Roy Halladay to the Phillies, John Lackey to Red Sox Ends Yankees Pursuit

It's been a busy Monday with pitchers moving around the league.

Earlier this afternoon, it was reported that the Red Sox and John Lackey agreed to a five year deal worth around $85 million dollars.

Lackey was in negotiations with teams like the Yankees, Mets, Mariners, and Rangers among others, but now, he lands in Boston.

It's a solid move for the Red Sox, who get a top pitcher and a playoff-experienced pitcher to add to a rotation with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester at the top of it already. Lackey probably will be the number two pitcher in that rotation.

Some feel that Lackey has been overpaid by getting A.J. Burnett-like money, especially for a 31-year old, but time will tell if the deal was a smart one for the Red Sox.

Also, the bigger news of the day is a potential three-team trade that is about to go down.

The Phillies are about to acquire Roy Halladay and make a major upgrade to their rotation as Halladay goes to the Phillies, Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners and prospects would head to the Blue Jays.

It's very surprising to see Lee on the move to Seattle, but it shows that the Mariners are going to compete in 2010 and having a rotation of Felix Hernandez and Lee at the top of it is a big plus.

It is a strong move for the National League Champion Phillies—Halladay is an upgrade over Lee. An extension is likely for Halladay, which is being worked on to complete the deal.

With Lackey and Halladay off the market, it now takes the Yankees out of the running for both pitchers.

There were rampant rumors going around that the Yankees were interested in both pitchers, but no offer was made and thus no deal completed for either.

However, the plus of the one deal is that Halladay is now out of the American League East. Lackey does enter the division, but the Yankees have had a little more success against Lackey than they have had with Halladay.

So now Plans A and B are out of the Yankees pitching options for 2010. Where do they Yankees go from here? Ben Sheets? Justin Duchscherer? Or do the Yankees just stand pat with Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes as their number four and five pitchers?

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