2009 Topps Heritage High Series #592 Cliff Lee

Heads are spinning in The Phillies Room today! Is Cliff Lee the newest member of the Seattle Mariners? Is Roy Halladay on his way to Philly? Why did he and his agent check into a Philadelphia hotel this afternoon? Starting a little after 2pm this afternoon I began the slightly obsessive practice of hitting refresh on the MLB Trade Rumors page every few minutes in order to keep updated with this fast-moving story.

Depending on the source, or whoever's tweets you trust the most, a blockbuster deal is in the works that could cost the Phillies some combination of Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, and/or top prospects Kyle Drabek, Travis D'Arnaud, Michael Taylor or Domonic Brown. The prize in all of this would be Blue Jays ace righty Roy Halladay, who would sign a contract extension with the Phillies possibly through 2013 with an option for 2014. Oh, and the Mariners are most likely involved just to sweeten the deal with additional prospects for the Blue Jays and Phils.

Earlier this evening, the most likely scenario as presented by Jayson Stark, involved the Phils sending Lee to the Mariners with D'Arnaud and another Phillies prospect heading to the Blue Jays. The Phillies would net Halladay and two Mariners prospects. The latest rumor has everyone except Von Hayes taking physicals . . . Well not everyone, but at least Blanton, Happ and Brown.

What does this all mean? Stay tuned . . .