J.P. Ricciardi Overplayed His Hand

OAKLAND -- The Blue Jays have the best pitcher in baseball on their roster, yet they still came up as losers at the trading deadline.

The players in the clubhouse didn't feel that way. The manager didn't feel that way. The general manager didn't.

We don't know how Roy Halladay feels about it, because he chose not to talk to reporters. Therein lies the clue to what happened here. When Halladay was talking about his status on the trading block at the All-Star Game, he said over and over and over that he was willing to do whatever gave him the best chance to win.

As the trading deadline passed on Friday, with him still wearing a Blue Jays uniform, perhaps he knew that opportunity had passed for him and the Blue Jays.

J.P. Ricciardi, the Blue Jays GM, was asking for the moon, and a couple asteroids, for Halladay. His price was never met.

"We never really came close at all [to trading Halladay]," Ricciardi said. "We were just never moved. We said we would listen, we listened, and we were really never moved by an offer, something that made us jump up and say 'Wow, this is something that will really make us better, not only now but in the future.'"

The only two reasons to ask such a high price are a) if you really don't want to trade the player because you have hope of contending with him in the future or b) if you think you can get it. If it was the latter, Ricciardi clearly misjudged Halladay's value. He was asking the Phillies for a package including Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ, a minor leaguer who is a potential front-of-the-rotation starter and a current successful young big-league pitcher. When the Phillies instead got Cliff Lee, the reigning Cy Young winner, they didn't have to give up either of those players.

Halladay is better than Lee, but not that much better. That gives you an idea of the gulf between Ricciardi's idea of Halladay's value and his open-market value.

If Ricciardi was being honest when he said he didn't feel he needed to trade Halladay because the Blue Jays can build a contender around him in 2010, then he's really got a big job ahead this winter. He's going to have to find whatever pieces are necessary to jump over the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays.

Good luck with that.

For Ricciardi to make dramatic improvements in the Blue Jays' short-term outlook, he's going to have to spend a lot of money on free agents and/or give up some of the Blue Jays prospects in trades. Even then, it's not a sure thing. Heck, the Orioles have more promise for quick improvement than the Blue Jays because of their core of young players.

This winter Ricciardi is going to have to plot two courses for his team. The aforementioned Quick Fix Course, and then the Abort And Trade Halladay Course.

If Ricciardi tries again to trade Halladay, he may get even less for him than he could have this time around. Halladay is only going to have one year left on his contract, so he's unlikely to appeal to any team that can't afford to re-sign him beyond 2010.

Again, good luck with that.