Dropped Third Strike

Blue Jays Offer Phillies '09 World Series, Phillies Politely Say, "No Thank You"

In an obvious attempt to make up for arguably the most excrutiatingly painful moment in Philadelphia sports history (and there's been quite a few of them), the Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly offered former A.L. Cy Young award winner and well-known pitching behemoth Roy Halladay to the Phillies in exchange for three minor league prospects and the fourth pitcher in their big league rotation. Amazingly, Phillies G.M. Ruben Amaro, Jr. decided that giving up four largely unproven commoditites is too steep a price to pay to acquire the best pitcher in baseball for at least the next season and a half. The Phillies had their counter-offer, sans super-prospect Kyle Drabek, rightfully rejected by Toronto, and now talks are at an impasse - gasp!

Obviously, the Phillies should succumb to the Blue Jays' demands, and in fact, this should have been a done deal a week ago. They would be getting a complete game machine, a guy would step in immediately as that team's ace (yes, he would supplant '08 World Series MVP Cole Hamels in that role), for four guys who have proven absoultely nothing at the big league level. If you're the Phillies, aren't you just crossing your fingers and hoping that a guy like Drabek maybe, just maybe, becomes a fraction of what Roy Halladay already is, and will be for the next few years while he's still in his prime?

When exactly did J.A. Happ morph into the next coming anyway? Yes, he has a sub 3.00 ERA this season to this point, but of his twelve starts (yes, he has only twelve starts this season, bringing his M.L. total to seventeen), the former Northwestern Wildcat has yet to face the same team twice, and I have a sinking feeling that he just might get touched up a bit more his next time around the league. Don't forget that the organization thought so highly of him last year that he appeared in one, count 'em one, post-season game, and thought it would be better for Chan Ho Park (yes, that Chan Ho Park) to start this season in the rotation rather than Happ. I'm not saying he's worthless. On the contrary, I think he's actually a great fourth or fifth starter in a big league rotation, but untouchable under these circumstances? Hardly.

And what happens to the Phillies' clubhouse morale if this deal doesn't get done? If you're Hamels, Rollins, Utley, or any of the team's other stars, wouldn't you feel a bit betrayed by management that they didn't do everything in their power to win now? I think you would, and don't underestimate those feelings re-emerginging when contract negotiation time comes around. I understand the value of stashing prospects if you're the Royals or the Pirates, but if you're a big market club as close to being the first repeat World Series champ since the Yankees won three in a row from '98-2000, then you do this deal yesterday, you do not wait two or three years for Dominic Brown to possibly contribute at the big league level. If I were a betting man I would say that the Phillies management comes to their senses and makes this deal happen at some point this week, and for Amaro Jr.'s sake I hope it does, or else he may find out what Mike's favorite ESPN analyst Steve Phillips tends to say about these situations: "prospects get you fired".

Man-Ram Returns, Fertility Drug Sales in So Cal Plummet

In case you haven't already heard, Dodgers RBI machine Manny Ramirez returns from his 50 game maternity leave, errr, suspension for violating MLB's drug policy, tonight in San Diego against the Padres.

It should be interesting to watch tonight for two reasons, the first of which being how Manny will perform on the field, and how he in turn will affect the Dodger lineup, which, ohbytheway, played pretty darn well in his abscence. True, he's had a few Minor League at bats in recent days (which is ridiculous that he could be allowed to rehab before his suspension is up, but that's a whole other issue), but who knows how many Major League plate appearances, if any, he'll need before returning to form.

The real question though, of course, is more of the human interest variety. After all, Colleen Dominguez isn't hanging around PetCo today to report Manny's box score. But how will everyone around him, including teammates, react to his return? You would think that as much promise as L.A.'s young sluggers, such as Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, have shown without Manny in the lineup, they'd be thrilled to have his bat back protecting them, but who knows, all of the media attention could distract an impressionable young clubhouse from their ultimate goal, at least in the short term. And then of course, you have the fans. Remember, this group of angry San Diegans (San Diegoins? San Diegoites?), is the same fan base who trashed Barry Bonds every chance they could get, including throwing faux syringes on the field, so it could get rowdy this weekend.

So, will Manny be as much of a force in the Dodger lineup as he was after last year's trade deadline deal with Boston? Will San Diego residents take a break from surfing and fish tacos to give Manny the business? Will Bill Plaschke's head actually explode? Only time will tell, but if you ask me, the answers are yes, kind of, and maybe. Stay tuned...