The Phillies and Dodgers both appear to be making a push for Indians ace Cliff Lee, and there seems to be momentum for a deal with either of the two teams.

The Indians are looking for young pitching. The Phillies have a better overall group of pitching prospects, but the Dodgers do have some strong arms in James McDonald, Scott Elbert and Chris Withrow.

The Phillies have been pursuing Toronto's Roy Halladay, and Seattle's Jarrod Washburn is on their radar, but at the moment they appear to be talking most seriously about Lee. The Phillies would prefer to hold on to top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ. Perhaps they could do a deal without either of them involved. Behind those two, Philly's next-best minor-league arms are Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp. Philadelphia also boasts many talented position prospects like catcher Lou Marson and shortstop Jason Donald. Carrasco, Marson and Donald were all scratched from Triple-A Lehigh Valley's 11 a.m. game on Wednesday, which could indicate that something is in the works. One source said the Phillies could be offering that trio plus two other prospects.

"[The Phillies are] going to get one of the top pitchers,'' one competing executive said.

Though the Indians have said they'd need to be blown away to trade Lee, they are in active talks and appear to be more open to trading him somewhere, especially if they can get a bevy of quality young arms in return.

Lee has recently become a viable option for Philadelphia, with the Phillies and Jays differing over the package to go to Toronto for Halladay. The Phillies have balked at a request by Toronto of Drabek and Happ plus outfielder Dominic Brown, but surely they wouldn't have to pay that steep a price for Lee.

While the Phillies would prefer Halladay, Lee would be a major boost to their rotation, as well.