It’s official, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Roy Halladay is a member of the Philadelphia Phillies and will be introduced at a 5 PM press conference. The Phillies are expected to announce his contract extension that will keep him in Philadelphia until 2013, as well as the news that they have traded Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners for three prospects.

Whew. Now we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The rumor mill can stop spinning, at least for a day.

The Phillies are expected to announce that Halladay has been acquired for minor leaguers Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis d’Arnaud. Likewise, they are expected to announce that they have acquired pitching prospects Phillippe Aumont and J.C. Ramirez, as well as outfielder Tyson Gillies, from the Mariners.

The blogosphere went into an online frenzy around 2 PM Wednesday after it was learned that one of the players in the deal (as of this time it is unknown who) failed his physical. Shortly thereafter those hoping that at least part of the deal would fall through, keeping Lee in Philadelphia, had their final hopes and dreams dashed when it was reported that despite the failed physical, the deal would still go through, and the final nail in the coffin came at 2:54 when the Phillies officially announced that Lee wa.s headed west.

Here’s my take on the deal, as a whole:

This is a really good deal. All indications pointed to Lee’s desire to test free agency after this season in hopes of a C.C. Sabathia type of contract, something the Phillies were never going to get involved in. They do not believe in giving pitchers long term contracts, and I think that is a really wise move. And even if what Lee’s agent is saying is true (that Lee never told the Phillies that and that his plan all along was to work out a deal with the Phillies), GM Ruben Amaro Jr. could not take the chance of losing Lee, especially not when he had an opportunity to lock up Halladay.

Sure, losing Lee stings, but that should immediately be soothed by the knowledge that a) the Phillies have acquired the best pitcher in baseball, b) they signed him well below market value, which will enable them to still make other moves, and c) they have acquired the best pitcher in baseball.

Yes, they gave up a lot to get Halladay, including one of the organizations “untouchable” prospects in Drabek and a guy that maybe should have been untouchable in Taylor. But prospects are an unknown quantity, particularly pitchers, and they received three highly valued prospects in return for Lee. yes, it’s entirely possible that all three of those players never make it to the major leagues, while it seems much more likely that Drabek and Taylor will at least make it to the big leagues soon. But it’s also very likely that Drabek and Taylor don’t amount to much, and equally as probable that Aumont is the next big thing. Who knows.

What we do know is that so far in his career, Roy Halladay has been one of, and very often the, best pitcher in baseball, playing in the toughest division in baseball.

So yea, the Phillies gave up a lot, but that’s what you do when a once in a lifetime opportunity arrives on your door.

NOTE: Photo courtesy Susan Lulgjuraj of the Atlantic City Press (my hometown paper) via Twitter