Rangers Exploring Roy Halladay Trade

Piecing together parts and sellers at the trade deadline can sometimes be easy. We know the Blue Jays are willing to explore trade options for Roy Halladay. We also know the Texas Rangers need pitching and that they have a farm system that's brimming with talent. So if we do the math here, it's not surprising to hear that the Rangers have inquired about Halladay.

According to the story, the Blue Jays are demanding Justin Smoak, maybe the best hitting prospect in the minor leagues right now, and two "good young starting pitchers" to go with him. Presumably, at least one of those two pitchers is either Neftali Feliz or Derek Holland. That's an awfully steep asking price that I'm not sure Rangers' GM Jon Daniels would be willing to pay, which is likely why the Rangers are still classified as "dark horses."

Rangers fans can dream about Halladay, but it just seems like there are too many obstacles standing in the way of this trade. Smoak, Holland, Feliz, or any other arms that the Blue Jays may want in return for Halladay are huge parts of the Rangers' future plans, which look reasonably bright. They're also not exactly at positions the Rangers are currently brimming with talent at.

There's also the issue of Halladay's no-trade clause. He's made his desire to pitch in the National League known; how eager would he be to accept a trade to a launching pad like the one they have in Arlington? On the flip side, how willing would the Rangers be to part with some key building blocks for a guy that will almost certainly hit the free agent market after 2010?

My uninformed guess would be that the Rangers are counter-offering with something like Chris Davis, Holland, and another pitcher and that they really won't budge on Smoak or Feliz. That's not going to get the job done, and Daniels will have to look elsewhere to get his pitching fix.

It's clear that he probably will look elsewhere. The Rangers need at least one more starter to challenge the Angels this year and they've looked everywhere. Their latest failed pitching experiment is none other than El Duque, Orlando Hernandez, who made eight appearances for the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, but didn't impress enough to make the big-league club and is expected to be released tomorrow.