Is Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi open to the possibility of dealing his ace Roy Halladay?
A report on CBSSports.com suggests he might.
According to Ricciardi:
"We have to be open to anything."
"We have to be smart with how we can build our team; we have to be open to anything, really."
Now theoretically Ricciardi didn't say he was going to trade Halladay, but he certainly didn't close the door on the idea either.
I know Blue Jay fans are going to go crazy over this story, because every time Halladay gets mentioned in trade rumors they flip out and rightly so. Halladay, who is unquestionably one of the top five pitchers in the game today, would instantly become the game changing player on the market.
Now let's just look at this from a different point of view for a minute. The Blue Jays are steadily dropping in the standings day-by-day, and it seems difficult to imagine them contending with either the Yankees or the Red Sox long term. Now, while the Blue Jays are under no pressure to trade Halladay, imagine for a minute the value he would have at this moment. This is without a doubt the weakest trade market of recent memory (pitching in particular), and there are more contending teams than ever. Halladay is the type of impact pitcher (very much like C.C. Sabathia of last year) that can convince mediocre teams they have a shot. If he was on the "block" you would probably have about 10-15 teams seriously interested. Now, considering the Blue Jays expected asking price that figure most likely would be reduced--quickly, but in the end it's not unforeseeable to see three or four teams willing to battle it out for Halladay. Going into negotiations for a player of Halladay's caliber any GM knows that the price will be high, and if you're in competition with three or four other teams it could get outrageous. However, as we have seen in the past it only takes one team to believe that Halladay is the "missing piece" and you're golden.
Now let me say I definitely don't expect Halladay to get dealt, the Blue Jays have him signed, and are "too close" to being a contending team to mail it in. I just think if I was Ricciardi I would seriously consider hearing offers. Halladay is not getting any younger and his value has never been any higher. Very much like buying a stock the goal is always to "buy low" and "sell high", and right now Halladay stock is about as high as it's going to get.
Again don't expect Halladay to move, but if for some wild chance he did, it could certainly shift the balance of power in either league.
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