Phillies, Blue Jays, Mariners and A's pulled off epic nine-player trade in 2009
It's been 6 years since the epic Hallada-/Lee trade
There's no shortage of ways for friends and family members to exchange gifts during the holiday season: Secret Santa, that thing where everyone grabs a string and pulls at the same time to get a small present out of the same box ...
Well, back on Dec. 16, 2009, four MLB teams decided to do a Yankee Swap that ironically didn't involve the Yankees.
The Phillies, Blue Jays, Mariners and A's came to terms on an epic nine-player trade that featured seven top prospects, $6 million, two AL Cy Young Award-winning pitchers and a partridge in a pear tree. Here's how it looked.
Phillies got: Roy Halladay, Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, Juan Ramirez and $6 million
Blue Jays got: Kyle Drabek, Brett Wallace and Travis d'Arnaud
Mariners got: Cliff Lee
A's got: Michael Taylor (not that Michael Taylor)
The Mariners flipped Lee to the Rangers at the Trade Deadline in 2010, which meant that Lee pitched in and lost two consecutive World Series for two different teams ('09 Phillies, '10 Rangers).
Halladay threw a perfect game and a postseason no-hitter for the 2010 Phillies, but the team lost to the Giants in the NLCS.
After the 2010 season, Lee -- a free agent -- signed back with the Phillies to join Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in a highly touted rotation. The Phils lost the fofllowing year's NLDS to the Cardinals in five games and have not been back to the postseason since. Lee is looking to make an MLB comeback in 2016.