Phillies Fans are on Roy Halladay Watch

Now that the Pedro Watch is officially over, it is time to shift the focus back on the ever changing Roy Halladay sweepstakes and how the Phillies fit in.

Let’s take a moment to look at the situation.

The Toronto Blue Jays have announced that they will entertain offers for their Cy Young award winning pitcher, but have also said they do not mind waiting until the deadline to make the deal that best fits the Blue Jays. Mind you that means they could end up keeping Halladay, and who could blame them as Halladay is among the best pitchers in the game.

The Phillies have long been rumored to be a front runner to obtain Halladay, with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees finding their name in the conversation as well.

Phillies fans want Halladay, but not at the expense that may be required. Today, Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman said that the Phillies would be unwilling to trade away top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, a name that could be considered a deal breaker. Other names that have been rumored to be part of various deals include minor leaguers Michael Taylor, Dominic Brown, Lou Marson, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and current Phillie JA Happ.

There in lies the sticking point.

Happ has won the fans’ support to keep him in town at all costs. To date, Happ has a perfect 7-0 record and has filled in at the fifth starter’s spot after Chan Ho Park faltered early in the season. Happ also carries one of the best ERA’s in the National League, and some consider Happ a leading candidate for NL Rookie of the Year. That’s all fine and dandy but as far as I’m concerned, if losing Happ means Halladay suits up in red pin stripes, it was nice knowing him.

I continue to be amazed at the overwhelming opinion that Happ should be untouchable. Let’s compare Happ and Halladay to date.

HAPP: 7-0, 2.68 ERA, 65 K, 33 BB, 1.15 WHIP
HALLADAY: 11-3, 2.73 ERA, 113 K, 17 BB, 1.07 WHIP

Halladay clearly has the advantage over Happ in every category, except he has a slightly higher earned run average. Keep in mind though that Halladay is pitching in a better offensive league, and has not faced the Phillies. Halladay has also not factored in a decision only four times this entire season. Happ, who took over a starting job on May 23 has not been handed a decision in six games. To his credit though, Happ has had some games blown after his departure and he left a couple games in a tie game.

So if somebody can tell me what the advantage of Happ, who has pitched mostly against mostly mediocre teams, is over Halladay I would love to hear it.

I will go on record and state that I would like to see the Phillies acquire Halladay at just about any cost, involving any of the players mentioned previously. This Phillies team is clearly built to win now, and while they are running away with the NL East they should not be complacent.

There is little room for standing still as the top competition within their own league has improved. The object at this stage for the franchise is now to win division titles and raise white flags with blue numbers.

This franchise has reached the level where anything other than red flags with white numbers is not good enough. Halladay gives the Phillies a better chance to win it all than Happ does.

It’s just that simple.