July 29, 2009

Evil Empires




All things being equal, if both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees made the best, and essentially the same (solid young pitcher and prospects), offer for Roy Halladay, where would you prefer J.P. Ricciardi trade him?

It's a no-brainer over here: New York. Start spreading the news.

I'd rather see Doc don pinstripes, and be reunited with his soulmate A.J. Burnett, than be embraced by Red Sox Nation as one of their own. That's how much I hate Boston.

What about you?

The BoSox have, though, upped their offer for Halladay: Clay Buchholz, one of Justin Masterson or Michael Bowden, Lars Anderson, and a third minor leaguer of lesser value.

The offer still isn't good enough. No offer will ever be good enough in return for Harry Leroy III.

Buchholz circa 2008 frightens me; 93 hits in 76 innings, 57 earned runs, 1.76 WHIP, 6.75 ERA, .299 opponents batting average, and, worst of all, an ERA+ of only 68. Sure, he's young, but, to put it succinctly, fuck that.

And Theo Epstein can keep both Masterson and Bowden. It's Daniel Bard, who this year has struck out 64 batters in 49.2 innings in AA-ball, 29 batters in 16 innings in Triple-A Pawtucket, and 36 batters in 28.2 innings with Boston, who has to be Toronto bound for this deal to even be considered. (Bard's 212 ERA+ this season is filthy, and he's yet to allow a home run.) Bowden's numbers are decent - his WHIP down on the farm is impressive - but Bard is the better prospect.

As for Lars Anderson, while he's said to have All-Star upside, his .735 OPS in AA-Portland doesn't knock my socks off.

It's simple: if Epstein won't even talk top prospects Bard, Ryan Westmoreland, and Casey Kelly, well, good luck the rest of the way with Brad Penny and John Smoltz.

Don't you dare settle, J.P.

Speaking of Doc, I'll be live blogging today's 4:30PM series finale between Seattle and Toronto over at The Score. If Halladay's still a Blue Jay come game time, it will be his last "last start" as a member of the team, so be sure to join me. (I'm fully anticipating Doc being removed from the lineup a half hour before game time, his Jays career over, and a trade imminent. That's when shit is going to get real.)

Hopefully Doc will indeed be on the mound, and help his mates rebound from yet another heartbreaking loss. Building on the theme that was most prevalent last night amongst The Monkey Army over at Drunk Jays Fans, it's hard to fathom just how unlucky the 2009 Blue Jays have been; 19 one-run losses and 10 extra innings losses. Both, unfortunately, tops in the league.

The last time the Jays were victorious in extra innings was way the fuck back on May 2, when they were in first place in the AL East. Since then, they've dropped nine in a row in extras. The DJF crew - the normal ones, not the angry, psychotic douchebags - are right: this team would be a lot easier to deal with if it just flat out stunk.

Once again, all we're left with is "what if ..."

11 comments:

Mattt said...

I wish I had discovered this blog sooner. I thought 'eyebleaf' was just an habitual commentor like myself. I dig the coverage of all the sports as well as what so far in my experience has been daily postings. So kudos to you...

This is going to be the most stressful Jays game I have ever watched. Until I see Doc take the hill, I'm going to worry...

Chemmy said...

Haha, you think the Yankees can give you better prospects than Buchholz, Bowden/Masterson and Anderson?

They have absolutely nothing of value in their farm system.

Johnny G said...

*twaps Chemmy with a stick*

Out foul demon! OUT!

The Ack said...

I dunno man, I already hate Jabba with a passion, Hughes seems like a band-aid, and one of those guys would be the centerpiece.

I don't hate Buchholz yet, and the prospects being thrown around are highly regarded.

I wish I could get behind a Phillies offer, but only if it includes Drabek/Knapp/Donald/and one of Taylor/Brown.

The Angels.... Joe Saunders? Eric Aybar? Really?

Either way, there's no happiness at the end of this rainbow. Just a big pot of shit.

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

@ Mattt: Thanks for the kind words, mate. Yeah, this afternoon is going to be rough. I'm going to start drinking shortly.

@ Chemmy: Both Joba and Hughes have shown that they might be ahead of Clay in their development. And without Bard and Kelly, there's no chance. I'm just saying, all things being equal, if I had to choose one of the two Evil Empires, I'm picking the Yankees.

@ The Ack: In a perfect world, Doc goes to Halladay, chills with Manny in Mannywood, and we get Kershaw and a nice package in return. Just seeing Jobba photoshopped in a Jays uniform frightened the fuck out of me. Disgusting.

Either way, there's no happiness at the end of this rainbow. Just a big pot of shit.

Ain't that the mother fucking truth.

Chemmy said...

But all things aren't equal. The Yankees aren't moving Joba and Phil Hughes is a terrible pitcher.

Escaped Lab Rat said...

The Phillies just got Cliff. I kinda hope if Roy has to go, he goes to another NL team, faces the Phillies, and absolutely SMOKES them. That would make me feel good.

If we aren't increasing payroll, don't we have to trade Roy at some point? The team is not good enough as is to win, without adding at minimum one big bat (which will hopefully have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the underperformers in the lineup--you know who I'm talking about). Plus, I'd rather have Roy win somewhere else than get stuck here with us in mediocrity. Geez, this is like Mats version 2.0 all over again.

Bruno Von Rottweiller said...

Bleaf,
AS you know I live in the NYC area. Kay, the Yankee announcer, acts like it's the Yankee birthright to get Halladay. These callers are insane,too! They already spent 201 million this year vs the Sox who spent 122 mill. I would hate both teams to get him BUT the Yanks spent close to half a billion in the off season! If the Red Sox get Doc, they still spent about 130 this year, under the Mets and the Cubs and of course the Yanks. In addition, the Boston prospects are better than the Yankee ones. I have to hear these Yankee douchebags on the radio act like Austin Jackson is the second coming and Montero(one of 4 cathing prospects) is the next Posada. After, Hughes, Joba, Aceves(all on their 25 men roster) anything else is dicey. Cashman is not very good at selecting position players and has had a little luck with pitching. In the end, Bleaf trust me if you were down here in NYC you would say ANYONE BUT THE YANKEES!

@ Chemmy, Hughe's been great in relief this year. And Yankee fans are afraid that if you trade him, the BP goes to shit. He's not a great starter by any means BUT Hughes is doing an excellent job as a reliever for the Yanks.

@ Bleaf, I wouldn't mind him going to LA BUT if you think Amaro in Philly is a dope, Colletti is that times two! He doesn't want to give anything up thats on the 25 roster from what I've heard. BUT I think in the end, I hope he stays here!

Jason M said...

If I had to choose between Doc going to the Yank-mes or the Sawwwwwx...

I'd choose a punch in the head.

William J. Tasker said...

Would hate to see Halladay in Boston. It's been rather fun seeing them get kicked around by Oakland. But that might make them throw in Bard to get the job done this year. After all, Halladay is 16-5 in his career against the Yankees.

Personally, I would hate to see the Yankees lose either Joba (who has been terrific lately) or Hughes (who has cemented the BP). Austin Jackson? Meh. Melky and Gardner are good enough.

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

@ Chemmy: It was purely hypothetical. If the Sox and Yanks offered up equal packages, I'd pick the Yankees. And Hughes is working out pretty well as a setup man.

@ ELR: I still can't believe that none of the 4 four prospects the Jays wanted went to Cleveland. That's nuts. And, yes, I think we do still need to trade Doc. I'm glad he's staying but we'll have to go through this same process again in the winter, and next July. He's testing free agency. Unless we go on an absolute tear in the first half of 2010, I don't think he's re-signing with us.

@ Bruno: Thanks for the update from NY, my man. Both the Yanks and Red Sox's spending is out of control. What gets me to is the fans' sense of entitlement, that it's only a matter of time before Doc goes to NY or Boston. Anyway, I don't see New York moving Joba, Hughes or Austin. I think they'll get Washburn, now that Wang is done, so it'll be interesting to see what they give up.

@ Jason: Wise choice.

@ William: It's been FUN AS HELL seeing Boston get kicked around by the A's. There's nothing quite like watching that pompous asshole Papelbon blow a save. It's a treat, every time. As for Joba, he was solid again yesterday. Fear the Yankees.