Lee would replace either left-hander Clayton Kershaw or right-hander Chad Billingsley — it is not known which the Dodgers would part with in the package

This is the type of trade that might win – WIN – us a championship inside of three years. It would be gutsy and bold and is the type of thing teams like the Marlins, Rays and White Sox have done. It has absolutely nothing to do with Dolan or his alleged cheapness but rather the baseball gumshoe and intelligence of Shapiro and the FO. No one knows the details, but if the Dogders are tossing out names like Kershaw (please, oh, please!) Loney, Bell, Lambo and Lindblom – this is something to get excited about.

I’m well on record of being willing to part with Lee. My gut tells me never to part with VMart – but my brain tells me this is a win-win for both teams. Get ’er done!

I know it would be frustrating, but as I mentioned in the Halladay thread, what are our realistic chances of winning next year even if Martinez and Lee are on the roster? I’m not convinced they’re that good – you’d need about 5-6 things to go very right for us to be seriously in contention in my opinion.

As mentioned, you’ll likely get more for Lee and Martinez now than you would at this time next year (you’d still get a decent haul next year, but they are worth more NOW, since the acquiring team has them each for an extra year).

Additionally, Lee is as good as gone after 2010; Victor might stay, but that’s far from a certainty, and with Santana, Toregas, Gimenez, Shoppach (if he’s still around, and I have doubts on that), we’re covered well at the catching position long term (knock on wood) and 1B would have LaPorta, Brown, and perhaps Marte, so again, where would Victor play long term (Hafner would still be the DH through 2011 and probably 2012 if the Indians are back to contending).

I agree with mjmarble – the help you could get from a trade involving Lee AND Martinez could really infuse us with young, controllable talent (say 3-4 prospects) that could realistically make a meaningful impact as soon as 2011 and 2012. If you wait until July 2010 to trade either or both, you might get 1-2 prospects that could maybe help in 2011, moreso in 2012, though maybe not until 2013. The draft picks you’d get from those two likely wouldn’t help us meaningfully until 2013 at the earliest, and possibly not until more 2015-2016, based on how quickly most of our prospects have been developing at this point (taking 4-5 years for the most part).

That’s what the Indians have to weigh in regards to whether they pull a trade or not. Additionally, I don’t see how much of a difference it will make to the fanbase whether the Indians keep Lee and/or Martinez for the 2010 season; there aren’t many who are going to think the Indians are going to contend in 2010 after having two poor seasons in a row with Lee and Martinez, so I would think that shouldn’t be much of a factor in regards to whether they decide to keep Lee and/or Martinez – in terms of us competing in 2010, yes, those two would make us competing in 2010 easier (though I’m still not sure it would be enough, as mentioned above and in the Halladay thread), but in the eyes of the ticketholders, I’m not sure it’d make much difference. The fanbase isn’t going to come out in droves next year regardless of whether those two are here or not unless the Indians are in contention or have won the division coming down the stretch in 2010 and make the postseason, so I don’t think trading the two of them would affect 2010 revenue streams that much – they’ve already taken a hit based on our performances in 2008 and 2009 and the fact that Shapiro has kept Wedge throughout, who most fans blame, fairly or unfairly for the team’s poor performance.

Just my 2 cents.

In this scenario I think they’d flip Garko. Lonely is cheaper, a much better defender, and younger.

Doesn’t everyone prefer Kershaw over Billingsly?

Of course not – but it’s fun to speculate.

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His 2007 season was awesome at 23. Not sure what has happened

Entirely incorrect!

I too raised an eyebrow on that comment – with all due respect, this poster hasn’t been paying attention to recent history (especially the Santana-Blake deal).

That’s what most experts are implying as well – in a market that is thin for frontline pitching (yes, there’s Washburn, but no one sees him as a frontline starter and difference maker like Halladay or Lee – there’s a considerable gap between those two and Washburn), some teams (sounds like the Angels, the Phillies, and maybe even the Dodgers) are coming back to the Indians for Lee.

I think the Indians will have to very carefully consider whether they keep Lee or not – certainly, you don’t just trade Lee for anything they want to give you, but if that one package comes around that says “Take me,” I’d have to think the Indians will strongly consider it – after all, you may not get that same package next year, due to the fact that Lee is a FA after 2010. The next 66.5 hours should be very interesting! :-)

Shapiro’s MO is that leaks come from the other end of the deal.

Buster Olney said the Brewers were the favorites to land CC on June 21. Hell, we were talking about it in earnest on July 1, five days before it went down. Shapiro doesn’t leak, but his deals get leaked.

Also! Lee’s value is greater to a Texas or Tampa Bay team than a shoe-in like the Dodgers or the Phillies. I just think if he goes Lee’s going somewhere else.

I actually thought most of us assumed Brewers weeks in advance. They seemed the most logical from the get go

Good looking out.

Rosenthal had multiple sources about this “superdeal”, but then was told by “people who should know” that this specific deal was not even close to being discussed.

He is saying that Cliff Lee has definitely been talked about between the two. By this, I’m inferring that Victor has not been part of the talks at all.

Rosenthal thinks Lee stays, but says this reluctantly because there is so much talk around him.

That’s about it.