Tap The Brakes On Dealing For Halladay

Last week, Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi admitted to putting some feelers out regarding the possibility of dealing ace starting pitcher Roy Halladay.

Halladay is a career 141-69 and is a bonafied #1 starter. The Blue Jays have let it be known that it will take a massive package of young prospects to pry Halladay away and have sent scouts throughout the majors and minors to gauge exactly what sort of talent is out there for the taking.

Many experts feel as though the Texas Rangers organization are in a position to offer the best package of player possible but there are several factors which prevent me from truly being able to embrace a possible trade.

I understand that the Rangers have played really well this season and find themselves in the thick of the AL West race a year sooner than they'd previously projected. But three seasons ago, Texas set out to build their organization from the ground up, dealing away expensive contracts like Mark Teixeira while stocking their minor league organizations with top-tier prospects. This modus operandi has worked extremely well, as Texas is now ranked as having the very best farm system in all of baseball, spearheaded by the previously mentioned Teixeira trade, a deal which netted them their starting shortstop (Elvis Andrus), starting catcher (Jarrod Saltalamacchia), number five starter (Matt Harrison) and top pitching prospect (Neftali Feliz).

Trading for a player like Halladay, while bold, would effectively cripple the farm system as Texas would surely be forced to deal away quality youth similar to what they added when they traded Teixeira to Atlanta in 2007.



So what would it take to get Roy Halladay? Well, Toronto has said they want young pitching (Neftali Feliz & Kasey Kiker), a power bat (Justin Smoak) and a shortstop (Marcus Lemon) in exchange for their ace.

Feliz just put on a pitching display at the All-Star game when he pitched one inning in the Futures Game, striking out two and averaging almost 97 mph with his fastball.

Kiker is currently pitching for AA Frisco, has shown good command throughout the season and was the starting pitcher in the AA All-Star game, pitching a hitless, scoreless inning.

Justin Smoak was promoted to AAA Oklahoma City last week and appears to be on the fast track to Arlington. He may well be the odds on favorite to be the Rangers starting first baseman as early as next season.

Marcus Lemon was a 4th round pick in the 2006 draft and is a slick-fielding, lightning fast infielder who's already made a successful jump to AA Frisco.

There's also the issue of Roy Halladay having an iron clad no-trade clause and, at least if the rumors are to be believed, would not okay any deal which would ship him to Texas, a place where he is a career 4-3 with a 6.14 ERA in 11 appearances. The Ballpark in Arlington is far and away Halladay's least favorite park in which to pitch, meaning even if they were able to convince him to accept a trade to Texas, it is very unlikely he would even consider signing an extention. Instead, Halladay would likely opt to test free agency after the 2010 season, with Texas getting nothing in return save for a 2010 1st round draft pick from the team that signed him away. Dealing away four (possibly more) top prospects for what would amount to less than a season and a half from Roy Halladay just doesn't add up for me.

Finally, Roy Halladay does nothing for what may well be Texas' biggest issue going into the second half of the season: the offense. The Rangers offense has been very inconsistent for the entire season, one day looking like world beaters only to look lost the next. It appears as though this is simply what they are and if that is the case, no amount of All-Star pitching will make up for all the missed opportunities and silly hitting mistakes this offense seems poised to make over the next 70+ games.

If I'm calling the shots I'm holding my water for now. Hallday is a proven All-Star and would be a welcome addition on any team but mortgaging your future for little more than a rent-a-pitcher (albeit a great one) is simply something Texas cannot afford, especially with Rangers owner Tom Hicks currently wading waist deep in a well-documented financial crisis.

Texas is not and will never be able to spend with teams like the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox, at least not as long as Hicks is the owner. Despite being the 7th largest market in baseball, Texas is currently 22nd in the league in payroll. And while a high payroll doesn't guarantee wins, a low payroll means a team can't afford to make many mistakes and hope to remain viable. The Yankees can afford to trade away their entire minor league for a single player; if things go south they'll just buy more. Texas doesn't have this luxury.

The Rangers have had a great first half of the season and with any luck will find themselves battling it out with the Angels and Mariners in the AL West for the rest of the year. It's simply not the time to be trading away young studs, even if it's for possibly the best pitcher in baseball.

Padilla Placed On Waivers

In a shocking move, the Texas Rangers have placed their no. 2 starter, Vicente Padilla, on outright waivers. Apparently, much of this stems from the Rangers growing frustration with Padilla and their inabilty to rely on him to make correct decisions both on and off the mound.

Padilla's short fuse is well documented and most around baseball view him as a headhunter. He lived up to that charge last night, hitting Mark Teixeira twice in first four innings of the game. The second time, Teixeira went on a profanity-laced tirade before being ushered to first base by manager, Joe Girardi.

"That is not the right way to play the game," said Teixeira after last nights 12-3 victory. "That guy [Padilla] has been doing that [throwing at batters] his entire career."

Teixeira went on to point out that when he was in Texas he would often be hit by pitches as retaliation from other teams after Padilla had hit one of their hitters.

"Anyone who knows Vicente knows that is the way he does it," Teixeira said.



With Padilla on waivers, Texas can outright him to the minor leagues (assuming he's not claimed) but because of his service time Padilla does retain the right to refuse the assignment which would then make him a free agent.

The Rangers, however, cannot rescind the waiver if Padilla is claimed (in an effort to then try and arrange a trade), and don't need Padilla to clear waivers to trade him. That's what makes me think this may simply be more about trying to clear Padilla's remaining $8 million off the books in an effort to both save money and also clear a spot in the starting rotation for rookie Derek Holland.

It should also be noted that teams aren't required to clear players through waivers for trade purposes until after the July 31 trade deadline.

Regardless of how this story plays out, a very clear message has been sent by Rangers management. Nolan Ryan, John Daniels, et al are trying to build an organization based on quality play and players with a high level of class. Padilla has long been known as a bit of a maverick and has typically kept to himself in the clubhouse. A message has been sent that no one is above the team and, regardless of whether this is the end of Padilla's time with Texas or not, any sort of behavior which has a negative effect on the chemistry of the clubhouse will not be tolerated.

Texas Evens Series With Yankees, Survive Long Rain Delay

The night started off with a 2 hour & 24 minute delay, forcing most of the sellout crowd to sit around waiting for a storm that never came. The delay came from a particularly nast storm cell that was hit all around the ballpark. Only thing is, it never actually stared rainging until around 8pm, roughly an hour after the game was set to start.

"That was a long one," said second baseman Ian Kinsler. "A long one, but it was worth it to get the win."

And win they did, jumping out on the Yankees in the bottom of the first inning, scoring two runs thanks to a bases loaded single by Marlon Byrd.

Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain struggled with his control all night, walking four in as many innings of work. In the bottom of the fouth inning, Chris Davis hit a big homerun to dead cetner off Chamberlain, running the score to 3-0, but the Yankees came right back to tie the game up, getting a solo homerun by former Rangers All-Star Mark Teixeira in the fifth and two more runs in the top of the sixth.

But in the bottom of the sixth, Marlon Bryd hit a two-out double, then came around to score on a base hit by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Rangers added two more in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a sacrifice ground ball by Josh Hamilton and a sac fly by David Murphy. Both scoreing chances were set up by both Ian Kinsler and Michael Young reaching base at the beggining of their half of the inning.



Chris Davis then added another homerun in the bottom of the eight, the first multi-homer game game of his career.

"I definitely think it picked me up," Davis said. "I've said over and over the last few weeks have been tough. It's good to have a game that might help me turn the corner. I'm not anywhere where I need to be but I am getting closer."

Kevin Millwood battled for Texas, giving them 5 2/5 innings, allowing 3 earned runs and leaving the game tied.

"I definitely was ready to go get started, and then there was the rain delay," Millwood said. "Once the game started, I felt normal. They didn't really chase anything. I didn't feel I was that sharp tonight."

Texas' bullpen did the job though, shutting the Yankees down to the tune of 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

"We did a great job of executing," manager Ron Washington said. "We played baseball the way it was presented to us, and that's what it's all about."