Roy Halladay 
Why he didn't go...When Toronto Blue Jays General Manager J. P. Ricciardi made it known that he would consider moving the starting rotation’s number one starter, right hander Roy Halladay, the baseball world went into a frenzy. Rumors swirled on which teams could possibly become suitors for the superstar pitcher. Ricciardi made it known that he would have to be “wowed” by a trade proposal in order to be motivated to move Halladay. Immediately, baseball insiders and analysis’ offered their perspectives on what teams would have to fork over in order to acquire the All-Star right hander.
The first team that became major players for Halladay were the reigning World Series champions, Philadelphia Phillies. It became known that the Phillies would most certainly have to surrender current starting pitcher J.A. Happ and their top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek. On top of those two young pitchers, the Blue Jays would also request the Phillies top outfield prospect, Dominic Brown. Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was hesitant to assemble that particular package for Halladay.
According to a report from ESPN Jason Stark, Amaro offered Happ, fellow pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco, infielder Jason Donald, and lesser outfield prospect Michael Taylor. It was of no surprise that Ricciardi rejected the proposal. Reports indicated that Ricciardi and his scouts were not impressed with Carlos Carrasco; in fact, Carrasco had a terrible outing for the Phillies triple-a team while Blue Jay officials scouted him.
The Phillies grew frustrated. Amaro refused to trade away Drabek and Happ in the same deal, although several scouts noted that Drabek and Happ should have been expendable. Within a few days, the Philadelphia Phillies would engage in conversation with the Cleveland Indians revolving around their ace pitcher, left hander Cliff Lee. Soon enough, a deal was struck. The Phillies would send Jason Knapp (a lesser pitching prospect than Drabek), Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, and catcher Lou Marson to the Indians for Lee and right handed outfielder Ben Francisco. The Phillies would fill two needs; they would acquire an ace pitcher, one who is not on the same caliber as Halladay but certainly good enough, and a right handed bat off the bench. And they did this without giving up their most prized possessions.
The Phillies figured to be out of the Halladay race. Most people around baseball felt that, without the Phillies, Halladay could be headed to another American League East team: the Boston Red Sox.
The Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays matched extremely well. Many believed that current Red Sox starting pitcher Clay Bucholz and top pitching prospect Daniel Bard could headline the blockbuster package to bring Halladay in. Red Sox Nation was salivating at the thought of Halladay, Josh Beckett, and John Lester forming the best 1-2-3 punch in all of baseball. They also fell in love with the notion that Halladay could lead them to another World Series championship.
Of course, the rival New York Yankees kept their eyes and ears open. The consensus around baseball was that the Yankees inquired about the price for Halladay but two huge factors would most likely prevent them from obtaining the pitcher. The first was that the Yankees were unwilling to part with both Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, two up and coming pitchers in the Yankees organization. In addition to both starters, the Blue Jays requested the Yankees top outfield prospect Austin Jackson and more importantly their overall top prospect, catcher Jesus Montero.
The second factor in New York’s factor to not heavily peruse the right hander was, shockingly enough, money! According to sources, Co-owner Hal Steinbrenner was hesitant to take another big time contract after the team dished out big bucks to first baseman Mark Teixeira in the off-season.
While the Yankees mulled their interest in Toronto’s ace, the Red Sox assembled a package around Clay Bucholz. The Red Sox also told the Blue Jays they could choose between pitchers Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden and first baseman Lars Anderson. The Blues Jays quickly said no; in fact, ESPN’s Peter Gammons reported that Ricciardi was not a personal fan of Bucholz and wasn’t impressed in the slightest with the Red Sox’s offer. The Blue Jays wanted Bucholz, Daniel Bard, and pitcher Casey Kelly, the latter two deemed off limits by the Sox.
So a deal between the Red Sox and the Blue Jays wasn’t exactly a match made in heaven. Red Sox General manager Theo Epstein has been accused of “falling in love” with his own prospects. One unmade AL executive commented that Epstein acts as if his prospects will turn out to be hall of famers. You can’t blame Epstein for refusing to trade away prospects; they’ve simply become a tremendous part of baseball (and perhaps they are too overvalued but that’s another subject for another day).
So with the Phillies and Red Sox effectively out of the Halladay sweepstakes (though reports circulated the night before the trade deadline that the Sox might give one last persure), there was no push for the Yankees to trade their farm system for Halladay. From the Yankees perspective, as long as he was away from Boston, Halladay could go anywhere.
There were brief talks the evening before the deadline between the Rangers and Blue Jays. Again, Ricciardi demanded for the Rangers top pitcher Derek Holland. Talks quickly died after the Rangers were informed that Halladay would not waive his no-trade clause to pitch for the Rangers. Reports also circulated that the Twins were prepared to begin discussions for Halladay but were told Halladay would not accept a trade to their either.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were rumored to be in the Halladay sweepstakes but talks reportedly cooled when the Rangers asked for Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsly.
And as July 31st 4 P.M. deadline came to a close, Jason Stark nearly dropped a bombshell to ESPN News. According to Stark, the Los Angeles Angels and Blue Jays were discussing a Halladay deal that centered around Angels pitcher Joe Saunders. As quickly as the rumor came, however, it was shot down. Halladay would officially not be traded.
We will most likely hear a lot of Halladay discussion this off-season. One can only figure that more teams will be interested. This evening, Ricciardi told the local Toronto newspaper that he is hoping for “better offers” for Halladay. However, Ricciardi says he expects to retain Halladay for the 2010 season because he believes the Blue Jays can contend. When that doesn’t happen and if Halladay isn’t traded in the off-season, expect a repeat of this years rumors. And if Halladay still isn’t trade by next years trade deadline, if Halladay hits free agency…
Let the battle royal begin. Teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, and Dodgers would figure to be interested. Perhaps there will be a team we haven’t heard from that will offer him a contract. Make no mistake about it…we will hear Halladay’s name a lot in the next year and a half.
