Legitimate negotiations are underway for the Phillies to acquire Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, and the price appears to be three former BlueClaws. Toronto has asked for JA Happ (2005), Kyle Drabek (2007), and Dominic Brown (2008), with Michael Taylor (2008) a possibility.

JA Happ…7-1 with the Phillies this year. The 26-year old left-hander is coming into his prime, and with lefties tending to develop later, he’s a guy with a bright future entering his prime who has proven he can pitch in the big leagues.

Kyle Drabek…Future star. Ranked among the top 25 prospects in the sport recently by Baseball America. Mid-90s fastball who is 10-1 this year between Clearwater and Reading while striking out about 8 per 9 innings. Doesn’t turn 22 until December.

Dominic Brown…Back after a broken finger but Baseball America rates him among the top 20 prospects in baseball. Potential 5-tool player is hitting .300 with Clearwater this year and will turn 22 on September 3rd.

Michael Taylor...Just reached Lehigh Valley last week, where he already has two home runs. Turns 24 in December and could be ready for bigs next year. Hit .361 w/ BlueClaws last year and was hitting .333 w/ 15 homers before being called up from Reading. Blocked at present in Phillies OF, and since he’s closer than Brown, seems more likely to be moved.

How Do You Structure the Deal?
Personally we would trade Drabek, Happ, and Taylor, or three of these, for Halladay. He’s that good. But we understand if the Phillies are reluctant to trade two of the pitchers or two of the outfielders.

Jon Heyman of SI reports here that it would take one of Happ/Drabek plus one of Brown/Taylor to get the deal done, plus some lesser prospects. Stay tuned.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 25th, 2009 at 9:47 am and is filed under General Baseball, Past BlueClaws, Phillies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.