Doc’s Demands

When it comes to off-field distractions, Roy Halladay would prefer not to deal with the drama.

ESPN’s Buster Olney spoke with one of Halladay’s reps and said that if Roy Halladay is still with the Blue Jays next season, he will veto any trades after Spring Training and will therefore fly the coop as a free agent

Part of me wants to believe that it’s just Halladay’s agents who are trying to stir the pot and get the chequebooks of the Yankees and the Red Sox warmed up for the impending bidding war. Alex Anthopolous says he hasn’t heard this from the horse’s mouth and spoken to Halladay’s representatives directly, so one can only guess the validity of this claim.


ADVERTISEMENT

If this statement is in fact true, is it really all that surprising?

From the All-Star game until the July 31st trade deadline, all eyes in baseball were on Roy Halladay. Up until that point, Halladay’s biggest audience was the handful of Toronto sports writers … then the Ken Rosenthal article dropped and all hell broke loose.

We learned one important thing during that storm of trade talk and rumours – Halladay does not want to experience that ever again. Speaking to the media and fielding questions day after day was not part of his routine, and whether or not he wants to admit it, maybe all that attention threw him off his game a little bit.

Some might say that Halladay’s alleged declaration decreases his trade value, but I think it actually increases it. If teams were banking on picking up Doc at the trade deadline as a rental, they now have to rethink their strategies and determine whether they have the resources to trade for him prior to Spring Training 2010.

For Alex Anthopoulos and the Toronto Blue Jays, it’s either now or never – trade Roy Halladay or watch him leave uncontested just like Carlos Delgado did in 2004.

While it would be excruciatingly difficult to see Roy Halladay just walk away from this organization as a free agent, Halladay and his agents have all the power and the Blue Jays are simply at their mercy. I just hope they take it easy on them.

Ian Hunter

Ian has been writing about the Toronto Blue Jays since 2007. He enjoyed the tail-end of the Roy Halladay era and vividly remembers the Alex Rodriguez "mine" incident. He'll also retell the story of Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS to his kids for the next 20 years.

9 thoughts on “Doc’s Demands

  • December 2, 2009 at 1:58 pm
    Permalink

    Apparently now the Red Sox have turned their focus to Rich Harden, some are speculating because the cost for Roy Halladay is too much.

    Jays = Screwed.

    I'm starting to think more and more that Toronto just wont get the offer they were hoping for and Roy Halladay will still be a Blue Jay come spring training.

  • December 2, 2009 at 3:57 pm
    Permalink

    The Blue Jays are in a tough spot – they don't want to necessarily "give up" Halladay for nothing, but they also don't want to just let him walk away and only get two picks.

    J.P. and AA obviously have a concrete idea about the kind of package they're looking for from other teams, and so far nothing has peaked their interest.

  • December 2, 2009 at 5:09 pm
    Permalink

    Now there are reports that the Yankees are just bystandards in the Halladay trade talks, and not that serious.

    Jays = Screwed!

    I guess the Angels are the only team left?

  • December 2, 2009 at 5:30 pm
    Permalink

    That's what it looks like, Peter.

    If you want a preview of what Halladay might look like in an Angels jersey, I posted this Twitpic a couple of days ago.

  • December 2, 2009 at 8:35 pm
    Permalink

    Maybe, just maybe, Roy doesn't get traded. Then 2010 goes better than expected. Then the Jays dump a bunch of dough into free agents and AA and The Beest tell him of their plan to dominate in '11 and on and Roy re signs…

    Don't tell me I'm dreaming. I don't want to hear it…

  • December 2, 2009 at 9:04 pm
    Permalink

    Mattt, the funny thing is … those dreams aren't THAT far-fetched. I was thinking that the other day – what IF the Jays win 85+ games in 2010 … would that be enough to convince Doc to stay?

    I'm not depending on it, but it sure would be a nice surprise.

  • December 2, 2009 at 10:41 pm
    Permalink

    It's possible. It would be a big gamble for AA to make but the bigger the risk the bigger the reward. In theory.

  • December 2, 2009 at 11:03 pm
    Permalink

    If (I don't actually think it would happen) the Jays don't manage to move Halladay before the spring, and if (I don't actually think it would happen even if the previous did) Halladay really did veto trade talks all year, it would be interesting to see if the Jays' head office started making risky and perhaps ill-advised moves to boost the team's short-term fortunes. It is possible they'd then want a chance of signing Halladay rather than go through the spectacle and agony of losing him for 2 picks.

    Anyway, I'll worry about the Jays being screwed when it becomes more apparent. I don't think we're there yet, but it's fun to have things to talk about.

    P.S. Halladay said some pretty nice stuff about J.P. in Bastian's latest piece.

  • December 3, 2009 at 4:27 pm
    Permalink

    I love the optimism! All of that could very well happen, but I'm not banking on it. I can't see AA making moves that would benefit the Jays in the short term to retain Halladay because that might jeopardize the future of the club.

Comments are closed.