Phillies, Halladay have put extension talks on hold

The Philadelphia Phillies held preliminary talks with Roy Halladay about a contract extension but discussions were put on hold when his shoulder acted up midseason, reports Jayson Stark of ESPN:

The Phillies have batted around the idea of an extension for baseball's most prominent former Blue Jay, Roy Halladay, but are proceeding slowly -- for now...

Before Halladay's shoulder started acting up in midseason, the Phillies had actually had some preliminary talks with his agent, Greg Landry, about an extension that would keep Halladay in Philadelphia beyond next year -- and bring his salary more in line with the $24 million average annual value of Cliff Lee's deal.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro told Stark that an extension is still "possible" for Halladay, but that no decision will be made until at least spring, when the club can get a clearer view of the right-hander's health going forward. After just one brief DL trip in his previous four seasons, Halladay was forced to miss forty-seven games in 2012 because of problems with his throwing shoulder.

The 35-year-old Halladay still put up decent strikeout and walk numbers when healthy, but the right-hander's 4.49 ERA was his highest since 2004, and he failed to throw a complete game this past season for the first time in over a decade.

Halladay is signed through the 2013 season at $20 million and also has a $20 million vesting option for the following season if he can rack up two hundred twenty-five innings next season and stay off the disabled list.