The Rangers are excited about the possibility of Roy Halladay coming to Texas:
Blue Jays right-handed ace Roy Halladay was the No. 1 topic of discussion in the Rangers clubhouse before Wednesday’s game with the Angels . . . “I’d love to have him here,” outfielder Marlon Byrd said. “I don’t know what price it would take to get him, but I’d love to have him.” “You always want people who you feel could help the ballclub,” outfielder Josh Hamilton added. “It’s not my decision to make, so I don’t know. But I want whatever would help this ballclub win games and get to the postseason. I’ll leave that decision up to the front office.” “We’re going to look to improve the club every way we can,” [GM Jon] Daniels said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
There’s also excitement in Philadelphia, St. Louis and a bunch of other places.
As I said the other day, I don’t see Texas, given their owners’ financial difficulties, being able to pay the $22M+ Halladay is owed this year and next, and that’s even if Halladay were willing to waive his no-trade clause to go to the ballpark where pitching goes to die. As for Philly and St. Louis, I still don’t think they have the chips, and I still question whether Halladay will even be traded. Everyone is keying so much on J.P. Ricciardi’s comments about shopping him a couple of days ago, but not too many people noticed when he said this yesterday:
Riccardi isn’t optimistic a trade will happen.
“My gut feeling is no, we won’t, because there aren’t too many teams out there who are willing to give us the significant package of prospects we would need to make this go,” Riccardi told the Globe. “Teams protect their prospects.”
Posturing? Maybe. But I still kind of doubt it, and while everyone goes crazy trying to figure out where Halladay is going, I’m going to stand by my original statement: He ain’t goin’ anywhere.