Roy Halladay: Where WIll He Land?

The Toronto Blue Jays Senior V.P. of Baseball Operations and General Manager has a big decision to make between now and the July 31 trade deadline. 

Should J.P. Ricciardi trade his franchise pitcher Roy Halladay? 

Roy Halladay is arguably baseball's best pitcher and you would think that Toronto would be crazy to deal him, right? 

Wrong. 

Teams will be lining up to try to piece together a deal that will hopefully turn their franchise around. 

Halladay is that franchise changing pitcher, but at what cost? 

Halladay's will earn $14.25 million this season, and $15.75 million next season, which to me means as many as 12 teams could be interested in acquiring the big right-hander. 

There is, however, one glaring issue.  Halladay has a full no-trade clause, meaning he would have to stamp his approval on any deal before it is to be completed. 

So Roy may only approve deals to contending teams that he feels best provide him with a chance to win a championship.  This bridges the gap tremendously.

Teams looking to get one step closer to a ring may be willing to "sell the farm" in order to land him,  but will "the farm" be good enough for General Manager J.P. Ricciardi and the rest of the Blue Jay organization? 

Ricciardi has said publicly that he wants at least three to four top prospects, and many of the contending teams like the Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Rangers, Angels, Rays, Yankees and Red Sox may be unwilling to give up thier young talent for just one player who, lets face it, plays every five days!

Of these contending teams it seems to me that there are only three or four viable options in which Toronto would be comfortable dealing Halladay to.  Now I don't believe that the Jays will trade him within the division so that eliminates the Yankees and Red Sox.

The AL Central teams do not have the type of prospects that I think the Jays will be looking for so I'm going to eliminate the AL Central. 

The Rangers have the prospects including a 20-year-old right handed phenom Neftali Feliz who was sent to Texas as part of the deal that sent current Yankee first basemen Mark Teixeira to Atlanta. 

Feliz has a fastball that can reach 100 miles per hour with a developing curveball and changeup. The kid also has very fluid mechanics. While the Rangers are having a great season, it remains to be seen if they can keep pace with the Angels.

The Blue Jays will find lots of interesting prospects in the National League, starting out west with the division-leading Dodgers. 

Now that the B.J. Ryan experiment has come to a screeching hault, Toronto may look to a young closer as part of a deal for Halladay. 

Look no further than Dodgers young right hander Jason McDonald.  The 6'5" 195-pound reliever is skyrocketing up the Dodger system. McDonald was originally an outfielder before being converted to a pitcher.  His fastball averaged around 92 miles per hour while coming up the ladder as a starter, then he went to the pen where he saw his fastball consistently reach the mid 90's.

He has a strong changeup and breaking ball and will change speeds often to keep hitters off balance.

They may change the movie from "Where The West Was Won" to "Where The Central Was Won."  With the Cardinals and Cubs as strong candidates to land Halladay, this may in fact decide the NL Central pennant race. 

The Cardinals-Cubs rivalry is well known around baseball, and if a bidding war was to commence between these two teams, it would only intensify this already bitter rivalry.

The first place Cardinals are no strangers to rolling the dice when it comes to trades or free agency.  They traded for Mark McGwire in 1997, Jim Edmonds in 2000, and Scott Rolen days before the trade deadline in 2002. 

Now they may land Halladay in 2009. 

The Blue Jays would sure to be asking for a package of OF Colby Rasmus, 3B Brett Wallace and RP Jason Motte. 

Rasmus is a five-tool centerfielder with good power and can steal bases at will. Wallace is a left handed hitting third basemen with tremendous power to all fields and great plate discipline.  He may not stick at third as some question his ability to stay in shape for that position.  Either way, he should have no problem in the big leagues.

Although Motte does not project to be much more than a middle reliever, he can strike out hitters at will with his nasty breaking stuff and is durable enough to pitch consecutive days.

The Cubs have had... shall we say, a tough existence.  Maybe Halladay is the guy to turn it all around. 

Toronto is sure to express interest in acquiring 3B Josh Vitters and P Jeff Samardzija.

Vitters has great bat speed and makes great contact every time he swings.  He has great hand-eye coordination and good power.

Samardzija can start or come out of the pen.  His fastball would probably max at about 93 miles per hour if he starts, and 97 miles per hour if he comes out of the pen.  If the bullpen is the way Toronto would use him, they would be best off to make him the closer, allowing him to utilize all his power pitches.  His slider can be devastating if used to setup his fastball.

These four teams may have the best opportunity to land the franchise-changing Halladay. 

Whoever lands him is sure to pay a heafty price,  but the reward could be much, much sweeter.