Is Roy Halladay Worth the Philadelphia Phillies’ Future?

Roy Halladay has long been one of my favorite pitchers in baseball.

Although he was not commonly known by the casual fan until these past few seasons (largely due to the fact he plays in Toronto), Halladay has been a consistent and talented pitcher his entire career.

Except for one major league season in which he posted an ERA of 10.64 in 13 starts and 19 overall appearances (that disaster was in 2000, his second full season), Halladay has only had an ERA above 4.00 one time, in 2004.

He was awarded with the American League Cy Young Award in 2003, and was a worthy candidate for the award in many of his other seasons, including this year.

Although Halladay missed a few starts this June and has struggled since his return, he has been lights out for the majority of the season.

He has pitched for less than seven innings only twice, and has allowed three or less runs in 12 of his 16 starts.

His ERA currently stands at 2.79, his WHIP at 1.09, and strikeouts at 98.

And suddenly, Roy Halladay could be packing his bags and boarding a plane out of Toronto.

With only one year remaining on his current contract, the Toronto Blue Jays have said that they are listening to any offers that may come their way. However, it was made clear the Jays are not going to look to trade Halladay, and are only listening to the possible offers that could be made.

If the Blue Jays are intrigued by any offer to a point where they cannot refuse, Halladay could be on the move.

One possible location is Philadelphia and the World Champion Phillies.

It has been reported the Phillies are interested, yet would whatever the Phillies would need to put on the table be too much to trade away?

The Blue Jays are supposedly looking for a package of prospects, and one or two major league players.

Would this mean the departure of a Jayson Werth-type player, along with the Phillies’ top prospects Kyle Drabek (pitcher), Dominic Brown (outfielder), and possibly Carlos Carrasco or Joe Savery (both pitchers)?

It would be likely both Drabek and Brown would have to be included, and either Savery or Carrasco could be as well. On top of that, a major-league player would need to be sacrificed, yet who could that be?

Unloading a pitcher should be out of the question, since the club is already scratching for major-league ready minor leaguers out of their own system that can be of use to the team.

The Blue Jays would have no use for a bench player, so would the Phillies have to part ways with Jayson Werth? Werth would be an upgrade over David Dellucci and Adam Lind, their right fielders, and is likely the only need the Jays have that the Phillies may be willing to meet.

Understand that in no way, shape, or form am I saying that Werth will be traded. This is just merely speculation and a suggestion. Yet it would seem Werth would be the most expendable player and fits what Toronto may want.

But would Werth, Drabek, Brown, and either Carrasco or Savery, and even possibly one other minor-league player be too much for the Phillies to lose?

Would it be more sensible to trade for a number three or four starter to solidify the back end of the rotation without having to lose so much talent, or is giving up much of your future worth the possibility of winning this and/or next season with Halladay?

Other factors to take into consideration are Halladay’s salary and no-trade clause.

It has yet to be seen whether he would waive his NTC to come to Philadelphia, and the $14.5 million Halladay is making this season just adds to the large sum of salary going into the main focus of the team.

Is all of that goes into this deal worth trading for Roy Halladay, even if it does mean a second-consecutive World Series Championship this October, or is the price too steep to pay?

The market for pitchers this season is thin, and however likely a Halladay-to-Philadelphia deal is, the Phillies are bound to make a move sometime before the July 31st deadline.

Just what that move is remains to be seen.