Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Red Sox and Roy Halladay

According to Mark Feisand and Bill Madden the Red Sox are making a big push for Roy Halladay. While they don't have any details about the package it would take to get Halladay, a scout who spoke with Buster Olney said he expected the Blue Jays to only get one star prospect and one solid prospect. At this point, I'm honestly not sure Halladay is worth it. There is no doubt in my mind that he's a spectacular pitcher, one of the best in the American League every year. But he also only has one year remaining on his contract and has a salary of $15.4 million next year. I guess it would all depend on the cost and whether or not you think you could sign Halladay to an extension at about $15 per year, where he'd continue to be a very slight bargain. Feisand and Madden expect something similar to a deal centered around Clay Buchholz and Casey Kelly. Five years of Buchholz and six of Kelly seems awfully steep for one year of Halladay.

This is something that could move fairly quickly. The Blue Jays GM, Alex Anthopoulus, is hoping to get something done before the annual meetings December 7th. What do you guys think - is Halladay worth Buchholz and Kelly?

8 comments:

  1. I agree. Halladay is clearly an elite pitcher, but 4 years of Buchholz and 6 of Kelly is really, REALLY expensive. The more I'd looked in to the Sox system, the more I'd like to hold on to the prospects. I think that is somewhat typical, since when you are evaluating these players it's easy to forget the huge failure rate for ANY level of baseball prospect. That said, if they are going to wipe out the farm system, it doesn't make sense to do it for a SP with one year left on his contract. I'd much rather the Sox target a player that is already signed to a somewhat reasonable contract, or is still arbitration eligible. It's a little bit sad, but I'm not sure the Sox should add Halladay, simply because of the cost.

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  2. Woo! Buster Olney agrees with me (and confirms that Buchholz is 5 years away from free agency).

    http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4691627&name=olney_buster

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  3. This HAS to be a sign and trade situation. The only way the red sox do this is if they lock up a long term deal with Halladay as a condition of a trade.

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  4. Though has Halladay even allowed for a negotiation window? I mean, the only way it makes sense for the Sox is if they are able to get an extension worked out, but if Halladay wants to test the Free Agent market, then I'm not sure it's going to happen. How would Boras pull his bullshit hand up the ass of Jon Heyman, Boras Mouthpiece™ manuever, where it is reported that "a mystery team is offering 5 years, $120 million" if the Red Sox are the only team negotiating?

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  5. The way I understand it is that the Blue Jays can grant a negotiating window, but they don't have to. There really isn't much reason for them to do so if they think Halladay is deadset on free agency - it would only serve to reduce their return.

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  6. Yeah, I'm not really into Halladay at this point. Theo has said previously that if they don't win this next year, then they are sort of in rebuilding mode (or at least looking for a core beyond Ortiz/Beckett etc.) - I'd sure rather do that with Buccholz than paying for the decline of Halladay.

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  7. I'm not sure Halladay is interested in granting a negotiating window, or that's what I seem to recall but have no sources what so ever.

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  8. Halladay also won't approve a deal made during the season, so the Jays really need to trade him now. Ricciardi really screwed the pooch on this one.

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