Red Sox Trade Rumors: Roy Halladay, Manny Delcarmen, Takashi Saito

(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

One of the most recent—and surprising—rumors popped up today, as Buster Olney wondered if the Red Sox would try to make an offer to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay, whom the Jays are apparently willing to trade.

Not surprisingly, it was mere speculation rather than a legitimate rumor or possibility, just people pointing out that the Red Sox could afford to pay Halladay's salary and have the young talent to pull off a deal.

The detractors claim the Red Sox have stubbornly clung on to their young pitchers like a small child does with a blanket or stuffed animal. Johan Santana wasn't enticing enough to make Theo Epstein give up John Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Buchholz, or any other top prospect in 2007, and Halladay will probably create a similar scenario now.

The bigger obstacle to a deal is the fact that the teams compete in the same division.

With both teams playing in the AL East, not only would the Jays be unwilling to send their ace to a division rival, but the Red Sox would also not want to send some of their top prospects to a rival inside the division.

Would it lead Toronto to ask for more prospects from the Red Sox, seeing as how Boston would land one of the best pitchers in the game? Most likely.

With this, would the Red Sox continue to pursue a deal? Probably not.

In fact, given the current state of the Red Sox's pitching, they are most likely not in the market for Halladay, and while they haven't even made a call to Toronto to discuss the pitcher, barring a major injury, I don't think anyone sees the Sox becoming players for Halladay.

Not that it's a rumor—Olney really was just noting that the Red Sox could be a fit for Halladay—it would take some real desperation for Epstein to start looking to play ball with Toronto on a deal.

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