Sky Is the Limit for Roy Halladay in the NL

During the better part of the year and a half prior to December 2009, many baseball fans were kept guessing as to whether or not Roy “Doc” Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays would be dealt from the team and where it would be.

For most, it was a question of “when” not “if” arguably the best pitcher in the game would land with a contender sporting a fat wallet.

On Dec. 16th, the speculation ended as the 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in a multi-team trade that also saw former Phillie ace Cliff Lee sent to the Seattle Mariners.  

It was hard to believe that there was actually a player out there worthy of sending 2009 postseason hero Lee packing. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a Phillie fan who had an airtight argument against the deal.

On a team that finished under .500 five of the 11 years since his rookie season, Halladay has averaged 13 wins with 134 strikeouts per year with the Blue Jays. 

While the numbers may seem average upon first look, one must read between the lines.

If there has been one knock on Halladay through the years it has been that he has seemed to be injury prone throughout his whole career. He has missed huge portions of several seasons due to injuries; perhaps the most notable being a broken leg suffered in 2005 after being struck by a hard line drive in early July, ending that campaign.

However, when studying the six seasons in which Halladay started more than 30 games, the numbers jump to an average of 18 wins and 176 strikeouts per season. All of this while pitching in the toughest division in baseball.

Against the odds, facing teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox several times in a season, Halladay has still managed to elevate himself to the status of one of baseball’s elite players.

Now he comes to the National League. The league dubbed by some sports people as the “B-League” of baseball.

We have seen the scary surges of American League players turned National League after two trade deadline deals during the past two years.

Who could forget Manny Ramirez’s domination of the National League West after being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers from the Red Sox in 2008? After hitting .299 with 20 homers and 68 runs batted in in 100 games with the Red Sox, Ramirez’s average rose almost 100 points higher to .396 while nearly equaling his run production at 17 long balls and 53 driven in in only 53 games after moving to LA.

More recently, the previously mentioned Cliff Lee managed to equal his win total in about half as many games with seven in the American League (22 starts) and seven in the National League (12 starts) after being dealt from the Cleveland Indians to Philadelphia at 2009’s deadline.

In addition, Johan Santana, perhaps the only other starting pitcher on Halladay’s level, saw his ERA sink to 2.53 in 2008 with the Mets after it was up at 3.33 the previous season with the Twins.

If history continues to repeat itself, then Roy Halladay’s move to the National League from the American League may not make him scary good, it could make him horrifying good.

Consider that the Philadelphia Phillie lineup is comparable to any of the American League’s top lineups.

It could easily go toe-to-toe with those of the Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Rangers.

Combine that with the fact that opposing National League lineup’s simply don’t score as much as American League ones do, and Halladay could give baseball one of the best seasons for a starting pitcher that we have seen in decades.

To predict a 30 win season may be going a bit overboard. But what the Phillies could potentially get out of Roy Halladay could go above and beyond whatever we saw from him in Toronto (and he was pretty darn good in Toronto).

26 or 27 wins with a sub-2.00 ERA may not be out of the realm of possibility, bringing to mind the likes of pitchers such as Gibson, Koufax, Carlton, and Blyleven. Seriously.

Despite power numbers being down in recent years, we are still very much in an age of the hitter here in 2010.

However, whether you are a Phillies fan or not (I am not), I strongly encourage you to watch as many Phillie games in which Halladay is pitching as you can this season.

Sorry Mets, Braves, Marlins, and Nats. This trade may very well have given us something that many of us have never seen before.

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Philadelphia Phillies Take Care of the Hot Corner, Atlanta Solidifies the Pen

 
The Phillies have taken care of the hole left at third base by Pedro Feliz after the team declined to pick up his option for 2010.

Philadelphia signed Placido Polanco, who played second base for the Detroit Tigers over the past four plus seasons, to an $18 million, three-year contract earlier today. It is his second tenure with Philly (Polanco played for the Phillies from 2002 into 2005).

Polanco, who turned 34 in October, will be an upgrade from Feliz, who hit a combined .258 over his two seasons with the Phils.

A .303 career hitter, Polanco hit .285 with a .331 on-base percentage for Detroit in 2009.

He can be very versatile in terms of his placement in the lineup, as well.

With the Phillie lead-off hitter Jimmy Rollins having a subpar year in 2009, Polanco could take that spot in the lineup, or the second slot as well, which would move centerfielder Shane Victorino down in the lineup.

Placing Polanco eighth in the lineup could also prove to be advantageous. It is always nice to have a runner on base before the pitcher comes to the plate so that the pitcher may lay down a sacrifice bunt. The third baseman’s high batting average could certainly help this strategy.

Meanwhile, the Braves have done an excellent job putting together a very solid back-end of the bullpen.

Atlanta, who signed Billy Wagner to a one-year, $7 million contract yesterday to close for them in 2009, landed setup man Takashi Saito today. The righty pitched to a 2.43 ERA in 55.2 innings pitched with the Red Sox last year.

With the bullpen now solidified, Atlanta can begin to focus on what is really their pressing issue: Offense.

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Phillies and Dodgers: The Stove Is Already Warming Up for Next Year’s Race

While literally millions of New Yorkers (including myself) were busy celebrating the 27th New York Yankee World Championship up and down downtown New York’s Canyon of Heroes, the rest of Major League Baseball began offseason business as usual.

The National League Champion Phillies moved quickly in picking up the 2010 club-option on their lefty ace Cliff Lee.

Lee, who went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts for Philadelphia during the latter half of 2009, will be owed $9 million in the final year of his contract.

Obviously, this was a no-brainer for the Phillies. After being dealt by the Cleveland Indians at the July 31st trade deadline, Lee gave a shaky Philadelphia starting rotation the stability that it desperately needed. Most notably in the postseason.

Lee went 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA and a 33/6 strikeout to walk ratio during the playoffs this year.

The Phillies surely expect to be back in the thick of things next year, and with a stud like Lee leading the pitching staff, there is no reason to believe that with a little tinkering, Philadelphia could definitely make a run at a third straight appearance in the Fall Classic.

Across the country, both Los Angeles clubs are reported to have retained their respective veteran centerpieces.

The Los Angeles Dodgers received good news today when their slugging left fielder Manny Ramirez informed the team that he had decided to exercise his 2010 player option for $20 million.

While Ramirez certainly had a down year in 2009 by his statistical standards (.290 BA, 19 HR, 63 RBI), combined with a 50-game suspension for illegal use of performance enhancing drugs, one more year of Manny may still serve Los Angeles well. He should once again act as a sure stronghold while the young Dodger core continues to mature.

Bobby Abreu has also decided to stay in Los Angeles with the Angels, according to MLB Network.

The deal is reported to be at least two years long. However, specifics about the salary are yet to be confirmed. Rest assured, though, that after the year Abreu posted in 2009 (.293 BA, 15 HR, 103 RBI, 30 SB) he will be asking for more than the $5 million he received in the one year deal that he signed with the Angels last winter.

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