Happ, Joe Blanton and Brown also took physicals in Philadelphia on Monday, but that was before specifics of the deals started to come out. Halladay would be a huge addition for the aggressive Phillies, who won the 2008 World Series and repeated as NL champs this year, when they lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in six games.
– Baseball’s hot stove was boiling mightily today, with the Philadelphia Phillies making the biggest news, reaching a deal to land Toronto right-hander Roy Halladay. That move could be part of a three-team trade, Jayson Stark hears, with Philadelphia sending left-hander Cliff Lee to Seattle. Toronto and Seattle would receive mainly prospects, though the AP reports that big-league pitchers JA Happ and Joe Blanton are on the table. On the free-agent market, the Boston Red Sox are just a physical exam away from adding right-hander John Lackey, late of the Angels, to their rotation, with Sports Illustrated reporting a 5-year contract worth upward of $80 million. The Angels, for their part, lured designated hitter/outfielder Hideki Matsui west after 7 years in New York, with the Yankees’ World Series MVP agreeing to a 1-year deal, the Times writes.