MLB Trade Deadline: Top 25 midseason deals of all-time

9. Phillies acquire Cliff Lee, July 29, 2009

Cliff Lee was part of several memorable trades during his professional career. Prior to making his MLB debut in 2002, Lee was part of a trade package that included Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore and Lee Stevens, sent from the Montreal Expos to Cleveland in exchange for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew. Lee went on to win a Cy Young Award with the Indians, though he didn’t pitch in the postseason until the Tribe traded him to Philadelphia in 2009.

Two days before the trade deadline, the reigning World Series champion Phillies acquired Lee and Ben Francisco for a group of prospects including Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson. Already 17 games above .500 and up six games in the division when they traded for Lee, the Phillies coasted to the postseason.

Lee made 12 regular season starts for the Phillies, and tossed three complete games including a shutout. He posted a 3.39 ERA with 74 strikeouts and just 10 walks in 79.2 innings.

In the postseason, Lee was even better. The lefty posted a 1.10 ERA across two starts in the NLDS against the Rockies, and tossed eight shutout innings in the NLCS against the Dodgers. Lee won both of his starts against the Yankees in the World Series, and posted a 2.81 ERA with 13 strikeouts and three walks in 16 innings, but Philadelphia lost the series in six games.

Remarkably, the Phillies traded Lee to Seattle in December 2009. He pitched half a season with the Mariners before bing moved again, this time to the Texas Rangers, with whom he pitched brilliantly in the ALDS and ALCS and made it back to the World Series in 2010. Lee returned to the Phillies as a free agent in 2011and played his final four seasons in Philadelphia.