLCS. Lee has been brillant in the Phillies first and last win against the Rockies. The Phillies lineup is tough, they have a solid bench, and now their bullpen is showing why they won the World Series last season. Now Cole Hamels, AJ Happ, and Pedro Martinez need to step up and follow Lee’s lead. Its unfair to lump Martinez in here since he didn’t pitch in this series, but he’ll be counted on against his original team (bet the Dodgers wish they could have that trade back). Whatever happens it should be an entertaining series to watch, and more exciting than some of the first round snoozers.

Three-fourths of of the two Championship series are already set, and the fourth could be determined today if the Phillies can knock off the Rockies. The World Champion Phillies have the distinction (if they make it to the second round) of being the only team not to sweep their divisional series, as both LA teams and the Yankees advanced quickly to the next round. I don’t think you can chalk it up to a major talent disparity, as the Dodgers, Angels and Yankees were not that much better than their opponents. I think that may be why the Yanks swept, but not the other two series. I think what we saw in these matchups was the importance of momentum. Its something that we always hear about in sports, but one of the hardest things to quantify. But three playoff sweeps are the perfect example for how momentum can kill you.

Now to be fair, the better team, and the team with home field advantage came out ahead in every series. With the exception of the Yankees-Twins matchup, no one really thought these games would would go by so quickly. The Dodgers were the better team, but the Cards had some mega talent on their roster. It was a series that could go either way, and would likely go the full five games. It lasted just three games, because in game two with the Cardinals in perfect position to even up the series 1-1 before heading back to St. Louis, OF Matt Holliday made a critical error that allowed the Dodgers to come back to win the game. The Cards had no chance in Game 3 at home, after literally watching the series slip through their (Holliday’s) hands.

The Red Sox vs. Angels series was another one where the Angels had the advantages on paper, but the Red Sox were favored given their vaunted lineup, vast playoff experience, and the Fenway Faithful giving the Sox a huge advantage in games three and four. Well the Angels shut down the the Sox lineup in the first two games, holding them to just eight hits, including only two extra base hits (neither of which was a home run). Up 2-0 in the series the Angels took away another advantage the Red Sox had by ensuring the series had to come back to Anaheim if Boston hoped to win it. If the Red Sox went back to Boston tied 1-1, their home field advantage for games three and four could have given them the momentum to win the series. Instead being down 2-0 left them in a hole they couldn’t dig themselves out of. The Red Sox did hit a little better (seven hits, two extra base hits, including a home run) scoring six runs, compared to the single run they managed in the first two games. That extra offense wasn’t enough as the bullpen got touched up for five runs in the final two innings. In watching the game you just see that despite being down by three runs entering the 8th inning, the Angels showed no sign of panic. They knew they could win that game and finish the series right there in Boston.

Now the least surprising sweep was by far the Yankees over the Twins. Minnesota was coming off a 12 inning game to just get into the playoffs, and were a team without their second best hitter and their best pitcher. They had just about no chance to knock off the Yankees and all their top baseball talent. And even though it was one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in game (especially with the ump down the line) the Joe Mauer foul call in Game 2 did not change the outcome of the series (though probably changed the outcome of the game). Even if the Twins win that game, they would have been overmatched and unable to win two of the last three games. I maybe could have seen them winning one more at home, but even that was a stretch. The biggest thing with that call was that it visibly took the wind out of the Twins sails, in that game (bases loaded no outs and you can’t get a run) and yesterday at home (4-1 loss).

In all three matchups we saw the importance of grabbing that important 2-0 series lead, before you head out on the road. Hopefully from a baseball fan’s perspective, the Championship round and the World Series are a bit more exciting than the first round has been (Sorry Rockies fans I don’t see them overcoming the Phillies). Baseball could use some good drama in October, especially since all we have left are the big market teams.

It took 24 combined hits, 14 different pitchers and 12 innings, (not to mention 163 games) but the Minnesota Twins are the 2010 AL Central Division champs. Early on the Tigers took a 3-0 lead, but the Twins battled back to go up 4-3 in the 7th before the Tigers tied it to force extra innings. Minnesota had to outlast a number of Tigers opportunities in the late innings, including scoring the tying run in the 10th to keep the game alive. Now the Twins “won” the right to face the Yankees in the first round in a series that starts tonight.

Yankees vs. Twins:

New York is a huge favorite in the five game series, and that was even before the Twins used some of the best bullpen arms last night. This very well could be a sweep, but I think the Twins will steal one of the games from New York when they return home to Minnesota. The Yankees just have too much pitching and hitting for the Twins. And if the game is ever close in the 8th or 9th inning the Yankees have Mariano Rivera, the best closer ever to play the game. The Twins right now are without their second best offensive weapon (Morneau) and have a makeshift pitching rotation. They just can’t match up with the Yankees to really give them a threat.

Rockies vs. Phillies

No team has been hotter down the stretch this year than the Colorado Rockies, going 74-42 after replacing Clint Hurdle with Jim Tracy early in the season. They almost stole the NL West from the Dodgers, and overcame seven other teams fighting for the Wild Card spot down the stretch. Their impressive run though is about to come to an end, as the are prepared to meet the world champs in the first round. The Philadelphia Phillies have a great offense with five players with 20 or more home runs on the year. The Phillies have the deepest starting pitching they’ve had since they went to the World Series in 1993, with a pair of aces at the top in Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. Lee and Hamels should be the difference in the series, between the two of them they should be able to win three games. The Phillies only weakness is their bullpen, I don’t know if they can rely on them to hold 1-3 run leads night in and night out. The good news for Philly is they can use their extra starting depth to pitch meaningful innings out of the bullpen. The Rockies are a good team, but are already without one of their top pitchers for the series. They have a good lineup 1-8, but don’t have the star power outside Tulowitzki at SS. As long as the Phillies don’t need to rely on their bullpen too much, they should have no problems advancing to the next round. I think Philadelphia wins this series 3-1, although with the way the Rockies have been playing and I wouldn’t be shocked to see them force a game 5.

Dodgers vs. Cardinals:

The Cardinals seem to be a favorite NL World Series pick among baseball people out there, but I don’t think they will make it past LA in the first round. I understand that the Cards have Pujols and Matt Holliday, two of the best hitters in the game, and they have a pair of Cy Young contenders in Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. Unfortunately, I don’t think they have enough talent elsewhere to win this series. The Dodgers are stacked 1-25 on their roster, they have the deepest, bench, lineup, bullpen and rotation in the National League this year. Combine that with the home field advantage aspect, and I think the Dodgers are the favorites in this series. The big difference is going to be the bullpens in this matchup. The Dodgers might have the best bullpen in the game right now, where as the Cardinals bullpen scares me even more than the Phillies bullpen. They have been pitching over their heads this year, and I don’t know if they will be able to shut the door on the Dodgers offense like they were able to do against the likes of the Pirates and Reds during the season. In the end I think the Dodgers bench and bullpen win the day (and series) for LA 3-2.

World Champs Clinch the East:  The Philadelphia Phillies clinched the N.L. East for the third year in a row last night with the Braves losing to the Marlins 5-4 (not to mention the Phils trouncing the Astros 10-3). The win takes some pressure off the Phillies and allows them to rest up some as they wait to see who their opponent will be in the first round (likely the Rockies). While it wasn’t his best outing last night, how much did the signing of Pedro Martinez pay off for Philadelphia? He’s 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA in nine starts. Not only have his numbers been impressive, but the team is 8-1 in his starts, helping the Phils be where they are right now. If their bullpen can come together and start pitching big this October, Philadelphia could be in line for a repeat.

Indians Fire Wedge, Sort of:  The Indians announced at a press conference yesterday that Manager Eric Wedge and his staff were fired, but would finish out the season. This is one of the few times where an employee (or in this case employee’s) get two weeks notice from their employer. Was it really necessary to have a press conference to announce, what pretty much everyone in baseball already knew? No one thought that Wedge was going to be retained after the year he had. The Indians came into this year with legitimate playoff and World Series hopes, and are ending it with a bottom five finish. I don’t understand why you couldn’t just wait a week to have the press conference the day after the season is over. That seems to send a bit of a mix message to the players. At least the Indians didn’t pull an “Astros” and try to hire an “interim” manager for a handful of games. At this point you need to let Wedge manage out the rest of the season. Anything else would have been cheap and petty. Though the Indians P.R. department could probably use some lessons in decorum.

Tigers and Rockies pull away:  The Tigers and Rockies each picked up a game yesterday in their respective playoff races. The Rockies win over the Brewers yesterday, coupled with the Braves loss (Atlanta shot themselves in the foot all around yesterday) left the Rockies magic number at 1. Any Colorado win or Atlanta loss will clinch a playoff berth for the Rockies. Colorado still has an outside shot of winning the N.L. West and actually control their own destiny. They finish up with a three game series against the Dodgers, if they sweep the ‘boys in blue’, the Rockies will win the West. The Tigers did double damage yesterday with their win over the Twins, giving themselves a three game lead over Minnesota. With Detroit’s magic number now at 2, the Tigers can clinch the division today with another win over the Twins. If not things get a bit dicey as the Twins finish up with the Royals, while the Tigers have three remaining games against the White Sox. I’d look for Detroit to close it out at home today.