Roy Is Watching

If you’re Roy Halladay today, you probably took a long look at the NLCS clash between the Phillies and the Dodgers on Sunday night.

That’s because, at the July 31 inter-league trade deadline, you were Plan A, while Cliff Lee was viewed as Plan B. As events played out, the Jays were holding out for more than the Indians and, consequently, it was Lee who was shipped to the defending World Series Champs.

Well, Lee has lived up to his end of the bargain, with his signature effort, on behalf of his new club, taking place in Game 3, where he spun eight innings of three hit ball and struck out 10 Dodgers to earn the win, in an 11-0 rout. Mr. Lee has got to be feeling pretty good about the way things have turned out for him. His new team is now only two games away from the big dance.

In the meantime, Halladay faces an off-season of uncertainty, with one year left on his contract with the Jays.

He has displayed a loyalty to Toronto, and the Jays, that has not been reciprocated. He agreed to his current contract, only because former Jays’ GM J P Ricciardi promised that he will build a competitive team around the staff ace. History will show that Toronto hasn’t even had a sniff as a serious contender during Doc’s career, much less, the last three years.

So, Halladay, who has been the consummate teammate throughout his career in Toronto, enters the last year of his deal, with the real possibility that the upcoming year will be full of trade speculation right from opening day, unless something gets done in the offseason.

Diehard Jays’s fans dream scenario is to see the club spend serious dough, with that spree resulting in the fielding of a contending club that subsequently goes out and gets into the postseason hunt. Halladay has stated all along that he hopes to someday pitch meaningful ballgames in September and, particularly in the postseason, ideally for the Jays.

Last season he made his first preemptive strike by telling the Jays that he would test the free agent market at the end of the 2010 season.

Clearly, the Jays’ front office will soon be deciding on its budget in the upcoming offseason. As soon as they set their own expectations for a budget toward player salaries they will be sending a clear message. It will either be designed to keep Roy Halladay and spend to the $120 Million neighborhood or will cut back a bit and head into a rebuilding mode, with the good Doctor truly not in their plans.
If the choice is the latter option, we hope they deal Roy in the off-season. Don’t let him twist in the wind until next July 31.

He deserves a clear decision from the ballclub, one way or another.

Tags: Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies, roy halladay, toronto blue jays