If you are a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, the most recognizable face of the franchise is pitcher Roy Halladay. Halladay currently has a 2.79 ERA and a record of 10-2 for the 4th place, Toronto Blue Jays. At this point, he might be the only reason to attend Blue Jay games, now he might be gone.
In a published report, Blue Jays general manager JP Riccardi has talked to Halladay about the possibility of moving him to another team. Halladay has a no-trade clause on his contract and Riccardi has spoken with him about waiving that if a deal comes around. Riccardi has mentioned that the Blue Jays have "no plans" to trade Halladay but will entertain offers for him.
Potential teams that are interested, range from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Los Angeles Angels. In a Major League Baseball world short on pitching, Halladay might be the one player that could a put a singular team into the playoffs or carry them to a World Series.
For Toronto, however, Halladay is just the latest of a breed of player who stays with a franchise until it needs to be rebuilt again where the star becomes the “trade bait” for younger talent. It truly is sad for the fans of a franchise to see their major talent leave and have to deal with two most hated words in sports, “rebuilding project.”
Many people have questioned the economics of Major League Baseball and while it seems that competitive balance is still far away from occurring, these stories will always happen since general managers are thinking in the here and now and to the future. The future of the Toronto Blue Jays appears to not include Roy Halladay.
Halladay does not deserve these sorts of trade rumors in Toronto but in the end the business end of baseball rears its ugly head, again.
(Some Information used in this article is from an MLB.com story)
Roy Halladay, Cy Young winner. Trade Bait?
