Update (4:38pm CT): Kevin Baxter of the Times now says there's absolutely no truth to Ken Rosenthal's story below.
The flip-flopping in the media on these rumors is bound to last another five full days, so hang on to your hats, folks!
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Even though I haven't typed much in this space in a little over two weeks, it hasn't precluded me from keeping up with what's going on. I'll get back (and backtrack a little) to some of the on-the-field stuff that has taken place in the past two weeks a little bit later, but for the moment, a couple of print media pieces to share with you relating to the deadline Friday.
The non-waiver trade deadline is coming up on July 31, just five days away, and the Dodgers, with the best record in baseball, are tied into just about any and every starting pitcher and reliever on the current trade market. The two big rotation guns available are Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Both Toronto and Cleveland are asking for nearly the same type of packages for their pitchers: either a boatload of prospects or a couple of prospects and a couple of guys off the Major League roster.
There's no question the Dodgers could use another starting pitcher in the rotation for the post-season. This team's rotation is not quite built for the post-season. Joe Torre has been advocating the need for another pitcher in the rotation, as well as the bullpen. Several players, including Manny, have acknowledged that pitching will be the key to success in the playoffs.
That said, with the kind of package Toronto is asking for Roy Halladay, I would ask the Dodgers to politely say "Thanks, but no thanks." Toronto wants Clayton Kershaw in any deal for Halladay. While Halladay is arguably the best right-handed starting pitcher in the game right now, do you really want to risk losing a kid in Kershaw who is regarded as one of the top young pitchers in the game, for what could amount to just three months of Halladay? Halladay will have the right to demand a trade after the season if he's traded before the Jays-imposed-deadline-to-trade-Halladay of July 28, which is two days from now. He won't be a free agent until after 2010 though. So there's a huge risk in trading for Halladay in more ways than we care to discuss.
Now, back to the print media blurbs. In this morning's Times, three columnists all touched base on the Dodgers need for a starting pitcher. Not oddly enough, all three had different scenarios and different ideas for getting a starting pitcher, one particularly named Halladay. But the fact that three different columnists basically wrote the same piece in their own words, is a bit of overkill on the Halladay quest. Jon Weisman of the Times' Dodger Thoughts broke down the nonsense. Pay closest attention to his take on Bill Plaschke's diatribe at the end of his post.
It would seem to me the Dodgers, like most teams involved in the Roy Halladay chase, feel Toronto's asking price is simply just too high. So like other teams, the Dodgers have turned their attention to the other pitcher available: Cliff Lee.
Late word now from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is the Dodgers and Cleveland are in heavy discussion that would send both Lee and catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez to L.A. for, among others, James Loney. Cleveland is also asking for either Kershaw or Chad Billingsley and a couple of prospects.
I wouldn't mind doing this deal, as long as it doesn't involve Kershaw, and or even Billingsley. While I do think something like this would dramatically improve the rotation, and even the offense, including Kershaw in particular doesn't make sense. If you're willing to include him, or Billingsley in a deal for Lee, why not for Halladay? Sure, you're getting a more solid bat in the middle of the lineup in Martinez in return, but is it still worth the gamble of moving Kershaw or Billingsley?
The names of some of the prospects being mentioned include Scott Elbert, and I would bet a lot of teams would love to have a kid like Elbert. While he is no Kershaw (not yet anyway), he does have a lot of upside and potential to be a solid starter in the league someday. He was listed at one time as the Dodgers #1 pitching prospect until injuries got the best of him, and Kershaw surpassed him. Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be much room for him in L.A. But Kershaw, and even Billingsley, are supposed to part of the young core that prompted Ned Colletti to negate any talk of moving them once their names were brought up in trade talk with other GMs in the past. Until now?
The Dodgers know they're on the cusp of something special. But they also know that what they have in the rotation might not be quite enough to get them over the hurdle they couldn't get past last post-season.
I don't think Halladay is going to be traded, but the Dodgers can't sit back and assume this, and need to be proactive in getting an arm in the rotation. On the flipside, be smart about it. You can afford to move a couple of prospects if need be because there simply isn't a lot of room on the big league roster right now anyway, and there might not be for several years. What you can't afford to do is mortgage what you've said you wouldn't do, which is break up the young core that could win for years to come. Stick to your guns, Ned.
The flip-flopping in the media on these rumors is bound to last another five full days, so hang on to your hats, folks!
**********
Even though I haven't typed much in this space in a little over two weeks, it hasn't precluded me from keeping up with what's going on. I'll get back (and backtrack a little) to some of the on-the-field stuff that has taken place in the past two weeks a little bit later, but for the moment, a couple of print media pieces to share with you relating to the deadline Friday.
The non-waiver trade deadline is coming up on July 31, just five days away, and the Dodgers, with the best record in baseball, are tied into just about any and every starting pitcher and reliever on the current trade market. The two big rotation guns available are Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Both Toronto and Cleveland are asking for nearly the same type of packages for their pitchers: either a boatload of prospects or a couple of prospects and a couple of guys off the Major League roster.
There's no question the Dodgers could use another starting pitcher in the rotation for the post-season. This team's rotation is not quite built for the post-season. Joe Torre has been advocating the need for another pitcher in the rotation, as well as the bullpen. Several players, including Manny, have acknowledged that pitching will be the key to success in the playoffs.
That said, with the kind of package Toronto is asking for Roy Halladay, I would ask the Dodgers to politely say "Thanks, but no thanks." Toronto wants Clayton Kershaw in any deal for Halladay. While Halladay is arguably the best right-handed starting pitcher in the game right now, do you really want to risk losing a kid in Kershaw who is regarded as one of the top young pitchers in the game, for what could amount to just three months of Halladay? Halladay will have the right to demand a trade after the season if he's traded before the Jays-imposed-deadline-to-trade-Halladay of July 28, which is two days from now. He won't be a free agent until after 2010 though. So there's a huge risk in trading for Halladay in more ways than we care to discuss.
Now, back to the print media blurbs. In this morning's Times, three columnists all touched base on the Dodgers need for a starting pitcher. Not oddly enough, all three had different scenarios and different ideas for getting a starting pitcher, one particularly named Halladay. But the fact that three different columnists basically wrote the same piece in their own words, is a bit of overkill on the Halladay quest. Jon Weisman of the Times' Dodger Thoughts broke down the nonsense. Pay closest attention to his take on Bill Plaschke's diatribe at the end of his post.
It would seem to me the Dodgers, like most teams involved in the Roy Halladay chase, feel Toronto's asking price is simply just too high. So like other teams, the Dodgers have turned their attention to the other pitcher available: Cliff Lee.
Late word now from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is the Dodgers and Cleveland are in heavy discussion that would send both Lee and catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez to L.A. for, among others, James Loney. Cleveland is also asking for either Kershaw or Chad Billingsley and a couple of prospects.
I wouldn't mind doing this deal, as long as it doesn't involve Kershaw, and or even Billingsley. While I do think something like this would dramatically improve the rotation, and even the offense, including Kershaw in particular doesn't make sense. If you're willing to include him, or Billingsley in a deal for Lee, why not for Halladay? Sure, you're getting a more solid bat in the middle of the lineup in Martinez in return, but is it still worth the gamble of moving Kershaw or Billingsley?
The names of some of the prospects being mentioned include Scott Elbert, and I would bet a lot of teams would love to have a kid like Elbert. While he is no Kershaw (not yet anyway), he does have a lot of upside and potential to be a solid starter in the league someday. He was listed at one time as the Dodgers #1 pitching prospect until injuries got the best of him, and Kershaw surpassed him. Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be much room for him in L.A. But Kershaw, and even Billingsley, are supposed to part of the young core that prompted Ned Colletti to negate any talk of moving them once their names were brought up in trade talk with other GMs in the past. Until now?
The Dodgers know they're on the cusp of something special. But they also know that what they have in the rotation might not be quite enough to get them over the hurdle they couldn't get past last post-season.
I don't think Halladay is going to be traded, but the Dodgers can't sit back and assume this, and need to be proactive in getting an arm in the rotation. On the flipside, be smart about it. You can afford to move a couple of prospects if need be because there simply isn't a lot of room on the big league roster right now anyway, and there might not be for several years. What you can't afford to do is mortgage what you've said you wouldn't do, which is break up the young core that could win for years to come. Stick to your guns, Ned.
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