Phillies positioned to add Halladay

[Guest The Situation]

Phillies well-positioned to add Halladay

 

INDIANAPOLIS - The Phillies and Roy Halladay will be linked until the Toronto Blue Jays finally trade their ace to Philadelphia or elsewhere. And despite general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.'s attempts to downplay his interest, much of his off-season work has created conditions that make a trade for Halladay possible.

 

Before leaving the winter meetings yesterday morning, Amaro was asked if he was likely to make a major trade in this off-season. "I don't think there is any likeliness," he said. "There is nothing likely. How about that?"

 

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/homepage/20091211_Phillies_well-positioned_to_add_Halladay.html

 

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Phillies boldly raising the bar in NL

 

After almost a decade in which democracy ruled in the NL, Philadelphia is becoming the Yankees of its league: the king who wants more. Already the two-time league champion, the Phillies, given their aggressiveness and stockpile of young talent, are emerging as the favorite to land Toronto ace Roy Halladay. Anybody want to pick against the Phillies being the NL's first three-peat champ since the 1942-44 Cardinals if Cole Hamels is their number three pitcher behind Halladay and Cliff Lee?

 

"They've been very aggressive," one baseball source said about the Phillies' pursuit of Halladay. "They're putting together a package, even if they need another team. They're trying to find the players [on other teams] the Blue Jays want to get it done."

 

The Angels also have been aggressive on Halladay. Owner Arte Moreno knows by now he must build a team not just to win the AL West, but also to beat the Yankees, and he knows he's not doing that unless he gets an ace like Halladay to pitch against that lineup in October. But remember, Halladay owns a no-trade clause. He lives minutes from the Phillies' spring training site in Clearwater, Fla. He is 32 years old and married with two children. If he were a free agent, and assuming both teams are World Series-type contenders, would he choose to play for a team that affords him eight more weeks at home, or one that trains in Arizona and plays its home games across the country?

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/tom_verducci/12/10/winter.meetings.phillies/index.html

Edited December 11, 2009 by The Situation

[Universe]

Send all the youth to the Jays then have him walk to the Yankees 12 months later.

[Phightins]

I am pretty much numb to these rumors by now, I have been hearing them since July.

 

And Universe, the Phillies are so protective of their young guys that I see no way Amaro pulls the trigger on anything with Halladay unless an extension is on the table beforehand.

[Guest The Situation]

Ya I'm not getting excited.

 

I think the Phils have what the Jays want.

 

If the Jays ask for too much and get stubborn the Phils can easily back off like they did when they signed Lee.

[Phightins]

Phillies do not have the money, either (at least I don't see where it's coming from). They have said their budget is $140 million, and they are pretty much there now, and they STILL have to sign some pieces to fill out the bullpen and perhaps a bottom-of-the-rotation starter. Plus they have a TON of guys in line for new deals and major raises in the next few years (Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee, Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino, Cole Hamels, Carlos Ruiz, Joe Blanton). It is already looking like they have no chance to keep Howard and Werth long term, possibly other guys from that list. Where this money for a new Halladay contract comes from, I have no idea. I think that some people (mainly the clueless sports radio guys in Philadelphia) assume that because there is no salary cap in baseball, and because the Phillies have been so successful, that they just have an endless supply of money. It just isn't true.

 

Also, the Phillies farm system was recently rated fourth in all of baseball by Baseball America. Fourth best!!! Obviously everyone knows how loaded the MLB team is right now, but with the way they have drafted and developed their young guys they could honestly keep this run up for a long time. I do not want to sacrifice that for just one year of Roy Halladay, which is why for obvious reasons they'd need to have an extension worked out before trading for him (if that can even happen financially).

Edited December 11, 2009 by Phightins

[Cobb]

I keep hearing they are and then they aren't. I'm getting confused so much.

[Phightins]

I keep hearing they are and then they aren't. I'm getting confused so much.

 

Because Ruben Amaro has said that they probably aren't trying to make a big move. But he is bluffing like he always does, and almost everybody knows it. ESPN just hasn't caught on.

[fish7718]

I keep hearing they are and then they aren't. I'm getting confused so much.

Haha thats the winter meetings for you, same thing with CC last year. Like Phightins said you get pretty numb to it after years of dealing with it.

[Smitty]

Yeah, these baseball rumors are really confusing....I swear it feels like I've heard 100 diff things throughout the week.