Pedro as a 5th starter is a reliable enough of an option to be worthy of a pro-rated contract offer. What old/washed up aces generally do when taken on teams in contention is help the younger staff develop their own pitching repetoire.

This alone could be worth the 2 million or so the Phillies would be out for Pedro. Never mind, the 85 IP 3.95 ERA 60 K and 8 wins he’d probably be projected to have.

I say sign him, it heats up the anti-New York rivalry, gives you an extra arm in the pen for october, a solid enough of a 5th starter that will give you a chance to win (all you can ask from 5th starters), and could very likely help the younger starters become better starters.

Just don’t make me have to pick between the Sox and Phillies for the W Series!

Is Bautista still arbitration eligible?

Also, I love the idea of giving up Happ. Who wouldn’t want a back-end rotation of Moyer and Martinez? They both have a shitload of wins, right? Besides, the only games that matter are those started by the top two pitchers.

I am not advocating selling the entire farm, those people are not thinking ahead but Happ AND Drabek shouldn’t be a deal breaker. What it should do is exclude Taylor/Brown/Knapp.

And while 2011 will be a tricky yr for us if we did trade both, it wouldn’t have to be a selling off point for us.

In my opinion, Happ + top 4 prospect + 2-4 others is worth it to me. Even no Happ but 2 of the top 4 prospects is ok by me. BUT I’ll draw the line at Happ + 2 top 4 prospects OR 2+ top 4 prospects.

However they still gave up Hanley and they got 2 guys back that won for them.
And to be fair over half the team in ’07 weren’t home grown.

Lowell/Lugo/Crisp/Drew/Manny/Ortiz/Schilling/Beckett/Hinske/Wakefield/Pena/
Timlin/Okajima just off the top of my head.

1-2 of the top 4 wouldn’t be crazy but shouldn’t be more than that. Then 3-5 other players.

Because no-one else right now looks to be offering a major league arm AND elite pitching prospect as well as the rest of the prospects it would take to get a deal done. Donald, Marson, Carrasco all are near major league ready and should be viewed as the players in getting a deal done. If Toronto wants Happ, Drabek, Knapp, Brown or Taylor their going to have to reduce their asking price as a whole, they won’t be riding off into the sunset with all of them. If they want guys two near major league ready and two good prospects as has been suggested that leans towards guys like Donald and Carrasco.

Look at the Red Sox roster and system, Angels, Dodgers, Rays and then tell me you think the Phillies should empty a regenerated farm system for a shorter window or opportunity, name one team that has recently won with that strategy. Look around the teams that are most capable of mounting a championship run and you’ll see teams that still have a stocked up farm.

Again I re-iterate I’d LOVE Halladay but there’s a point to which a package exceeds value with ANY player. Saying the Phillies should trade their now top ranked prospects arbitrarily because there too much of a risk they won’t make the majors is just as good as saying we should have traded Cole Hamels, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard when they were in the system. Be prepared to deal prospects sure but don’t hold up a sign saying ‘screw me’.

Some people just can’t think long-term.

Not trying to say you guys are wrong. Just my take is that you’d still have Knapp who should be better than Happ as a starter or a Madson type reliever.

Then you still have Savery/Kendrick/Carpenter (who i have no faith in)/Worley all competing for spot #5.

Drabek is a top prospect and needs to be sacrificed. So be it.

2010-
Halladay/Hamels/Blanton/Moyer/(Pedro/Lopez/Kendrick/Carpenter/Bastardo)

2011- Blanton + Halladay are FA to begin the yr so maybe we thrown the money at Halladay probably not. This is where having Happ or Drabek would be useful, but at this point we could have a 2nd championship. It’s just how do you weigh it all.

*Remember Kotchman and McPherson were suppose to lead the Angels into a dynasty??? How did that work out?

But that last sentence, “patience will pay off” may not apply here. Phils are built to win now, so they may have to throw quite a few eggs into the Jays basket.

Thats why they are going after Pedro too. Win now friends.