Phillies Still in Lead for Roy Halladay, but Situation Far From Resolved

According to the Toronto Globe and Mail, Roy Halladay has not given the Blue Jays a list of teams to which he would approve a trade.

FanHouse has confirmed that there is no formal list, and that Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi has yet to ask Halladay to actually approve a deal. The two are known to be close, so it's fair to assume they chat about the situation often.

So with a week to go before the trade deadline, the Halladay picture has cleared up only somewhat. Based on FanHouse's conversations with people around the game:

• Halladay's priority, as he stated at the All-Star Game, is to get to the playoffs for the first time in his career. With the Phillies heavily involved in talks, having a deep minor-league system and owning a big lead in the NL East, they have to be considered the favorites.

• Also near the top: the Red Sox, Dodgers and Yankees. But none have come forward with the type of package the Jays seek.

• Texas, St. Louis (at least before the Matt Holliday deal), Tampa Bay, Milwaukee and -- a team not mentioned so far -- Cincinnati have also been involved. Word is the Rangers and Reds have attractive packages, but based on Halladay's stance, those teams' position in the standings could keep him from going there.

• Ricciardi has told people privately what he has intimated publicly, that the offers so far aren't enough to convince him to trade his ace. The Dodgers' offer was said to not be close, and the Cardinals would not include Colby Rasmus. But despite a July 28 deadline Riccardi has mentioned to reach a resolution -- which would give him time to then move on to other deals, such as moving Scott Rolen -- the Halladay situation could very well go down to the July 31 deadline.