The Summer of Halladay

In 2008 teams such as the Brewers and the Dodgers made trade deadline additions to their rosters that put them in contention to win a World Series. While 2008's deadline rumors held players like Mark Texiera, Manny Ramirez, C.C. Sabathia, and Rich Harden, this year's rumors have been completely dominated by one man, Roy Halladay. 

The 2008 World Champion Phillies seem to be subject of all the Halladay trade talks. The Blue Jays G.M. J.P Ricciardi has said that the team has to be wowed by an offer in order to trade Roy Halladay, who has proven over the years to be one of the elite pitchers in the game today. If you look through the young talent that the Phillies have to offer, it is indeed wowing to the say the least. Among that talent is, shortstop Jason Donald, Stanford product Michael Taylor, and Triple A starter Carlos Carrasco. However, those three who have proven themselves as great minor league talents, are just the supporting cast in this summer saga, while the leads are Single A Blue Chip outfielder Dominic Brown and pitchers Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ. The Jays seem to be most interested in the two young pitchers Drabek and  Happ who have both posted great numbers in '09,  Happ in the majors (7-1 2.97 ERA) and Drabek in Double A Reading (10-2 2.80 ERA). The Phillies seem to be willing to deal either of these two but not both in the same deal, while they seem to be trying mostly to keep Drabek who is the son of former Cy Young award winner Doug Drabek. While a great pitcher combined with a great farm system seems like a match made in heaven, the question is how far should the Phillies go. 

The Blue Jays need to deal Halladay, because no matter what, when the time comes he is not going to stay with the club, because he is a great pitcher who is hungry for a chance to win it all. The Jays first asked for all three of the players that I tagged as the top prospects in the mix, Brown, Drabek and Happ. The Phillies declined and countered with Happ, Carrasco, Donald and Taylor, but the Jays were not quick to pull the trigger on a deal that didn't include two of the three players that they asked for in the first place. What I think; he is not worth it. I am marveled at the fact that the Jays didn't accept the latest deal that the Phillies offered them. Halladay is great, but it was 2004, five whole years ago that he won the Cy Young award. I'm not saying he is slowing down, but it is a only a matter of time until he does, at which point the Phillies would have traded away the nucleus of one of the best farm systems in the game. As a die hard Phillies fan I would love to see Halladay in red pin stripes, but who wants this team that we have in Philly now, that can be pinned as the greatest team in Phillies history, to be followed by a period of losing seasons. Right now the franchise is in line to keep the success going even after this potent lineup is gone, but getting Halladay however puts that in jeopardy. While Halladay pads the chance that the Philies have to win the World Series for a second straight year, it buries any sort of five year plan that they team may have. 

JD