Projo Sox Blog

-The St. Louis Cardinals are willing to do almost anything to add Roy Halladay to their pitching rotation, if Post-Dispatch writer Joe Strauss' sources are to be believed. "Give [Blue Jays GM J.P.] Ricciardi all our minor-league rosters and let him circle any 5 names," is the club's philosophy, according to a "club source." That's no small thing, since Scouts Inc.'s Keith Law early this season ranked St. Louis' farm system the sixth-best in all of baseball, just ahead of the Red Sox'.

-Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe writes that, as of late yesterday afternoon, the Red Sox were not among the teams that had contacted Ricciardi about Halladay. Meanwhile, Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald speculates that a Red Sox offer for Halladay would have to include Clay Buchholz, along with two other top prospects, perhaps Lars Anderson and Casey Kelly.

-MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan writes that Halladay was the number-one topic of conversation last night in the clubhouse of the Texas Rangers. No organization has better prospects to offer Toronto than the Rangers do, but club president Nolan Ryan has recently thrown cold water on the notion that the Rangers would add a big salary anytime soon.

-Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said that there are some prospects in the Philadelphia system that he considers "untouchable," and manager Charlie Manuel mentioned pitcher Kyle Drabek. Manuel added, however, that he would rather strike a deal to win now than hang onto prospects who will not pay dividends until the future.

-Brewers manager Doug Melvin said that, while he hasn't called Ricciardi yet, he will do so soon.

-Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun handicapped the chances of all the candidates to land Halladay, and gave the Los Angeles Angels the best odds of the bunch: "Jered Weaver, plus shortstop Brandon Wood, and a pitching prospect such as lefty Trevor Reckling or Jordan Walden. Will Halladay go to the coast? Angels also want either Scott Downs or Brandon League and could expand the deal." Elliott says, though, that Toronto's dream scenario would be the Red Sox and the Yankees getting into a bidding war that results in one or the other overpaying for Halladay.

 Tags  Roy Halladay

---