The Weekender: Happy Halladays!

I am no stranger to being teased on a Friday night, but to hear the Toronto Blue Jays have contacted the Chicago Cubs about ace Roy Halladay, I could not resist.

That would be like like the hottest girl at the bar (you know, the one that is totally out of your league) coming up to you and asking if she could take you home ... and she's sober!

All sexual frustration references aside, hauling in Halladay would be the kind of move that would make me come around and drop the Jim Hendry fat jokes.  OK, maybe not.  But there would be significantly less ... at least at this site.

I am not going to be one of those Cubs fans who is going to break down every trade scenario on what it would take to get Halladay in Cubbie blue pinstripes.  I will say that he is the kind of player I would be (and Hendry should be) willing to trade multiple top prospects to acquire.  If getting Halladay means giving up Josh Vitters and Starlin Castro, then so be it. 

Prospects are just that.  Prospects.  Young players with a high ceiling, but also with a low floor.  Guys like Corey Patterson, Hee Seop Choi, Mark Prior and Felix Pie have had moments of success before eventually flaming out.  The Cubs, a team currently constructed to win now, cannot afford to wait on prospects to develop.  And when that is the case, you might as well deal 'em while their worth is at its highest.

And before Cubs fans cry about not wanting to deal the future, consider these Halladay numbers:

• 96 starts
  
• 53 wins
• 700 1/3 innings pitched
• 686 strikeouts
• 25 complete games (7 shutouts)
  
• 1.141 WHIP
• 3.09 earned run average
• A 32-20 record, 3.56 ERA, 1.195 WHIP, 390 strikeouts in 516.2 innings vs. the Red Sox & Yankees
  

If you are not willing to trade a pair of high-risk, high-reward players for the best pitchers in baseball, you might be clinically insane.

(As a side note, Halladay has one career start against the St. Louis Cardinals.  In that start, he allowed 5 hits and 1 earned run in a complete-game win.  Food for thought Cubs fans.  Now for the rest of your weekend links pictures of ridiculously hot chicks!)