Filed Under » Roy Halladay

The Philadelphia Phillies are facing the harsh reality that their season may be lost in light of the news that starting pitcher Roy Halladay is likely out for six to eight weeks due to shoulder pain.

Halladay, the second-highest paid Phillies starter behind Cliff Lee, now forces Philadelphia to move forward with a rotation consisting of nothing more than Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Vance Worley, Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick.

"When you invest $70 million in a rotation, but end up only being able to pitch a $50 million rotation for a month or so, that really hurts," said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro. "And Cliff Lee and Hamels make up $36.5 million of that. So we now only have one Cy Young winner in our rotation and, for the first time in years, less than half of our rotation has made an All-Star Game. Less than half! It's pretty bleak."

The Philaelphia Phillies finally agreed on a deal today to acquire Astros ace Roy Oswalt, sending starter Roy Halladay and several prospects to Houston. The Phillies also have to pick up the majority of Halladay's contract, as well as all of Oswalt's.

"We got the player we were targetting," said general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. "I'm sure all of our fans are excited about this acquisition."

But Phillies fans have immediately taken to sports radio and online message boards to rip the deal, criticizing Amaro, saying that Halladay is better than Oswalt and even that they wish the team had kept Cliff Lee over Halladay in the first place.

Amaro was interviewd on Philadelphia's WIP about the deal and asked why he couldn't have worked it so Halladay and Oswalt were in the same rotation — or Halladay and Lee.

"Two good pitchers together? On the same team?" he stammered. "I … I … don't know. Is that even allowed? It seems weird. How do you make one the ace then? Isn't a team supposed to have an ace?"

"The Phillies were one of the teams I was willing to go to," said Oswalt. "But I didn't realize they'd deal me for Halladay. Now we won't be any better. I should have just stayed in Houston."

Sources close to the Phillies say Oswalt could be heading back to Texas. Amaro is reportedly trying to deal Oswalt and some top prospects to the Rangers for Cliff Lee.