According to Jon Heyman of SI.com (again), the Mets turned down a proposed trade between them and the Toronto Blue Jays for Roy Halladay.
Halladay, the most prized pitcher on the market and easily one of the best in the games, is being sought after by many teams. Heyman relays that the Jays asked for Fernando Martinez, Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese and Ruben Tejada in return for Halladay.
“The Mets responded with a resounding no,” writes Heyman.
Update – 10:02 a.m.: Keith Law tweeted that this proposal is “bogus,” citing multiple sources. (Still, the rest of the post stands.)
If you read my blog, you know I put very little stock in prospects. They’re too much of a hit or miss affair to have too much value placed upon them. But, these three prospects are probably three of the top five prospects in the Mets system right now.
But, Halladay is one of the top five pitchers in the league.
And here I am, on the fence about all of this. I’m glad the Mets didn’t pull this trade off in the situation they’re in. 2009 seems to be slipping away and shipping out more farm pieces for a cog in an otherwise broken down machine doesn’t do much good.
For 2010, though, this could have been amazing. Can you imagine a 1-2 punch of Halladay and Johan Santana? It would easily be the best combo of pitchers in the game.
Honestly, if the Mets made the trade, I would be ecstatic for the team. Bringing in a pitcher of that caliber must be celebrated, even if a lot of young talent was heading to Canada.
The Mets didn’t pull the trigger and I’m OK with that, too. It shows they’re not in desperation mode to try and save this season. Maybe they think they have a shot with what they have or maybe they’ve given up, but either way a knee-jerk reaction was not made, and that means something.
(Side note: Don’t you think J.P. Riccardi could have asked for some better players? Or did he not think they were going to take it anyway? Using the Mets to prompt the Phillies, I assume. But still… Where’s Holt? Mejia? Thole?)