Keith Law tweets that a Roy Halladay trade was unlikely two days ago, but seems even less likely now after some conversations.

FTN wrote:Yeah, at this point, I vote for not even bothering.

We should still win the division. But we're not winning the World Series this year with this roster.

Just pack it in and hope we can fix this team heading into 2010

FTN wrote:Yeah, at this point, I vote for not even bothering.

We should still win the division. But we're not winning the World Series this year with this roster.

Just pack it in and hope we can fix this team heading into 2010

danrosz wrote:

FTN wrote:Yeah, at this point, I vote for not even bothering.

We should still win the division. But we're not winning the World Series this year with this roster.

Just pack it in and hope we can fix this team heading into 2010

I know you're $#@! around, but wasn't everyone saying the same thing last season about our roster not being good enough? I just have some serious hesitations about selling the farm for one guy. I don't want to watch a 75 win team in five years. I know trading for Halladay doesn't mean that will happen as long as they restock the system, but there's a greater chance that it does if we make this trade. Put me down for trading for a Blanton type. I'd say all-in for Halladay if we hadn't won the World Series last year, but that changes everything in my mind. We're going to win the division without Halladay.

dajafi wrote:For me, if I can keep Drabek and one of the two OFs, I almost don't care who else Ricciardi wants. But I probably can't.

phatj wrote:There's a reason teams never front-load contracts. Bad economics.

mozartpc27 wrote:

dajafi wrote:For me, if I can keep Drabek and one of the two OFs, I almost don't care who else Ricciardi wants. But I probably can't.

This is totally right. I'd give him anything else he wanted in prospect terms pretty much if I were keeping Drabek and Brown or Taylor. Wish it could be so, but probably can't be.

The funny thing is, I think that Riccardi has really screwed the pooch on this. Now that he's made it known he'll deal Halladay and everyone is waiting for Halladay to be traded, including Halladay himself, the price for Halladay will only go down, not up, as the trading deadline approaches, because he's going to look like a real horse's ass if he isn't traded now but then is, for much less, over the winter.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi admitted this past week that he would listen to offers for ace pitcher Roy Halladay, who can become a free agent after the 2010 season. While Ricciardi later downplayed the idea of pulling the trigger on a deal, finances will likely dictate a trade.

The Blue Jays have an $80 million payroll this season, and already have committed more than $81 million to seven players in 2010, including $15.75 million to Halladay, who tops a list that includes third baseman Scott Rolen, first baseman Lyle Overbay, right fielder Alex Rios, center fielder Vernon Wells, left-handed reliever Scott Downs, and second baseman Aaron Hill. Furthermore, the Jays ate the roughly $15 million remaining on left-handed reliever B.J. Ryan’s five-year, $47 million contract when they released him on Wednesday. Wells and Rios are both signed through 2014; Wells is owed $107 million unless he opts out after 2011, which is doubtful. Rios has $67.7 million coming to him along with a $13.5 million club option for 2015.

Halladay would at the very least command a contract similar to the five-year, $82.5 million deal that right-hander A.J. Burnett got from the Yankees last winter to leave the Blue Jays as a free agent. With that in mind, it seems nearly impossible that the Blue Jays can keep Halladay beyond next season.

"I don’t think anything has changed. I just think, you know what, why not listen? The worst we can say is no," Ricciardi said. "If someone wants Roy and they’re willing to blow us away, we’d be willing to listen, that’s all I’m saying. That doesn’t mean we’d trade him. That doesn’t mean we’re looking to trade him. All it means is we’d be willing to listen."

Ricciardi said he would drive a hard bargain, though: "It would take a lot for us to part with him. We’ve gotten a lot of calls from teams, but none of them are telling us at this point what they’re willing to give up. If you’re coming at us with a B-list of young players, don’t bother. This is one of the five best players in baseball. It’s going to take a significant package of players for us to even listen. As the teams call, we’ll go through the ones we feel are the serious ones and then we’ll start scouting their farm systems to see if there’s anything we can do."

Halladay said he has not asked for a trade and didn’t anticipate pushing for one in the future unless the Blue Jays go into total rebuild mode. "Whether or not our organization and my goals line up, it’s (not) always going to be that way," Halladay said. "Sometimes teams have to take a step back, and I understand that."

3:43 p.m. ET
Even as scouts and development people gathered at Busch Stadium for the Futures Game, everyone had an opinion about the Roy Halladay sweepstakes.

A National League front-office executive gauged the likelihood of the Blue Jays trading Halladay by July 31 at "30 percent.'' The process has become so public and Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi has set the bar so high, it remains to be seen if he can land a package of talent that he deems satisfactory.
Philadelphia might be the most motivated suitor, but unlike some other teams mentioned in speculation, the Phillies lack a young major league "sure thing'' to serve as the centerpiece of a Halladay deal. Although the Phillies have high regard for pitcher J.A. Happ, he doesn't fit that description.
"He's pretty good,'' said an NL scout. "But from the way everybody in Philly talks, you'd think he was the second coming of Steve Carlton.''
St. Louis outfielder Colby Rasmus is the type of player who does fit the description, but Cardinals GM John Mozeliak would have to swallow awfully hard before including him in any kind of trade.
Some front-office people think it's just as likely Ricciardi will move Halladay during the offseason. The Blue Jays are doing so much legwork now, with Tony LaCava and their other scouts collecting information about other teams' farm systems, they'll have a significant head start if Halladay is still in trade purgatory this winter.
--Jerry Crasnick

WilliamC wrote:Why is Rasmus more of a sure thing than Michael Taylor? Because he's had 267 ML at bats? He is younger but in triple A he put up a whopping 742 OPS in 331 at bats.

I know he is going to be good but does he project to be a star or something?

The Jays will have two scouts watching Clay Buchholz pitch today. Don't read too much into it. The Jays appear to just be doing their homework.