Roy to the World

OK, I admit it. I was one of those people who did not want Ruben Amaro Jr. to pull the trigger last July and send a bunch of the Phils’ best prospects to Toronto for Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay.

I was ecstatic when Amaro changed course and instead shipped some lesser prospects to Cleveland for Cliff Lee.

Fast-forward a few months. The Phillies yesterday formally announced their new ace. His name? Roy Halladay.

Excuse me if I’m not singing “Roy to the World.”

Pardon me Roy, but is that Cliff Lee now heading to Seattle? Yep, the guy who put the Phils on his back from the moment he arrived and went 4-0 in the postseason is now a former Phil, having spent just a few precious months in pinstripes.

It remains to be seen how this all will work out. Halladay is now signed to an extension, while Lee was looking to test free agency at the end of this year.

One way of looking at this is that the Philllies, via these two deals, bid adieu to seven of their top prospects and eventually got Halladay.

I hope Halladay is a stud. Everything he’s done in his career points to him being just that.

But I still feel bad about Cliff Lee.

That’s what’s wrong with sports today. Even on a day when you should feel great about what the Phils have done, you still have a bad taste in your mouth.

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