Philadelphia Phillies: 15 best trades in franchise history
By Tim Boyle
4) Best Philadelphia Phillies trade: Cliff Lee from the Indians.
The Phillies made both a good and bad trade involving Cliff Lee. The good was the one that brought him to the city. The bad was the one that prematurely sent him away.
Let’s talk about the former.
It was in the middle of the 2009 season and Cole Hamels wasn’t pitching the way he did the year prior. Something had to be done. The Phillies couldn’t let the chance to repeat as champions slip away.
It was on July 29, 2009, when the club made a deal with the Cleveland Indians to pick up Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco. Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson were the four headed to Cleveland. Carrasco would eventually develop into one of the club’s best starting pitchers. The others were rather inconsequential.
The Lee trade was about more than just what he did in 2009. His postseason dominance included, Lee joined the Phillies as the reigning American League Cy Young winner and key contributor in the 2011 season as well. By then, he had reached free agency and a reunion brought him back. If it hadn’t been for his positive experience with the Phillies in 2009, he may not have been with the club in 2011-2014.
And while Francisco was the lesser of the two players the team acquired, his .259/.332/.420 slash line as a part-time outfielder gave the team some decent depth off the bench.