By Mike Gill
Bart Given
Former Blue Jays assistant GM Bart Given, who was fired in January of 2009 due to some finacial problems that the Blue Jays were having, joined us on the Sports Bash on 97.3 ESPN FM in South Jersey today to discuss plenty of topics including the inter-workings of the Blue Jays front office, discussions of trading Roy Halladay this off season, if the Phillies have enough to make a deal with the Jays and much more in a very insightful, must listen to interview.
By Mike Gill
Can the Phillies afford Roy Halladay?
So you want the Phillies to trade for Roy “Doc” Halladay? Well according to Randy Miller from the Bucks County Courier Post the Phillies will not pull the trigger on this deal and the reason might be money.
Miller thinks that even though the Phillies are selling out the stadium (37 times in 2009) pretty much every night and are in first place and selling plenty of merchandise, they still may not have the go-ahead from the powers that be to make a trade of that magnitude.
The question I have is, how can this be an acceptable answer? The Phillies are selling out, Brett Myers salary is coming off the books and yet they still can’t afford to bring in Halladay?
Take a listen to what Randy Miller has to say on this topic and some others on the Phillies at the All-Star break.
Click here to listen to Randy Miller on 97.3 ESPN FM talk about Roy Halladay and the Phillies.
By Mike Gill,
Can Pedro help the Phillies?
When the news spread like wild-fire about Pedro Martinez heading to Philadelphia, most of those reports were coming from former Philadelphia Inquirer Phillies beat writer, and current mlb.com reporter Todd Zolecki.
So is Pedro coming to Philly? When is he coming? How much is he going to get paid? Does this mean the Phillies are ready to trade J.A. Happ to get Roy Halladay? If the Phillies get Halladay, does that mean the Vernon Wells must be a part of the deal?
We asked all those questions and more in our conversation with Todd Zolecki from mlb.com which you can listen to if you click below.
by Michael DeLuca
-Chris Coste was waived in order to make room on the active roster for the return of Raul Ibanez. He was instantly claimed by the Houston Astros. Ibanez will not be in tonight’s lineup.
-Todd Zolecki of MLB.com does not believe that a deal between the Phillies and Blue Jays would have to include Vernon Wells.
-Buster Olney is reporting that the Phils are still interested in acquiring two starters. Makes sense if the Pedro Martinez signing is consummated. Acquiring the second starter would almost certainly mean that one of the current starters would be dealt. J.A. Happ is the only one I can envision being moved.
by Michael DeLuca
Little did I know, when I woke up this morning, that the majority of my day would consist of translating Dominican newspaper reports from Spanish to English. A second report has now surfaced from candeladeportiva.com, here is the loose Spanish to English translation…
The news of the signing of Pedro Martinez with the Philadelphia Phillies has been confirmed with the information we received of the pitcher heading towards the city of Philadelphia to undergo physical examinations. Read the rest of this entry »
by Michael DeLuca
A report from candeladeportiva.com says Pedro Martinez has signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for the remainder of the 2009 campaign, here is a loose translation of the report, which is written in Spanish…
Dominican Pedro Martinez has finished reaching an agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies for $4 million dollars for the remainder of the (2009) campaign. According to a report from www.CandelaDeportiva.com, a source of whole credit, Pedro closed the pact this afternoon and it will not begin until after the All-Star game break. Several days ago, the Phillies observed Martinez. Read the rest of this entry »
by Michael DeLuca
Yesterday, I mused about the possibility of the Philadelphia Phillies acquiring Roy Halladay. Today, the dream seems a 
bit closer to reality. Here are the most recent comments from Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, “We have to see what’s out there. I’m not saying we’re going to shop him. But if something makes sense, we at least have to listen. We’re (leaning) more toward listening than we’ve ever been.” Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports believes these recent comments are a clear indication that the Roy Halladay sweepstakes have begun. Says Rosenthal, “Once this process starts, it’s almost impossible to stop. Rest assured, the Jays are assembling prospect lists and preparing to assign their scouts to investigate rival farm systems. Halladay is a goner. It’s just a matter of when and where.”
Early rumblings have the Phillies and Brewers being the favorites in the race for Roy. Both teams have made no secret of their desire for a front line pitcher. Both have top level prospects. Most significantly for the Jays, both are in the National League.
UPDATE: Jon Heyman of SI.com has chimed in on “The Race For Roy,” twitting that if Halladay is really available, he believes the Yankees and Phils would be the frontrunners, followed by the Angels.
By Mike Gill
Raul Ibanez returned to action in today’s Reading Phillies series finale defeat to the Connecticut Defenders. Ibanez played and went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. After the game he said that he felt absolutely no pain, but that he’s likely going to play one or two more minor league games before he returns. They would probably be at Lehigh Valley Tuesday and Wednesday night.
For more on Ibanez, check back to pcpsports.com and leave a comment here on if you think he should play in the All-Star game next week or do you think he should sit out and get ready for the second half of the Phillies season.
by Michael DeLuca
A three time Cy Young winner to be exact. Unfortunately, the last one came in 2000. Earlier this year, the Philadelphia Phillies had “no interest” in Cooperstown bound starting pitcher Pedro 
Martinez. Apparently, a stiff trade market has altered their interest level. As I discussed last week the team had internal discussions regarding Martinez and now, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, scouts for the team will travel to the Dominican Republic to watch the right handed former ace throw on Monday or Tuesday. Last season, with the New York Mets, Martinez went just 5-6 with an unimpressive 5.61 ERA. It is believed that the Rays are still considering Martinez as well.
It was reported that many teams lost interest in Martinez after a June workout in which he was fairly unimpressive and his fastball barely reached 85 mph. The best reports to come from that workout included “decent” and threw “reasonably well.”
PCPTAKE: Pass. Pedro has nothing left. The more exciting news of the day, in my opinion, comes from Blue Jay’s GM J.P. Ricciardi who was quoted as saying “We have to be open to anything. Obviously, if people have interest in Roy Halladay, they’d better realize there’s a steep price that’s going to come with it.” To quote a cinematic masterpiece, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance. Yeah!”
by Michael DeLuca
Jimmy Rollins is not the only star player mired in a slump who’s been riding the pine lately. Yankees 3B Alex 
Rodriguez was also recently relegated to the bench for a brief time as well. Both teams’ claim the players need rest, some time to fend off mental fatigue.
Rollins, hitting just .211, will be back in the lineup and leading off on Tuesday “unless something really changes between now and then” according to Phils’ skipper Charlie Manuel. ESPN’s Eric Young believes that giving these players time off was the smart move, saying that slumping players tend to press and try too hard to break out of the slump. He concludes that because they are stars they would press even harder because they know what they are capable of. Young does go on to say though that the similarities end there for each players difficulties. A-Rod is believed to have returned too early from offseason hip surgery and also experienced a tumultuous
offseason. Rollins, conversely, has simply not been fundamentally sound at the plate. Compounding the problem, is that Rollins has begun to have mental lapses in the field as well.
Whether or not benching these players is the right approach is certainly up for debate. Rodriguez seems to be in favor of the rest and acknowledges that he may have rushed back too soon. In Rollins’ case, he has always seemed to respond following any form of discipline or inactivity. For Phillies fans, let’s hope he does tonight.
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