The Philadelphia Phillies’ Perspective on the Roy Halladay trade

Three days after the initial shell shock of the Roy Halladay trade, and the dust is still settling on one of baseball’s biggest trades of the decade.

You’ve heard about this deal ad nauseum from Toronto sports writers, bloggers, and every Joe Blow sports fan out there, so why not have our friends from the other side of the 44th parallel weigh in on the biggest trade of the year?

Here is what Chris at The Fightins had to say:

Yes, (The Phillies) they did have to give up Clifton Phifer, but this is absolutely not a lateral move. Moving Lee was a baseball decision and we simply could not leave the “cupboard bare” for the future. But people this is Harry Leroy mo’ fuckin Halladay. If you aren’t excited, you don’t have a pulse.

Initially, I myself questioned the move by the Phillies to trade one Cy Young winner for another. At the time, it may not have seemed like much of an upgrade for Philadelphia to go from Cliff Lee to Roy Halladay.

The problem was that Cliff Lee was going to be seeking Roy Halladay-like money after 2010, and he was probably seeking a five or six year deal. Roy Halladay on the other hand just wants a chance to win, so the contract details are secondary to him. Whether it was three our four years, $20 million or $15 million…he didn’t care, so long as he can pitch in the playoffs.

Lots of folks have weighed in on whether the Phillies, Jays, or the Mariners are the winners in the deal. While the Phillies should be stoked about receiving the best pitcher in the game and immediately boosting their roster, to some extent they should also be concerned about losing their best pitching prospect.

Thankfully, Bill from CrashBurn Alley understands the quality of pitcher that the Blue Jays are receiving in return from the Phillies:

Losing one of baseball’s best starting pitchers is tough, no question, but hopefully the Jays acquire a prospect who may become the next Roy Halladay. They may have done that in acquiring Kyle Drabek from the Phillies, but Roy Halladays don’t just show up at the doorstep (or in a basket in the river, like Moses).

For the Phillies, it’s a short to midterm gain by aquiring Halladay, whereas the Blue Jays are looking for long-term results. Two teams who are on opposite ends of the spectrum right now, but don’t forget that up until the year 2000, the Phillies finished below .500 13 out of 14 seasons. It took them a long time to get where they are today.

And just like the Phillies built a championship team from the ground up, so too will the Toronto Blue Jays.

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