By Melissa S. Wollering
Doug Melvin and I seem to share a media relations philosophy that I wish I could impress upon others. A trade or acquisition rumor is a waste of time UNLESS it becomes worth it to explain to you why the rumored possibility was silly, unbeneficial and not going to happen. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun and discuss the realistic price the Milwaukee Brewers would have paid if they were serious about Roy Halladay. Which they are not.
Blue Jay migration to Milwaukee is historically less popular than Milwaukee migration north towards Canada. Sure birds fly south, but Milwaukee is hardly south of anything other than Minneapolis.
A year and a half of Halladay is worth what? He likely commands a combination of no less than four players who all play in the bigs now or have received at least one call to the majors in the last season and a half.
In order to make a trade, the Milwaukee Brewers would almost certainly want to “off-load” a boil or two such as Bill Hall. Maybe Jody Gerut, who has not exactly panned out. Here’s an eyebrow raiser: how about off-loading Jeff Suppan if his payroll goes with him?
Dangling Roy like a piece of meat in front of Siegfried’s tiger suggests shameless, overpriced self-promotion on the part of the Jays who certainly want an inflated return for Roy boy. If Doug Melvin had to put together potential options lists, perhaps they would look something like this.
Alcides Escobar 2B, Mat Gamel 3B/DH, JJ Hardy SS & Angel Salome C
Escobar has been called up and could be ready for everyday play in the next year. JJ may not be worth the future investment if Milwaukee tries to keep Prince Fielder. Gamel’s defense isn’t there yet, but he has no trouble fitting into a DH spot. Angel Salome is pretty close to the majors and the Jays are slightly short at the catcher spot.
Alcides Escobar SS/2B, Lorenzo Cain OF, Angel Salome C & Brett Lawrie
Lawrie sings O’ Canada in the shower and brushes his teeth with maple syrup. He can also play anywhere on the diamond and could become a stud faster than it takes Celine Dion to get tipsy on Molson Ice. As many readers know, Lorenzo Cain is my boy and Toronto’s CF Vernon Wells is driving everyone up a wall with his lack of consistency.
Manny Parra, SP, Jonathan Lucroy C, Brett Lawrie & JJ Hardy SS
At this point you realize we might as well deal either Escobar or Hardy in any of these hypothetical trade cocktails. Only one can play if the other sticks around forever. We also have two decent catching prospects in Lucroy and Salome, so one is expendable. Manny Parra may have problems as long as he stays in Milwaukee. He wouldn’t be the first Milwaukee Brewer to find success north of the border.
Evan Anundsen, SP, Angel Salome C, Corey Hart RF & Alcides Escobar SS/2B
Evan is arguably the best minor league pitcher this season for Brevard County. He’s only in Brevard, I know. But he threw a no-hitter earlier this year and in contrast to the Blue Jays’ pitching prospects, he’s not injured. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend dealing Hart, but I can see it being an option. Mat Gamel may eventually land in CF and with the success of Casey McGehee we could afford it. That is unless Toronto is drooling over Casey, too.
There is only one line of reasoning I agree upon with Halladay trade advocates. If the Milwaukee Brewers don’t go after him, the Cardinals or Cubs could. Does this look good to you? Vomit in my mouth.
Wainwright – ERA+ – 135
Carpenter – 180
Pineiro – 123
Lohse – 104
Halladay – 154
The talent that Milwaukee would have to give up to bring Halladay is not likely worth the approximately $7M the organization would be liable for, plus another $15.75 due in 2010. Would it make Braun happy? Oh, now my sarcasm is coming up. Yes, let’s do it for Brauny.
I think the best written statement on this comes from none other than the St. Louis Dispatch:
Asked about the price tag for Halladay, a club source said: “Give Ricciardi all our minor-league rosters and let him circle any 5 names.” –Joe Strauss, SL Post Dispatch
This is why Milwaukee would not have acquired Roy. This is why Blue Jays don’t migrate south for the summer.
