THE HALLADAY FRENZY

I know I promised an analysis of the Yankees at mid season, but I must momentarily diverge to comment on the Roy Halladay frenzy.  Ever since the Blue Jays announced that Halladay was on the trading block, the yahoos on talk radio have been demanding that the Yanks trade half their roster to bring him aboard.

Allow me to offer an opposing view.  Unless the deal is very very good, the Yankees should not deal for Halladay.

Roy Halladay is a fine pitcher, one of the best in the game, but he is 32 years old.  He has missed parts of at least three seasons with major injuries.  He is not a strike out pitcher.  Aside from 2008 when he had 206 Ks, he only averages around 140 strike outs per year.  In short, he is good but limited.  Like Randy Johnson, he is a short term fix, and we all remember how well the Randy Johnson fiasco worked out.

Not that Halladay wouldn’t be a nice addition.  But the Blue Jays are asking the moon and the stars for him, and the Yankees would be foolish to mortgage the future.  Nearly every scenario I have heard includes Joba Chamberlain and Jesus Montero, plus others.  Those players lie at the heart of the Yankee rebuilding effort.  Trade them and we return to the bad days of 2005 when the team was old and weak.

The Yankees are poised to turn over their roster.  The team of the future will be built around Teixeira, Cano, Montero, Austin Jackson, and Brett Gardner on the field, and Sabathia, Hughes, Joba, and (hopefully) Wang on the mound.  Matsui will be gone after this year, and Damon will probably go with him.  Andy is nearing the end of the line.  The Yankees are finally developing a young team.

But trading the heart of the youth movement for a 32 year old will gut the future.  Yes, Halladay could give us an edge this year, but at the expense of the next five years.

I would love to see Derek and Mo have one more moment of glory, but not at the expense of conceding the future to the Red Sox and Rays.  Trading for Halladay is the wrong move.

View gormanb's Profile      Subscribe via RSS