We are a week away from the trade deadline and 4 days away from JP's suggested deadline for trading Doc. The trade winds have never blown harder in Toronto. But if Halladay is traded odds are that it would only be the first domino to fall. Who is likely to go after that? Well, glad you asked:
Scott Rolen: If Doc goes I'd imagine Rolen will be on the way out of town right after. Rolen is 34 right now and is having his best season, and his first heathy season, in 5 years. He has 1 year left on his contract with the Jays and I'd doubt we'd resign him again after that. His trade value is as high as it ever will be and it is hard to imagine that he'll have a better year in the rest of his career. I love watching him play but in the sell high theory this is the time to do it. The only reason not to trade him is that we don't have a 3B in the high minors that is ready to take his spot, but you'd have to guess that in the flurry of moves that could come if Doc is traded, a 3B prospect might be coming our way. If not a platoon of Scott Campbell and Jose Bautista could finish out the season for us.
Marco Scutaro: Another guy whose trade value has never and likely will never be higher. 33 this year and after an off season of hearing how he would never amount to more than a utility player, he has been just terrific. He is a free agent after this season and if the Jays were to sign him again it would only be for a couple of years at the most. His defense has been great and his offense has surprised everyone, but expecting him to take another step forward at his age is is hoping for too much. I would expect he would have some loyalty to the team that not only gave him a full time job but also put him in the everyday lead off role, but he has lots of value to a contender for the rest of this season. Again we don't have a prospect in the high minors ready to take his job; Justin Jackson and Tyler Pastornicky could both be very good major leaguers but they are at least a full year away from being ready to help the team.
Lyle Overbay: He is 32 years old and he trade value isn't as high as Rolen or Scutaro but could be a handy left handed bat for a contender. With Brian Dopirak and Randy Ruiz in Vegas, he could be replaced with pieces we have but I'm not sure what we could get in return for him.
Jason Frasor and Scott Downs: Frasor is 31 and is having the best season of his career right now. His trade value has never been higher. This is the first season since 2004 where he has had a manager with any faith in him at all. If I'm JP, I'd be wondering if he will ever be this good again, so I'd look to trade him now. Scott Downs is 33 and has been just amazing the last three seasons, I'd hate to give him up but again it is hard to see that his trade value would ever be higher. Many teams are looking for relief help right now, I'd like JP to see what he could get for Frasor and I'd understand if he traded Downs.
Alex Rios: I hate the idea of trading someone in the middle of a terrible season. Obviously he doesn't have the trade value he had last year or the year before and, at 28, it is likely he'll bounce back some from this year. But then the Mets traded for Jeff Francour so there is a market for an outfielder having a poor season and his contract isn't bad so you never know. He can play center field which gives him more value
Rod Barajas: Hitting .247/.278/.396 he is having a poor year. At 34 and a free agent after the season, I really can't see the Jays being excited about signing him again and I'm sure there are teams looking to improve their catcher or backup catcher spot. As a veteran with decent defense I'd think he has some trade value.
John McDonald: If anyone wanted him I'm sure he'd be gone already.
Vernon Wells: Sorry, ain't going to happen. The pipe dream of packaging him with Doc in a trade is just that, no one is going to do it. He is 30 we have him for 5 more years. Hopefully some of them will be decent.
Brian Tallet: Until Tallet was moved out of the starting rotation, I saw him as someone whose trade value had never been higher. He is 31 now and as a starter he would have value to a contender that was looking to add depth to their rotation. As a reliever, he could still have value for a team looking for a left handed arm in the pen, but he isn't worth what he was a month ago.
I don't see that anyone else on the team that we'd either want to move or that has much value. I think we want to build the offense around Aaron Hill, Adam Lind and Travis Snider. And I can't see us trading any of the young arms in the rotation.
If Doc isn't traded before the deadline, I could see us not making any major moves before the deadline. We could wait until the off season to decide where we go from here. I'm not sure that that isn't the better idea anyway.