A Halladay trade proposal
By Jon Lane
Roy Halladay is open to the idea of playing for the Yankees, telling the media yesterday his “priority would be winning” and not a hefty contract extension. Halladay not only has a full no-trade clause, he added he’d be fine with pitching in the homer haven that’s become the new Yankee Stadium and the added pressure of playing in New York.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of media people that wouldn’t love me,” Halladay said during a press conference that announced him as tonight’s starter for the AL All-Star team. “But I think, for me, I’ve always been able to separate field from off-field. I’ve realized that I can’t make everybody happy all of the time. Sometimes, that includes media … We’ll try and do the best I can, but that’s always the way I’m going to be.”
The roadblocks are economics – Halladay makes $14.25 million this year and $15.75 million next year before being eligible for free agency in November 2010 – and the thought of the Blue Jays trading their best pitcher to a division rival.
The Yankees are not optimistic that they’ll land the 32-year-old right-hander, writes Ken Davidoff, who adds the Phillies are generally regarded as the favorites. But what they have to offer (along with the Phillies) is a chance to win a World Series and the ability to blow J.P. Riccardi away with a strong package out of their farm system. The Yankees aren’t getting Halladay for Ian Kennedy and Andrew Brackman. Figure on the Jays asking for Phil Hughes (and that’s for starters), but I have a proposal that just might work.
Joba Chamberlain, Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero. (I may even throw in Kennedy if a suitor isn’t scared off by an aneurysm that will keep him out until next year.)
Anytime you surrender top prospects it’s a major risk that at least one becomes a superstar. But in this case, give me production over potential any day. Halladay remains in the prime of his career, and unlike Johan Santana there isn’t a risk that health will betray him in a middle of a long-term contract. Hughes’ lights-out performance in the bullpen looks like it’ll launch him into a long career as a front-line starter. Chamberlain’s struggles have his stock dropping a bit, but not to where teams will be turned off completely. The Blue Jays can still develop him as a starter, away from New York’s bright lights and endorsement temptations, or say forget that, let’s make him our closer.
Jackson is being hyped as a franchise center fielder, but as my colleague Glenn Giangrande wrote last week, Lastings Milledge was once a can’t-miss outfield prospect, and right now the Yankees are receiving surprising contributions from both Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera. Montero has grand potential written all over him too, but there’s no guarantee he’ll remain a catcher. Even if he does, wouldn’t you take your chances on Francisco Cervelli or Austin Romine once (or if) Jorge Posada retires at the end of his contract in 2011 if it meant getting Halladay?
Kevin Kernan made his pro-Halladay case today too, going as far to remind everyone that the Red Sox once traded Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell. That won them a World Series in 2007 and it took guts. The Yankees may have to learn from history.
YES Blog 
I am thinking the Yankees will sign him. I think if they want him, which he has talent so they might, they will get him.
http://tribechick.mlblogs.com/
How does Hughes’s job in the pen mean he’ll make a good starter. Look at Joba; he was fantastic in the pen, and while he may end up a great starter yet (I hope so) he is not one now.
Also, the Yankees are total fools to trade Montero. He’s not just doing “well”, he’s doing historically fantastic. Mark my words, he’ll be a cornerstone of our franchise.
I’m on the fence about the Yankees trading Joba or Austin Jackson, but Montero no way!! He is a keeper and will be the franchise in a few years whether it’s as a catcher, outfielder, dh or whatever he ends up as. He is the next Mike Piazza just hopefully with better catching skills. Here’s an alternate trade proposal. If it cost’s Joba to get Halladay then fine but not Hughes. Replace Austin Romine for Montero and throw in another pitching prospect like Dellin Betances or Jeremy Bleich. That’s more than fair for one guy even if he is the best pitcher in the league. It just shouldn’t cost the Yankees an arm and a leg to get Halladay at 32 years old and have to pay him $30 million for only 2 years.
How bout no prospects and trade joba and cano. Two guys that just have pretty bad attitudes and dont seem to have good heads on there shoudlers. I mean joba with his stupid DUI to start then acting very careless in interviews postgames about how garbage of an outing he just had. he could go 4 1/3 and walk 5 and give up 4 runs and say ” well yea but i struck out 5″ lol. and cano who is way to much of a free swinger amd has no paitence. I dont think he will ever reach his full potenial. He doesn’t take it serious enough he has a smile on his face a little to much. To being benched last year for not hustling as well. And just an absolute horrible clutch hitter. and if you were the jays why wouldnt you take a chance on that. Remember you gotta give a little to get a little.
Yes trade Joba while he’s still has top value. He will be a stud anywhere but here where stupid people (seems like 90% of Yankee fans but probably only really half) have heaped unreal expectations on him. Stupid people that expect him to be God but don’t have the patience to wait the 2 or 3 years that it will actually take him to get close to meeting those expectations (as it does with every pitcher not named Lincecum or Gooden).
Stupid people that boo a 23 year old after a bad start. Stupid people that forget that he’s coming off a shoulder injury after he was lights out as a starter last year consistently throwing 93-97. Stupid people that forget it took Hughes a year and a half to get back to throwing 91-94 consistently. Wake up, dummies. Phil was throwing 88-91 last year. Is it not possible that Joba needs a year to get it back? And as much as I love Hughes, did it really take 12 innings in the pen for people to forget that he’s got a 5.15 ERA as a starter (5.45 this year) and got past the 5th twice in 7 starts? And that he had 3 other starts where he finished 5 innings exactly and gave up 3 or more runs all 3 times? Joba had a 2.75 last year as a starter before he got hurt. 3.89 this year before his last 2 starts and people acted like he was Edwin Jackson of old (oh wait, after 5 years patience paid off with him). The stupidity of the majority of Yankee fans is astounding. You yes trade Joba now so I don’t have to hear a 23 year old whose head is messed up because, HELLO, his mother has not talked to him in years and just got busted selling meth. Trade him. He’ll never be good here.
Brian cashman has done a great job building our farm system.
What a waste it would be to once again deplete our farm of good young talent does history not teach the yankees any thing
We have a chance to be competitive for a very long time. andy.
No.
I wouldn’t stand it if we traded our two best prospects and the one guy whom we think has the brightest future in the soonest time, in Chamberlain.
I don’t care if it’s Roy Halladay, you don’t win by trading away every member of the farm system. You win by building the farm system. The Rays got to the WS last year by building their farm system. They were beaten by a team who’s main stars were grown in the farm system.
You’re out of your mind if you think that trading Joba, Montero and A-Jax for Halladay would help.
Sorry. I get mean sometimes.
-EJ the Kid From New York
http://yankeesquad.mlblogs.com
Hey Mega, in what universe was Joba a lights out starter???
He is a pen guy, period. It does not matter what team he goes to. Every scout out there now knows he is a end of the game guy.
The only problem is the Yankees have yet to admit that.
After 30 starts you would expect progress, you have only seen regression.
Hughes just needed to prove to himself he could get major league hitters out, and now he knows he can. Once he is put back in the rotation and ***key *** stays healthy, we will have finally produced a pitcher from our crappy system.
Halliday is 32. I know he’s a quality pitcher, but 32 in baseball world is not young. The Jays are going to want the world for him. Joba and Hughes are in their early 20s. We built the core of our recent championship teams from within our system (Derek, Mariano, Bernie, Jorge, Andy etc). We have not so much as gutted but disabled that system in recent years though poor trades and free agency that has produced no championships. Back then, we acquired quality players, like Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, David Cone, David Wells, Scott Brosius and Jimmy Key who were not prima donna superstars, but hardcore, down-to-earth baseball players who cared about winning, wearing the poinstipes and not solely about their incomes. If we trade for a similar type of player and trust farm systems to produce quality players, the championships will return. I know the culture of baseball has changed since that era, but there are still quality players who care about the game and winning.
Hey pelican im not sure if you mixed my blog with someone else’s or just can’t read. Cause No where did i say Joba was lights out as starter. I said how it seems to me that he doesn’t have a good head on his shoulders but i do agree he should be in the pen, but thats not where he is and wont be for the rest of year. Everyone lets remember we only have really 3 starters. With a staff that looked so good preseason is now recuced to just AJ, CC, Andy cause Joba has basically given you nothing and well we all the Wang situation and now he is on the DL. So who knows if he’ll return this year and if he does you’ll get pretty much nothing outta him (pitch count limit being so low). I still stand by my thought NO prospects. just Joba and Cano. with Roy CC AJ and Andy. we can just call up mitre or get a cheap buy for a 5th starter somewhere. but with thoes 4. Now thats a staff. 32 is by no means old either he has another another 3-4 years of being the same old halladay.
Hey….inyomommasbed2……What;s stupid is YOU making suppositons about Yankee fans. Yankee fans are among the most knowledgeable in the game.
And here’s an FYI genius….if Joba needs a couple of years to develop, then why in the hell isn’t he doing it in the MINORS?? he’s pitching like a AA pitcher right now, and I even doubt that his mediocre stuff could get out AA hitters consistently. After all….you still have to throw STRIKES which he seems to have lost the knack for.
And the way this kid is pitching, he deserves to get booed. You and Girardi seem to think that telling him that he’s great when he SUCKS is the best way to handle this kid. Well it isn’t. If the Yanks are so intent on making this kid a starter, then he should be in the MINORS learning how to throw STRIKES.
Here’s the bottom line….Joba is a bust as a starter. He was fantastic out of the pen, and the Yankee brass has ruined him. Are the Yankee fans supposed to CHEER about that? I think not.
So before you go running your uneducated mouth about the stupidity of Yankee fans, just take a look at the reality of the situation pal. That is…if you aren’t too stupid to to see it.
Does anyone like this.A-rod for Roy Halladay strate up deal.
The opportunity to make the perfect acquistion that could turn our very good team into a playoff dominant team and probable world series champion has presented itself. We have abundant talented prospects and young pitchers to entice the Blue Jays to trade Roy Halladay to us. Let Joba and Pena and Montero mature in the calm Canadian air and let’s decide to win NOW and next year. It’s in the palm of our hands.
hey pelicansnowslide, Halladay is one of those kind of players, only better than all of them!