NEW YORK: Baseball trading started sizzling Monday, with Roy Halladay, John Lackey, Hideki Matsui and Mike Cameron all set to switch teams.
Philadelphia has a tentative agreement to acquire Halladay in a trade with Toronto, and the former Cy Young Award winning-pitcher was in Philadelphia on Monday for a physical required to complete the deal. The Phillies were also discussing a trade that would send Cliff Lee, another former Cy Young winner, to Seattle.
Boston made two key moves in one day, reaching tentative agreements on a five-year contract with pitcher John Lackey worth $80 million to $87.5 million and a two-year deal with outfielder Mike Cameron for about $15 million.
World Series MVP Hideki Matsui departed the New York Yankees, reaching a preliminary agreement with the Los Angeles Angels on a one-year contract worth about $6.5 million.
Halladay has been coveted by top clubs for months, and the commissioner’s office granted a 72-hour window on Sunday for Toronto and Philadelphia to complete their trade, a baseball official familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Major League Baseball didn’t make any announcement.
Halladay took a physical Monday for the NL champion Phillies, another person with knowledge of the situation said, also on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made. Philadelphia could give up pitchers J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton and outfielder Dominic Brown as part of a deal, the person said. Those three players also took physicals in Philadelphia on Monday.
Lee, who like Halladay is eligible for free agency after next season, could wind up going to the Mariners, the baseball official said.
Boston’s agreements with Lackey and Cameron were both subject to physicals and were disclosed separately by a baseball official and a person with knowledge of the negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreements were not final.
Lackey, the top pitcher on the free-agent market after spending eight seasons with the Angels, was in Boston for a physical on Monday.
The moves seemed to indicate Boston has abandoned an attempt to re-sign slugging outfielder Jason Bay.
The 31-year-old Lackey would give the Red Sox one of the best rotations in baseball, rivaling that of the New York Yankees, who added C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett before last season and then won the World Series.
Lackey would join a rotation headlined by Josh Beckettand Jon Lester. Boston also has starters Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz and Tim Wakefield on the roster.
Cameron, who turns 37 next month, batted .250 with 24 homers and 70 RBIs last season for Milwaukee. A three-time Gold Glove winner in center field, he could switch to left in Boston as a replacement for Bay. The Red Sox have speedy Jacoby Ellsbury in center.
Matsui surpassed 100 RBIs four times in seven seasons with the Yankees after arriving from Japan, where he was a three-time Central League MVP for the Yomiuri Giants. He just completed a $52 million, four-year contract with New York.
Slowed by surgically repaired knees, the 35-year-old Matsui would replace Vladimir Guerrero as Los Angeles’ primary designated hitter. Guerrero, also hobbled by injuries, will turn 35 in February.
