Here it is, after weeks of speculation, a deal has occured between the Phillies and the Cleveland Indians:

Phillies Get:
2008 Cy Young Award Winner – Cliff Lee
Right-handed bat – Ben Francisco

Indians Get (All former BlueClaws):
RHP – Jason Knapp (Was a current BlueClaw)
RHP – Carlos Carrasco
INF – Jason Donald
Catcher – Lou Marson

Pending medicals.

So the Phillies get (one of) their guys, Cliff Lee. He won the Cy Young last year and this season is still impressing. Lee is 7-9, with a 3.14 ERA.

The Phillies lose a few top prospects but NONE of their three top prospects. Not involved in this deal are Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Dominic Brown, wow.

Carrasco has had an up and down season with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, once the top prospect in the Phillies organization, Carrasco has not performed as well as hoped and, to me, it was a big indication how the Phillies kept skipping him and using other people in the majors. Kendrick, Bastardo, Escalona and Carpenter were all jumped over Carrasco and maybe a move to Cleveland will help.

Donald had a few very nice years but also, similar to Carrasco, hit a snag in his progress this year. Eyed by the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays last year, Donald is recovering from an injury and could be a decent player at the next level. However, his prospect status is much lower this year than it was last year.

Marson is recently coming off an injury as well, but has reacted well. A very good catching prospect, the Phillies let him go because of the guys they have behind him in the organization (d’Arnaud)…In my opinion, Marson has a better shot than Carrasco and Donald to shine at the next level. He saw action last season and this with the Phillies and may be a nice back-stop for a number of years.

Knapp is the centerpiece of this deal in my opinion. A young, tall, strong right hander who has shown great command of his fastball (94-96) and decent breaking stuff already at a young age. The Phillies used a 2nd round pick to take Knapp and despite shoulder fatigue this year, Knapp should be just fine and ready to play in a few weeks. He has a great frame to work with and good stuff already…In four years time, Knapp could be a top starter for the Indians.

Impact on the BlueClaws…
Obviously losing Knapp will hurt, especially since he would have been ready to go in time for the playoffs. Could the BlueClaws get a top starter from the Williamsport Crosscutters (Matthew Way) or just work with Ballestas in the rotation? Also, will d’Arnaud see any movement on the loss of Marson? We shall see…The BlueClaws have been playing great of late and have not had Knapp in the rotation, so maybe gaining someone like Way out of this could be a positive.

Either way, the Phillies got stronger… Hamels, Lee, Happ (Pedro?), Blanton looks pretty good right now. Look out National League.

Share This Post!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 1:43 pm and is filed under 2009 BlueClaws, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Phillies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.