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

Update: SI.com’s Jon Heyman is reporting that the deal is done and it involves the Phillies, Blue Jays and Mariners. Heyman is awaiting confirmation that Cliff Lee is the player being traded to Seattle, but that is the most likely scenario.

CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury is reporting that the Phillies are in negotiations with Roy Halladay over a possible contract extension. Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that Halladay and his agent have checked into an area hotel room.

A source also told Salisbury that Halladay is expected to undergo a physical exam with the Phillies medical staff later this week.

I’ll give you a moment to catch your breathe and compose yourself…..

OK, glad to have you back.

It is unclear, according to Salisbury, who the Phillies would trade away IF this deal were to actually happen, but there has been rampant speculation all day that one of those players could be Cliff Lee.

In an article written Monday on Foxsports.com, Ken Rosenthal wrote that while he had no proof that a deal was in the works involving the two former Cy Young award winners, “but I’ve got a hunch.”

Rosenthal went on to explain that the Phillies are unlikely to be able to re-sign Lee after this season, regardless of whether they acquire Halladay, because all indications point to Lee wanting to test the free agency market in search of a contract in the neighborhood of $C.C. million.

So why not trade Lee, keep Joe Blanton and a top prospect or two, and let some other team partially deplete their farm system in order to acquire Halladay, who the Phillies really wanted more in the first place?

Seems like a fair deal.

In my opinion, if the Phillies can land Halladay for J.A. Happ and Domonic Brown, or even those two plus Blanton, then do it. To have a rotation of Halladay, Lee and Cole Hamels could be historic.

That being said, I’d rather have Halladay on a multi year deal then neither of them after 2011.

Stay tuned. This is a story that updates ever few minutes.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has repeatedly said that the team’s top priority this offseason, now that they have bolstered their bench and replaced third baseman Pedro Feliz, is to sure up a bullpen that bruised and battered for much of last season.

Brandon Lyon and J.J. Putz are both players that the Phillies were said to have had serious interest in coming into this week’s baseball Winter Meetings in Indianapolis.

Both players have since signed with other teams (Lyon with Houston, Putz with the Chicago White Sox). Scott Eyre and Chan Ho Park were integral parts of the Phillies run to the World Series last season (and particularly Eyre, who was invaluable in the team’s 2008 World Series victory), and yet negotiations with both teams appear to be at a standstill. Indications from Amaro are that there is a good chance the Phillies will move on from both players and replace them with younger talent, most likely players currently in their farm system.

So what gives?

The Phillies are said to be aggressively pursuing Roy Halladay in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays; much more aggressively than Amaro lets on.

Amaro may be telling the media that the chances of the Phillies acquiring, or even pursuing Halladay, are highly “unlikely,” but according to sources close to the situation, as well as a number of executives from other teams, the Phillies are pursuing Halladay above all else right now.

A source that I talked to said that the Phillies, behind the scenes, are pushing very hard for the trade, that the Blue Jays really like J.A. Happ and that Halladay himself is putting a good deal of pressure on Toronto to get the deal done. The final roadblocks appear to be finding a third team to take Joe Blanton from the Phillies (who would then send a valued prospect of their own to Toronto) and a contract extension with Halladay.

That is why the Phillies’ lack of aggression on filling the holes in their bullpen are telling. It seems that they are waiting to see how things go with Halladay before commiting serious money to their bullpen. Lyon is receiving $5 million a year from Houston and Putz is getting $3 million from Chicago. If they had signed one or both of those players, then that would virtually eliminate any chance of being able to afford Halladay’s $15.75 million salary in 2010. The Phillies will have to get approval from team ownership as it is to acquire Halladay even if they trade Blanton.

There are a couple more roadblocks still to overcome, but both the Phillies and Halladay have a mutual desire to be on the same team. Time will tell.

The Houston Astros have been very busy during this year’s baseball Winter Meetings, signing relievers Latroy Hawkins and Brand Lyon on Wednesday.

Today they announced the signing of former Phillies third baseman Pedro Feliz to a one-year deal worth $4.5 million.

He batted .266 with 12 homers and 82 RBIs in 2009, his second season with the Phillies.

FoxSports.com MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Houston Astros have signed reliever Brandon Lyon to a three-year deal worth $15 million, pending a physical.

The news comes on the heels of a trade between Houston and the Florida Marlins that sent reliever Matt Lindstrom to the Astros for right-hander Robert Bono, infielder Luis Bryan and a player to be named later.

Both additions are seen as replacements to closer Jose Valverde, who did not accept arbitration and is not expected to be back, and Latroy Hawkins, who signed with the Brewers earlier in the day.

This is all newsworthy to Phillies fans as they were reportedly aggressively pursuing Lyon to bolster the bullpen as a setup man and possible backup should closer Brad Lidge break down again. However, it has since come out that that may not have been the case, and that the Phillies may have only had preliminary discussion with Lyon.

ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported earlier Wednesday that the Phillies were pursuing reliever Fernando Rodney as aggressively as they were Lyon, who was seen, at the time, as the Phillies top relieving target.

The Phillies are also interested in veteran John Smoltz, and met with his agent, Keith Grunewald, Wednesday morning. According to Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the two sides have maintained contact throughout the Winter Meetings, but no formal offer has been, as of yet. Smoltz could fill the need in the bullpen or as a back end of the rotation starter.

The signing of Lyon could also put added emphasis on re-signing Chan Ho Park and Scott Eyre, with whom the Phillies have been in contact but do not appear to be making much progress.

We will have more for you tomorrow as the Winter Meetings wrap up. Stay tuned.

Tuesday’s blockbuster trade between the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Tigers has seemingly taken New York out of the running for Blue Jays’ pitcher Roy Halladay.

That has led to rampant speculation that the Phillies are now in the best position to pull off the trade that so nearly happened last July.

When asked about the possibility of acquiring a hypothetical unnamed elite pitcher, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. responded to Philadelphia Inquirer Phillies beat reporter Andy Martino:

“Is there any way possible? I guess there is,” Amaro said. “Is there a likelihood of us getting involved in something that’s that big? Probably not.”

Todd Zolecki of MLB.com said in a piece Wednesday that an in “an informal poll of baseball personnel this week at the Winter Meetings, folks think the Phillies have as good a chance as anybody of getting him.”

“They have the pieces,” one AL executive told him. “I would say the Phillies and Red Sox have the talent to make it happen more than the other teams out there.”

If the trade were to happen, Zolecki says, the price must drop. As we all vividly remember, the Blue Jays wanted Kyle Drabek, J.A. Happ, Domonic Brown and Anthony Gose for Halladay during the team’s negotiations before last season’s July 31 trade deadline.

Another stumbling block to acquiring Halladay is his price tag and the Phillies’ self imposed $140 million team salary cap. Halladay is set to make $15.75 million in 2010 and the Phillies are very close already to that salary cap.

However, that could be where Joe Blanton comes in. When the Winter Meetings started on Monday, there were very loud whispers that the Phillies had put Blanton up on the trading block for potential trade partners to examine. The Phillies were reportedly shopping him in order to free up a serious chunk of money in order to acquire a couple elite relievers for the bullpen. But there could be more to it than that.

Blanton is arbitration eligible this year, and after making a little over $5 million last season, he is set to make between $7-8 million this year. So if the Phillies were able to include him in the deal, it would allow them to part with fewer prospects, perhaps Happ and Michael Taylor instead of Brown, it would provide the Blue Jays with a solid major league ready starter (or two), and it would free up some money so that the team could better afford Halladay.

Halladay has reportedly indicated to Toronto’s brass that if he is not traded before Spring Training, he will refuse to waive his no-trade clause for any deal and they would effectively lose him. That is likely because of what he went through last season and the obvious affect it took on him. In the first six games after the trade deadline, Halladay went 2-4 with an ERA of 4.71. In those four losses, he had an ERA of 6.58.

That could work out in the Phillies favor, as the Blue Jays will be under increased pressure to deal Halladay, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. With the Phillies and Red Sox likely the only two teams in serious contention for his services, and the Blue Jays loathe to trade arguably the best pitcher in the majors to their direct competition, the Phillies are absolutely in the best position to land Halladay.

However, it will ultimately come down to Toronto’s asking price. With the acquisition of Cliff Lee to a starting rotation that boasts Cole Hamels, Blanton, Rookie of the Year runner up Happ and likely either Jamie Moyer or Kyle Kendrick,  the Phillies are under no pressure to get this deal done.

In the end, as a cynical Philadelphia fan, I don’t think the deal gets done. But hey, crazier things have happened…..

The Phillies have completed assembling their new look bench with the addition of  former Marlin Ross Gload, erupting in a myriad of bad jokes by sports writers and bloggers alike (see above title).

Gload is likely the final addition to Charlie Manuel’s 2010 bench, which will have a very drastic look than the one that helped win a World Series in 2008. Greg Dobbs is the only bench player left from that team. Gone are Eric Bruntlett, So Taguchi, Geoff Jenkins, Chris Coste and most likely Matt Stairs, although he will probably be offered an invitation to Spring Training on a minor league ocntract.

That squad has been replaced by Ben Francisco, Brian Schneider, Juan Castro, Dobbs and now Gload.

Gload, 33, is a eight year journeyman who has spent time with the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, and recently the Florida Marlins. He hit .261 in 125 games last season for the Marlins, and is a career .283 hitter. However, he led the majors with 21 pinch-hits last season, batting .318 with two homers and 15 RBIs in pinch-hit situations. And according to Scott Lauber of the Delaware County Times, Gload is a career “.300 hitter with five homers and 29 RBIs off the bench.”

The deal for the left handed hitting Gload is reportedly for two years.

The Eagles announced today that they have reached an agreement on a contract extension with coach Andy Reid that will keep him in Philly until at least 2013.

At the end of his contract, Reid will have coached the Eagles for 15 years, the longest of any coach or manager in Philadelphia since the vaunted Connie Mack.

As noted by 97.5 The Fanatic Eagles beat reporter Brian Seltzer, this ensures that Reid will have responsibility on deciding the long term quarterback situation for the Eagles, as Donovan McNabb’s current contract will expire before Reid’s.

Reid is the winningest coach in team history, taking the Eagles to five NFC Championship games and one SuperBowl. The Eagles have reached the playoffs seven times under Reid. He has compiled 115 wins since being named Eagles coach in 1999.

Despite his obvious success as coach and de facto GM of the Eagles, Reid has his fair share of detractors. The biggest knock against Big Red is that he cannot seem to get the Eagles over the hump, and comes up short in the big game, as is evidenced by five NFC Championship appearances and only one SuperBowl appearance. As one of my friends said to me this morning when I told him of the extension, “Aren’t we lucky….I love being a brides maid.”

His clock management skills, or lack thereof, have become a thing of legend. And his is seemingly incapable of making adjustments in-game. He is arguably one of the worst game day coaches in the NFL.

Then again, he’s won 115 games, taken the Eagles to five NFC Championship games and the SuperBowl. He’s a great judge of talent, particularly when it comes to knowing when a player is past his prime.

Love him or hate him, he’s here for the foreseeable future.

Details of the contract extension were not immediately available, but reports of mass suicides in area sports bars are flying in.

Stay tuned, a press conference with Reid and owner Jeffrey Lurie has been scheduled for 11:30 AM.

The hits just keep on coming for the Flyers, losers of five in a row and eight of their last ten.

Sunday the Flyers found out that they would be without the services of forward Dan Carcillo for four games, as he was being suspended by the league  for a fight during the team’s matchup against the Capitals over the weekend. Monday they headed over the border and suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. They returned home Tuesday to prepare for a game at home against the New York Islanders to find out that starting (sort of) goalie Ray Emery had been placed on injured reserve.

Carcillo was issued 29 minutes of penalties Saturday night for a retaliatory cross check and supposed sucker punch on the Capitals Matt Bradley.

After receiving a high stick by Bradley, Carcillo retaliated with a cross check and then dropped his gloves to fight. Bradley appeared to drop his glove, indicating that he wanted to fight, and Carcillo knocked him out with a right hook to the face. One punch and the fight was over.

Referee Stephane Auger gave Carcillo two minutes for cross checking, two minutes for instigating, five for fighting, a ten minute misconduct, and a game misconduct. He didn’t give Bradley any penalties.

“Everything happened pretty quick, I saw him drop his gloves, so I started punching him,” Carcillo told CSNPhilly.com after the game.

“He kind of came at me the shift before. He was talking to me before. I thought we were going to fight. I don’t know why he waited so long to drop his gloves.”

Here is video footage of the fight. Make your own judgement.

The suspension was expected, but is certainly not welcomed by Carcillo and the Flyers organization. General manager Paul Holmgren issued the following statement regarding the suspension:

“Decisions come down from the league…do I agree with them all? No. I certainly do not agree with this one. We do not have a lot of recourse in this situation. Dan will serve his suspension, and we will move on.”

Details on the injury to Emery were not immediately known Tuesday, other than it being a lower body injury, but according to CSNPhilly.com, it is believed to be either his groin or his hip. The injury could be the cause of Emery’s recent woes in net, including a 5.36 goals-against average and .814 save percentage in his last five starts.

Update: Sarah Baicker of CSNPhilly.com is reporting that Emery has suffered an abdominal injury and that it may require surgery. Holmgren will address the media before tonight’s game against the Islanders.

More details to come…..

As I’ve said over the past few days, I am really happy that Allen Iverson is once again a member of the Sixers. I grew up a fan of The Answer, and he remains my favorite active basketball player (Sir Charles will always top my list). I freely admit that I was misty eyed during Monday’s night announcement of the starting lineups and overwhelmed with emotion.

That being said, I take issue with Iverson showing up late on his first night back in town. He hadn’t even played a game and already he was breaking the rules. Iverson arrived at the Wachovia Center around five minutes to six last night, little more than an hour before tip off.

The cause? “Traffic,” said Iverson, having to answer questions once again about a subject that caused so many problems with coach Larry Brown during his first go around with the Sixers.

So what was new coach Eddie Jordan’s reaction to his new star’s tardiness? “No. It didn’t mean anything to me,” said Jordan. “We don’t run through plays for five guys who are going out there to shoot shots (before the game).”

During his introductory press conference last Thursday, Iverson openly talked about the mistakes he made in the past, about how he is only human and will undoubtedly make more mistakes. Certainly nobody would disagree with the notion that Allen Iverson would stumble along with the way, but I doubt many would have guessed it would have come this early, or been the infraction he was most famous for during his first ten years here.

I love the guy, but I find this unacceptable. We’re not talking about practice, we talkin about a game.

I guess some things never change.