Cliff Lee, Phillies Trade Cliff Lee

Cliff Lee, Phillies Trade Cliff Lee: latest news updates, A three-way deal that would send Roy Halladay to Philadelphia and Cliff Lee to Seattle is “close” but “not done,” according to two sources familiar with the negotiations.

As part of the deal, Halladay would agree to a three-year extension through 2013, with a vesting option that could lengthen the deal by another year or two, one source said. The extension is expected to guarantee Halladay in the neighborhood of $60 million, plus the $15.75 million he would make in 2010, the final year of his current contract.

The specifics of the trade took some twists and turns on Monday. The trade’s latest structure would send Phillies outfielder Michael Taylor, Phillies catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud and a Phils pitcher — either Kyle Drabek or J.A. Happ — to Toronto, sources said. And indications Monday night were that that pitcher was likely to be Drabek. Under that scenario, the Phillies would not have to include their top position-player prospect, Domonic Brown, and they would receive Seattle’s top pitching prospect, Phillippe Aumont, who originally appeared ticketed for Toronto.

The Phillies also would receive one other prospect — believed to be 21-year-old outfielder Tyson Gillies — from Seattle in exchange for Lee, who is a year away from free agency.

Initially, sources said, Toronto was to receive Aumont, d’Arnaud and another Phillies prospect in exchange for Halladay. The Phillies had balked at sending Brown.

Phillies doctors also have to sign off on Halladay’s physical.

The Associated Press reported that Happ, Joe Blanton and Brown also took physicals in Philadelphia on Monday, but that was before specifics of the deal started to come out.

The AP also reported that the commissioner’s office granted a 72-hour window on Sunday for Toronto and Philadelphia to complete their trade.

So in effect, the Phillies would be trading one Cy Young (Lee) for another (Halladay). And while that may seem difficult to understand from afar, the Phillies clearly view it as a swap that enables them to keep one of those Cy Youngs well into the future — a less likely scenario if they held on to Lee.

While the Phillies have done next to no actual negotiating with Lee, they heard enough rumblings that Lee wanted a CC Sabathia-type contract that they believed it would take a five-year or six-year deal to keep the 31-year-old left-hander. And the Phillies have an organizational philosophy that precludes deals longer than three years for starting pitchers.

Halladay, on the other hand, was willing to talk about a shorter guarantee if it meant going to the Phillies, a team with a spring training site minutes away from his home in Florida.

The Phillies could have held on to Lee and taken a chance that they could sign one of the two pitchers as a free agent next winter. But they were apparently concerned there would be a massive bidding war over Halladay and Lee that would price them both out of their range.

The Mariners, meanwhile, were looking for a top-of-the-rotation starter to pair with Felix Hernandez. And Halladay, how has a no-trade clause, wasn’t an option because he wouldn’t approve a trade to Seattle. So the Mariners opted to deal for Lee after it became clear their other top target, John Lackey, was bound for Boston as a free agent.

Before turning to Seattle, multiple sources say, the Phillies first attempted to complete a two-team deal with Toronto alone for Halladay. However, the Phillies refused — as they had last summer — to include Drabek and Brown in that trade. So they began looking for another team that could help them meet the Blue Jays’ price.

Originally, Seattle looked like a perfect match because of Aumont, the Mariners’ No. 1 pick in 2007 and a native of Quebec. But Toronto kept pressing for Drabek and/or Happ. And, in the end, the Phillies apparently decided their best option was to keep Brown and get Aumont, who would immediately become their top pitching prospect if Drabek is a part of the deal.

The Phillies also had to clear payroll space to accommodate the addition of Halladay. They attempted to do that by trading away Blanton, but found they couldn’t get enough back to enable them to make a Halladay deal.

Yankees Win World Series 2009

Yankees Win World Series 2009: Times reporters David Waldstein, Tyler Kepner, Ben Shpigel, Jack Curry and Richard Sandomir provide updates and analysis during Game 6 of the Yankees-Phillies World Series in the Bronx.
A season of redemption came to an end Wednesday night for the Yankees, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3, in Game 6 of 2009 World Series. The victory gave the Yankees their championship 27, a search for nine years in the making.

Hideki Matsui, who may have played his last game as a Yankee, became the first Japanese player to win the MVP award. He led the Yankees offense with a record tying night – had a homer, a double, a single and six RBIs – and Andy Pettitte, who also may have played his last game in pinstripes, handles the tasks of launching on three days rest.

Pettitte, a veteran left-hander, pitched five and two thirds innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He earned his fifth World Series ring with his second victory of the 105th World Series, which began and ended in the Bronx, in the first year of the new Yankee Stadium.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who last season failed to take the team to the postseason in his first year in office, became the first Yankees manager Joe Torre did not name them win the World Series in 31 years. He was questioned by going with a three-man rotation in the postseason, but it worked perfectly and the Yankees were 11-4 and beat and outplayed the opposition.

Alex Rodriguez, who has faced withering criticism for his career of 16 years of never having ultimate success in the postseason, won his first championship, and although did not do much in the World Series led the Yankees through the two early rounds of the playoffs.

World Series Game 6 Time

World Series Game 6 Time: with the World Series game 6, only a little time away, let’s take a moment to look at predictions about whether they plan for victory, the Yankees or the Phillies. The Yankees want to improve on his last visit to the birthplace of the Phillies with a victory that saw the potential to win the series.
With the push of a Phillies victory on Monday night with a 8-6 victory, which are 1.9 to in their last 10 games while the Yankees want to put their hands in the World Series to win its 27th victory World Series.

Pedro Martínez will make his third appearance, and Chase Utley, who caused most of the offensive fireworks in the last game in the first round always seem to go beyond that in subsequent episodes. Yankees on the other hand, have the opposite, not getting many in the 1st innings, but seriously give the final blow to the opposition later in the game.

Yankees vs. Phillies World Series Game 6 Predictions 2009:
Philadelphia Phillies 1.5 (-105) Over 9 (-120), 185 (Money Line)
New York Yankees -1.5 (-115), Under 9 (100), -200 (Money Line)

New video plea for missing British girl Madeleine (AFP)

AFP – British police Tuesday released an Internet video of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared two years ago in Portugal at the age of three, with tanned skin and darker hair which she might have if held captive in a warmer climate.

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New video plea for missing British girl Madeleine (AFP)

Utley, Lee help Phils stave off Series elimination (AP)

AP – By the ninth inning, Phillies fans were preparing for the worst.

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Utley, Lee help Phils stave off Series elimination (AP)

Utley, Lee help Phils stave off Series elimination (AP)

AP – By the ninth inning, Phillies fans were preparing for the worst.

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Utley, Lee help Phils stave off Series elimination (AP)

Burnett is a short-timer in Game 5 loss (Yahoo! Sports)

Starting on three days rest, Yankees right-hander A.J. Burnett recorded only six outs in the Phillies’ 8-6 victory.

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Burnett is a short-timer in Game 5 loss (Yahoo! Sports)

Burnett is a short-timer in Game 5 loss (Yahoo! Sports)

Starting on three days rest, Yankees right-hander A.J. Burnett recorded only six outs in the Phillies’ 8-6 victory.

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Burnett is a short-timer in Game 5 loss (Yahoo! Sports)

Septa on Strike

Latest news Updated, Septa on Strike: SEPTA’s largest union went on strike early this morning – crippling a transit system that averages more than 928,000 trips every weekday in the city. The strike came after hours of negotiation yesterday that ended when, according to Willie Brown, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, both sides agreed that they had gone as far as they could go.

The strike, Brown said early this morning, would begin at 3 a.m., threatening to cripple this morning’s rush hour. Gov. Rendell, who along with Mayor Nutter addressed reporters in the lobby of the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue, where negotiations had been under way since 10 a.m. yesterday, called the decision to strike before dawn “irresponsible.”

Rendell said the union action would cause chaos with morning transit riders who would not know what is happening until after they wake up. “This is an outrageous action,” Nutter said. All bus, subway, and trolley service in the city, as well as the Frontier Division buses in Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester Counties, would be stilled by a strike.

Regional Rail service would not be interrupted because those crews are covered by separate contracts. Also continuing to run during a strike would be Victory Division buses in Delaware County, most operating out of the 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby; Route 101 and 102 trolley lines and the Norristown High Speed Line; “LUCY” buses in West Philadelphia between 30th Street Station and University City destinations; and Paratransit service.

Among the thousands of people in the region who rely on SEPTA to get around are Philadelphia School District students who attend school outside their neighborhoods. Last week, the school district said that classes would not be canceled. It was unclear what arrangements would be made.

In the end, it was a difference over wages that sparked the walkout. Earlier yesterday, transit officials disclosed that both sides had reached a tentative agreement on health care and were reportedly close on wages.

“Nobody wants to leave something on the table,” U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, who had been involved in the negotiations since last week, said during yesterday evening’s break. But Brown, in a telephone interview, painted a different picture early today.

“They wouldn’t provide the proper numbers” during negotiations, Brown said. “When it comes right down to it, they’ve underfunded our pension for years.”
The talks broke down shortly before midnight.

Rendell said the union chose to walk away from an “excellent” contract offer that includes 11 percent in wage increases over five years, and 11 percent increase in pension contributions, and no increases in workers’ contribution for health care.

“Think about that,” Rendell said. “Whose pension has been increased in this day and age?” According to TWU officials, SEPTA management has proposed no wage increase for the first two years of a four-year contract and a 2 percent increase in each of the final two years. It also wanted to increase worker contributions to health coverage from 1 percent to 4 percent and freeze the level of pension benefits.

The union wants a 4 percent raise each year and health contributions to remain 1 percent. It is also seeking an increase in pension contributions from $75 to $100 for every year of service.

When a strike was threatened last week – with the World Series moving to South Philly – Nutter had called a walkout “pretty unimaginable,” and Brady increased his efforts to broker an agreement.

Rendell urged SEPTA’s 5,100 unionized bus drivers, subway and trolley operators, and mechanics not to strike during the World Series, saying it would give Philadelphia “a little bit of a black eye” on the national stage.
Source: philly.com

Elton John recovering from flu, e-coli

Elton John’s spokesman says the singer has been hospitalized after suffering from a case of E. coli bacterial infection and the flu. (Nov. 2)

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Elton John recovering from flu, e-coli

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