Could Lee be traded this month?

Generally speaking, pitchers as good as Cliff Lee do not get traded as often as he has in his career -- four times. In August, pitchers as good as Lee don't get traded ... ever. Could this year be different?

Lee was placed on waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies this week, which is not a surprise, as teams often put most or all of their roster on waivers during this period. With Lee, however, it could mean something due to his contract.

The Phillies would like to fill some holes on their roster and perhaps shed even more payroll. The idea that they would let a club claim Lee without holding out for a trade is far fetched, but with $87.5 million due the veteran over the next three years -- plus his buyout of a fourth year -- a team that puts in a claim for him could conceivably work out a deal to add Lee to their rotation.

The Yankees were linked to Lee earlier this week, but reports rang out that the club wasn't interested due to salary -- the Yankees have their eye on their luxury tax situation for the next few seasons. The Boston Red Sox are trying to move their own salary in Josh Beckett and unless they do so may not be any kind of a fit for Lee.

The Dodgers could be one legitimate possibility, but the Rangers are eyeing their payroll limitation, too, at least when it comes to a large contract such as Lee's. The chances Lee is moved are slim, but oddly, probably not zero.

It's worth noting that if teams put in a claim for Lee, they risk the Phillies letting the player go which assigns 100 percent of the contract to the claiming team, making that scenario unlikely.