It's been a forgettable pair of seasons and a sharp fall from his status as arguably the game's best pitcher for Roy Halladay. Halladay will carry a 6.82 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in just 62 innings into free agency this offseason, but Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters, including Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News, that he hopes Halladay has a future with the Phillies:
"I try not to think in absolutes with him. If we think he’s going to be a viable possibility for us, we’d like to try to bring him back. I’d like to think it’s not the last we’ll see of Doc."
Halladay's struggles began in 2012, as he was limited to just 159 1/3 innings of 4.49 ERA ball by a strained lat muscle that cost him nearly two months of action. This season, after trying to pitch through shoulder pain and barely cracking 90 mph with his fastball, Halladay gave in and underwent surgery in May. The operation removed bone spurs in addition to repairing both his rotator cuff and labrum.
Lawrence notes that Amaro conceded any deal for Halladay would have to be one in which both parties share the risk, or in other words, an incentive-laden deal. The Phillies already face uncertainty in their rotation beyond aces Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels; Cuban righty Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez projects to occupy one spot but hasn't thrown a Major League pitch before, and Kyle Kendrick saw his own season come to an end due to a shoulder injury.
