BY WEB STAFF
sportsnet.ca
The future of Roy Halladay in Toronto was a hot button topic at the annual baseball general manager meeting in Chicago.
While no major trades are expected at the shorter-than-usual annual meeting, Halladay was mentioned in potential winter moves to either New York or Philadelphia. The Blue Jays ace finished the 2009 season with a record of 17-10 and a 2.79 ERA.
"There's players that I'm highly reluctant to move, and those ones are pretty obvious. A guy like Roy Halladay, for example, I'd love to have him for part of the franchise for the long term," new Jays' GM Alex Anthopoulos said. "That being said, he's under contract for one more year."
Halladay was shopped by former GM J.P. Ricciardi at the summer trade deadline, but the asking price was considered too steep for the 2003 Cy Young Award winner. Anthopoulos is rumoured to be after quality over quantity, but still insists that the team can pay him for 2010 and recoup two draft picks if Halladay signs elsewhere as a free agent. Halladay will earn $15.75 million in his final year.
New York Mets GM Omar Minaya is reportedly willing to deal a package of prospects to land the ace and has history on his side. In 2008, the Mets called the bluff of both the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox to land Johan Santana. The Twins told Minaya that the team was willing to pay Santana in his final year rather than trade him away while the Red Sox and even the New York Yankees showed interest before bowing out of the race.
The Mets farm system is far from stocked with trading pieces, but 20-year-old Jenrry Mejia is considered its top pitching prospect. Shortstop Wilmer Flores has huge potential, but he's only 18, and not the type of player to be the focus in a Halladay swap.
Much like at the summer deadline, the Phillies remain in the mix and one National League executive pointed out that, "Philadelphia is into winning now and Halladay fits that."
Philadelphia reached the World Series in consecutive years, but failed to repeat as champions when the Yankees dethroned them in six games. One report out of Philadelphia linked 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels as a player that would head to Toronto. Hamels went 10-11 in 2009, with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. In 193 innings, he struck out 168 batters and walked 43.
Hamels was the centre of controversy during the World Series after his "I can't wait for it to end" comments were interpreted as throwing in the towel.
On Wednesday, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. denied the reports:
"We have no thoughts of trading Cole Hamels," Amaro said Tuesday. "I don't know where those rumors are coming from, but that's exactly what they are. Cole Hamels is our pitcher and we're keeping him, and I'm glad to have him."
NOTES: Outside of Halladay, the Mets aren't very high on Lyle Overbay, so the reported three-way deal in which the Mets would get Overbay, the Cubs Luis Castillo and the Blue Jays Milton Bradley seems unlikely.
