Cliff Lee rumors: Phillies may trade him after deadline
By Bryan Rose
The Philadelphia Phillies appear more than open to trading former ace Cliff Lee, but it won’t be all that easy considering there are only nine teams they can send him to without his consent thanks to his limited no-trade clause.
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Add in his sub-par play, age and salary and trying to squeeze something in before the upcoming trade deadline seems difficult. Of course, the Philadelphia Phillies may just wait until after the deadline to make such a move as according to Buster Olney, rival executives feel he’ll be more obtainable at that point.
While this scenario doesn’t make sense for most players considering they would be claimed off waivers once the deadline passes, Lee (as noted by Olney) still has an absurd amount of money left on his contract. Given that, it’s extremely unlikely that any team would attempt to put in a waiver claim on Cliff Lee as the Philadelphia Phillies could decide to dump his contract on the claiming team.
No matter when Lee is traded (assuming he is), the Philadelphia Phillies are certainly going to have to eat a significant portion of his remaining money as no team is going to give up anything of value and be left on the hook for his contract.
Interest in the former All-Star has been subdued at best though that may pick up in the coming days depending on how the trade market for starting pitchers shakes out.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees are all said to be looking for an additional starter though none appear to have interest in Cliff Lee.