So, make no mistake: Getting Roy Oswalt yesterday was a drastic lurch in the opposite direction.
And, no matter how they try to spin it, it's a tacit admission that well, er, gee, they probably should have just held onto Lee in the first place.
They can say that they didn't anticipate the injuries to J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer that prompted them to acquire a top-shelf starter to go along with Halladay and Cole Hamels. Really? Pitchers get hurt? Who could have seen that coming?
They can say, as they did at the time, that it was necessary to restock a farm system that had been depleted by earlier deals to obtain Blanton and Lee and Halladay. But they ended up losing even more minor leaguers to get Oswalt. And if they had stuck with Lee, they'd presumably still have Kyle Drabek and Happ.
There has always been the suspicion, still denied, that when the deed was done, money was a factor. Lee is making $9 million this year. Oswalt makes more. And, as good as he is, Lee is better.
The only possible benefit to the Phillies is that they didn't think they could sign him when he becomes a free agent at the end of the season. Oswalt, though pricey, is controllable through 2012.
But what is this really all about? Applaud the decision to go for the jugular now, if you like, but please remember that there really is no such thing as a free lunch. This move gives the Phillies a terrific 1-2-3 top of the rotation and exponentially improves their chances of becoming the first National League team in nearly 70 years to make three consecutive World Series appearances.
It also increases the odds that, in the not-too-distant future, they will have a roster choked with costly older players on the downside of their careers and no reinforcements down on the farm to replace them.
