The Mets’ continued nose dive could cost them Roy Halladay, if they were willing to trade for the Blue Jays ace, SI.com speculates.
Jon Heyman writes, “Halladay, who has suggested it’s time for him to try to win, might not be eager to accept a trade to a team such as the Mets that is nine games out (now 10) in its division while also trailing eight other teams in the wild-card race. …
“However, one important thing Halladay could do for the Mets is help them change the season’s dreary story of pain and suffering, if only for a while.” Toronto is 10-1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East and trails six AL teams for the wild card.
Heyman maintains the Mets might be able to make a deal for Halladay if they part with Fernando Martinez, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese and Ruben Tejada, though the Mets seem to have no interest in that.
Heyman also writes, “it appears that the Mets’ prospect list isn’t as thin as some suggest,” a line of thinking GM Omar Minaya agreed with last night on SNY.
Speaking with Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez during the Mets’ loss to the Nationals in Washington, Minaya said it’s difficult to judge the Mets’ farm system because many of their top prospects are playing at league above what their age usually would dictate.
Minaya also pointed out that the prevailing widsom at the time was the the Mets’ farm system wasn’t deep enough to obtain Johan Santana, yet they were able to make that deal with the Twins.
Heyman says the Phillies will not trade top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek in a deal for Halladay, which could lead to the 32-year-old righty staying in Toronto.
Blue Jays GM J.P. Riccardi yesterday set a deadline of July 28 to make a deal, and the Chicago Sun Times says a White Sox offer for the pitcher was rejected by Toronto.
Riccardi backed off that deadline today, according to ESPN, and said he expects talks to intensify next week.
“Look, if we’re on the precipice of getting something done and we have to go into the 29th, we’re not going to draw a line in the sand,” Ricciardi said. “But if we’re still at this stage on the 28th, then we’re not going to trade Roy Halladay.”
The Toronto Sun reports the rumors are wearing on Blue Jays fans and possibly Halladay, though he won’t admit to that.
“There’s going to be things over the course of your career that you have to kind of step up and deal with and this is kind of one of those times,” Halladay said. “But I have no problem with the way they’ve handled it. They’ve always been very honest with me and I appreciate that.”
Even the Toronto media seems tired of the story.
Toronto Star columnist Richard Griffin writes: “This Halladay trade phenomenon has spun totally out of control now. It’s like a game of musical chairs played at last call by drunks. Nobody knows who, if anyone, will be left standing when the music stops — or if the game will be called off with no winner.”
