The Philadelphia Phillies are in an interesting spot as they head into the winter and the 2013-14 offseason, as they have fallen off their perch as the perennial NL East winners and they are looking to get back on top and for some reason they see possible trades of Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels as a way to do this and some teams that could be interested includes the Dodgers, Angels, Rangers, Yankees and Blue Jays.
Lee makes a ton of money and a number of teams would love to have his services, but chances are they will have to give up some top prospects and ESPN,.com mentioned these teams as ones that could afford to move players for Lee or Hamels. The team was under .500 two years ago and they were over 10 games under last season and now they are looking to bounce back quickly and after the Braves allowed Brian McCann and others to leave, the Phils see an opening in the division and they may try and go big with a deal.
There were rumors in the beginning of the offseason that the Phillies were interested in Jose Bautista and later reports said that the Phillies also were shopping outfield Domonic Brown, who made the All-Star team last season. Bautista is a slugger that could rake against NL pitching and while Lee would be big to give up, getting back someone with power might make the deal worth it after he has put up some great numbers over the past few seasons. While Bautista has been banged up the past two years, he looks like he is back to full strength and that could spur a big exchange for these two teams.
The Phillies have some aging players in Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins and getting another bat to try and win now may be what the team is trying to do and while giving up Lee or Hamels would hurt, the team needs to score more runs. Jonathan Papelbon has been mentioned in trade rumors, but with $26 million on his contract he could be tough to move and with the team losing Roy Halladay, it might be hard to convince fans trading Lee is the right move. Hamels and Kyle Kendrick are younger starters than Lee and since Lee is 35 already, the team could try and get out of his deal before he gets too old.
David Price and Jeff Samardzija are on the trade market as pitchers and the Phillies could try and snag a free agent in Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana or Matt Garza if they deal Lee. The Yankees are always in the mix, but the issue is who they have to trade and with Brett Gardner their only ship right now, it might not be enough to get something done. The Yankees have spent big money already and while Lee or Hamels would cost a bit, the team obviously can afford it, but after signing McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran, it could be tough to squeeze that in as well.
