Phillies Breakfast Links, July 20, 2009 - Roy Halladay Watch, The Return of Jimmy Rollins, Victorino's Nuts

The Making of a Phillie - The signing of Pedro Martinez
If you only read one Phillies article this week, make sure it's this one.

Phillies Notes: Martinez throws first bullpen session for Phils

"Since I've been here, I've gotten the feeling we're going to win every day," Martinez said. "The team is so relaxed and confident - it feels like we're going to win. I've been on teams before that are really confident and feel like they're going to win, and it's a good feeling. "Everybody here is very respectful. There's a whole bunch of nice guys here, and they're younger than I thought."

Philadelphia Phillies favored to land Toronto ace Roy Halladay - Jon Heyman

The Phillies remain nearly everyone's favorite to land star Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay, and the teams are believed to have advanced to the point where they have discussed several of Philadelphia's top prospects -- including outfielder Michael Taylor, shortstop Jason Donald and pitcher Carlos Carrasco -- although, there's no evidence yet that the Phillies are relenting on top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek. If Philly agrees to surrender Drabek, one competing executive said, "they might get (Halladay) real quick.''

Should Phillies sacrifice future for Halladay?

I'd be willing to part with either Taylor or Brown, and almost anyone else in the Phillies system but Drabek, who has all the looks of a future ace. The talent, theoretically, can be replenished. And there are no guarantees that prospects, no matter how highly regarded, will be major league stars. Remember how Tyler Green was supposed to be the Phillies' ace for many years? Just the same, there are no guarantees that Halladay will be as good as he was in Toronto, that he will help the Phillies win another World Series.

Inside the Phillies: A bit of something real amid the all-star blandness

Why bother complaining about all this? Because the appeal of athletics is raw emotion, and the all-star festivities attempt to replace that with bland commercialism. Unlike scripted movies or television shows, live sports allow us to see people in moments of devastation and elation, earnestly engaged in the process of trying to improve. Real emotion is more satisfying for the consumer than the empty calories offered by MLB and its sponsors last week. And you know where one could find real emotion in St. Louis? Anywhere Manuel, Victorino, Ibanez, and Werth went.

Parallel success of Phils, Rollins is no coincidence
And Scott Lauber tap-dances around our own David Cohen's favorite stat.

Flickr: Jimmy Rollins' Photostream
Some fun stuff in here, past and present.  Check out this slice for some young Jimmy.

More after the jump...

Freddy Garcia optimistic about return to Chicago
I'll believe it when I see it...

Phillies Notes: Charlie Manuel fears complacency

"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves," Manuel said yesterday after the Phillies breezed by the Marlins, 5-0, for their eighth straight win and 12th in the last 13 games. "We don't want to start counting games. We want to play one at a time, because that's what works for us."

The Fightins - Watch Shane Victorino Give Barack Obama His Nuts
Mahalo.

Reading Phillies top New Britain Rock Cats, 9-1
Mike Stutes allows no runs over 5.1 innings despite five walks and five base hits.