Cliff Lee Phillies: Red Sox Continue To Profit From The Deal

Cliff Lee Phillies marriage has Boston Red Sox fans giddy this Tuesday morning.

Obviously, the Yankees losing out on a front line starter is a big deal: anytime the Yankees lose anything Red Sox fans have to be happy.

But because the club's biggest offseason acquisitions (outfielder Carl Crawford and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez) were both left handed bats, the Yankees missed out on having a great response to their AL East rival.

And if that wasn't enough, there are now reports that the Red Sox are going to acquire Joe Blanton from Philadelphia. The Phillies now have Lee, 2010 NL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt, so they do not need to pay Blanton more than $3 million per season.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, tweeted this morning "word now is, Philly has a deal in place with Boston for Blanton."

On the other hand, Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal reponded via twitter, "Some with Phillies want to keep Blanton. 2 yrs left. Safety valve in event of injury or Oswalt exit after '11. Payroll the issue."

For more on the MLB offseason, see MLB Free Agents: The Latest on Cliff Lee, Adrian Beltre and Others