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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Ricciardi wants the kind of talent “that makes you sit up and take notice"

Question. Would you make the following trade if you were Ruben Amaro Jr.? Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Paul Hagen, Jim Salisbury, Pete Mackanin, J.A. Happ, the Phanatic, your dog and Paul Bako for Roy Halladay?

Rumor talk gets a little hysterical, but we did learn some actual things today. The big question for the Phillies seems to be, would you trade Kyle Drabek? Charlie Manuel said he’d be reluctant to do that, and Amaro said there were some untouchables in the system. But the concept of untouchable is slippery. What if Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said, “Hey Rube, Drabek for Doc straight up?” Who’d be untouchable then?
 
The big question for Ricciardi, the question that ultimately matters a whole lot, is what are you looking for? Here’s what he told the Inquirer today: he is seeking the type of talent “that makes you sit up and take notice. The clubs that have contacted us understand that.”
 
Ricciardi then declined to name the teams with whom he has spoken about Halladay, but he made it clear that he is looking for young, inexpensive, premium talent. 
           
Baseball sources said the Phillies have been in regular contact with Toronto about Halladay and are serious players in the sweepstakes to land him. Sources said that the two teams spoke Monday night, before Ricciardi publicly declared that he would listen to offers for the pitcher.
 
Ricciardi made it clear that he feels no urgency to deal his ace, and will only do so if he receives an offer that overwhelms him. More on this in the morning paper.
 
Did you see that the Jays released B.J. Ryan today? Call me crazy, but what if the Phillies signed Ryan and flipped him to Toronto for….Roy Halladay?

 

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Posted by Andy Martino @ 11:27 PM  Permalink | 23 comments
23
Comments   
Posted 11:48 PM, 07/08/2009
Mark1npt
You are crazy.......
Posted 12:00 AM, 07/09/2009
frankatlasalle
How about Eric Bruntlett and Kyle Kendrick for Halladay? Of course I'm kidding, but I'm sick of all the stupid things I am reading on these comment boards already...
Posted 12:27 AM, 07/09/2009
Buddude
Gotta put Drabek out there.......or theres gonna be no Halladay in philly this year and no parade.....however Drabek is the future so you gotta pick - two awesome years, contending for the title now, or ten years being in contention for the division title and playoffs? ill take drabek and the ten.......
Posted 12:53 AM, 07/09/2009
mainlinephan
If you trade the farm for him, better hope he doesn't get run over by a truck or some other freak accident or injury. I know, I'm a pessimistic fan, but I ask you, other than the beautiful WS win last year and in 1980, hasn't this team has been snake-bit with bad luck? I date back to the collapse of '63 and have seen it all over the years with the Phils. Nothing surprises me.
Posted 12:56 AM, 07/09/2009
robm0202
Buddude, I don't want to trade Drabek, but it wouldn't be just 2 years. Halladay will sign an extension with the team he gets traded to because he will have to waive his NTC. So, it would probably be 5 or so years of Halladay. Anyway, I don't want to move Drabek but I would be open to dealing Dom Brown and some of our other top prospects. I would be for a deal consisting of Brown, Carrasco, Marson, Donald, and Kendrick/Stutes. They are saying it will probably take a 5 to 1 deal to get Halladay and those are some quality guys there and it will allow us to keep Drabek, Taylor, and Knapp.
Posted 01:20 AM, 07/09/2009
yahmpy
The Cardinals supposedly said look at our minor-league rosters and told Toronto circle any five names you want. It looks like it's going to take 5 guys, and Toronto is taking the team with the five best (and hoping Halladay waves his NTC to go with the team that had the best package). http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/07/cardinals-have-real-interest-in-halladay.html
Posted 01:23 AM, 07/09/2009
frankenslade
All this stuff I'm reading and being told about the need for the Phils to give up 5 top prospects or whatever, but if the Jays really want to deal Halladay, the price will be dictated by the competition for him. Who else can offer any degree of prospects? Is there really a team willing to give up their equivalent of Drabek, Taylor, and Happ, or will Halladay end up going to the team that gives up one TOP prospect who's nearly ready, a prospect who's in single A, and a serviceable young major leaguer?
Posted 02:06 AM, 07/09/2009
Buddude
In most "baseball analysts and experts" opinions, it is a 50% chance the Jays part with Halladay. That said, the "experts" also say Drabek must be in the package. If you want a player of Halladay's quality you're gonna have to part with the best on the farm. If you're not willing to part with the best on the farm - Drabek, Brown, whomever, then don't think the Jays will fork over Halladay. You can't have any untouchables in a situation like this. Carrasco will not cut it as a replacement for Drabek. However much I would love to see the Phils land Halladay, you must ask yourself "Am I willing to trade the best in the system (Drabek and friends) to get a guy who only has 1.5 years left on his contract?" If your answer is yes, then you have reason to support getting Halladay. If you answer is no, forget your stupid little Carrasco/Donald/Kendrick/Joe Schmoe packages, cause it's not gonna happen without Drabek.
Posted 02:12 AM, 07/09/2009
robm0202
@yahmpy: I saw the same thing on mlbtr but I wouldn't read too much into it, Halladay is gonna command a lot of money and I don't think the Cardinals could take on his salary, plus Halladay would have to waive his NTC to go to the Cardinals. A close friend of his said the other day that he would definitely waive it for Boston, NY, and Philly. St. Louis I would think he would not because they aren't a legitimate NL contender. I think he would waive it for either LA team though. St. Louis certainly has the prospects to get a deal done but I really don't think it makes sense for them, the NL Central is very weak and I don't think they could beat any of the top teams.
Posted 02:17 AM, 07/09/2009
robm0202
@Buddude, that is not necessarily true. Dom Brown is almost as high as Drabek on our untouchable list so I think if we concede and include him with some of our other top prospects (Carrasco, Marson, Donald, Mayberry, Stutes, etc), we could get a deal done.
Posted 04:14 AM, 07/09/2009
JimG
The Blue Jays aren't trading Halladay for 3 players, let alone only 1. They want 4-5 prospects and they want some top prospects. Drabek for Halladay? Get real. The Blue Jays would never do that.
Posted 08:25 AM, 07/09/2009
EL Zorro
The Cardinals don't have the prospects to land Halladay, but if they do, they immediately become the team to beat in the NL. Imagine a rotation of Halladay, Carpenter, Wainright and Loshe. The addition of DeRosa to the lineup made them a pretty good and more complete hitting team. But they are a long shot to land Halladay. They just traded Chris Perez, their closer of the future, to Cleveland for Mark DeRosa. They can’t keep draining the minor league system any further. The other teams supposedly in the hunt are the usual suspects: the Yankees, Angels and Boston, plus the Phillies, Mets, Brewers and Dodgers. I think the Jays prefer to trade him to the NL. No way they would trade him to Boston or the Yankees. According to reports, Halladay told a close friend that he’d be willing to waive his no-trade clause to Boston, New York and Philadelphia, because he prefer a team that can win now. If that is true, that leaves Philadelphia as the most likely trade partner. Then the asking price won’t be as stiff. They need a catcher of the future (Marson), and SS of the future (Donald). They will ask for one of our untouchalbe. Throw in D. Brown and a pitching prospect like Carrasco, Savery or Carpenter and it could be done. Heck, they need relief pitching also and we need an extra RH bat. Include Madson, instead of one the prospects and they can dump Millar or Bautista on us. I know, Madson is pretty good in the setup role, but relief pitching is easier to find than a pretty good starter.
Posted 09:09 AM, 07/09/2009
mick314
Nonsense to include Kendrick in any trade talk. He has NO value. Best way for him to get mention is to change his first name to Taylor. Donald value remains marginal as he has had knee surgery and outcome is in question so far. Marson has upped his average to .290's and his defense has improved under Hupp tuteledge. Carrasco has a touch of Steve Blass Disease which marginalizes his value. Carpenter is looking great and you have to wonder about Savery, a Bruce Ruffin type. Keep Drabek, but throw in his dad an Wheels in any package.
Posted 09:20 AM, 07/09/2009
zwarte piet
why arent we dealing with the pirates? they have been practically giving away their best players in trades for the past few years.. atlanta has stolen mclouth and gonzalez from them, nyy stole nady and marte, boston stole bay. why is it that the best amaro can do with that team is swap backup catchers (jaramillo for paulino)? right now, there are three pitchers on the pirates i would like to see on this team - duke, maholm, grabow. i would make an offer on halladay, one that would contain plenty of talent but fall short of "blowing him away". then i would tell the jays gm, i am pursuing these pirates pitchers.. the jays gm knows whats up - that the pirates give away talent. either that entices him to take the reasonable offer for halladay or not.. if not, then you can go after these talented pirates pitchers.. i swear i could do a better job than amaro as gm.
Posted 10:02 AM, 07/09/2009
Your Majesty
Martino makes a valid point: this is a negotiation. If the total price is low enough, then Drabek is gone. Labeling him "untouchable" doesn't make him so -- it just establishes a limit on the Phillies' acceptable price.
About Andy Martino
Andy Martino is in his first season on the Phillies beat. A former New York City public school teacher and graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he previously wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered baseball and worked with the award-winning investigative sports "I-team."
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