I am back from vacation so posting should be back to normal. I went to the Phillies-Cardinals game yesterday and while in a line getting a beer, I asked a few Cardinal fans their thoughts on the trade for Matt Holliday. One loved the deal and one was in the middle, saying they traded away their future 3Bman in Brett Wallace.
We also learned yesterday, from ESPN's Jayson Stark, that the Phillies have rejected the Blue Jays offer for Roy Halladay. Blue Jays GM J.P.Ricciardi had asked for starting pitcher J.A. Happ, AA pitching prospect Kyle Drabek and A outfield prospect Dominic Brown.
Stark also mentioned the following:
In fact, the Phillies were not the only team the Blue Jays reached out to in the last 48 hours and told: This is what it will take to get Roy Halladay.According to one source who has been in touch with the team, the Blue Jays presented similar proposals to at least two other teams -- the Dodgers and the Angels. Both of those teams, the source said, remain interested.
But the Angels have been the much more aggressive club of late. The source characterized the Dodgers as still being "a long shot."
Apparently the Angels have made a few offers, but the Blue Jays want, according to Foxsports.com, Joe Saunders, Brandon Wood, Erick Aybar and one of Trevor Reckling, Peter Bourjos, and Sean O'Sullivan.
In an interview on ESPN yesterday, Stark went on to say that he still thinks the Phillies will land Halladay. It's just a matter of which prospects the Blue Jays choose to take from the list that includes Happ, Drabek, Brown, Michael Taylor, Jason Donald, Carlos Carrasco and Lou Marson.
Apparently the Phillies are now trying to steer the Blue Jays toward a deal that includes Carrasco and Donald, so it appears that the Phillies will give the Blue Jays more prospects if they agree not to ask for both Happ and Drabek in the deal.
The facf that the Blue Jays are asking for more prospects instead of major league ready pitching means more teams could get involved in the Halladay talks.
Which offer is better? The Angels offer that includes Saunders, or the Phillies offer that includes Carrasco, Donald, Brown and either Drabek or Happ?