Smoltz = pen?

PLEASE!!!

 There are a couple teams that need a utility player like Lugo. My guess is that any deal means the Sox eat half to almost all his salary for the duration of the contract, much like what they did for Renteria.

Lugo may not be worth much, but he is worth a couple prospects and/or a player to be named later. He could also be packaged with Saito, given the Sox are looking for a 1B, and threw Saito out to the Rockies for Garret Atkins.

The Jays will be watching all the big-name prospects for contenders. Doesn’t make it likely to happen.

Why would the Sox want to give a Division rival a pitcher they have been grooming since 2005?
Why would the Jays give the Sox one of the top pitchers in MLB in his prime? A Sox rotation of Beckett, Lester, Wake, Smoltz, and Halliday? That is a white flag trade on the Jays part.

The person the Jays should trade or DFA is their GM, JR Ricardi.

My guess the scouts were checking out Buchholz for his possible start after the all star break, even if the Jays are fading fast, they still have a tiny bit of contention left.

…otherwise we have 74 games + playoffs with NG talking about how Maddon knew that he would suck all the momentum, and that Sox fans are just too blind to see this.

I think that bodes well for Wake.

But who would catch him, that is the question.

There is no way that they would keep a 42 year old, first time AS on the bench.

Lugo DFA’d/traded (Royals/Mets?)?
Saito traded?

Especially if somebody needs time on the DL.

There is a big detriment for the Jays to trade Halladay within the division. There is even a bigger detriment if the Sox trade Buchholz within the division and he matches up to his potential. Might as well trade Buchholz to the MFY for a Wang. That would go over well.

  Penny is better trade bait than Buchholz, right now. Even though I am all for trading Buchholz, the Sox Management doesn’t share my cynicism, this is their golden prodigy and future meal ticket. The Jays are going to ask for much, much more than Buchholz. They are going probably going to ask for two more top prospects, with Jones or Bowden thrown in.

 The problem right now, is that there isn’t much out there for a good trade. I think the Sox are better off leaving Youk at third and use the Kotsay/Bates combo at 1b. Any trade package offered by the Sox is probably a reliever like MDC or Saito along with Lugo.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/07/sherman-yankees-wont-trade-for-halladay.html

Dude, the AL East is the equivalent of the “Group of Death” in World Cup Soccer. Right now, we have 4 teams (Soon to be three) in contention. Trading within the division is pretty masochistic. One should trade to get rid of clubhouse cancers, or a team willing to take on an entire contract of someone who hasn’t met up for their potential like Lugo.

Why in the world should the Sox give up their top prospects for Halladay? They would face them for years in the future. I don’t even think the Sox shouldn’t even talked to the Rangers at this moment, because they are in contention, and the Sox can very well face them in the playoffs.

 Halladay is one of the top pitchers in baseball, but like Santana being dangled before the 2008 season, he is going to cost a King’s ransom. One reason the MFY has some holes, is that they have been dealing their prospects for years, which has left some of their less glamourous but essential roles like relief pitching in shambles.

  GMs can’t be sentimental, but they aren’t going ignore risk management, by betting the farm on one player, while giving a division rival enough players to build a dynasty on…

Really?

I’d like to see some try to argue that the Sox would have made the WS last year with Manny instead of Bay. Jason Bay had a 1.105 OPS in the postseason last year. Its hard to believe that Manny would have been significantly better than that.

Also, Theo has traded prospects for quick fixes. See: Suckpan, Sauersuck and Gagne. We gave up Mike Gonzalez and Freddy Sanchez for Suppan, which is a pretty good haul for the Pirates. And the Hanley/Beckett trade, though its unclear what role Theo had in that whole thing. A lot of people say he was against it, but for me its hard to believe the Sox made a move that big without Theo’s approval.

• Other prospects
• Halladay’s salary would likely cause us to lose Bay or Beckett to FA, possibly without getting draft picks because they might accept arbitration if offered, stretching our payroll even further
• We would have to pay for players to replace the rolls that Buch+ are expected to fill
• If Buch does become the pitcher he’s supposed to be, then we have to face him as many as 6 times per year, not including playoffs. And, you just know that he’s going to be great if we give up on him – life likes to screw us like that.
• They likely want whichever club takes on Halladay to take either part of Well’s contract or all of it, including him – that’s enough to make me back off in and of itself.

(1) Ricciardi would be crucified in Toronto—even more so if he moved Halladay within the division.
(2) Few teams have the major league ready talent that Toronto would need to get in return for Halladay.
(3) Toronto won’t let potential trade partners negotiate a contract extension with Halladay prior to a trade. Thus, a team trading for Halladay would be rolling the dice hoping for a big result this year and next, much like Milwaukee last year.

I doubt he’ll be moved. But if he is, I’d be shocked if he went to an AL team because most of the contending teams either have decent starting pitching or can’t afford him. Of the NL teams, Philadelphia makes the most sense. But I don’t think anything will happen. If Halladay gets moved, I bet it happens in the off-season.