A New Lee in Philly

The Phillies traded Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Jason Knapp and Lou Marson for last year's Cy Young Winner, Cliff Lee.

Indians Side: Knowing their odds of competing next year were low, the Indians sold high on Lee. That being said, their haul is fairly disappointing.

Carrasco is the best of the bunch, a 23 year old righty with a good FB-CU combo and appears to be big league ready. He isn't going to get much better or throw much harder sadly and is likely no more then a # 3 starter, and may be a # 4 in the AL. Here is a link to a more detailed scouting report on him: http://tkbaseball.blogspot.com/2009/07/ironpigs-observations.html

Donald, 24, was highly regarded as recently as last year, but performance combined with injury has weakened his stock. Donald hit .236-.297-.332 at AAA Lehigh Valley and has never put up real eye popping #'s at any level. His finest season (last year at AA), he hit .307 with 14 HR's and 11 SB's. Good numbers, but nothing jumps out with that line. I think he eventually turns into a utility player, but that is based on just reading scouting reports.

Marson is another touted prospect that has had a rough go in AAA. Rated the # 3 prospect by BA prior to the season, the 23 year old Marson hit .294-.382-.370 with a homer at AAA Lehigh Valley. He will not hit for a ton of power (career high in a season is 7 in 2007) and is just average defensively. He should be a decent backup, but there a lot of catchers with Marson's qualifications in AAA due to not having one really good skill.

Knapp is the wild card. Just 18, the righty has put up some eye catching numbers this season at Low-A Lakewood, going 2-7 with a 4.01 ERA and a stunning 111 K's vs. 39 walks in just 85 innings. However, he was just put on the DL with "shoulder fatigue", which is usually a precursor to a more severe arm injury. He is also said to have a high octane delivery and will likely profile fairly well as a reliever with a high 90's fastball.

The Indians got the # 2, 3, 4 and 10 prospects from the Phillies system prior to the season, but most of seen their stock drop this season.

Phillies Side: Getting Cliff Lee without emptying your farm system. Genius. Excellent deal for Philly and they have to be amongst the favorites to win it all again.

Overall: The Phillies win this going away, as all the players they dealt will likely play in the majors, but none will have the impact of a Cliff Lee.