Price for Halladay a little steeper than that
| July 14, 2009 | 8:38 AM
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The Denver Post’s Woody Paige, in an attempt to rile the Rockies fan base with the absurd hope they could be players in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes makes this proposal today: Halladay for Brandon Hynick, Alan Johnson and Greg Reynolds.
To repeat: Hynick, Johnson and Reynolds. For the best pitcher in the game.
Now, I like Hynick and I wish the Rockies would give him a chance in the majors sooner rather than later, but he’s not a top prospect. You will not see him in Baseball America’s Top 100 anytime soon. Reynolds? Hurt. Johnson? He’s likely earned a look in the majors at some point, but he’s not a prospect and is unlikely to stay in the bigs for much more than that brief look. If you’re trading Halladay, you’re looking for maximum value, not looking to fill out your Triple-A pitching staff.
As noted last week, the price for Halladay is rightfully steep. Maybe it’s not Ian Stewart, Ubaldo Jimenez AND Christian Friedrich AND another prospect, as Tracy Ringolsby suggested last week. But there is no way the Rockies could get involved without at least one — and almost certainly two — of these players leaving the organization: Stewart, Jimenez, Friedrich, Dexter Fowler, Troy Tulowitzki, Jhoulys Chacin or Esmil Rogers.
It’s fine to have a debate about whether the Rockies should be players for Halladay or not, but let’s be realistic. You won’t land a player as valuable as Halladay without giving up something valuable in return. Woody’s just trying to get fans riled up — it’s what he does best — but it’s the All-Star break the Rockies are in the playoff hunt. If you’re not riled up already, you’re not paying attention or not a baseball fan. Let’s not waste time spouting drivel that’s so far removed from reality that even his paper’s own baseball writers — you know, the people who go to games — disagree with him. When there’s so few column inches available in the Denver’s now lone daily newspaper, it would be nice if the people responsible for filling them would treat their readers with more respect than that.
Journals, Sports, Steve Foster
colorado rockies, denver post, roy halladay, woody paige
