We're eight days from the official trade deadline, or 6 days from the Roy Halladay deadline, cited by Toronto GM JP Ricciardi and there hardly seems to be anything else being talked about. Everywhere you read, watch or listen to baseball news, there is constant speculation on who is serious, who is sort of serious and who is not serious about trying to acquire the Blue Jays ace. The interest in 2008 AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee is now building to the same pitch. There are reports that the Dodgers and Brewers have sent scouts to Toronto to watch both Halladay and Indians ace Cliff Lee, who pitched there Tuesday night. The St. Petersburg Times and the Boston Globe are reporting their respective home teams, the Rays and the Red Sox are also both in the mix for Halladay and Cliff Lee. The Phillies top pitching prospect, Kyle Drabek (2.83 ERA, 111 Ks in 114 innings in Class A and Class AA) was scouted by the Blue Jays Tuesday night , presumably as a piece of their potential deal.
So, here we sit with a little over a week to go before a deal either happens or doesn't happen. It will be interesting to watch it play out. For an interesting take on the value of blockbuster deadline trades for pitching aces, check out ESPN's Jerry Crasnick's article, "Dealing an Ace Can be a Crapshoot" at www.espn.com.