Halladay Bronx Bound? Don't Count On It

Wednesday, July 8, 2009


There has been lots of talk about pitcher Roy Halladay lately since Blue Jays GM JP Ricciardi said he would listen to offers for the 32-year old pitcher. Much of that talk has been taking place in, you guessed it, New York. Fans have been calling in on talk-show radios and blogging about the possibility of the Yankees getting Halladay. Well the reason I am writing this post is to tell you that it is NOT likely to happen.

First, the Blue Jays are in the AL East, the same division as the Yankees. The Blue Jays want to be able to compete for the division down the road. By sending Halladay to the Yankees, you are giving them a rotation of Sabathia, Burnett, Halladay. That is unbeatable. There is no way they'd send him to their own division, thankfully, that probably means the Red Sox won't have a shot either.

Secondly, the Yankees would not part with their top prospects for the younger, left-handed, Johan Santana two years ago, what makes you think they'd change their minds now? A deal for Halladay would have to blow away GM Riccardi, meaning Hughes, Joba, Cano, Jackson, and Montero would be the names they'd want to hear to consider a deal. Possibly 4 of the 5 would have to be in the actual deal.

Finally, Ricciardi has reiterated that they are only listening to offers. They want to see what the price is for a pitcher of Halladay's caliber. If Ricciardi doesn't see anything he likes, Halladay will remain on the team. If such a case does happen, expect Halladay to be dealt in the offseason with only a year left on his contract. Brian Cashman will monitor the situation at hand, but it is unlikely he will come up with a better offer than someone like the Phillies or White Sox.

Despite the aforementioned reasons why the Yankees won't end up with him, I have come across one theory that I actually like. Steve from WasWatching introduces the idea that the Blue Jays could take the same route the Marlins did with Beckett, who would only deal Beckett if the other team took Lowell. He wonders, would the Blue Jays only deal Halladay if the other team took Vernon Wells? Wells has a big contract, and the only teams who would have the money on their payroll to do that would be the Yankees and Red Sox. If such a case would happen, it would be a two-horse race between these two teams.

However, SI's Jon Heyman is being told the Blue Jays would be hesitant to deal within the division.

Yankees fans should look at it this way: The Phillies are the favorites to get him and that is most likely where he will end up. As Pete Abe put it, "It’s addition by subtraction from the American League for the Yankees." Arguably the best pitcher in the league, would no longer be in their division, making the games in their division an easier task to handle.

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