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Cliff Lee, heading to Philly

Here’s a development that might have an affect on J.P. Ricciardi’s efforts to deal Roy Halladay: The Phillies, widely considered the most likely destination for Doc, picked up Cleveland’s Cliff Lee in a trade today, sending prospects Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Knapp and Jason Donald to the Indians. Philly had offered Carrasco and Donald in a deal for Halladay, but Ricciardi & co. were holding out for a package that included pitcher Kyle Drabek and outfielder Dominic Brown. The pair is still available after the Lee deal, but don’t expect the Phillies to deplete their farm system too much further after picking up last year’s AL Cy Young.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise — Ricciardi had said in recent days the talks had broken down, and both the Jays and Phillies had publicly rejected each other’s offers over the weekend. Still, when reached by ESPN in Seattle this afternoon, Cito Gaston didn’t rule out the possibility of Halladay still ending up in Philly. Then again, Cito never really knows what he’s doing these days.

The 30-year-old Lee came out of nowhere to go 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 2008, and was 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA for the Indians this year.