Cliff Lee, former Indians Cy Young winner, has been a man on the move since the team shipped him to the Phillies last July. He's been traded two more times since then. So what team made the best deal for the left-hander?
Now playing for his fourth organization in less than a full season, Cliff Lee has prompted a small industry of moving vans for minor leaguers involved in his transactions.ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Be they roses or thorns, Cliff Lee is the gift that keeps on giving.
Cleveland sent him to Philadelphia and the World Series last year. The Phillies traded him to a reworked Seattle team favored to win the AL West in December. On Friday, last-place Seattle sent him to AL-West leading Texas. The left-hander gets around.
So who made out the best in trading the 2008 Cy Young winner? First the particulars:
On July 29, the Indians sent Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco to the Phillies for right-hander Carlos Carrasco, catcher Lou Marson, infielder Jason Donald and right-hander Jason Knapp.
On Dec. 16, the Phillies sent Lee to Seattle for right-hander J.C. Ramirez, left-hander Phillippe Aumont and outfielder Tyson Gillies. The same day they officially signed Roy Halladay and couldn't afford to keep both pitchers.
On Friday, after almost shipping Lee to the Yankees, Seattle traded him, injured right-hander Mark Lowe and a reported $2.25 million to Texas for first baseman Justin Smoak, right-hander Blake Beavan, right-hander Josh Lueke and second baseman Matt Lawson.
Out of all the players that have been traded for Lee, Smoak, according to at least two talent evaluators, is the best. Smoak didn't look like much last week when the Indians played the Rangers, but they drafted him with the 11th overall pick in 2008.
Joey Votto benefited by an unusual marketing plan to get out the Internet vote to complete the All-Star Game rosters.HOT CORNER
Red state: The Reds and Red Sox joined forces last week to get Joey Votto and Kevin Youkilis voted onto the 34th and final spots on Tuesday’s All-Star game rosters via an Internet vote by fans. They urged their fans to cross league lines and vote for both first basemen.
Votto was the runaway National League winner, but Youkilis was edged by Nick Swisher of the Yankees in the American League in the closest vote ever in Internet balloting.
The Rangers and Washington tried a similar strategy to get third basemen Michael Young and Ryan Zimmerman selected, but they fell short. The same with the White Sox and Rockies for Paul Konerko and Carlos Gonzalez.
Who gets the call? Tampa Bay’s David Price has a chance to start the All-Star Game for the American League. AL manager Joe Girardi called Price an “extremely strong candidate” to start the game. Price leads the league with 12 victories.
Other candidates are the Yankees’ Phil Hughes and Andy Pettitte, Texas’ Cliff Lee and Boston’s Jon Lester. Fausto Carmona made the AL rotation to represent the Indians, but he has no chance to start. Starters CC Sabathia of the Yankees and Oakland's Trevor Cahill made the team as well, but they’re pitching Sunday and are ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game under new rules.
NL manager Charlie Manuel is going to have an interesting call in picking his starter. Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez enters the break with a 15-1 record, including a no-hitter. Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay threw a perfect game and Florida’s Josh Johnson, who has nine wins and leads the NL with a 1.71 ERA.
Head games: The Indians aren’t the only team being cautious with head injuries. Twins first baseman Justin Morneau missed Thursday’s game after suffering a “mild concussion” after getting kneed in the head by Toronto’s John McDonald while sliding into second base.
“It knocked him a little loopy,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters.
THE RANT
At least Armando Galarraga got a new red Corvette out of the hosing he took from Jim Joyce. Maybe he can drive it to Toledo, where he’ll spend the better part of July after the Tigers demoted him following his start against Baltimore on Tuesday.
If Joyce had made Indians shortstop Jason Donald the 27th and final out of Galarraga’s near-perfect game June 2, as he should have, would the Tigers have sent him back to Class AAA last week? It would be hard to demote a perfect-game pitcher a little more than a month after he made history.
Make history and you carve your own space. Get robbed of it and you’re just another arm on the conveyor belt between Toledo and Detroit.
The Tigers went 5-1 in Galarraga’s six starts since that fateful day in June. He didn’t pitch well, and with Detroit wrestling with the Twins and White Sox for first place in the AL Central, it was decided to promote Robbie Weinhardt for the bullpen and let lefty Andy Oliver from Vermilion take Galarraga’s start Sunday against a Twins lineup dominated by left-handed hitters.
Galarraga is scheduled to make one start in Toledo before rejoining the Tigers to start July 20. Here’s hoping the schedule holds true because things can change quickly for a team in contention. Galarraga is a good man, who handled a bad situation well. But you have to wonder if the farther away he gets from it, the more he realizes how much was taken from him.
STAT-O-MATIC
Second thoughts? Last weekend, Arizona interim manager Kirk Gibson watched his defense make a club-record six errors in one game and his hitters strike out 16 times in another.
Fast forward: John Danks pitched the White Sox to a two-hit, 1-0 victory over the Angels on Thursday in 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Finish the job: Halladay’s pitch count in his seven complete games before the All-Star break: 93, 119, 115, 132, 118, 113, 111.
-- Paul Hoynes
He's a switch-hitter with power from both sides and sound defensively. Seattle said they wouldn't have made the deal without Smoak, who will be their regular first baseman. He's hitting .209 (49-for-235) with 10 doubles, eight homers and 34 RBI.
The Rangers, originally, wouldn't include Smoak in the Lee trade. They had a change of heart Friday. They have not been in the postseason since 1999.
Beavan, Lueke and Lawson will report to Class AA for the Mariners. Beavan was the Rangers' No.1 pick in 2007, but he's gone from throwing 97 mph in high school to between 88 and 89 mph in the pros. Lueke and Lawson are fringe prospects.
Give the Mariners the top spot in the Lee trades, but remember they rest at the peak of a slippery slope by the nature of deadline deals for rental players. Lee is a free agent at the end of the season and has Yankees written all over him.
The problem with the trade the Indians made for Lee is that it didn't include a player like Smoak. Perhaps Knapp, 19, will be that player, but he needed right-shoulder surgery soon after the trade and isn't scheduled to pitch in games until August. A healthy Knapp and Carrasco's arm strength may have been enough to offset Smoak's offensive talent, but that can't be determined at this date.
Scouts say Carrasco needs toughness to go along with his stuff. His big-league debut with the Tribe last September was loud -- the noise being generated by the home runs he gave up -- and not encouraging. He's currently 7-3 with a 4.38 ERA at Class AAA Columbus and will get a long look from the Indians after the All-Star break.
Donald and Marson are probably better than any of the extra pieces the Mariners or Phillies received in their deals for Lee. Marson, currently in Columbus, opened the year as the starting catcher. He wasn't ready offensively, but he did a nice job behind the plate after a rough start. If he's not traded over the winter, he'll be Carlos Santana's back up next year.
Donald opened the season at Columbus, but has been playing mostly shortstop for the Indians since Asdrubal Cabrera broke his left forearm on May 17. There's a chance that Carrasco, Donald and Marson could start the 2011 season with the Indians.
The Phillies may have gotten the least in return for Lee. Ramirez, Aumont and Gilles have spent most of the year at Class AA Reading without great results. Francisco is still in the big leagues as an extra outfielder.
Yet in acquiring Lee, the Phillies received a pitcher who helped them reach the World Series. Their only possible regret is that they weren't able to keep him.