Baseball Brunch: What's Up With Doc?

Every Sunday MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Roy Halladay isn't going anywhere.

Unless, of course, he is.

Given the impact CC Sabathia had for the Milwaukee Brewers after they acquired him last July, and given the haul of prospects Cleveland got in return, it might make sense for the Toronto Blue Jays to shop their ace this summer. Toronto figures to be in the bottom two in the rough AL East, and Halladay makes $14.25 million this year.

Then again, if the Jays get all their injured pitchers back, they might have a pretty decent club in 2010, so why dump Halladay?

"We're not looking to move 'Doc,' " Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi told FanHouse. "We've been pretty consistent on that. The only way is if ownership says to us, 'Hey, we've got to go in a different direction.' They haven't said that, and I don't anticipate them saying that." Then again, ownership has U-turned on Ricciardi before. This year's payroll was originally set at $105 million. Then it was cut back to $85 million.

"That's fine," Ricciardi said. "We understand how it works. We didn't anticipate that, and that came about. So we have to make adjustments. "

Which means: I could very well have to move Halladay.

But he doesn't want to. This was supposed to be a window of opportunity for the Jays; they signed Vernon Wells and Alex Rios to long-term deals as the payroll built from $45.3 million in 2005 to $98.6 million last year.

"We were in a cycle where we thought we were adding and adding and adding," Ricciardi said.

But Toronto got hit by more than the recession. The Jays led the AL last year with a 3.72 ERA by starting pitchers, but not only did A.J. Burnett opt out of his contract and bolt for New York, but three other starters are on the disabled list.

Dustin McGowan, who can throw in the high 90-mph range, is out for the year because of shoulder surgery last July.

Shaun Marcum, who has a career 3.95 ERA and .244 batting average against, had Tommy John surgery in September and is expected back late this season.

And Casey Janssen, who missed all of last year, had a setback with his shoulder this spring. He could be back by May.

As a result, Ricciardi said, " I think we're going to be young on the mound, which we know is going to obviously be tough in our division. We have some good young arms who are going to take their lumps a little bit at the big-league level."

The bullpen, which had a league-best 2.94 ERA last year, is intact but will have to work more after pitching the fewest innings of any relief group.

Ricciardi hopes a decent defense and improved offense ("nowhere to go but up") will help the Jays be somewhat competitive.

But it is almost certain to be a step back after three straight winning seasons and 86 wins last year (which would have put Toronto two out in the AL Central).

"We thought we would keep building on that," Ricciardi said

Instead he can point toward 2010, when the Jays might be able to send out Halladay, McGowan, Marcum and whomever emerges from this season as a dependable starter.

Halladay, who doesn't get his due because of where he works, last year led the league in innings pitched, groundball-to-flyball ratio, complete games and starts of seven or more innings.

Trading him would mean essentially giving up on 2010 as well.

But imagine what Toronto could get for Halladay, considering he turns 32 on May 14 and over the past three seasons led all AL starters in innings pitched, ERA and complete games.

"We're going to really find out a lot about a lot of young kids this year," Ricciardi said. "At that point, we'll see where we are going into the following year."

Overheard and Understood

• Oakland is set to open the season with five starters, all of whom have yet to have a 26th birthday (Dana Eveland, Dallas Braden, Josh Outman, Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill). That hasn't happened since the 1978 Brewers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (Jerry Augustine, Moose Haas, Lary Sorensen, Andy Replogle, Randy Stein). They won 93 games, as Mike Caldwell moved from the bullpen to starting when Haas got hurt and went 22-9. Before that, the last team with an Opening Day rotation that green was the 1968 A's (Catfish Hunter, Chuck Dobson, Jim Nash, Blue Moon Odom, Lew Krausse).

• How good of an athlete is Detroit's Brandon Inge? Not only is Inge, who was a catcher in the minors, the best fielding third baseman in the AL and can also play center field, but when the Tigers used to hold offseason workout at the Lions' Ford Field, Inge would kick 50-yard field goals.

Chart of the Week
The teams with the best records on Opening Day:
Team	Rec.	Win Pct.
Mets	30-17	.638
Brewers	23-16*	.590
Yankees	62-44*	.585
Orioles	61-46*	.570
Cubs	73-58**	.557
* -- One tie ** -- Two ties Source: Elias Sports Bureau

• Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada are about to become the first trio in 16 years to spend 15 consecutive seasons as big-league teammates. The last was Jim Gantner, Paul Molitor and Robin Yount of the 1978-92 Brewers.

• Jordan Schafer, Atlanta's 22-year-old rookie center fielder, is a Shane "Victorino-style guy," one scout said. "He's an energy guy who plays hard. He does things that make you jump out of your seat. He's a fun guy to watch."

• Ken Griffey Jr. has homered on Opening Day six times, the most of any active player (he hit two in 1997, for a total of seven). Scott Rolen has five Opening Day homers.

• Most wins on Opening Day by an active pitcher: seven, for Randy Johnson. Tom Glavine has five, Livan Hernandez and Bartolo Colon have four each.

• A scout who followed the Giants this spring was surprised Emmanuel Burriss won the second-base job over Kevin Frandsen. Burriss struggled defensively at shortstop in the Arizona Fall League, leading San Francisco to sign Edgar Renteria, and wasn't much better at second this spring. But the Giants seem to like his speed (105 steals in 204 minor-league games).

• The Marlins would still like to add a veteran reliever to help stabilize an inexperienced bullpen. The Dodgers also seek relief help.

• Ichiro Suzuki, once he comes off the disabled list, needs just two hits to tie he worldwide record for career hits by a Japanese player. Suzuki has 3,083 hits (1,805 for Seattle, 1,278 with Orix). Isao Harimoto, who played for five teams from 1959 to 1981, had 3,085 hits.

• Dustin Moseley, who drew the second start of the season for the Angels after a series if pitching injuries, could be a sleeper despite his horrendous stats last year at Triple-A Salt Lake (6.94 ERA, 150 hits and 23 homers in 116 2/3 innings, just 83 strikeouts). "I'll tell you what, he's throwing great in spring training," a scout said. "I'm telling you, he can pitch. He was 'drop and drive,' now he's more upright, throwing a sinker, and with plus command." Moseley, 27, was once a highly regarded Reds prospect; the Angels acquired him for Ramon Ortiz in December 2004 and he has a 5.52 ERA in 61 big-league appearances.

• The Minnesota Twins have instituted "Market Mondays." Fans who buy a ticket in the "Home Run Porch" for any Monday game pay just one-thousandth of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (rounded down) at close of business the Friday before purchasing the ticket. So last week, those Monday seats in the left field stands cost $7 because the Dow closed at 7,775 on March 27.

• Bad news for Brett Gardner; he won the James P. Dawson award as top rookie in Yankees camp. The previous five winners were Shelley Duncan, Kei Igawa, Eric Duncan, Andy Phillips and Bubba Crosby. The last time the Yankees had the AL Rookie of the Year, Jeter in 1996, Mark Hutton won the Dawson Award.