8 Halloween-scary trades that still haunt Phillies fans
By Matt Rappa
2. Traded LHP Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners for RHP Phillippe Aumont, RHP Juan Ramirez and OF Tyson Gillies.
December 16, 2009
It is hard to forget the excitement Phillies fans felt in December 2010, when perennial Cy Young candidate Cliff Lee signed a deal to return to the Phillies instead of inking with the rival New York Yankees.
Although there was much enthusiasm created during that late fall night, there was equally as much disappointment one year prior, when the Phillies traded Lee to the Seattle Mariners on the same day they acquired future Hall of Fame pitcher Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Phillies had just come off of a World Series arguably where they fell a solid starting pitcher short of defeating the New York Yankees for their third championship in franchise history. That series, Lee was their best starting pitcher, recording a 2.81 ERA across two starts. Joe Blanton had the next-best ERA (6.00, 1 start), followed by Pedro Martinez (6.30, 2), and Cole Hamels (10.38, 1).
What made the Lee trade to the Mariners even worse for the Phillies in 2010, the Charlie Manuel-led squad fell short in the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants, while the left-hander advanced to his second straight Fall Classic.
Furthermore, none of the trio of players the Phillies received from the Mariners for Lee amounted to much. Amount recorded a 6.80 ERA in 46 career appearances in red pinstripes, while Ramirez posted a 7.50 ERA in 18 appearances. Gillies never reached the big-league level.
Just imagine a 2010 Phillies rotation headlined with Halladay, Lee, and Hamels. Phillies fans would eventually get that one year later, but perhaps having Lee in 2010 could have made all the difference.