The Phillies have released Luis Castillo.

March 30, 2011 12:07 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@ToddZolecki

Todd Zolecki

That was quick

According to Ken Rosenthal and others, the Phillies have traded Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson to the Indians in exchange for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco.

The medical records are being reviewed, but all signs point to a completed trade

More on this as it comes available but check out Phillies Phandom for more!

Weigh in on your opinion and thoughts on this trade in the comment section!

In a tweet from Erika Gilbert , Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is quoted as saying “I think at this point its probably unlikely that we’ll trade Doc.  We’ve got to be motivated to move him, so we haven’t been highly motivated yet”

Will this slow down the rumor mill? Probably not, and we will probably never know if the Mets “declined” offer was real or what may be going on, but I for one never thought he would be traded in season anyway.

Lets see what happens on this rollercoaster.

According to Todd Zolecki’s twitter feed, the Phillies have activated Relief pitcher Clay Condrey from the DL and designated Tyler Walker for assignment.

Tyler Walker was 1-0 in 9 games this year pitching 11 innings to a 1.64 ERA, my guess is someone picks him up.

Condrey was 4-2 with a 3.71 ERA in 33 games this year (34 IP) before being injured.

Check Phillies Phandom for more Phillies news.

Petey to Philly

According to Todd Zolecki’s twitter the Philadelphia Phillies have signed Pedro Martinez for 1M and a possible 1.5M Additional in incentives.   An official announcement is on its way tomorrow. I will update with more information as it becomes available.

Pedro went 5-6  with a 5.61 ERA in 20 games started for the Mets last year while battling injuries and is 214-99 with a 2.91 ERA in his hall of fame career.

The biggest news of the day appears to be that according to many reports, including Todd Zolecki’s Twitter, that former Met Pedro Martinez is on his way to Philadelphia.  His latest news says that the physical may not be completed until tomorrow, but a deal is expected by Wednesday.

Zolecki also speaks to different Philly players who send a message to management that they want Halladay.

1st time All-Star Jayson Werth said “”I understand all that, We won last year and we pretty much have the same team this year. If you were ever going to sell the farm I think now would be the time. But that’s just me speaking who has a short window of a career. Ruben (Amaro Jr.) and those guys are going to be there for a long time. It’s a lot to leverage, I know. But I think we’re definitely in a situation where if we did go for it, it could pay off.”

Zolecki includes quotes from Charlie Manuel and Ryan Howard as well in his article.

Finally, the starting lineup is announced and it includes five NL East position players, not bad for what most(including their own fans) label as a terrible division.  It also includes Shane Victorino who Charlie Manuel chose to start for the injured Carlos Beltran in Center field.  The lineup is as follows:

Hanley Ramirez SS

Chase Utley 2B

Albert Pujols 1B

Ryan Braun RF

Raul Ibanez LF

David Wright 3B

Shane Victorino CF

Yadier Molina C

Tim Lincecum P

Two NL East Players have been entered into the All-Star game final vote contest. This will decide who takes the last spot on the National League All-Star team in St. Louis.

The players are the Philadelphia Phillies’ Shane Victorino and the Washington Nationals’ Christian Guzman.

You can vote by going to MLB.com

The Phillies have activated Scott Eyre off the 15 day DL and sent Sergio Escalona back to AAA Lehigh.

The Rosters for the 2009 All-Star in St. Louis have been announced, and the National League East has 11 total representatives including 5 positional starters and the Mets leading the way with four representatives.  The players that are listed are below:

Starters Chase Utley 2B Raul Ibanez OF Reserves Ryan Howard 1B

Starters Hanley Ramirez Pitchers Josh Johnson RHP

Starters David Wright 3B Carlos Beltran OF Pitchers Johan Santana LHP Francisco Rodriguez RHP

Reserves Brian McCann C

Reserves Ryan Zimmerman 3B

According to Todd Zolecki’s twitter feed, the Phillies have designated LHP Jack Taschner for assignment to add Rodrigo Lopez to the roster.  Taschner was 1-1 with a 5.20 ERA in 21 relief appearances for the Phils this year.  Stop by Phillies Phandom for even more Phillies news.