The Phillies completed their second trade in five days on Sunday. Philadelphia traded RHP Cliff Politte to Toronto for LHP Dan Plesac. Despite unloading Pedro Borbon to the Astros on May 15th, the Blue Jays felt they still had excess lefties and needed another right-handed reliever, especially one with the potential to join their rotation.

Meanwhile Politte wasn't even first in line to start in the event of injury to the Philadelphia rotation, and the Phillies felt they needed to upgrade their left-handed relief if they intended to compete for the playoffs. While I don't generally condone trades for left-handed relievers as teams can normally find inexpensive talent readily available in the minors or on waivers, I think this trade improves both teams.

The 40-year-old Plesac is still among the best lefty relievers in baseball, so he's a good acquisition for a team looking to win now. In 13 IP this season, Plesac has only allowed 11 H and 1 HR while compiling a 14:6 K:BB.

Rheal Cormier, Philadelphia's best lefty reliever prior to the trade, has allowed 20 H and 2 HR in 16.1 IP with a 16:11 K:BB. Their second left-hander in the pen, Hector Mercado, has an 8:6 K:BB with 16 H and 1 HR in 8 IP. The Phillies will likely replace Mercado in the pen with another right-hander. Of the possibilities on the 40-man roster, Elio Serrano has performed well at AAA for Philadelphia this season, so he may receive a call up. Serrano has an 18:8 K:BB with 20 H in 25.2 IP; his only problem this season appears to be with gopherballs as 3 of the 20 H were home runs.

The 28-year-old Politte gives them a quality right-hander for their pen and perhaps even their rotation. Before he could start, the Blue Jays would need to stretch out his arm over longer outings as he's been pitching in relief this season. However, Politte worked as a starter for the vast majority of his minor league time. He tends to struggle with control problems in his first season at a new level but has adjusted to each promotion after a year of experience. I think he may be ready to work in a major league rotation and at the very least he should provide the Jays with good setup innings.

With Felix Heredia and Scott Eyre, Toronto still has two lefties remaining in the pen. While neither pitcher has pitched nearly as well as Plesac this season, neither has an embarrassing stat line. The Blue Jays aren't contending this year so they have little reason to hold onto an old and expensive pitcher, regardless of his performance, when they can instead add a young pitcher who better fills their needs both now and in the future.

The more I look at the Toronto staff, the more I think they should really give Politte a tryout in the rotation. Roy Halladay has pitched very well for them this season with a 64:19 K:BB, 73 H, and 2 HR in 74.2 IP, and he truly deserves to be called an ace. In three starts since returning from the DL, Esteban Loaiza has a 12:5 K:BB with only 17 H and 2 HR allowed in 22.2 IP. The rest and rehab have evidently enabled him to pitch despite the lesion on his rotator cuff. As long as he stays healthy, the Blue Jays should receive quality innings from Loaiza.

Unfortunately, those two are the only starters on the Jays who haven't had difficulties this season. Brandon Lyon and Luke Prokopec have both struggled with home runs. In 51.1 IP Prokopec has allowed 65 H and 11 HR with a 30:21 K:BB. Lyon has allowed 59 H, including 10 HR, in 48.2 IP with a 26:12 K:BB. I feel Toronto has little choice but to leave both in the rotation while working with them to keep the ball in the park, though Lyon has been bumped from the rotation this week in favor of Pete Walker.

Justin Miller is the last member of the Blue Jays' current rotation. Miller hasn't had the dinger problems of Lyon and Prokopec; he instead has struggled with his control. In 30 IP, he has a 19:20 K:BB with 36 H and 3 HR allowed.

I feel Politte could pitch at least as well as Miller and likely better. While Miller's in Toronto's future, he might need to move to relief to optimize his talents. If they're determined to move Lyon out of the rotation, Politte is also a superior option to Walker, who has only managed a 4:5 K:BB with 11 H and 1 HR allowed in 13.2 innings of relief.

All of the other pitchers who have started games for the Blue Jays this season pitched poorly, and I don't feel any of them deserve further opportunities over Politte. Brian Cooper isn't in Toronto's future. The pros and cons of starting versus relieving balance out for Scott Eyre, and with their recent trades, he's most valuable to the Blue Jays in relief if anywhere on the team. Mike Smith should be a part of the organization's long-term outlook but needs at least a full season in AAA. Only a return from the DL by Chris Carpenter before Politte could stretch out his arm should cause Toronto to consider leaving Politte in the pen.

Some near-sighted observers have criticized Toronto this season, complaining that the Blue Jays are selling off their players in order to cut payroll. What these people neglect to consider is that the Jays are putting the pieces of a talented young club on the field, grooming a potentially very successful team that could win for an extended period of time due to the youth and skills of the players.

At this point, their inexpensive salaries are merely a byproduct of their lack of major league service time as opposed to a commentary on their value. Judging the quality of a team on the size of their payroll makes little to no sense considering that many declining veterans are overpaid, while many more talented, though less experienced players, still have small salaries.