I mean, we all realized this, didn’t we?
Though the Toronto Blue Jays are shopping ace Roy Halladay this winter, and although they contacted the Cubs, specifically, about making a move, there is currently no reason to believe he’ll actually be donning Cubby Blue next year.
As far as Halladay and the Cubs, it doesn’t look good for the North Siders to be able to come up with the kind of money it would take to take on his contract. The most feasible situation would be to trade Carlos Zambrano and at least one of the top young prospects in the system like Starlin Castro, or Josh Vitters, in any deal that would make sense for both sides. The problem with that type of trade is two-fold: One, Zambrano has a full no-trade clause, and two, trading the team’s top future prospect at shortstop by moving Castro would be counter-productive to what the team is looking forward to in years to come.
Halladay will most likely be traded in the offseason, but trading him to the Cubs is a real long shot. Bruce Levine.
If trading Carlos Zambrano in order to get Halladay is the only “feasible situation,” then there’s no reason to believe a trade will happen. The Cubs do not want to trade Carlos Zambrano, and will not do so for an older, soon-to-be-either-free-agent-or-more-expensive (albeit, better) pitcher. The Blue Jays, for their part, almost certainly would have no interest in assuming Zambrano’s contract.
Is there a limit to the Chicago Cubs’ budget for player salaries? Yes, I know this is a facetious question. But it seems to me that the new owner can make that budget whatever he wants it to be. And it also seems that the addition of Halladay just might be the blockbuster signing that this team needs to make a difference next year.
And we’re all fucking sick of the kind of mediocraty that we might otherwise have to deal with in 2010.
Thank you for your attention.
You’re right that the budget is only whatever artificial limit the owner sets. But the reality is, the budget has been set – a slight increase over last season. And it’s not as though the Cubs don’t spend – third in baseball last year. They just need to get better about HOW they spend the money.