Cliff Lee injures elbow, throws trade value in doubt
By Josh Hill
The MLB Trade Deadline passed on Thursday but the trade season is still a month away from being officially over.
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Teams now just need a player to clear waivers before they can trade him, which means guys with big or bad contracts like Cliff Lee weren’t traded on Thursday because teams know they can be had n August.
Well, unless a player suffers an injury — like Cliff Lee — that then throws their trade value out the window. Lee left Thursday’s start for the Phillies with an elbow injury and things aren’t looking good for the veteran.
According to Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki, the elbow that Lee injured was the same one he had injured before, which isn’t good for his supposed trade value now that the waiver deadline is being counted down to.
Phillies say Cliff Lee left tonight's game with a left flexor pronator strain. Same injury as before.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) August 1, 2014
Lee was a hot name discussed at the non-waiver deadline but no movement was made as teams knew that he could be had in August during the waiver trade period in which players just need to clear waivers to be eligible for a trade.
But now that he’s re-injured his elbow, the Phillies starter might have killed whatever trade value he had as he’s likely to be out for some period of time that would then no longer warrant him trade-worthy to contenders.
Be sure to stay glued to FanSided’s MLB Rumors page to stay up to date with the latest action and rumbling from the baseball hot stove this trade season.