JP's Holla' Day Has Passed

Roy Halladay rumors will continue to swirl throughout the week, even though Toronto GM JP Ricciardi's self-imposed trade deadline for Halladay of July 28th has passed. More teams are becoming players in the Halladay sweepstakes and have begun to make their offers. With the asking price seemingly a steady set of the following- 1 major league ready player (preferably a pitcher), 1 top pitching prospect and 1 much touted offensive prospect...teams like the Red Sox offering Clay Buchholz and the White Sox offering Gavin Floyd seem to be taking over as the more serious contenders to get a deal done with the Blue Jays. With the Phillies apparently stuck on not giving up Toronto's top wish list item, pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, they are rumored to be moving deeper into negotiations to acquire Indians lefty and reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee. If the Phillies can get Lee without giving up Drabek, that would be their more ideal swap.

My opinion on Drabek being the piece that holds the Phillies back from making a deal is like this...What's the best projection for Drabek's career? He becomes a Roy Halladay calibre pitcher, right? Okay, so if you're trading him and get back ROY HALLADAY, what's the problem? Halladay is an annual Cy Young Award contender and one of the best pitchers in the game. This type of talent would certainly help the Phillies in their pennant chase and post season this year and next season. Kyle Drabek most likely will not assist the major league Phillies this year. Make the deal happen.

Ricciardi may need to consider how 23 days of being the main topic of North America's trade deadline discussions will leave Halladay feeling, if no trade is completed. He's their best player. Could all the chatter leave him with a sour taste in his mouth? Perhaps. And maybe next time around Halladay won't wish to deal with all of this again and won't cooperate with the Blue Jays and agree to wave his full no-trade clause.

The Blue Jays are 11 games behind the Yankees in the AL east. Halladay makes 17% of Toronto's payroll. The Indians are 12 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL central. Lee makes 7% of Cleveland's payroll. Both teams have similar deficits in the standings, but with over sized contracts like Travis Hafner, Jake Westbrook and Kerry Wood on Cleveland's roster, Lee, who actually earns his salary, might not be an urgency for the Indians to part with or get a return for. Thus, the Indians may require an equally impressive offer, to what Toronto is wishing for, to let go of their ace, who will make just $8 million next season.

-------------------------------------

The Phillies improved to a ML best 19-5 (.792 winning percentage) in July with their win over the DiamondBacks on Tuesday night. Consider that the Phillies began the month 0-2, and they've won 19 of their past 22 games.

Raul Ibanez is hot on the road. This season, in 37 road games, Raul is hitting .325 (51-for-157) with 15 homers, 41 RBI and 32 runs. Raul has also safely reached base in 20 straight road games. Last season with the Mariners, Raul's batting average was 33 points higher on the road than it was at home.

---------------------------------------

And here is a reminder that it's PhoulBallz Phillies Wednesday on The Shore Sports Report. The show is on daily from 3-6pm, and I'll be on at 3:30 to talk about the World Champions. Click here to listen.

The show also has its own message board...you can find that here.

Stats to Ponder: Jimmy Rollins Edition

J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...

Crawford's Chronicles: JP Crawford talks Spring Training

JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd Entering this year as the widely regarded top prospect in the Phillies organization, J.P. Crawford will be taking time each week to provide insight directly from inside spring training in Clearwater, FL, right here on PhilliesNation.com. Crawford, 20, was named the top positional prospect in two leagues (Class A South Atlantic League and Class A Advanced Florida State League) last year, when he combined, in 123 games, to post a .285 average, 11 homers, 48 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He also represented the Phils organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game last season. As the 2015 campaign approaches, the six-foot-two 180-pound lefty batter is expected to reach the Double-A level and continue to prove why the Phillies selected him in the first round of the 2013 draft. In this initial installment of our weekly check-in with J.P., he shares thoughts on a variety of topics, including his exclusion from big league camp, which member of the big leagu...

Former Player Proposes Marriage on the Field in Lakewood

Three's a crowd, Buster...Image- Jay Floyd For one New Jersey couple a unique meeting at the ballpark led to a new meaning for the term baseball diamond. Brian Parker spotted the woman of his dreams from the bullpen bench at Lakewood, NJ's FirstEnergy Park on July 9th, 2010. The right-handed reliever for the Orioles affiliate Delmarva Shorebirds wasn't summoned to pitch that night, but it didn't stop him from getting up and going through his usual warm up and stretching routines to inch closer to a young blonde Brick Township native that he felt drawn toward. "I was acting like I was staying hot, but really I was just trying to talk to her," Parker, a 19th round draft choice by Baltimore in 2007, stated. "I ended up putting my (phone) number on a baseball and we decided to hang out and throughout that whole next year it was back and forth trips between the both of us." The lady that caught Parker's eye was Kristin VanDeventer, who was ...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog