Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi publicly stated today that he has spoken with Roy Halladay and familiarized him with the possibility that he may be traded in the coming weeks.
Halladay does have a no trade clause but that should not be a hurdle. It shouldn’t be a hurdle because who wouldn’t want to get out of Toronto. Halladay is 32 years old and can expect one more payday and hopefully a shot at actually pitching in a post season game. That’s right he has never been able to start a post-season game.
Halladay has been a full-time starter since the 2002 season. In 2002 and 2003 Halladay threw over 500 innings–a nearly unheard of feet in todays game. He missed some time over the next two season but in the last 3 has once again been the biggest work-horse in the game today. Since ’02 he has also lead the league in complete games 4 times while amassing a total of 37 over those 7 seasons alone.
He has only lost double-digit games once in Toronto. That is a pretty amazing feet when playing on a non-playoff team in the American League East. And, that one time he did lose double-digit games? That was 11 games two years ago when he went 20-11 and came in second in the AL Cy Young voting.
Yes this guy has pitched an ungodly amount of innings over the past 7 or so seasons. However the guy has, in general, proven to be extremely reliable.
That’s the Halladay side of things but as I said before he has a no trade clause. Curt Schilling called into WEEI in Boston yesterday afternoon to offer his two cents (believe it or not). Schill said that he knows Halladay pretty well and that he believes Halladay will welcome a trade to a contender. He said that he believes that Roy wants to pitch in October above all else.
That being said, many contenders simply do not have the prospects needed to pull off such a deal. The Yankees, Mets and Cubs almost certainly do not. The Phillies are in the market for pitching and I think they might have one of the better shots. In the end the Red Sox, almost unequivocally, have the best prospects. That is especially true among the teams who are in contention this season.
It’s pretty evident that Ricciardi’s job is on the line here. It has been hanging over the edge for a couple years now and whether appropriate or not it is the case. Who would have thought that trading a perenial Cy Young candidate would be the “brilliant” move you make to turn your franchise around? Imagine if Halladay ends up staying in the AL East… how can that be good for business?
The only thing I know for sure is that Riccardi’s cell has been ringing off the hook for hours.
GM preps Halladay for potential trade [ESPN]
Phillies Turning Attention to Halladay? [CSN Philly]
