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Roy Halladay

Heyman On Phillies Rotation Options

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SI.com's Jon Heyman spoke with Ruben Amaro Jr. and heard that the Phillies GM is after "depth at the top of the rotation." Here are the specifics of Heyman's analysis:

  • The Phillies want a "more established" player than Antonio Bastardo to replace the injured Brett Myers.
  • Amaro admits that swinging a deal is "tough to do" even with expendable young players like John Mayberry Jr., Lou Marson, Carlos Carrasco and Jason Donald.
  • Jake Peavy remains a logical fit, but there's no indication he'd accept a deal to Philly.  
  • Erik Bedard, at $7.75MM this year, fits within the Phillies' budget.  
  • Heyman agrees with Buster Olney: there's no guarantee Roy Oswalt will be dealt, but he would interest the Phillies.
  • Cliff Lee hasn't hit the market and Blue Jays people maintain that Roy Halladay isn't available, but Amaro isn't shying away from any top pitchers that become available. He says he wants "the best [he] can get." It appears that Brad Penny would not be enough for Philadelphia.
  • Chris Young and Aaron Harang are names to watch out for, as they could become available. 

Stark On Peavy, Oswalt, Phillies, DeRosa, Giants

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Let's take a look at the latest Rumblings and Grumblings column from ESPN's Jayson Stark.

  • The Padres' recent winning streak has not changed their intention of trading Jake Peavy.  The Dodgers and Cubs are in Peavy's first tier of choices, follwed by the Giants, Cardinals, and Astros.  The Angels would be the one AL team he'd consider.  The East Coast is a long shot.  Also, Peavy will want his 2011-13 partial no-trade clause to become a full no-trade.  Peavy's friend Roy Oswalt has been unsuccessful in lobbying Astros owner Drayton McLane, as the 'Stros can't take on Peavy's contract.  As for the Dodgers, GM Ned Colletti told the L.A. Times he hasn't talked to the Padres about Peavy since the pitcher vetoed the White Sox deal.
  • Stark talked to scouts who believe Oswalt has "lost his edge" and needs a change of scenery.  The Phillies have inquired on him, but they've asked about everyone: Peavy, Brandon Webb, Roy Halladay, Doug Davis, Erik Bedard, Cliff Lee, Aaron Harang, Brad Penny, Chris Young and Jason Marquis.  Popular Phillies trade targets include Lou Marson, Jason Donald, Carlos Carrasco, Travis D'Arnaud, Freddy Galvis, Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown, and Antonio Bastardo.
  • The Braves are interested in bringing Mark DeRosa back to Atlanta.  He came up with them and was non-tendered in '04 after tearing his ACL.  But to deal young arms, the Braves would want an impact bat.  Stark says they're "mostly listening" rather than shopping Jeff Francoeur.  His trade value is difficult to gauge.
  • The Mets seem content to wait out the first base trade market.
  • The Giants seek a middle-of-the-order bat, and Jonathan Sanchez is being dangled.  Three targets they haven't had success on are Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu, and possibly Carlos Lee.  Lee, according to one Stark source, doesn't intend to waive his no-trade for anyone.

Why Are So Many Pitchers Still Unsigned?

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We are nearing Memorial Day, and many pitchers whose resumes would normally have landed them at least a minor-league deal by now remain unsigned.

  • Pedro Martinez is still homeless. While the complication may be in part due to Pedro's salary demands, it is surprising that nobody has signed him. Yes, his ERA was an unsightly 5.61 in 2008, but his 2007 stint was far better-2.57 ERA in 28 innings. His 87 strikeouts against 44 walks in 109 innings also suggests a pitcher who can help a team on the back end of a rotation. Given that it is Pedro Martinez, there is upside well beyond that, of course.
  • Odalis Perez remains strangely unsigned after his even stranger signing that wasn't with Washington this spring. Perez turns 32 on June 7, and had a perfectly average 2008, with a 4.34 ERA in 159 2/3 innings. Obviously, those numbers could help any number of teams.
  • Paul Byrd did what he always does in 2008-posted an ERA in the mid 4s (4.60 to be exact), struck out around four per nine innings, and kept his team in the game. Yet Byrd has yet to sign with anyone, either.

The lack of movement on these pitchers can't be due to overwhelming performances by all the starters currently employed. After all, there's Jamie Moyer and his 8.15 ERA, Carlos Silva and his 8.48 ERA, Oliver Perez and his 9.97 ERA… plenty of others at sixes and sevens, from Scott Olsen to Scott Kazmir. (Even as I type this, Moyer is giving up another home run. No, really.)

My suspicion is that teams view Martinez, Perez or Byrd as band-aid solutions. And that would be fine, normally. After all, band-aids have a rich tradition of stopping people from bleeding.

But the trade market for pitchers has the most top targets it's had in years. The Padres are already 10 games out, and Jake Peavy will likely hit the market. If Cincinnati fades, Aaron Harang could be available. If Toronto falls back to earth- and the smart money still has them finishing fourth- Roy Halladay could be someone else's ace by August. And Cleveland's Cliff Lee will be a prominent target as well.

There are even second-tier options that can help teams now and in the future, from Baltimore's Jeremy Guthrie to Seattle's Erik Bedard.  And in the current economic climate, teams that fall out of the race may have even greater incentive to shed salary as soon as possible.

So it may well be that for veteran free agents, the market will only pick up once the trade deadline has come and gone. And with so many targets out there, once the deadline deals are made July 31, there may not be any place for Martinez, Perez or Byrd to land.

Discussion: What Should The Jays Do?

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The Blue Jays are 24-14, leading the Red Sox by two games. It's early- we're not even a quarter of the way through the season- but the Jays have done better than anyone expected. Heading into the season questions about Roy Halladay's future swirled and some wondered whether the Jays might attempt to unload salary and deal the likes of Lyle Overbay, Scott Rolen, B.J. Ryan and Vernon Wells . So what should J.P. Ricciardi and the Blue Jays do?

  • Decide that the team can't maintain the pace it has set through 38 games and take offers for Halladay and others?
  • Wait it out until they've has played more than just three total games against the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox?  
  • Change the plan and go for broke this season, making whatever moves are required to put the team over the top? 
  • The Jays could use a better backup to Rod Barajas, but don't have other major holes thanks to good health and some breakout performances from Marco Scutaro and Adam Lind.
  • They have so much starting pitching depth that, as Mike Rutsey of the Toronto Sun writes, the team is keeping Casey Janssen and Ricky Romero in the minors for now since there's no room for them. 

 So are the Jays legit? How should they proceed with their season? 

The Asking Price For Doc Halladay

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Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi told Jon Heyman of SI.com on Saturday that his club isn't actively shopping Roy Halladay and would need a "boatload" in return if a deal was made.

"I don't think we're in the market to do that at his point," said Ricciardi.  "We like our team next year with Halladay. … If we ever did get to that point, we'd want a boatlad.  And I don't know whether anyone would offer a boatload.  But obviously, we're not at that point."

The Jays are off to a franchise record 17-9 start and aren't likely to be sellers if they can keep up the pace.  But you can be sure Ricciardi will be fielding phone calls either way.

Stark’s Latest: Halladay, Vlad, Magglio

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Jayson Stark's most recent column over at ESPN.com is absolutely chock-full of rumors and information…

  • Marlins president David Samson doesn't anticipate the Marlins ever implementing a fire sale again.  "We've put ourselves in a position, with salaries and the performance we're getting from players at a young age, that we don't have to do that anymore," said Samson.  The new stadium should help with attendance, which should in turn help with payroll.
  • Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi doesn't see his club trading Roy Halladay this season.  "I still don't see us doing it," said Ricciardi.  "I know ownership doesn't want to do it.  And I don't think, in my gut, that Doc really wants to be anywhere else."
  • Some MLB officials believe Vladimir Guerrero's recent pectoral injury could severely affect his free agent value this offseason.  "He could be a $1 million player in a year, with $4 million in incentives," said an unnamed official of one team.  "He's a tough guy to commit to."
  • Pedro Martinez continues to demand a $5 million paycheck.  It's doubtful any team, no matter how desperate, would commit to that price.
  • Some folks in the baseball world think Magglio Ordonez might be made available near the trade deadline.  Magglio has vesting options for 2010 and 2011, however, which could complicate a potential deal.
  • Teams are also tracking a few other Tigers players, including Carlos Guillen and Placido Polanco.

Halladay Situation Looms Over Blue Jays

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We talked about Jake Peavy, so we might as well bring up Roy Halladay too.  Which would you rather have? 

In the Globe and Mail today, Jeff Blair says Halladay's future is the 2009 storyline for the Blue Jays.  Halladay is signed through 2010, and GM J.P. Ricciardi has been all over the map in his comments about trading his ace.  At the least, the situation seems similar to Peavy in that the GM is not thinking about making a trade right now.

As for the possibility of an extension, Halladay said he'd prefer to wait until the offseason but added, "circumstances can change."  Halladay commented to the Toronto Star about the trade talk:

"For me, I just feel like it's a different situation.  I'm still under contract for two years and unless you force something, create a big stir, it's not even an option for me. I feel like I'm still happy here. I feel like I have a chance to win here and that would be my ultimate goal, to win a World Series here, more than anywhere else."

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Yankees, Oil Can, Halladay, Mets

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On this date 21 years ago, the Baltimore Orioles traded Ray Knight to the Tigers, only one year after signing the World Series hero as a free agent. The O’s received Mark Thurmond, who would go 1-8 in 1988 with an 85 ERA+. Knight would only play 105 games for the Tigers before retiring. With spring training now in full swing, several veteran free agents are still without contracts or guaranteed jobs and may be on the verge of retirement. Let’s take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • More Hardball puts together a 25-man roster of veteran players in camps on minor league deals.
  • 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba spoke with Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch about a number of topics including what the will happen once the current contracts for Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter expire.
  • Sully Baseball makes a case for a team, any team, signing Oil Can Boyd.
  • The Phrontiersman takes a look at the possibility of the Phillies trading for Roy Halladay at some point during the season.
  • Megamets argues for the Mets adding Dennys Reyes, over the other available lefty relievers.
  • The Sports Banter puts together their own list of off-season winners.
  • Midwest Sports Fans project the Twins opening day roster.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here.

Ricciardi Discusses Halladay

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Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is tired of the Roy Halladay rumors, even though they are entirely his fault.  He told ESPN’s Jayson Stark:

"Roy Halladay is not going anywhere," Ricciardi says, as emphatically as he can possibly say it without grabbing a bullhorn or splashing it on a billboard. "This has become kind of a hot topic in baseball, but we’re not trading him. We have no intention of trading him. He allows us to be good. And we feel we are going to be good. And he’s going to be The Guy."  So there. It’s settled, right? Trading his ace has never entered the GM’s mind?  "Nope," the GM says succinctly.

But here’s Ricciardi about a week ago, to Joel Sherman of the New York Post:

"Ownership wants no part of trading Roy at this time.  He’s the face of the organization. Right now we are not thinking about going down that road. But that is what we feel in February. Who knows how you feel in June?  We have thought about it, this has not escaped us [that Halladay could leave as a free agent, and trading him might be best for the long-term health of the organization].  In June, we may have to say. ’Is this the way we want to go?’ It will be up to ownership, and ownership has a strong attachment to Doc."

Ricciardi left the door wide open in his quotes to Sherman, and that was his choice.  Ricciardi also had this to say to CBSSports.com’s Scott Miller:

"The only way we’d trade him, I’d say, is if all hell broke loose and the stock market went nuts and (ownership) said we’ve got to take the payroll down to bare bones.  And if that was the case, then we’d be trading a lot of people."

If Ricciardi had made his emphatic statements to Sherman or Miller, we wouldn’t be talking about Halladay.

Heyman’s Latest: Cabrera, Pudge, Pedro, Halladay

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Already linked to this article from Jon Heyman in the Manny piece, but it should have its own post as well, as the second half of it covers completely different material. Let’s take a look…

  • Orlando Cabrera and the A’s still face a gap in the numbers. The A’s would like to sign him for $2MM-$3MM, but Cabrera is holding out for more. The hit his reputation took based on problems with his former White Sox teammates is unlikely to be helping matters.
  • Heyman points out that the Dodgers did an excellent job of using Cabrera’s availability to drive down Orlando Hudson’s price tag.
  • Heyman says Pudge Rodriguez’s reputation also took a hit toward the end of his tenure in Detroit. Could that be playing a factor in the lack of interest toward Pudge? Heyman names the Marlins and Astros as good fits. Pudge will use the WBC as an audition to try to prove he’s better than he was with the Yankees (.580 OPS through 33 games).
  • Pedro Martinez will also use the WBC as an audition, but other than the Pirates, there’s not much of a market for him. That could change with a solid showing in March, however. The Indians made a run at Pedro early on, and the Dodgers could become a possibility.
  • Heyman speculates that with Vernon Wells’ health issues and declining production, the stars may aligning for a Roy Halladay trade mid-season. Wells will miss the next month with a hamstring injury.

What’s everyone else think? Is Cabrera being stubborn or are the A’s? Where will Pudge and Pedro end up? Are Halladay’s Toronto days numbered?

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