White Sox should have this locked up. Beckham only recently converted to 3rd after playing shortstop his entire career. He’ll be happy to be back at SS and the Blue Jays will have a guy in Beckham who sells tickets from day 1.

And the White Sox have a pretty good bullpen with a couple of solid options for closing out games behind Halladay’s 7+ inning starts.

If Riccardi trades Doc to the Yankees, call Ripley’s because he’s got stones of titanium – and considering the number of soccer players in the Toronto area, he might need them. He’ll be the Peter Pocklington of baseball in Canada, and he’ll risk losing a large portion of an already sparse fan base.

That all being said, I agree completely with SJ, that he’ll get his best return from the Yankees. I’ll go further and suggest that if he doesn’t trade with the Yankees now, he may never get a better return going forward…from anyone. Seattle may be in the same position with Ichiro, or will be soon.

I hope Hal, Hank and C-money get this right. Doc is the most consistent arm in the game, and his work ethic is unmatached. You want a guy who can handle pressure, comes to work every day and brings it home every night, and has Woods-like focus on acheiving his goals? Doc is the complete package, a sure-thing. This acquisition would make as much, if not more sense, as getting Teixeira. *Reliable* pitching is what won the Yankees their championships. This could be “Maddox, Glavine, Smoltz”-esque in NY.

It will be fun watching how all of this goes down.

They said they need a catcher and shortstop?
Well you make a deal with ramiro pena, cervelli/romine, and 2 other good prospects involved.

I would give them Ian Kennedy, Ramiro pena, one of romine or cervelli, and Melancon (cuz they need a closer since B.J. ryan isnt what he used to be), and we will also take all of the rest of the Halladay’s contract. I think that is a fair deal..maybe sub in/out Melancon for a different/higher prospect, but i think that definitely supplies their needs. and gives them a 3 good prospects in IPK, Pena, and cervelli/romine

They have the pieces right now, and for the next couple of years, I believe they should go for it. Offer them Joba or Hughes, Romine, Melky and another minor league pitcher.

There is no guarantee any of these players will make such an impact as Halladay would for the next two years. The future is not promised to anyone.

Its one of those rare moments the Yankees not only have the pieces to do the deal, they have ready made replacements for the guys that would be included in such a deal.

They literally can do this deal, as long as Montero isn’t in it (he is probably the only true off limits guy), and not miss a beat.

The Phillies prospects, especially their higher end prospects, aren’t as good, or are as close to the majors, as the Yankees prospects.

For example: Kyle Drabek is coming off TJ surgery and isn’t close to ML ready. Bastardo has a bad shoulder and is on the DL. Neither guy is a Hughes or Chamberlain level prospect.

Michael Taylor and Dominic Brown are nice prospects. Melky Cabrera is better than both of them right now and Austin Jackson is too.

Problem is, the Blue Jays have a lot of OF’s. They lack healthy, front line starting pitching from the right side.

Lou Marston isn’t even as good as Austin Romine and Austin is probably the third or fourth best C prospect in the Yankees system right now.

Jason Donald? Not as good as Ramiro Pena right now. I’ll also take Nunez’s bat over Donald. Although, Donald has a much better glove than Nunez.

Also, are the Phillies ready to take their payroll over the 150 million mark? That’s what it will be if they sign him to an extension.

If they don’t, are you ready to trade 4 good prospects for 1 1/2 years of Roy Halladay?

Sometimes, things come up that make you alter your original plan. That’s what happened in the off-season with Mark Teixeira.

When people say, “they won’t trade young pitching for Santana, why for Halladay”? They HAD Hughes in the Santana deal. Bill Smith was dumb enough to say “no”.

JMO but, if Montero is not in the deal, and JP isn’t asking for BOTH Hughes and Chamberlain, I don’t see how the Yankees don’t step up and get the guy.

You would have CC-Doc-AJ and one of the young guns tied up for the next 3-4 years. That’s just ridiculous.

It forces everybody in the division to play catch up.

The one thing JP can’t do is take a lesser package because he won’t deal the guy in the division. That’s the worst thing a GM can do and that’s why I don’t think he will do it.

Billy Beane doesn’t think like that and JP worships his mentor. I don’t think the division stuff is even an issue.

An issue of will, some guts and convincing ownership this is a move to make.

Who knows if it will happen but, its fun to banter about the possibilities.

I know. I seriously can’t wait to see it play out. I love trade season and off season moves and the dance that goes into them something fierce.

I have a feeling he’s going to be a Yankee or a Brewer before all is said and done.

That is when the rubber will meet the road.

Deal him to NY, keep him, or trade him to a NL team.

Gonna be fun to watch, that’s for sure!

I agree with you on every point except that Cano not hitting in the 5 hole is from laziness.

I think he’s actually trying too hard to get runners in and is swinging like a wild man hoping to knock in an RBI.

That’s not lazy. That’s just bad approach.

And believe me, last season I was the conductor on the “Cano is lazy” train because he was.

That said, I agree with everything else you wrote.