Phillies Breakfast Links, July 24, 2009: Mark Buehrle's Perfect Game, The Pursuit of Roy Halladay, Trusting Amaro

by WholeCamels on Jul 24, 2009 8:14 AM EDT Comment 17 comments

Phillies continue hot pursuit of Halladay

Todd Zolecki speaks, you listen. This Roy Halladay affair is taking about a dozen years off my life.

Teams step up pursuit of Roy Halladay, Matt Holliday, Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee - Jon Heyman

The Jays are said to be aiming for a package that includes one of two top young pitchers, Kyle Drabek or J.A. Happ, plus one of two top outfielders, either Michael Taylor or Dominic Brown, plus a couple other highly regarded prospects. Shortstop Jason Donald and pitcher Carlos Carrasco are among other young prospects who are believed to have been discussed.

If they can get this done with Happ, Taylor, Donald, and Carrasco, I'd be very happy.

Phillies' Rollins and pals create major memories for kids

Jimmy Rollins, along with Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, and Milt Thompson, hold a clinic for kids at FDR Park.

crashburnalley.com - Why I Have Faith in Amaro

One blogger's look back at the Phillies recent trades.

The Complex 7: Jimmy Rollins | Complex Blog

#6: IF YOU HAD A WEEK HOLIDAY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Jimmy Rollins says: I’ll probably go to the Caribbean somewhere. Jump on some jet skis, play some golf, make sure I line up some nice dinners, and have a couple Caribbean drinks…If I could go diving or swimming with some dolphins that’ll be cool. I’m a nature man myself.

Nature man? Dolphins?

Sam Donnellon: With Phillies, baseball sure is a hard game to figure
The Phillies have benefited from the ineptitude of their rivals, but they've played pretty good baseball regardless.

Bill Conlin: In baseball, I'll take a five-tooler over a Cy Young Award winner

As great as Roy Halladay may be, the righthander of our affection comes to work only 34 games a year. And with an inferior cast behind him, a Cy Young-caliber ace can lead the league in most of the major categories and still lose more games than he wins. Which is what happened to 16-game loser Nolan Ryan the season the closer for a fourth-place team won the Cy Young Award.

Not. mutually. exclusive.

Paul Hagen: Hall-or-nothing idea for Steroid Era stars
Again, this whole "sanctity of the Hall of Fame" thing really kills me. Just stop it.

PERFECT!
Mark Buehrle ought to buy DeWayne Wise a very expensive car.

The Fightins - The Phillies Clubhouse Reacts To Mark Buehrle’s Perfect Game
I think I loved John Mayberry, Jr.'s reaction the best. h/t The Fightins for the clip.

Perfecto (via TheFightins)

0 recs | Comment 17 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

This could be JP’s undoing:

“Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said recently he expects a package “similar or better” to packages the Orioles received in 2008 for Erik Bedard and the Indians received in ’02 for Bartolo Colon. The Orioles received All-Star outfielder Adam Jones, All-Star closer George Sherrill, top pitching prospect Chris Tillman and two others for Bedard. The Indians received Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, All-Star outfielder Grady Sizemore, second baseman Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens for Colon."

Is JP REALLY comparing Halladay to Bedard and Colon? I understand he want massive packages, but telling people that you are a) going to trade them something that won’t really help them and b) take players who end up being superstars is NOT a way to negotiate. If Seattle or the Nationals could undo thos trades they would have done so yesterday. The more I think about it, the more I DON’T want Halladay.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Jul 24, 2009 8:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m hoping this is all posturing, or he’s just trying to save face, and thus his career, but the worst thing wouldn’t be losing out on Halladay; the worst thing would be paying too much for him.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Jul 24, 2009 8:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

I think a lead in on here said if it costs Happ, Drabek, Taylor, and Brown, pull the trigger!

That’s a very hefty price to pay. Halladay is one of the 5 best pitchers in baseball right now. No argument. He’s a premier player.

Happ has shown he’s ML worthy. Maybe he’s pitching above his level right now (and he likely is) but it would be a horrific fall for him to drop down to fledgling AAAA level pitching ala Ollie Perez or Livan Hernandez, who both have ML jobs at high salaries (i think..). Happ is a cheap young pitcher who is pretty good. If he was doing this crap for the Yankees or Red Sox he’d be in contention for the CYA.

Straight up I’d make the trade, but it’d be a gamble, because in 5 years, the Jays are going to be better off in all likelihood.

Now throw in 3 other blue chips and you’ve tipped the scales. Halladay is one torn ligament away from being worthless. Those other four guys are 4 injuries away from useless. I favor the approach of diversity for pitching, loading up on guys who could be good, as opposed to sinking all your money into one or two top guys who if they fail destroy your farm system.

by Bilzo on Jul 24, 2009 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

OF

Our outfielders are not worth all that much to Toronto since they have a logjam out there, for better or for worse. I suspect pitching is going to be the centerpiece of this deal.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Jul 24, 2009 9:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Skip Bayless really should be working for a Philadlephia Sports Section, he fits in perfectly

Don't frack with me or you'll get a punch in the kidneys...you've been warned

by jemagee on Jul 24, 2009 10:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This may be stupid but...

Would Charlie ever consider modifying the 5 man rotation? I mean we have what seems like an affluence of starters (A good problem to have). Maybe pair up two of the lesser guys to finish a game (a Jamie Moyer and a Lopez or the “who knows what were gonna get” Pedro). Maybe goto a 6 man rotation giving everyone an extra day of rest. Or instead of my combine 2 starters, move someone to the pen as an “extra long reliever.” Kind of a starters role where he enters the game when someone leaves after 4 (because of pitch count, rain, injury, etc). Someone that is expected to be able to start a game, but in the 5th inning. I understand starters and relievers warm up differently, but I’m sure it can be worked out.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions etc etc?

"I can play anywhere; First, Third, Left field, anywhere but Philadelphia." - Dick Allen
http://www.travismount.net

by tam5070 on Jul 24, 2009 10:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Or...

If we get Halladay, we DL Hamels. Limit the innings without sacrificing anything. We know we can win the division without Halladay, so if we just trade Halladay for Hamels in the rotation, we dont lose anything and still win the division. This would get Cole fresh for the playoffs, when we really need him. We might also want to consider doing the same thing with Lidge when Durbin and Romero come back.

by philiafan14364 on Jul 24, 2009 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, cause the best way to make sure a pitcher is sharp going into the playoffs is to sit him down for a couple months

Don't frack with me or you'll get a punch in the kidneys...you've been warned

by jemagee on Jul 24, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Im not saying he stays on the DL for the rest of the regular season, just for a little while.

by philiafan14364 on Jul 24, 2009 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He misses maybe three or four starts

by philiafan14364 on Jul 24, 2009 11:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Still think it’s a silly idea

Don't frack with me or you'll get a punch in the kidneys...you've been warned

by jemagee on Jul 24, 2009 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He really hasn’t been THAT bad. Something’s off, but he’ll figure it out.

by SJPhillyVT on Jul 24, 2009 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Halliday Trade

I’d go with Drabek, Brown, Donald, and Carrasco for Halliday!!

mark ferraro

by ginzo on Jul 24, 2009 10:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That crashburnalley.com article is a good one.

I think Ed Wade’s philosophy on these matters was hugely beneficial to the organization, which is precisely the reason that my feelings about his tenure are less negative than most others’. (It’s worth noting that it wasn’t like he had universal support for this at the time. He came under a lot of fire from the WIP crowd about failing to take advantage of the team’s short window of opportunity, not having the guts to pull the trigger, and so forth – the same exact arguments you hear from them today in calling for a Halladay trade).

I would also say, however, that Wade’s successes in the area weren’t the result of some special ability to evaluate talent. He just had a method is all – he would give you mid-level prospects in exchange for mid-level veterans, but he would never give you the top 3 prospects in the organization, ever. I would venture to guess that if you were to go back through the Baseball America top 10 lists for yesteryear, none of the prospects he traded (Astacio, Ramirez, Buchholz, etc.) were ever ranked higher than 4 or 5. Most were in the 6-8 range.

In other words, it wasn’t like he had a lot of blue-chippers and was someone able to accurately predict which ones would fail. He just didn’t give up any blue-chippers at all (and, lucky for us, they all became great).

by taco pal on Jul 24, 2009 11:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If they can get this done with Happ, Taylor, Donald, and Carrasco, I'd be very happy.

That makes 2 of us. But if hes got his head set on free agency in a year and a half, whats the point? The only way we should make this trade is if Halladay agrees to an extension right now. Kinda like a sign and trade.

by philiafan14364 on Jul 24, 2009 11:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs