Someone please trade for Cliff Lee...

It seems like most teams are hesitant about paying the price for Doc because they still believe that they can grab Lee at a cheaper price. So the only way JP is going to get his price is if Cliff Lee's taken off the market. The strongest rumors have Lee going to the LAD along with VMart, but these were put down immediately by LAD management as having less than zero truth to them, so you can count them out.

The Phillies are hoping that the same package they offered the Jays appeals to the Indians so that they can grab Lee. Unless JP counters with slight changes that allows the Phils to swap Happ for Carraso, and/or Michael Taylor for Dominic Brown, I'm not so sure the Jays will bite. For what it's worth, Jays scouts went to see Brown play yesterday and he went 0 for 3 with 1 walk and 1 strike out. I'm not sure if they were also scouting Taylor, but he went 0 for 2 with 2 walks. The offer that would best fit the needs of the teams involved here is there to be had, it just needs to be tinkered with. But, will a surprise offer be made by a 3rd team?

Well, the order of teams likely to make a move for Roy now based on rumors only are as follows:

PHI - CHW - LAD - NYY - DET - TEX - COL - TB - BOS

Any one of these teams could come out on top, and I'd say that Detroit - who haven't been to the playoffs in quite a while - may be the best "out of nowhere offer" scenario, along with their AL central rival CHW.

However, all of those teams are also scouting Lee, who's price hasn't been made public in the same way that Doc's has. That and Lee hasn't come out and said that he doubts something will get done. I'm really hoping we find out the suitor soon and that the Phils realize that with Doc, they are a lot more likely to repeat this year, and next for that matter. Pedro Martinez is not the answer for them.... and maybe that's what they're really hoping for. To have enough to win without unloading the majority of their prospect talent. Will Phils fans agree?

When it all comes down to it, there is only 1 question to ask: Who would teams rather have on their squads - last year's Cy young winner, or the probable winner of this year's award?

Jays reject Phils offer

OK, the dilemma in Toronto seems to be centered around wanting both Happ and Drabek in any Halladay deal, while the Phils obviously want the Jays to take Happ and Carrasco instead. Either way, it seems the Jays will be able to get a package that includes Jason Donal and one of Dominic Brown or Michael Taylor.

Here's a comparison of the 3 pitchers in play.

Carlos Carrasco: 22 yrs old in AAA, 20 GS, 114.2 IP, 112 Ks, 38 BB, 118 HA, 5.18 ERA;
Kyle Drabek: 21 yrs old split time in HiA and AA, 122 IP, 118 Ks, 19 BB, 104 HA, 2.80 ERA;
JA Happ: 27 yrs old in MLB, 12 GS, 7-1, 100 IP, 71 Ks, 33 BB, 85 HA, 2.97 ERA, 1.18 ERA.

Looking at these stats, one can see exactly why the Jays are insisting on getting Drabek in any deal. He is young, performs well, and has an awesome K/BB ratio. Getting Happ included allows the Jays to give Drabek time to develop while seeing immediate returns from the deal, so really the Phils insisting on Carrasco being included seems to be misguided if they really do want Doc.

Dominic Brown: 21 yrs old in HiA, 220 AB, 9 Hrs, 14 SB, 8 CS, .295 avg
Michael Taylor: 23 yrs olf in AAA, 354 AB, 17 Hrs, 20 SB, 4 CS, .328 avg

I can't for the life of me see why the Jays absolutely want Brown over Taylor. If they really want to get a deal done with the Phils, ask for Drabek and Happ, but allow for them to switch Brown for Taylor and ask for Donald along with him. Get the pitchers you want, one hell of a 5-tools OFer in Taylor, and a SS of the future in Donald. I can see this being the final deal before July 31st.

Angels package....

Apparently, as reported by Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi, the package supposedly demanded by the Jays from the Angels would include the following:

Joe Saunders - Brandon Wood - Erick Aybar - and one of Trevor Reckling, Peter Bourjos, or Sean O'Sullivan. The last part is probably set up to entice the Angels to pick the lesser evil in their view and to get them to bite. This package would definitely appeal to the Jays, who would get a great SP in Saunders, a long term 3B in Wood, a SS and infield option in Aybar, and another great piece to help their overall depth. But really, why would the Angels do this deal? They have Saunders under control for a long period and Doc is definitely better than him, but is he so much better that it deserves Wood - Aybar - and another for the upgrade? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

There are supposedly 5 teams in play now and the talks seem to be heating up. My guess is that once the pressure mounts high enough on the Phillies they'll have no choice but to include Brown, Happ, and Drabek in the deal. They've been trying to hold off, but that's what it's going to take if they want Doc. And really, when you compare the deal they're being asked to give up in comparison to the Angels, it makes the Phils a hell of a lot better than it would the Angels because it doesn't include an active roster player.

C Carlos Perez smacks first dinger in GCL

18 year old Venezuelan catcher Carlos Perez was signed in 2007 as an international FA and has been highly touted by BA. He is currently catching for the GCL Jays and is doing very well thus far. He has 21 hits over his first 69 ABs for a .309 avg, and 10 of those hits have been for extra bases (6 doubles, 3 triples, and his first dinger yesterday). More impressively, he has only struck out 9 times (13%) and has walked 11 times, indicating that he is very patient and selective at the plate, a very good trait for such a young player.

Perez did play for the DSL2 Jays last season, and ended up with a .309 avg over 196 ABs, but didn't hit any HRs and only 12 of his 60 hits were for extra bases. It is possible that the Jays will let him progress slowly and keep him in the GCL all season as a result. But between Arencibia, Jeroloman, and now Perez, the Jays shouldn't have too many shortcomings at the C position for quite a while.

RP Daniel Farquhar dealing in AA

Over his last 10 appearances, 22 year old reliever Daniel Farquhar has a minute .077 ERA, only 6 hits and 5 walks allowed over 11.2 innings pitched, and 14 strike outs. He also saved 7 games during the same appearances, and now has 15 saves to his credit between HiA and AA this season, with a .082 ERA over 43.2 IP with 57 Ks. With talks of Scott Downs being or Jason Frasor being moved before the deadline, Daniel could be well on his way to a trial period with the Jays by the end of the month.

Daniel was quite a find in the 2008 draft for the Jays since he was drafted 308th overall in the 10th round. Since the Jays are in fact looking to move some older players, Daniel should get a chance to at the very least move up to AAA this season.

1B Brian Dopirak doing well in AAA

Lyle Overbay could be traded by the July 31st deadline, and Brian Dopirak could be the benefactor. The 25 year old has had a tremendous season in AA with one ingredient that the Jays could really use: power. He had 19 dingers in his 328 ABs while in AA, and drove in 68 RBIs in the process. His OBP .374, slg .576, and OPS .951, were all very impressive. So, he has since been promoted to AAA when they let Mr.Harper go and although he hasn't hit a HR yet, he is doing well with a .333 average over 33 ABs.

Dopirak hit 29 HRs last season between HiA Dunedin and AA New Hampshire. He was originally drafted by the Cubs in 2002 (56th overall) and was their minor league player of the year in 2004. They let him go in 2008 when the Jays pounced on him and decided to give him a shot. He's already been the player of the week twice this season in AA and was an All-Star last season in HiA. If Lyle is moved, I'm sure Brian will get a very good opportunity to prove himself with the Jays.

Halladay's ode to why he is leaving...

Last night's gem thrown by Doc explains exactly why he is leaving Toronto, either this year or next. Because it doesn't matter how well Doc throws, he knows that Toronto needs to fix its offense before they have any chance of winning - and that he's the key trade to make that happen for the team. Sadly, JP didn't realize this earlier. Before he went on a shopping spree for arms like Burnett and Ryan, and then added an old timer in Frank Thomas. If he had went out for good bats instead, perhaps the Jays would be extending Roy instead of trading him. As it is, he threw his 2 straight complete game (9 innings) with less than 1 ER, for a total of 18 IP, 2 ER, 10 HA, 3 BB, and 17 Ks over his last 2 starts. 4 of his last 5 starts should have been wins, but only 1 resulted in a win due mostly to a lack of offense and lack of bullpen performance. So the way I see it is that Doc should be sitting at about 15 wins, at least, if he played for a better offensive team. Still, he has done everything he absolutely could to heighten his value and to leave the Jays with a legacy once he goes. If JP can't market this into one hell of a trade, he needs to go along with Doc. The latest "demand" the Jays have supposedly made from the Phillies include the following:

Kyle Drabek, J.A. Happ and outfielder Dominic Brown.

However, the Phillies are said to be more comfortable with offering the following:

Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, Jason Donald and Lou Marson.

I would think that since the difference is only really 1 pitcher (I see the Brown/Taylor offerings as even), instead of 1 SS and 1 C, the Jays and Phillies should be able to find some middle ground. However, after seeing Happ pitch last night, it makes me wonder if the Phillies won't lessen their offer a little. A good thing for the Jays is that Charlie Manuel said he would rather take the horse (Doc) if he's headed into a race.

As for the Brewers, they're said to not want to include Gamel or Escobar, and I say it would take BOTH to get a deal done, so scratch them off the list of candidates.

The Cards went for a bat instead of pitching, because we all know batting wins you championships......really? They're out of it.

The Dodgers and Angels are keeping their cards close to their chest, so who knows if they're real players.

The Yankees were scouting last night's game, but were supposedly more interested in Scott Downs than Roy. Boy, did he ever bring his value down over the last 2 appearances, no pun intended.

And finally, the White Sox wild card team have lost 2 straight games now, but sit just 2 back of Detroit in the central. If the Jays can land Beckham and others for Roy and Rolen, they should definitely look at the White Sox as favorites, but who knows if they'll make a strong offer before the end of the week. You have to think Detroit may be looking over its shoulder ad wondering if a combo of Verlander and Doc would take them further into the playoffs, not to mention how well it would mentor the young Porcello.

It's sad to say that Doc may not be a Jay by the end of the week, and I'm hoping I can stop myself from being glued to the Rotoworld scroll in hopes of hearing of a deal....and then evaluating the hell out of it!!

Cheers to Doc, for his trade will hopefully fix what has been ailing the Blue Jays since the early '90s.

Updated Roy Hallday Trade Rumors

The title of this post is turning out to be a full time job, but here is the latest that I've been able to accumulate over the last 2 days:

- Most GMs believe that the Jays price for Doc will not be met, and that he'll remain a Jay for that reason;
- Some actually believe that if the youngsters keep pitching the way they are (Bret and Mark), it could entice Roy to stick around and mentor them, at the right price of course. Would management extend Roy at 20-25 million a season? Maybe if they can shed Wells's contract or the bulk of it at least;
- The Mets supposedly refuse to deal a package that included Fernando Martinez - phew, because I hate the package that they refused to give up. It assured the Jays nothing except having a potent OF core with Snider-Martinez-Rios....where would Wells fit?
- The Phillies won't deal Drabek...woopti freakin' do, last I checked his stats were not so hot and we have better options in Bret and Marc. He has a 3.25 ERA in AA, a lot less than 1 K per inning, and is below Carrasco's value if you ask me. I say give the Jays a Michael Taylor, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Michael Stutes, and Yohan Flande package in return for Doc and Rolen and we'll call it a day.
- The Angels don't seem to be real players in this yet and haven't shown their cards at all;
- Speaking of the Cards, they're definitely trying to low-ball JP, so hopefully he's dismissing their calls. They refuse to deal their only A type prospect in Bret Wallace and also refuse to deal Rasmus. Seriously, they have very little else and should just call it a day. They would have better luck getting Jon Garland or Doug Davis, so the Cards are out of this altogether.
- The Jays and Rangers could get creative. One analyst had the idea of sending Michael Young to the Jays in a package that had Doc and Rolen going to the Rangers. This would help the deal make sense financially since Young makes 16 million annually, making the hit for the Rangers 5 million less per season and they get relief from Young's contract at the same time which runs until 2013. This would fill the 3B void the Jays can expect when Rolen leaves, and of course there would be the 4-5 prospects included with Young. Young is Wells's best friend, which may finally ignite the passion fans want to see out of Wells. I doubt this will happen, but it is a creative way of seeing the Rangers getting involved in this deal.
- The Chicago White Sox are my favorites for getting a deal done simply because their GM is Kenny Williams and he's addicted to trading. A package in the sorts of Aaron Poreda-Dayan Viciedo-Alexei Ramirez-Jordan Danks-Santos Rodriguez may make it work for the Jays. It fills the voids at SS and 3B for the long term and also provides great SP and OF prospects. I could even see Kenny being willing to take on Wells and part of his contract if the Jays are willing to pay a chunk of it. I'm seeing more and more that the White Sox and Phillies are the most viable options for JP.
- All other teams are wild cards and would need concessions from the Jays. The Brewers won't deal Escobar but could be willing to move Gamel, which wouldn't be enough. They do have 3-4 great SP prospects that could be interesting, but they're all a ways off from MLB play and are therefore too risky and long term for JP to bite. Atlanta is sitting this one out, and the Dodgers (other than Torre) haven't said boo. Some say that Schmidt's rough return may persuade them to take a better look at it.

The biggest wild card team: the Seattle Mariners
Here sit the Mariners, with Griffey onboard they have managed to be only 4 games back from the division lead this far into the season and already have a great 1-2 punch in Bedard and Hernandez. They also have 3 key pieces that would interest the Jays a great deal: RP Philipe Aumont (Canadian), OF Tyson Gillies (Canadian), and OF Michael Saunders (Canadian). The Jays have peaked interest at heightening their Canadian content in order to appease to their audience. Not only are these guys Canucks, but they are huge talents. Saunders in particular has 5 tools and would be a great fit for the Jays. Seattle also showed that they are willing to make these huge deals when they dealt for Bedard. Here's how I see the package:

RP Philipe Aumont - OF Michael Saunders - 3B Alex Liddi - SP Michael Pineda - OF Tyson Gillies (could add 1 more prospect)

In return for Roy Halladay and Scott Rolen. This fills their need in replacing Beltre for the time being at 3B, and also allows for him and Rolen to take turns at DH when need be. That's a deal that I would not be disappointed in, as a Canadian Jays fan.

Richmond throws for the GCL Blue Jays

Scott Richmond kicked off his recovery with a start for the GCL Blue Jays against the GCL Braves. He didn;t fare well at all, going only 3.1 innings, allowing 9 hits, 3 ER, and 1 walk. He did strike out 5 which is encouraging.

In the same game, the newly signed SS Ryan Goins started in place of Gustavo Pierre, indicating that they may share some time at SS for a period of time. LHP Carlos Pina continued to pitch extremely well for the GCL squad, lowering his ERA to 0.035 with another 3 shutout innings with 2 Ks and only 1 hit allowed. The 19 year old is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Latest Doc Rumors

The 3 teams believed to be leading the Doc Halladay sweepstakes are STL, CHW, and PHI in no particular order. The latest CHW rumors have the following package going to Toronto:

2B/3B/SS Alexei Ramirez: 27 yrs old Cuban, hit 21 HRs in his rookie season, on pace for 20 Hrs this season to go along with 12-16 SBs. Hit .286 last year, hitting .279 this year and is on pace for 81 RBI - not bad for an infielder.

And

SP Aaron Poreda: 22 year old Californian, had 69 Ks in 64 IP in the minors before getting called up to the MLB, so far has thrown 11 Inning, with 12 Ks, a 1.64 ERA, and 1.36 WHIP. Rated the 2nd best CHW prospect by Baseball America.

Or

SP John Danks: 24 yr old Texan, has 2 years of experience under his belt with impressive results - but even though he is rumored in talks, I seriously doubt the White Sox would deal him since it would be a generally sideways move for them.

More Likely to be included in package, some variation of the following:

3B Dayan Viciedo; OF Jose Martinez; RHP Dan Hudson; or RHP Gregory Infante.

The Jays would be more likely to get Viciedo if they include Rolen in the deal, but we all know that the CHW GM loves to deal and this is a scenario that JP may go for since it puts Roy in a different division.

In other notes: Joe Torre has been adamantly trying to get the Dodgers involved to get Roy. Rumors state that any deal would have to include Clayton Kershaw, but I doubt that it's a fact. A combination of James McDonald and Ethan Martin in a deal would surely peek the interest of the Jays. Add in SS Ivan Dejesus and 3B Josh Bell, and I'm pretty sure JP would bite.

Marc's first win against none other than the Red Sox!

Their roster was complete, with all hands on deck and the best possible lineup they could have this season. Still, the Red Sox could only manage 4 hits against the Jays rookie Lefty and scored only 1 run to become the first team that Marc Rzepczynski has ever won against in MLB. The fact that he threw so well bodes well for an endless stream of future divisional match ups and he proved once again that he belongs in the rotation for the long term. Over 3 starts, ALL against divisional rivals, he has a 2.50 ERA, 18 IP (avg 6 per start), 16 Ks, 11 HA, 11 BB. His next start should be versus Tampa Bay this upcoming Friday and I look forward to seeing if he can keep it going.

Rolen and Overbay continued to heighten their trade values by getting 2 hits a piece, and Lind continued to make himself untouchable by knocking his 20th HR of season. If he continues on this pace, Lind will become the first Jays in quite a while to hit 35 Hrs and knock in over 100 RBI while hitting above .300. Wells sat out last night's game, and let's hope that it means a trade is imminent so that the trade rumors and fan backlash can stop getting worse.

Jays sign 4th rd pick Ryan Goins - SS

The Jays have signed their highest selection thus far post 2009 draft with the signing of Ryan Goins and ends up being the 4th of the top 10 to sign. He has been assigned to the GCL Jays, and will join fellow SS Gustavo Pierre on the roster. It will be interesting to see if the Jays push Pierre up a notch despite a rough start to the season, or if they decide to play Goins at 2B instead.