Projo Sox Blog

Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi says he has already received several calls from teams inquiring about ace Roy Halladay, but he's indicated that no one has made a serious offer, according to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe.

Here's some of what Ricciardi said today, according to Cafardo:

"It would take a lot for us to part with him. We've gotten a lot of calls from teams but none of them are telling us at this point what they're willing to give up. If you're coming at us with a 'B' list of young players, don't bother. This is one of the five best players in baseball. It's going to take a significant package of players for us to even listen. So as the teams call we'll go through the ones we feel are the serious ones and then we'll start scouting their farm systems to see if there's anything we can do."

The most controversial question in baseball today seems to be whether Ricciardi would consider dealing Halladay within the division. The Red Sox and the Yankees both have the prospects and the money to get a deal done, but it's easy to imagine that Ricciardi would prefer to pedal his ace off to a National League team like the Phillies. Since involvement by the Red Sox and the Yankees would drive up the price that a team like Philadelphia would have to pay to get Halladay, don't expect Ricciardi to say anything publicly that would indicate his unwillingness to deal with his rivals.

But maybe it would be better for every team in the American League East if Halladay were to go off to play in the other league. That would at least spare teams the choice of giving up their prospects in order to prevent a division rival from making a balance-altering addition to its roster.

 Tags  J.P. Ricciardi Roy Halladay Toronto Blue Jays

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