MLB Trade Rumors: Roy Halladay To The Cardinals??

by Ray Guilfoyle on Jul 9, 2009 9:30 AM EDT in Baseball

Joe Strauss from the St. Louis Post Dispatch tweeted last night that a Cardinals club official responded with the following when asked about the Cardinals interest in Roy Halladay:

Asked about the price tag for Halladay, a club source said: "Give Ricciardi all our minor-league rosters and let him circle any 5 names."

Check out the Baseball Prospectus pre-season top 11 prospects list created by Kevin Goldstein after the jump:

Five-Star Prospects
1. Colby Rasmus, CF
2. Brett Wallace, 3B
Four-Star Prospects
3. Chris Perez, RHP
4. Daryl Jones, LF
Three-Star Prospects
5. Jess Todd, RHP
6. Adam Reifer, RHP
7. Bryan Anderson, C
8. Jaime Garcia, LHP
9. Lance Lynn, RHP
10. Jason Motte, RHP
Two-Star Prospects
11. Niko Vasquez, SS

Just Missed: Mitch Boggs, RHP; Jon Jay, OF; Peter Kozma, SS

Now taking a look at this list, Colby Rasmus and Jason Motte are on the big league roster, and Chris Perez was traded to the Indians in the Mark DeRosa deal, leaving Ricciardi with a list that includes Brett Wallace, Daryl Jones, Jess Todd, Bryan Anderson and Peter Kozma, Mitch Boggs or Jaime Garcia.

If I were Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, I would want the deal to start with Rasmus and Wallace, otherwise, I test Phillies GM Ruben Amaro who can up the ante to include AA P Kyle Drabek instead of AAA P Carlos Carrasco. Don't get me wrong, Wallace can rake, but he is not a major league third baseman by all accounts. The rest of the top 5 I listed are not as "major league ready" as the proposed Phillies offer I made yesterday which included J.A. Happ, Carlos Carrasco, Michael Taylor and Jason Donald.

And secondly, why wouldn't the Cardinals go after a bat rather than a starting pitcher? They still need a bat to protect Albert Pujols, especially when they don't know when Mark DeRosa is coming off the DL.

Poll

Should the Cardinals deal for a bat (think Matt Holliday) or Roy Halladay?

A bat, preferably Matt Holliday.

186 votes

That's easy, Roy Halladay. I'd pick Hallday every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

433 votes

619 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

You left off option 3: "None of the above"

Expensive 30-something players aren’t a good gamble for a small market team.

I’d probably want Holliday less than Halladay. Holliday’s a good but not great corner OF. Halladay’s a top 5 starting pitcher (and under contract for next year).

Even in Holliday’s 2007 season, his splits away from Coors showed he was a good but not great hitter, a fact born out by his time in Oakland. Rasmus is statistically comparable to Holliday at the plate right now – and has more value in the field, on top of being much cheaper.

by nuke187 on Jul 9, 2009 1:11 PM EDT reply actions

all good points

but don’t you think they need to make another move if they want to win the Central?

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Jul 9, 2009 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions

To win the Central?

No. Barring some momentous pickups by the Brewers (or the Cubs discovering which end of the bat is supposed to hit the ball), they should win the Central without much problem.

Now, to get deeper in the playoffs, they could use a RH bat, but paying a huge prospect price for a few months of Holliday would be ridiculous. Holliday’s a good, not great, corner OF. Sending Rasmus for him would be unbelievably stupid (think Haren for Mulder); Ludwick would be slightly less so, but still a bad deal. Rasmus is probably as good as Holliday right now when you factor in defensive value.

I’d rather see them target, say, Garrett Atkins. He’s not spectacular away from Coors (like Holliday) or much of anywhere this year, but he would fill a position of need if Glaus doesn’t come back and LaRusa continues to be down on Wallace. DeRosa could slide over to the middle infield when/if he comes off the DL. He’d also come much cheaper.

As far as pitching in the playoffs, the Cards would run out Carpenter, Wainwright, and (can’t believe I’m saying this) Piniero as their top 3. Obvious question marks, but that’s at least as good as anyone else in the NL this year. Halladay would be nice and the less bad deal, probably,

by nuke187 on Jul 10, 2009 8:46 AM EDT reply actions

really

so you’re happy with Ludwick and Ankeil protection Pujols in September and beyond? How many pitches do you suppose Pujols will see? Think Barry Bonds, because I would walk him in any close game in a pennant race.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Jul 10, 2009 11:11 AM EDT reply actions

Last year

Ludwick: .966 OPS
Ankiel: .843 OPS

Hasn’t been that smooth so far, but Ludwick’s showing signs of being over his May-June swoon (.916 OPS in 8 games in July so far). Ankiel… could be the league catching up to him, could be injury this year.

As far as corner OF, no, a few months of Holliday isn’t worth it. I’d give Wallace and another low-level prospect for him, but that would be about all. 3B and middle infield are more concerning to me, especially if DeRosa remains on the DL for a lengthy stay.

by nuke187 on Jul 10, 2009 11:18 AM EDT reply actions

oh

I agre, they would never give up that much for Holliday, but Halladay is is different story. Without Rasmus or Wallace in a deal for Halladay, PJ doesn;t return the phone call.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Jul 10, 2009 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions

I'd toss Wallace in

Mainly because LaRussa’s down on him. When TLR gets down on a young player, he either wastes him (Haren, Drew) or he messes with him to the point he never becomes anything (Anthony Reyes). Better to deal him while he has value.

Rasmus, no way. I’m still not sure his average is real, but the Pujols Effect tends to make batters immediately in front of or behind him look much, much better.

by nuke187 on Jul 10, 2009 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I also like Option #3

The prospect cost for either Hooliday or Halladay seems too high. With Ludwick finally coming around again, a RH corner OF bat isn’t a huge need.

by Xavier. on Jul 10, 2009 5:36 PM EDT reply actions

we'll see

long he hits like this.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on Jul 10, 2009 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes

He could fall apart again, but last year and what he’s done this year in April and recently (basically when his hamstring and timing were right) give me enough faith for now. I could be completely wrong, of course. But why not give Lud a try before trading the future? The Cards don’t have to rush at the moment.

by Xavier. on Jul 10, 2009 8:34 PM EDT reply actions

WE NEED BATS!!!

now guys hear me out on this one!!!
WE DONT NEED ROY HALLADAY
yes he’s one of the most dominant pitchers in the league but we have the 4th best ERA in the majors
another 10mil+ salary player is all we need to make us get killed in cap sal.
nd wasting young prospects…
we need bats more then anything
are team BA is 13th in the NL
nd 25th Overall
thats terrible
we need 2 stop leaving it up 2 albert nd get more assured batters
not matt holliday but others (idk who though)

by Cardinals_Fan_5 on Jul 19, 2009 1:58 AM EDT reply actions