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Just because the non-waiver trade deadline has passed doesn't mean the deals are done. Buster Olney lists 10 players who could factor into trade packages in August.

Blog | Conversation | August 01, 2012

It was a busy day as the trade deadline brought a lot of change for a few teams looking to make a playoff push. Here is a look at the major-league impact of Tuesday's trades. All stats are entering Tuesday. RYAN DEMPSTER The Texas Rangers acquir...

Washington Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg will pitch in September and October. Let's get that out of the way up front. Entering the weekend the right-hander is the No. 10 pitcher on ESPN's Player Rater and one of the most coveted individua...

Blog | July 27, 2012

Eric Karabell looks ahead to the final two months of the season and lays out a handful of bold predictions for pitchers, including thoughts on Stephen Strasburg, Tim Lincecum and R.A. Dickey.

Blog | Conversation | July 27, 2012

There are three ways for teams to acquire high-end talent, an AL executive said Tuesday afternoon in the hours after the new labor agreement was announced: 1. Teams can invest in free agents, as the Philadelphia Phillies did with Cliff Lee, and as t...

Blog | November 23, 2011

Buster Olney writes that while the industrywide perception regarding MLB's new CBA is not unequivocally negative, some clubs feel that limiting draft spending will only continue to harm small-market teams. Plus, the latest MLB hot stove news.

Blog | Conversation | November 23, 2011

With all the firepower of the Philadelphia Phillies rotation entering the season, what are the chances the Phils would find the most success not in games started by Roy Halladay, he of the two Cy Youngs and two no-hitters? Not in starts by $120 milli...

Philly unveiled a Fab Four this week, and the collective quiet signaled what this group will really be all about -- work, not talk. The bottom line is that when it comes to Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, only the results will speak.

Blog | Conversation | February 15, 2011

After submitting his own ranking earlier in the week, Buster Olney looked to a group of MLB talent evaluators to find out who they think has the best rotation in the majors. The top spot was unanimous (Phillies). Nos. 2-10 were anything but.

Blog | Conversation | December 24, 2010

The Phillies' signing of Cliff Lee has created the best barstool debate of the winter, the kind of question that has no right answer but is awful fun to talk about: Who has the best rotation in the majors? Here's one humble ranking of the...

Blog | December 22, 2010

The Philadelphia Phillies already had what was arguably baseball's best rotation headed into the 2010 offseason. And that was before they added Cliff Lee. Buster ranks the rotations that follow the one clearly at the top.

Blog | Conversation | December 22, 2010

The Phillies dumped Cliff Lee 12 months ago because they had become convinced he and his agent, Darek Braunecker, were all about chasing nickels, about maximizing their leverage and getting paid as much as possible. They loved Lee as a pitcher, but t...

Blog | December 14, 2010

The Phillies' signing of Cliff Lee makes them paper lions, with the kind of rotation seemingly built to maul opponents over the course of a long season. But advancing age and less flexibility make them decidedly dominant -- on paper.

Blog | Conversation | December 14, 2010

AJ Mass brings his "Momentum Rankings" to the pitcher's mound to identify the starters whose stats trend indicate a strong or a poor finish to the season.

The bottom line: Nobody in Philadelphia would tell you that the deal to send Cliff Lee to Seattle has worked out well. But in getting Roy Oswalt, the Phillies at least would have a chance to say they've put it behind them and are aiming for a title.

Blog | Conversation | July 29, 2010

When the Phillies shipped Cliff Lee to Seattle, the teams were considered to be essentially trading a rental. Neither was likely to keep him long-term. But what Seattle could end up with far outweighs the prospects they gave up to get the great lefty.

Blog | Conversation | July 09, 2010