The Cardinals are unfortunately legitimate contenders in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes – their GM was recently quoted as saying the team would give up “an arm or a leg” to get him (do they have both in their system?). Adding to that, Halladay, who has full no-trade protection, has intimated that he’d probably accept a trade to St. Louis.
“Everybody raves about it here [in St. Louis],” Halladay said about four hours before Tuesday night’s start. “I know how [former teammate Chris Carpenter] feels and how much he loves it. That’s from conversations we’ve had in the past. We haven’t really discussed it recently.”
. . .
Pressed on St. Louis as a potential destination, Halladay said, “I just hate to say. I really do. It’s not because I don’t want to go to a certain place. Out of respect to Toronto, I’d just as soon not put the cart before the horse. It’s just kind of a tough situation.” STLtoday.com.
I guess those quotes are a little more tepid than I thought on first blush. Of course, given that Halladay has said he believes a trade possibility is only a 50/50 proposition, he’s not going to come out and say he wants to be somewhere else.
You don’t need me to tell you that a Halladay-to-Cardinals trade would significantly dampen the Chicago Cubs’ playoff hopes.