Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is back with his latest batch of Hot Stove morsels. While his Sunday column is always worth a complete read, here's just a few items of interest.- General manager Theo Epstein would prefer not to give up Clay Buchholz and Casey Kelly for Roy Halladay. The Red Sox feel his current price tag is too high considering he is 33 years old, will require a long-term contract and has thrown over 1800 innings this decade. According to Cafardo, their ideal situation would be to sign John Lackey and deal Buchholz for a young hitter.
- The pitching-hungry Brewers have talked to the Rangers about acquiring Kevin Millwood, but so far Texas isn't biting. Millwood has one year and $12 million remaining on his contract, so moving his salary would create some room should they decide to pursue Texas-native John Lackey.
- Despite being linked in trade rumors, Derek Lowe hasn't heard from the front office regarding a potential destination.
- Cafardo finds the Cardinals a "good bet" to sign Miguel Tejada, though he also thinks they could be interested in Mike Lowell if Boston eats part of the contract. The Giants, Rangers, Orioles (really?) and Mariners are also believed to have interest in Tejada, according to Cafardo.
3:30 pm ET - Update: In regards to a possible Millwood-to-the-Brewers trade, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports that Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said he hasn't spoken with Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin in weeks. It doesn't exactly refute Cafardo's report, nor does it dismiss the chance of future negotiations.
Got bad news for Theo, the Jays are NOT going to trade maybe the best pitcher in the AL for Buchholz and some guy named Casey Kelly who has never played above A ball for the love of god! Thats the sort of trade that ends a GM's career, they would have to be insane to accept such a deal. I dont even think Buchholz is much of an offer by himself and they are going to only kick in a single A guy? Thats a joke
It seems to me that hop is completely ignoring the financial realities of baseball today . You can't build a winning team in Toronto by re-signing a 33 year-old ace pitcher to what would probably be about a $ 20 million per year contract , especially when they are still crippled by Ricciardi's stupidity in giving Vernon Wells that albatross of a contract . Boston also is not going to give up TWO potentially excellent young INEXPENSIVE pitchers for the privilege of paying Halladay $ 12 million for one year and then having to compete with the rest of baseball for him next year . Why not just wait until they can try to sign him next year as a free agent ? Toronto's options are basically ---- 1. Trade Halladay now for whatever you can get and save $ 12 million this year when you won't be competitive even with Halladay . or --- 2.Keep Halladay this year and spend $ 12 million on his salary in a year when you are already financially squeezed and will not be competitive and then lose Halladay at the end of the year and get only draft choice compensation for him , which might not even be a # 1 draft choice , depending upon which team signs him .
that's the "joke" the blue jays were asking for last year that the sox declined.
the jays have the richest ownership group in the sport . maybe they should spend some of that money and re sign him . they may want to give their fans something to look forward to .
What dirck doesnt seem to understand is that Halladay is at the very least one of the top 2 or 3 pitchers in the game and if you want that kind of talent you better be willing to give some. Not sure whats so hard to understand about that but to give him away for nothing is a stupid move that shouldn't happen. It's a no brainer for anyone with a brain