Roy Halladay: GBOAT

Roy Halladay came full circle today. Almost 4 years after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and promptly retired.

I wrote about going to Roy Halladay's last home start as a Blue Jay when Halladay was traded in December 2009. What I glossed over was how great of a game he pitched that day. I'm positive part of the reason why I did not mention that is because that is the sort of game that was second nature for Halladay to have. Near the end of his time with the Jays, the fans just expected him to have a dominant start in a game that only goes 2 hours or so. So in that sense, it was the perfect last start in Toronto: a standard Halladay start, just Roy being the cyborg that we all grew to love.

Sitting behind home plate was an added treat for that game. You really got an idea as to how good Halladay was sitting there as you got to see the movement on his pitches, and his ability to pinpoint where they were going. He wanted to challenge hitters, and to force them to hit his less than ideal pitches, causing them to get out. What made him special was that he had a switch that he could flip when he sensed he needed to, and could get a strike out when he needed it. All of this made him the most dominant pitcher over his career (post delivery revamp that is.)

Of course, there was more to him than just being an amazing pitcher. While I joked above about him being a cyborg, it just seemed that way because he was not one to put himself out there. So we as fans could only take cues from his demeanor on the diamond, and that was one of stoicism, of cold professionalism and of expected excellence. It was a rare time when we got to see the more human side of Halladay, whether it was in this article by Cathal Kelly of Halladay spending a day at spring training with a child with cancer or a Richard Griffin article on Roy and Brandi Halladay's giving back to Toronto and the community. And these glimpses give us a glance at somebody who is grateful for what he has, knows that he is in a position to give back and wants to do that. He doesn't let his paycheque define him. And that came through in the press conference announcing his retirement as well.

Ultimately, this feels right. Roy Halladay knows his body would not be able to let him perform at the level that he wants to, so he walks away now rather than hang on and attempt an ill-fated comeback. Halladay is a Blue Jay through and through; he left because his career and the Blue Jays were diverging in their needs, not because of any desire to leave. He clearly loves the organization, and the organization is willing to embrace him as well. The fans have never forgotten him and still pined for him (indeed, there were fans that were advocating signing him to improve the Jays' starting staff.)

The only thing left to say is thank you Roy, for all of the memories and for being the best pitcher I have ever seen in person.

A more reasoned (but still giddy) reaction to the Vernon Wells trade

The Vernon Wells for Mike Napoli/Juan Rivera trade is a tough trade to grade from a baseball perspective. If the Vernon Wells from 2010 shows up and the Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera from 2009 shows up, the trade is a win for the Blue Jays. If only one of Napoli or Rivera shows up, then the deal is a wash. If the Rivera and Napoli from 2010 show up, then the Angels win the deal. With that said, if the Wells from 2009 shows up, then it doesn't matter - the Jays will win the trade.

Another factor in the evaluation is defense. After being a good centerfielder in his younger years, Wells is now a liability defensively. If he moves to leftfield, he'd likely turn into an average defensive fielder, putting most of his value in his offense. Napoli is considered to be a weak defensive catcher, though how much of that is due to the Angels' reluctance to play him (instead choosing to play offensive sink hole Jeff Mathis) is not know. Rivera is an average left fielder. From a Jays' perspective, Rajai Davis takes over as the centerfielder, improving their defense if simply by subtraction. From the Angels', it will depend on where they play Wells. If they play him in left or right field, defense should not be an issue.

Of course, the elephant in the room is Vernon Wells' contract. Wells is owed $84 million over the next 4 years, which is still a ridiculous overpayment for his contributions to a team, even assuming that he produces at his 2010 levels. His contract was such that most people assumed that it would be unmovable unless the Jays picked up a significant portion of it. Instead, the Angels seem to not only want Vernon Wells, but also think he's properly valued. How they can do this, I have no idea. But if you approach the trade from this point of view, it at least makes a bit of sense. Whether they're right to approach it like this will be proven this year.

A quick reaction to the Vernon Wells/Mike Napoli&Juan Rivera trade

WWWWHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

(More reasoned reaction to come once I've calmed down.)

So Long Roy

Roy Halladay getting interviewed after his last home start as a Blue Jay

I really owe James F. Ward a thank you. You see, on September 24th, he sent an email out to my group of friends saying that he had 2 tickets to the next night's Jays game. Since he isn't that big of a fan of baseball, he offered the tickets to us. Matty P was up for it, and I was too. As an added bonus, Roy Halladay was starting.

When we got to the game, we searched out dinner (Smoked Meat for me - a mistake as the cost/size ration was pretty poor.) Then we went to our seats. We were 25 rows up from home plate.



We were treated to what can only be called a classic Halladay start, the type of start Jays fans had come to expect from Roy. At the end of the game, the fans were chanting Roy's name, knowing that they might have witnessed Roy's last home start as a Jay.

Today, it looks like those suspicions are now reality.

I'm oddly calm about this. Maybe July's dances with trading Halladay has prepared me for this. The Yankees' victory in the World Series probably reinforced that the Jays need to both spend and reload on premium prospects. Become Boston north, in other words. And the best way to do this is to trade your best asset - Halladay.

Just don't talk to me come opening day. I'm pretty sure my calm will have turned to anger and sadness on what could have been.

Just read this

My good friend Gary Wise shows why he's a damn talented writer.

A die-hard Blue Jays fan says good-bye to Roy Halladay

Your snarky Toronto Blue Jays post of the day

Hey, do you remember when the Jays had an amazing defense, possibly the best in the league? Good times...

(Edited to add: Hey, do you remember when home plate was the same size for both teams?

Oh, and I've already remembered what makes Rod Black so "special" as a play-by-play guy.)

Blue Jays Opening Day thoughts

With a preview still to come, a couple of quick thoughts about today's disheartening loss:

• This was a great example of how baseball is a game of inches. Melky Cabrera's homerun clears the fence by 6 inches (don't listen to Yahoo's boxscore - that ball barely cleared the fence). Marco Scurtaro hits a line drive that would drive in the go-ahead run, if it wasn't in the upper limits of Jason Giambi's leap, or was a foot to the left or right of Giambi. Joba Chamberlain would have struck out Vernon Wells, if the pitch was 6 inches lower (wait, that was called a strike?) If those plays fall 6 inches in another direction, the Jays win the game.


• With that said, the Jays managed to once again revert to their non-converting ways, not capitalizing on men in scoring position when they had the opportunity. Hill was on second base with none out in the 7th, and nothing came of it. Rios works Chamberlain for the walk in the 8th, and then Wells and Thomas strike out. If the Jays are going to contend, they need to take advantage of every opportunity they have to score, because there aren't going to be that many. Right now, they don't seem to have improved on last year.