4-years of Halladay is a substantial improvement on 1-year of Lee. The Phils will have Halladay until 2014. Lee would’ve been a free agent next year, and they very well may have lost a bidding war to keep him.
SnakeDoc
Exactly right. And Halladay kept his demands reasonable for the opportunity to play with the Phillies, who train 15 minutes from his full-time home in Florida.
The trade wasn’t about improving on Lee’s playoff performance, which was extraordinary. It was about getting a long-term ace and replenishing the farm. As much as I would have loved to see Halladay and Lee together, I think the Phils did really, really well in this deal.