Gillies part of historic deal

One more for the Tyson Gillies fans in Everett . . .

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Because Roy Halladay, a right-handed pitcher and former Cy Young Award winner, wouldn’t accept a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Seattle Mariners, outfielder Tyson Gillies of Kamloops expects to officially be traded to the Philadelphia Phillies today.
Got that?
“I’ve been nervous for quite a while,” a tired sounding Gillies said Tuesday night from Vancouver, where he is spending some holiday time with family. “The whole deadline . . . it’s supposed to be done by (today). The way they make it sound, it’s finished. Right?
“It has been a waiting game . . . no sleep . . . the phone has been crazy.”
The Blue Jays are expected to announce today that Halladay, who has a no-trade clause in his contract and refused a trade to Seattle, has been dealt to the Phillies for, according to ESPN.com, outfielder Michael Taylor, catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud and highly touted pitcher Kyle Drabek.
Toronto then is expected to flip Taylor to the Oakland A’s for first baseman Brett Wallace, who came over from the St. Louis Cardinals in last season’s Matt Holliday deal.
The Mariners, wanting a first-rate starter alongside Felix Hernandez at the top of their rotation, will get left-hander Cliff Lee, another former Cy Young winner, from the Phillies.
In return, the Mariners will give up three young prospects — Gillies, hard-throwing right-hander Phillippe Aumont of Gatineau, Que., and right-hander Juan Ramirez.
Gillies, Aumont and Ramirez started last season together with the Class A High Desert Mavericks of the California League. While Gillies and Ramirez, who has a 97 mile-per-hour fastball, finished the season there, Aumont advanced to the AA West Tenn Diamond Jax in Jackson, Tenn.
The 6-foot-7 Aumont and Gillies live together in Arizona during the offseason. In fact, Aumont called Gillies from a Philadelphia hotel last night to say that he had been called in for a physical.
Baseball America rates Aumont, the Mariners’ first pick in baseball’s 2007 draft, and Ramirez, who is from Nicaragua, as Seattle’s top two pitching prospects. As for Gillies, one baseball talent evaluator told The Canadian Press that he plays with so much enthusiasm it “sometimes needs to be reined in a little bit.”
Gillies, CP reported after speaking with the evaluator, is a character kid who has overcome a hearing impairment to become a legitimate prospect with blazing speed and the potential for pop “once his power develops into man-strength.”
Gillies said he is waiting to hear from the Mariners.
“All the prospects are set and ready to leave,” Gillies, 21, said. “The Mariners have to call me . . . the only way I know it’s done is when they call me.”
And when the call does come, Gillies said, he will feel some sadness.
“Definitely. It was my favourite childhood team,” he said. “Growing up watching Ken Griffey Jr. play . . . I wanted a shot to get to play with him in the lineup this seaon . . . maybe.
“But by (today) . . . it’s good. All this will be over.”
While Halladay and Lee actually aren’t part of the same trade, they are involved in the same transaction. And never before in major league history have two Cy Young winners been involved in such a transaction.
“It’s one of the biggest trades in baseball history,” Gillies said. “It’s overwhelming.”
One American League scout told Jayson Stark of ESPN.com: “I like this deal a lot for the Phillies, long-term and short-term. They got the best pitcher in the game right now. And they got a couple of guys from Seattle (Aumont and Gillies) I’m surprised they could get.”
Gillies will become the second Kamloops product in the Phillies organization.
Colin Kleven, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound right-hander, signed with them on Aug. 6 after being drafted in the 33rd round of the June draft.
“I know him pretty well,” Gillies said, adding that he also knows Colin’s father, Barry, and brother Chris, with whom he played on the midget AAA Kamloops RiverDogs.
In fact, Gillies said, Barry chatted with him before Colin decided to sign with the Phillies.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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