Jays Looking For Quality Over Quantity In Any Halladay Deal

The Blue Jays will look for quality over quantity if they deal Roy Halladay this winter, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. As one Blue Jays official says, the team will obtain two draft picks if they let Doc walk after 2010, so top young talent is a must in any trade.

"We would rather have one above-average impact guy than eight ordinary guys," the official said.

That's hardly a surprise, given that the Jays were demanding multiple top prospects for Halladay this summer, when names like Clay Buchholz, Derek Holland, Justin Smoak and Kyle Drabek popped up in trade talks. Executives tell Sherman that the Jays aren't likely to obtain as much for their ace now as they could have this summer.

Halladay, who will earn a base salary of $15.75MM next year, will hit free agency after the season, so Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos can't demand as much as his predecessor, J.P. Ricciardi.

However, this year's class of starting pitchers falls off after John Lackey, so executives expect the Jays to field strong offers for the 2003 Cy Young Award winner. And Anthopoulos has committed "unprecedented" resources to scouting, so it may make sense for the club to deal Halladay and spend in other areas.