So it looks like everything is in place to make Roy Halladay the ace of the Phillies pitching staff. Since we don’t really care about the other teams involved, let’s take a peek at who will be coming and going from the Phillies end, shall we?

The Phillies would get:

• Roy Halladay (from Toronto)
• Phillippe Aumont (from Seattle)
• Tyson Gillies (from Seattle)
• Juan Ramirez (from Seattle)
• $6 million cold, hard cash (from Toronto)

The Phillies would give up:

• Cliff Lee (to Seattle)
• Kyle Drabek (to Toronto)
• Travis d’Arnaud (to Toronto)
• Michael Taylor (to Oakland via Toronto)

On top of that, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com, the Phillies would then sign Roy Halladay to a 3-year extension that would last until the end of the 2013 season and pay him an annual salary of about $20 million starting in 2011.

If you’re wondering why the Phillies had to go and trade Cliff Lee to the Mariners, it’s simply an economic decision.  By getting the $6 million from Toronto, it offsets the cost of what Halladay was supposed to make in 2010 ($15 mil) and what Cliff Lee was supposed to make ($9 mil).  The Phillies tried desperately during the winter meetings to unload Joe Blanton and his expected $7 million salary in 2010, but the only way other teams were interested in acquiring Blanton would be if the Phillies ate part of his salary.  And that would defeat the whole purpose of moving Joe Blanton to begin with.  

Looking back, it really makes the contract given to Jamie Moyer (2 years, $13 mil base salary) look bad, because if the Phillies only signed him to a 1 year deal with a year 2 option, they could’ve declined his 2010 contract and kept Cliff Lee and settled for the compensatory draft picks when he signed elsewhere after the season.

But hey, look at the bright side — we got Roy Halladay!

Won’t somebody please think of the prospects?!

While the entire Phillies fanbase was gearing up for the impending Roy Halladay trade, CSNPhilly’s resident minor league writer Kevin Czerwinsk was busy checking in with some of the potential trade pieces that have never played a game in the majors.

Check out what Kyle Drabek, Domonic Brown, and Travis d’Arnaud had to say:

Kyle Drabek:

“I’m not sure they would [call to say you’re not getting traded], but if they did I would be thankful,” Drabek said. “If they ended up doing that, it would say a lot that they don’t want to get rid of me. But you have me and Brown at Double-A and Michael Taylor at Triple-A, and this is Roy Halladay, one of the best pitchers in the Majors. It’s kind of amazing to be talked about with him.”

“I paid a little attention to it in July but it was on [TV] all the time and my teammates were all around me talking about it,” Drabek said. “Right now it’s a little easier to not think about it.”

Dom Brown:

“I really don’t know what’s going on,” Brown said. “I’m just happy to be mentioned in this. Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee and I are mentioned in a deal. That’s really great. I want to play at Citizen’s Bank Park but things happen and this is a business.

“A lot of people say that [they don’t want to trade us]. But like I said, this is a business. A guy with the stature of Roy Halladay, that’s a big-time name and I haven’t done anything yet. You never know what will happen. I was looking to be a Phillie and hopefully I will be a Phillie but this is business. I’m just not trying to get overwhelmed by the situation.”

“I had a great time there and a great experience but I didn’t do as well as I thought I should have,” Brown said. “I started off hot and I think I kind of just got tired at the end. That’s not going to happen to me again, getting tired. I’m going to work had and prepare myself this off-season. We’ll see what happens over the next few days with this trade.”

Travis d’Arnaud:

“I’m just kind of trying to figure out what’s going on,” said d’Arnaud, who was the 37th pick in the 2007 draft and is considered to be Philadelphia’s top catching prospect. “I’m pretty excited about it. Whatever gets me up there faster [to the Major Leagues]. If I can get up there faster with Toronto, than I am excited about it.

“I’m surprised and shocked about that this is going on. I just play ball and try to have fun. I don’t ever think about who is watching me.”

And last, but certainly not least, Scott Lauber spoke with Cliff Lee’s wife Kristen about the deal:

“Obviously, something’s going on,” Kristen Lee said by phone tonight from Arkansas. “I’m shocked, and I’d be really sad. But it’s baseball.”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — you can’t get anything past Kristen Lee.

Drabek, Brown, d’Arnaud In Dark About Any Deal | CSN Philly

Photos, all via Flickr: Kyle Drabek/narcowich | Dom Brown/BeGreen90 | Travis d’Arnaud/Hanbone