Lee to Phillies in blockbuster

He's no Roy Halladay, but Cliff Lee is still one heck of a pitcher.

Amid daily rumors of the Toronto Blue Jays and Phillies working on a deal for Halladay, the Phillies decided to change directions today, instead acquiring Lee in a deal that allowed the Phillies to keep their top pitching prospects.

In addition to Lee, the Phillies will also receive outfielder Ben Francisco, which will give them another right-handed bat off the bench. Cleveland will recieve pitchers Carlos Carasco and Jason Knap, catcher Lou Marson, and shortstop Jason Donald.

Halladay has been an obscession amongst Philly fans, however, reports indicated that talks staled over the past few days as Toronto was not coming down from their asking price of top prospects Kyle Drabek and Dominic Brown, as well as current starter JA Happ.

Lee is no slouch.

He won the American Leage Cy Young award last year after going 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA. He is 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA this year.

Lee will greatly strengthen the Phillies rotation and gives them a strong chance to make another run at a World Series. The Phillies will have Lee, 31, under contract through next season.

I still would have preferred a deal for Halladay as he would have been a better short term answer. However, in keeping their top prospects (which they would have had to trade to get Halladay), the Phillies have set themselves up for long terms success while still adding a strong arm.