Halladay and the Rangers -- a collection of links

Okay, the Blue Jays are supposedly willing to talk about trading Roy Halladay, the Rangers need a Roy Halladay, so speculation has started up.

I haven't really started hard-core thinking about whether the Rangers should try to get him (given what it would likely cost) and what sort of realistic trade packages I'd part with, but I can offer up some links...

Joel Sherman in the NY Post talks about teams that various execs around baseball discuss as potential landing spots for Halladay, and talks at length about why execs think the Rangers could be a fit.  The execs in question apparently think that, despite Tom Hicks well-documented money woes, the Rangers could add contracts and payroll if they wanted, pointing out the money they are spending in Latin America and their popping Purke and Scheppers in the draft. 

Jim Callis's chat session today includes a lot of Rangers talk, and leads off with a couple of Halladay questions, including this proposal:

Allyson (Dallas, TX)

How about this trade (I made up), Roy Halladay and Rod Barajas to the Rangers for Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Neftali Feliz, Marcus Lemon, and Wilmer Font? Rangers giving up enough to get Halladay?

Jim Callis

  (2:03 PM)

That one's closer, but I'm not sure the Jays would quite bite on that one. Saltalamacchia never has hit like I and others expected, and I'm not a fan of Lemon. Also not sure Halladay would approve a trade to that launching pad.

I agree, I don't think that gets a deal done...Font is a nice throw-in guy but not a centerpiece to a Halladay deal, Lemon is filler, and Salty's value continues to decrease as he continues to not hit major league pitching.

Evan Grant throws out another possibility:

Been trading emails with Jon Daniels for the last few minutes. He doesn’t flat out say the Rangers won’t pursue a deal for Roy Halladay. In fact, I’m assuming they are doing their due diligence on the matter. But he’s also publicly said that he’s operating under the assumption that the Rangers won’t be adding payroll at the trade deadline and I see no way to take on Halladay without taking on payroll. And that’s not even factoring in the Rangers lack of motivation to weaken a very strong farm system.

One thought: What if you gave the Blue Jays your best three-man package (a 1B, a C and a pitcher not named Feliz/Holland/Perez, plus Hank Blalock and Vicente Padilla. Blue Jays could then flip Padilla and Blalock for lesser prospects in another deal in July and effectively recoup six or seven players for Halladay. Rangers would only have the 2010 financial burden to consider and the Blue Jays would effectively still be losing Halladay’s salary by the end of July.

From Rangers standpoint, if you add Halladay, but trade away one of the veteran pitchers, you diminish the effect Halladay has on the overall staff this year. And for all his inconsistent moments at the plate, I think the Rangers feel like they need Blalock’s presence in the lineup right now.

I don't see Toronto doing that, I don't think.  It is presumably Smoak, Salty and maybe Beavan or Boscon or Main, plus salary filler.  I can't imagine that the Blue Jays are going to get much, if anything, of value for Blalock or Padilla, so the idea that they could flip those two guys for something additional doesn't appear to work.

Kevin Sherrington thinks the Rangers trading for Halladay only makes sense if they sign him to an extension, and even then, he thinks they may not be able to add the payroll associated with Halladay.

Ken Rosenthal lists possible suitors, but nixes the Rangers because of Hicks' financial situation and because he doesn't think Halladay would waive his no-trade clause to pitch here.