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 ..."

Ricciardi's One-Man Defence Team

A "P.R. Campaign Against [Roy] Halladay"? Painting Doc as the "bad guy"? Fuck off. Look, J.P.'s got bigger issues to deal with. Like, I don't know, securing the best possible package in return for Roy Halladay. By next week.

Think about it for a second; everyone but me hates Ricciardi. He knows that. Why would he bother trying to sully the reputation of one of the finest men to ever wear a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, in a city where not many - not enough - give a shit about the Blue Jays to begin with? He wouldn't. He's got more important shit to do, like field calls about Jason Frasor, Marco Scutaro, Rod Barajas, and Scott Rolen.

Ricciardi and the Blue Jays aren't worried about the casual fan, because the casual fan isn't worried about them; the casual fan's been apathetic for years. It's the nature of this city's relationship with baseball. When the Blue Jays, eventually, become a winning team again (one day), the casual fans will be at the Rogers Centre, filling the seats. Not at home, sulking about how the Jays supposedly wronged Halladay during his final days with the team.

Nothing's changed. We've known for some time now that Doc was going to test the market. Here's what Ricciardi was quoted as saying on July 8, in the New York Post:

"We have kept him from free agency twice and I don't think we have the resources to keep him from free agency a third time, so I have to investigate what is out there ..."

- J.P. Ricciardi

There's more. In the same blog post, Joel Sherman wrote that the organization and Doc had talked teams:

"Ricciardi said that Halladay has provided a long list of places he would not be willing to play, but the Toronto GM would not say if either New York club was on that list."

- Joel Sherman

So when Ricciardi tells the scribes that Doc's going to test the market, can we all try to not lose our shit? Please? Don't fall into the media's trap; we all know, without a doubt, that Doc isn't the bad guy.

We also know that public relations isn't Ricciardi's forte. The world would be a better place if he'd just keep his mouth shut for one God damn day. But stop and think about the situation before you want to tear Ricciardi a new one. You don't think Ricciardi wanted Burnett to stay in his rotation? You don't think he wanted to add a bat like Bobby Abreu's to the lineup? He simply didn't have the cash. And now we're here, at the potential end of an era for the franchise, because Doc is going to become a free agent after the 2010 season. And that means he must be moved. Now, in the winter, or next July. He must be traded. Deal with it.

Fortunately, there are some people out there who do get it.

Here's Mike Wilner; he and I are on the exact same page:

"The other big piece of news was the revelation that Roy Halladay has told the Jays that he won’t sign an extension with the team before testing the free agent market after next season. ... Good for Roy Halladay. Were I him, no matter how much I loved it here, I wouldn’t re-sign without at least dipping a toe in the free agent waters. ... As I’ve said many times, there are 27 teams that have a better chance of making the playoffs than the Blue Jays do - every year. Halladay wants to win, and he’d prefer to win in Toronto, but he knows what he’s up against in the A.L. East until the Jays commit to competing financially with the big boys."

- Wilnerology (reference h/t: Ghostrunner on First)

Odds and Ends:

Yes, the Jays did lose yesterday afternoon, for those of you that still care. Kevin Millar, batting cleanup, was of course the Jays' top performer on the day. The Tribe ended up taking two of three from Toronto, on the road. Yeah, that's about right ... After Jo-Bau's 0-for-4 performance, in which he left four runners on base, and costly error at third base, The Bautista Appreciation Society is looking for new members ... Goodbye David Dellucci. You left us, well, not too soon. You should have never been here in the first place ... I'll be live blogging Friday's Chicago White Sox vs Detroit Tigers 1:07 PM matchup over at The Score. I have a feeling it will be a touch less climactic than Thursday's White Sox game. What a mind-blasting catch. It's officially impossible to not like Mark Buehrle ... Doc's on the mound tonight, so I'll be at the game. If you're not there, I trust you have a good excuse. I'll tell Doc you said thanks ...

UPDATE: Go and read The Tao of Stieb's takedown of Griffin's bullshit blog post. It's spot fucking on. And it's no longer a one-man Ricciardi defence team. I'm The Tao's assistant; secondary legel counsel, yo.

Live Bloggage

I've got you covered for today's rubber match, a matinee affair, between the Blue Jays and Indians over at The Score, as Toronto continues its quest to reach the .500 mark. Mediocrity; it's unparalleled.

I know what you're thinking: lucky me, I get to type "Mark Rzepczynski" all afternoon. You're right, and you better believe he'll be referred to as RZep.

Click through - Indians vs. Jays live blog - and come join me. You know there's nothing quite like afternoon baseball to absolutely destroy your productivity levels at work. We'll be getting under way at 12:30 PM.

.500!!!!1

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The Sedins are off the market, but Mike Cammalleri, Manny Malhotra and Francois Beauchemin will be Maple Leafs in no time.

And happy Canada Day!