Halladay Traded To The Phillies

I know that there are plenty of O-sters out there who are baseball fans, and there’s no bigger piece of MLB news right now than the trading of Toronto Blue Jay ace Roy Halladay to the Philadelphia Phillies.

There’s no doubt that Halladay has been the best Blue Jay player over the past 8 seasons. Personally, he’s my favourite Blue Jay of all-time, and it’s going to feel weird next season not seeing him deliver on the mound every fifth day.

I can’t blame Halladay for wanting to be traded to a winner. Twice he’s signed extensions with the Jays at below-market value in an attempt to win with his team in Toronto. But management could never surround him with a championship-calibre team.

To that end, I wish that the Jays had taken one more crack at going for a championship while they still had Doc under contract. (Back in September, Mike Wilner, who works for the Fan 590 in Toronto, played “fantasy GM” and came up with some interesting off-season transactions. I like what he came up with, although he underestimated how much it would take to sign Figgins and Bay.)

Of course, such a flurry of transactions would have necessitated Rogers spending more money on the team; and it would have also necessitated new Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos taking a risk. Instead, he’s playing it safe, which is understandable, I guess. If you ask ownership to spend $120+ million on the team, they will expect results. If unsuccessful, Anthopoulos would have been setting himself up for a quick exit.

Anthopoulos is after prospects, and according to ESPN.com, here’s how the trade is currently constructed as of 4:32 pm on Tuesday:

PHILLIES GET …
RHP Roy Halladay (from Toronto)
RHP Phillippe Aumont (from Seattle)
OF Tyson Gillies (from Seattle)
RHP Juan Ramirez (from Seattle)
$6 million cash (from Toronto)

MARINERS GET …
LHP Cliff Lee (from Philadelphia)

BLUE JAYS GET …
C Travis d'Arnaud (from Philadelphia)
RHP Kyle Drabek (from Philadelphia)
1B/3B Brett Wallace (from Oakland)

A'S GET …
OF Michael Taylor (from Philadelphia via Toronto)

Hopefully, the prospects the Jays receive will help build towards a future championship in Toronto. Drabek was considered untradeable by the Phillies back in February, and Wallace has received rave reviews from Keith Law, former assistant to the GM in Toronto. Wallace was part of the Matt Holliday trade between the A’s and Cards last season. None of the players, though, can replace Halladay.

Doc truly is a special, irreplaceable player.

Memo to Phillies fans: you’re getting one of the best pitchers in baseball whose only goal is to win a championship.

Enjoy him while you can.

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