Seattle Mariners Trade for Cliff Lee

Just two seasons ago, the Seattle Mariners finished the 2008 season as the worst team in the A.L. West and in all of the American League with 61-101 record. They made great strides in 2009 and exceeded all expectations by finishing the season 85-77. As much of an improvement as that was, it still left the Mariners 12 ½ games behind the Anaheim Angels in the A.L. West. The Seattle Mariners had a large gap to close this off-season and they look like they might have done it.

The Seattle Mariners off-season just got a lot better. In one big trade, the Seattle Mariners might have not only become a contender in the A.L. West, but the front-runner. Yahoo sports Jeff Passan is reporting that there is a pending three-team trade that will send Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners. The trade would have the Seattle Mariners trading prospects Tyson Gillies and Phillippe Aumont to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies would also receive Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays, then send pitcher Kyle Drabek, outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis D'Arnaud to the Toronto Blue Jays. This is a steal for the Seattle Mariners!

This trade would give the Seattle Mariners the best 1-2 punch in all of Major League Baseball. What team can match Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee? That's a rhetorical question, because there isn't such a team.

The Mariners have already added former Anaheim Angels third baseman Chone Figgins this off-season and now they add one of the best five pitchers of the past couple seasons in baseball to their roster. At first, I thought the Mariners made a mistake in signing Chone Figgins, as I stated in a prior article, but this move has me changing my mind.

The Mariners are showing that they are not satisfied with just improving, but want to be a contender in not only the A.L. West, but to represent the American League in the World Series. They are now only missing one piece to make them a very legitimate contender in the American League. All they need now is one big bat. The Seattle Mariners realize the need and have made a major push at signing Boston Red Sox's outfielder Jason Bay. Can you imagine if the Mariners pull off a deal for Jason Bay or maybe even Matt Holliday?

If the Mariners find a way to win the A.L. West, then the World Series is definitely reachable with their new one-two punch of Hernandez and Cliff Lee. They could conceivably march out Hernandez and Lee for four or five games in each playoff series. Which means if they can point up any runs at all, they have a chance to shock the baseball world.