But weighing the demands of present and future is what forced the Phillies to trade Cliff Lee in December because they just had to rebuild their depleted list of prospects with players named Tyson Gillies, Phillippe Aumont, and J.C. Ramirez. At least, that's what the general manager said at the time.
None of those three helped land Oswalt yesterday and, frankly, none of them seem likely to ever dent a major-league roster. The mere thought of being able to get them, however, was the reason Lee had to be traded. Not the money? No, of course not the money.
Ruben Amaro Jr. has a convenient loophole he keeps jumping through, however. Lee was going to be a free agent after this season and the team didn't want to risk losing him. So they gave Joe Blanton a three-year contract extension instead, got Roy Halladay in exchange for three very credible prospects, and shipped out Lee for not very much in return.
The knot in the loophole is that Lee wanted to stay, and for the money they invested in Blanton, plus the money they will spend on Oswalt, they weren't far from the long-term deal that would have kept Lee in town.
And if all that had taken place, the Phillies wouldn't have lost J.A. Happ, which might well turn out to be the biggest mistake they have made in a dizzying year of player transactions. Happ was 12-4 last season, with a 2.93 earned run average. He is 27 years old, healthy again, and was the absolute key to this trade.
Right now, the Phillies could have had a rotation of Halladay, Lee, Cole Hamels, Happ, and Kyle Kendrick. Instead, they have Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, Blanton, and Kendrick. Which would you prefer?
