The Red Sox have to make a play for Roy Halladay

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Now that JP Riccardi has opened the floodgates on Roy Halladay, there really aren't that many teams that have the bargaining chips to actually get him. Without getting into every team that wants him, I'd like to keep our attention in our own backyard. That means the Boston Red Sox. The first question is should the Red Sox attempt to trade for him? That would be an obvious yes. The second question is do they have enough prospects to entice the Blue Jays to trade the sure fire hall of famer within the division? Yes, yes and yes.

As Chad will surely mention, I am not the biggest fan of trading a ton of prospects even for a player of Halladay's stature, but to not make an attempt on Halladay is stupid for the Sox. I'd love to see Halladay in a Dodger's uniform, unless it means trading Clayton Kershaw or Chad Billingsley, but the Red Sox have a plethora of high ceiling pitching prospects to deal. ** Side note (Do you know what plethora is? The first person to make a comment as to what movie that comes from gets a free Fan Fanatic Sports t-shirt)**.

The guy I'd build this package around in Clay Bucholtz, and I have several reasons why. First, he's not in the major leagues because of a lack of talent. He has a ton of potential. I believe he's not in the bigs because of his attitude and work ethic. If you look at guys like Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Justin Masterson and Daniel Bard, you'll see young players who were brought through the farm system that have the heads firmly screwed on their shoulders. They all love baseball and is very important to them. This may not be the case with Bucholtz. He got a bit too big for his britches after throwing a no hitter two seasons ago and it showed last season. He thought he had the majors figured out. Too bad he didn't. With all that being said, he's expendable in my mind. Far much more than Michael Bowden. Would a package of Bucholtz, Lars Anderson and either Junichi Tazawa or Casey Kelly get it done? There's a very good chance it might.

The Blue Jays are likely to ask for both Bowden and Bucholtz, but I don't think you can do that. If you're able to pull the trade, then you have a 1-2-3 of Halladay, Becket and Lester for at least the next year and a half. Wow! Who wouldn't want that. You're getting a dominant workhorse in return for a few players who may or may not be good major leaguers. To me, it's a no brainer.