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.

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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.

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Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

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