In My Humble Opinion: Halladay Will Stay Put, and Other Musings

Simply Put, Roy Halladay is a franchise player, and it will take a king's ransom of prospects to pry him away from the clutches of the Blue Jays.

In addition, Halladay may be the franchise player for the Jays. He's the one guy who makes them relevant in a highly competitive baseball landscape in both his own division and the game itself.

What will transpire over the next five days will be a test of wills. Will one team give up a package of prospects on the brink of stardom for a proven ace pitcher who's on the fast track to the AL Cy Young?

The Phillies have already said no, but are very much still in the running. Could the Angels or Yankees be the ones to bite?

It should be an interesting week nonetheless.

Here are some other thoughts pertaining to the sports world this week:

• As a Red Sox fan, I'm happy that they got something for Julio Lugo. Ironically, Chris Duncan is a guy who never lived up to his full potential with the Cardinals. Here's hoping both can benefit from the change of scenery.
• Adam LaRoche is a tailor made hitter for the confines of Fenway Park. Therefore, I like the deal and I wouldn't be surprised if the Red Sox are not done dealing.
• Did you hear that Bronson Arroyo was upset at Dusty Baker for not leaving him in to face Manny Ramirez the other night? Arroyo's rationale was that he knew how to pitch to him because they were teammates. Based on what happened, you'd like to think that Arroyo would have kept the ball in the yard.
• I think there's no better pitcher to watch from a control and quickness standpoint than Mark Buehrle, although I do think he owes Dewayne Wise a bottle of champagne for preserving his perfect game.
• Dwight Howard is the best center in the NBA today, but to say he's as good as Shaq in his prime is a little far fetched at the moment. Check back with me in two years.
• If Michael Vick returns to the NFL, I think he'd do better with a contending team because there won't be as much pressure on him to preform at his peak level.
• The Sporting News says that the Saints have the best chance to reverse their fortunes and become an elite team. I personally think the offense is fine, but the defense needs a little work for them to really contend.
• I really like ESPN2's new show SportsNation, it makes the fans a focal point of the discussions and values their opinions. Plus, it's a good source for column ideas.
• Congratulations to all the Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. As far as next year goes, I believe that Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin are shoe-ins.
• The boxing column I wrote last week was a mistake; I tried to diversify myself by writing a niche sport article on something I knew little about. However, I still stand by every point I made in that article, and the fact I used Don King as a name proved that I'm misinformed and that boxing needs to do a better job marketing to the average sports fan.
• I've been hearing tons of Rickey Henderson stories this week so I thought I'd share my favorite. Years ago Rickey had to miss a game due to frostbite because he fell asleep with an ice pack on!
• I saw Stephen A. Smith on MSNBC talking about politics the other day. Does this mean that President Obama will appear on ESPN to talk about Jay Cuter in the near future?
• Speaking of the President, after watching his ceremonial first pitch, I think with a little work on his mechanics he could easily become a member of the Washington Nationals.
• The longer Brett Favre keeps the charade of will he on won't he up, the more respect I lose for him.
• I would have never thought that Phil Hughes would become a quality setup man at any stage of his career.
• Last week's trivia answer was Bo Jackson, this week's question, who was the first player to go into the Hall of Fame with a Padres hat on his plaque?
• Maybe the Rangers should hand out free antibiotics at their games to fans just as a precaution.
• Then again, the Nationals should pay their fans to keep them from getting sick from watching them!