Happy Halla-Day everyone. If this indeed the swan song of the good doctor in Toronto, let me just say that Roy Halladay has been a joy to cover over the past few seasons.

But, anyways…

We tried to chat some with GM J.P. Ricciardi before the game tonight, especially considering he altered his story about Halladay presenting the team with a list of teams to which he’d approve a trade. Ricciardi was in no mood for talking.

“We’re not talking about Halladay,” Ricciardi told reporters. “I’ll talk on the 31st. There’s not else to say.”

Fair enough, I guess. I mean, what else is there to say, really? Ricciardi said a whole lot on Thursday and ended up having to clarify a bunch of his comments. It’s possible that Ricciardi also irked Halladay a little by some of the things he revealed.

Here’s what we know: the Phillies continue to be the front-runner to land Halladay in a deal, there are at least four teams considered to have serious interest, and the Jays have run a list of teams by Doc to see where he’d prefer to be moved, if he’s moved. There were rumors that a deal was close with Philadelphia and could be finalized in the next 24 hours. That was inaccurate.

On Friday afternoon, manager Cito Gaston said he had Halladay penciled in the rotation well beyond the Trade Deadline. Asked what he thought about having to change his rotation in the event that Halladay is dealt, Gaston replied: “I don’t even want to think about it.”

Everyone seems to be chiming in on this Doc Halladay saga these days, too.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig was asked about the Halladay rumors on Sirius XM radio and had this to say:

“We’ll see what happens. I’m hearing conflicting versions. They may get rid of him and today I was told by somebody with pretty good inside knowledge that they won’t get rid of him. Now whether that’s true or not, I don’t know. And, you know, clubs are going to start bidding it up.  On the other hand, if they know [the Jays] can’t sign him then they’re doing the smart thing.  So the Jays are going to have to make a reasoned judgment at some time: where are they better off in the future?  I’ll tell you one thing: they can get a lot for him and Doc Halladay is a great pitcher.”

“They’ve got to send him where they think they can get the most. I won’t make a judgment on that right now. I think, from everything I’m hearing – and that could change now, you know, this is a very fluid situation – but I think if he gets traded he’s going to wind up in the National League.”

Today’s lineups:

TAMPA BAY RAYS (52-44)
Third place AL East, 6.5 GB

1. B.J. Upton, CF
2. Carl Crawford, LF
3. Evan Longoria, 3B
4. Carlos Pena, 1B
5. Ben Zobrist, 2B
6. Pat Burrell, DH
7. Gabe Gross, RF
8. Michel Hernandez, C
9. Jason Bartlett, SS

Starter: RHP Matt Garza (6-7, 3.80)

TORONTO BLUE JAYS (47-49)
Fourth place AL East, 11.5 GB

1. Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Scott Rolen, 3B
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Vernon Wells, CF
7. Alex Rios, RF
8. Rod Barajas, C
9. Joe Inglett, LF

Starter: RHP Roy Halladay (11-3, 2.73)

Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter: @MLBastian

~JB

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During a radio interview on The FAN590 prior to Thursday’s Blue Jays-Indians tilt at Rogers Centre, general manager J.P. Ricciardi shed a little more light on why Toronto is suddenly willing to shop ace Roy Halladay.

“What’s changed is Roy has told us that he’s going to test the free-agent market,” Ricciardi said.

Halladay is under contract for $14.25 million this season and $15.75 million in 2010, which is the final year under his current deal. The Blue Jays originally planned on discussing an extension with Halladay this coming offseason, but Ricciardi’s comments make it clear that’s not going to happen.

The chances of Toronto retaining Halladay seemed slim already, considering the fact that the club has trimmed its payroll and the pitcher has expressed that he wants to have a chance to play October baseball. With the Jays in fourth place in the AL East, and a rotation filled with injuries and young arms, contending soon doesn’t seem realistic.

Halladay is scheduled to start for the Jays on Tuesday in Seattle and Ricciardi doesn’t want the pitcher taking the mound with the thought that he might be traded in the following three days leading up to the July 31 Deadline. Ricciardi said Toronto’s internal deadline of Tuesday is flexible, depending on how close the club might be to a deal.

“If we’re down the road with something, obviously the deadline can fluctuate,” Ricciardi told reporters earlier Thursday morning. “If we’re not down the road by the 28th, nothing’s going to happen.”

The team considered to be the front-runner to land Halladay continues to be the Phillies. Even though Philadelphia is believed to be opposed to including top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek in a possible deal, the Blue Jays sent assistant general manager Tony LaCava to scout Drabek’s latest start on Wednesday.

The Brewers are also considered to have serious interest in trading for Halladay. Other teams who have been tied to Halladay in various reports include the Dodgers, Cardinals, White Sox, Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees. Ricciardi said only a few teams have approached him with serious interest.

“Some are serious and some I would say are delirious,” Ricciardi said during the radio interview.

–JB

Chatting with manager Cito Gaston today, us scribes decided to see if there were any updates on injured starters Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan. A pretty routine move for a relaxed afternoon pregame session.

Marcum made a successful rehab start on Tuesday, but there’s no established timetable for his return to the rotation just yet. McGowan? He had knee surgery a few weeks ago.

Stunned silence from the reporters.

“What, you guys didn’t know that?” Gaston asked.

Umm, no. And I’m pretty sure we’ve asked how McGowan was doing at some point over the past couple weeks. But, I digress. Back to the point.

According to general manager J.P. Ricciardi, McGowan — already on a long road to recovery from the right shoulder surgery he had July of last year — blew his left knee out while running during routine conditioning drills. He had surgery on July 9 to repair cartilage and Ricciardi said the pitcher needs roughly six weeks to recover from the operation.

It’s another setback for a pitcher who was supposed to be a legit No. 2 guy on the staff by now. That was before his shoulder issues came up last season. Back in May, when the Jays were on the road in Atlanta, I spoke with McGowan after he began working through some long toss sessions and he sounded optimistic about his progress.

He just can’t seem to catch a break.

When it was clear that McGowan’s pace made him a long shot to return early this season, as the team initially hoped, the chances of him returning at all this year became slim. Now, there’s zero chance you’ll see McGowan back with the Jays this season. At this point, given this latest setback, all Toronto can do is wait to see how McGowan looks come Spring Training.

Today’s lineups:

CLEVELAND INDIANS (37-58)
Fifth place AL Central, 13.5 GB

1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
3. Shin-Soo Choo, RF
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. Jhonny Peralta, 3B
6. Ryan Garko, 1B
7. Ben Francisco, LF
8. Jamey Carroll, 2B
9. Chris Gimenez, C

Starter: LHP David Huff (4-4, 6.60)

TORONTO BLUE JAYS (47-48)
Fourth place AL East, 10.5 GB

1. Marco Scutaro, DH
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, LF
4. Kevin Millar, 1B
5. Vernon Wells, CF
6. Alex Rios, RF
7. Jose Bautista, 3B
8. Rod Barajas, C
9. John McDonald, SS

Starter: LHP Marc Rzepczynski (1-1, 2.50)

Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter: @MLBastian

~JB

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What does it mean if the Blue Jays do decide to trade ace Roy Halladay? Asked that question recently, catcher Rod Barajas smirked, knowing that he and the reporters surrounding him all knew exactly what such a move would mean in terms of the direction the organization was heading.

It would mean the focus has shifted toward being competitive in 2010, or perhaps even further down the road.

“We don’t want it to happen,” Barajas answered. “We’d like to keep fighting and giving ourselves an opportunity to do something. If Doc’s gone, then that pretty much means…”

Barajas paused, realizing where he was going with his thought.

“… it means that we’re not looking to win this year,” he continued. “Not so much win, but compete for a playoff spot. We hope it doesn’t happen, but if it does, it’s almost like you’re looking to next year.”

The reality is that the club was looking ahead to 2010 before this season began. That changed some when the Jays got off to their hot start. Given the recent slide, though, it makes complete sense to question if contending next season is realistic with the current nucleus of players.

Even with all that being very much the case, the players inside Toronto’s clubhouse don’t want to believe that there isn’t enough time to still make a run at the playoffs this season. Obviously, having Halladay leading the young rotation would be necessary for that type of miracle turnaround to happen.

Rookie Ricky Romero doesn’t like that people are dismissing the Jays already.

“What would be better than making a run with our young pitching staff when people are counting us out?” Romero said. “People are saying we’re no good, this and that. To me it just lights a fire under my skin and I want to go out there and just do the best I can.”

Chatted with Vernon Wells today about his thoughts on the whole Halladay saga. More on that later on bluejays.com.

Today’s lineups:

CLEVELAND INDIANS (37-57)
Fifth place AL Central, 13.5 GB

1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
3. Victor Martinez, C
4. Travis Hafner, DH
5. Jhonny Peralta, 3B
6. Ryan Garko, 1B
7. Ben Francisco, LF
8. Luis Valbuena, 2B
9. Chris Gimenez, RF

Starter: RHP Carl Pavano (8-7, 5.13)

TORONTO BLUE JAYS (46-48)
Fourth place AL East, 10.5 GB

1. Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Scott Rolen, 3B
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Vernon Wells, CF
7. Alex Rios, RF
8. David Dellucci, LF
9. Raul Chavez, C

Starter: LHP Ricky Romero (7-4, 3.25)

Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter: @MLBastian

~JB

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If the Blue Jays are going to pull the trigger on a trade that sends ace Roy Halladay to a contender for a blockbuster package of players, the deal isn’t likely to be of the last-minute variety. In fact, Toronto may be inclined to set an internal deadline prior to the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline.

“If you ask me today if we’re going to trade Roy Halladay, I’d say no,” Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi told the New York Times. “Something could happen between now and the Trade Deadline, but this isn’t something that’s suddenly going to happen with someone on the 30th.”

As things currently line up, Halladay is scheduled to start on the road against the Mariners on July 29. According to the report in the NY Times, Ricciardi indicated that he doesn’t want Toronto’s ace taking the hill in Seattle with the thought that he could be dealt in the two days following his start.

Beyond that aspect, the Blue Jays would likely become sellers in the event that Doc is dealt. If Toronto is blown away by an offer and opts to trade Halladay, doing so before the 30th would give the club more time to shop some of its other players. Other Jays players involved in rumors include Scott Rolen, Alex Rios, Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay, Jason Frasor and Scott Downs.

SIDE NOTE: I will not be at the ballpark tonight. For some Blue Jays’ updates, you can follow @BlueJays or @e_gilbert on Twitter. Catch you from the ‘yard tomorrow.

~JB

Today’s lineups:

BOSTON RED SOX (55-35)
First place AL East, — GB

1. J.D. Drew, RF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Kevin Youkilis, 3B
4. David Ortiz, DH
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Mark Kotsay, 1B
9. Nick Green, SS

Starter: LHP Jon Lester (8-6, 3.87)

TORONTO BLUE JAYS (45-47)
Fourth place AL East, 11.0 GB

1. Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, LF
4. Scott Rolen, 3B
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Alex Rios, CF
7. Kevin Millar, DH
8. Rod Barajas, C
9. Jose Bautista, RF

Starter: RHP Roy Halladay (10-3, 2.85)

Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter: @MLBastian

~JB

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So, what has happened to these Blue Jays?

From the cream of the American League crop to flirting with the cellar in baseball’s toughest division, all in a matter of two months.

Seeing as it’s a slow news day here at the Dome — David Dellucci day-to-day after X-rays came back negative on his left foot and Vernon Wells still sick and out of the lineup — it seems appropriate to take some time to compare Toronto’s hot start to its prolonged skid.

Really, it’s a tale of two seasons: Before the nine-game losing streak and after the nine-game losing streak.

Prior to that skid, the Blue Jays were 27-14 and in first place in the East by 3.5 games. They jumped out of the gates with a strong offense (.289/.358/.463 with 1.2 HR/G, 5.7 R/G, 10.3 H/G) and decent pitching (3.85 ERA with 6.9 K/G, 3.1 BB/G).

In the 50 games since then, the Blue Jays have gone 17-33 and now sit in fourth place in the East, 12 games back of the Red Sox. The pitching has had its share of issues — injuries, tired bullpen, inexperience — and it has shown (4.59 ERA, 7.5 K/G, 3.6 BB/G). The offense, with a revolving door in left field, and subpar showings from Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, has slumped to the tune of .255/.318/.403 with 1.0 HR/G, 4.1 R/G, 9.0 H/G.

Has schedule played a role? Early on, it was hard to really know what to make of the Blue Jays’ hot start due to the fact that it primarily played the AL West and Central while running to first place in the East. It looks like there may have been something to that after all.

Consider that in Toronto’s first 41 games — before that nine-game slide at the end of May — the team played only six games against division rivals. In the last 50 games, the Jays have played 23 games against the East (5-18), 18 games against the National League (7-11) and nine against other AL divisions (5-4).

The way things have been going of late, the Blue Jays should simply be aiming to finish this season with a winning record. I guess the thing for Toronto fans to keep in mind is — despite the team’s hot start — the Blue Jays were widely predicted to be a fourth-place team this season.

Today’s lineups:

BOSTON RED SOX (55-34)
First place AL East, — GB

1. J.D. Drew, RF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
4. David Ortiz, DH
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Rocco Baldelli, CF
8. Jed Lowrie, SS
9. George Kottaras, C

Starter: RHP Brad Penny (6-3, 4.71)

TORONTO BLUE JAYS (44-47)
Fourth place AL East, 12.0 GB

1. Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, LF
4. Scott Rolen, 3B
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Alex Rios, CF
7. Kevin Millar, DH
8. Jose Bautista, RF
9. Raul Chavez, C

Starter: LHP Marc Rzepczynski (0-1, 3.00)

Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter: @MLBastian

~JB

While discussing innings limits for a few of his pitchers, Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston was asked if Brian Tallet’s innings would need to be monitored similarly — seeing as he was moved from the bullpen to the rotation earlier this year.

“Since you asked that, we’re going to move Tallet back into the bullpen,” Gaston replied.

Part of the reason is, yes, the Jays need to watch his work load, considering he’s been a reliever throughout his career and he’s almost thrown more innings this season than in the last two combined already. The other reason is Toronto has so many off-days coming up that the club doesn’t require a fifth starter until July 25 — a start tentatively planned for Tallet.

So, on Saturday, the Blue Jays will send rookie lefty Marc Rzepczynski to the mound to face the Red Sox. Initially, it was thought that Scott Richmond (sore right shoulder) would be activated from the DL and inserted back into the rotation after the All-Star break. Gaston said today that Richmond will likely be sidelined until the Oakland series at the end of the month.

With so many off-days, there’s really no rush to bring Richmond back, especially if Rzepczynski can continue to hold his own. After this three-game set with Boston, Toronto has off-days on Monday and July 30, as well as five off-days in August (on the 3rd, 6th, 13th, 17th and 27th). Enjoy the rest, Jays, because in September? One day off on the 17th.

Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells was out of the starting lineup on Friday night due to a stomach virus, according to Gaston. Toronto’s manager didn’t expect Wells to miss too much time.

And, no, ace Roy Halladay has not been traded yet. But he was on the field giving a pitching clinic to two young boys from the local Rookie League.

On June 26, the Jays Care Foundation hosted a charity auction and one was for a private pitching lessons with Doc. A bidding war ensued and Brandy Halladay, Doc’s wife, allowed the top two bidders to take part in the lesson. The second winner, with no kids of his own, donated the spots to Jays Care.

The foundation awared the spots to 10-year-old Faris Adamou and 12-year-old Joseph Bryan, who play in the Rookie League — a baseball program for kids within Toronto Community Housing. They began by playing catch with Halladay in the outfield and then moved by the mound, where Doc gave them personal tips.

Today’s lineups:

BOSTON RED SOX (54-34)
First place AL East, — GB

1. J.D. Drew, RF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
4. David Ortiz, DH
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Rocco Baldelli, CF
9. Nick Green, SS

Starter: RHP Clay Buchholz (Season debut)

TORONTO BLUE JAYS (44-46)
Fourth place AL East, 11.0 GB

1. Marco Scutaro, SS
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, DH
4. Scott Rolen, 3B
5. Lyle Overbay, 1B
6. Alex Rios, CF
7. Jose Bautista, RF
8. Rod Barajas, C
9. David Dellucci, LF

Starter: LHP Ricky Romero (7-3, 3.00)

Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter: @MLBastian

~JB

It’s nice when the stars allign and certain players earn exactly what they deserve. This is not always the case with baseball’s annual All-Star Game, which tends to be a popularity contest when it comes to the starting position players and is often about first-half standouts when it comes to the starting pitchers.

That’s not the case this year for Jays second baseman Aaron Hill and ace Roy Halladay.

Hill has arguably been the top second baseman in the game up to this point this season — this after coming back from a severe, career-threatening concussion. The players appropriately gave Hill the nod in peer voting, but the fans elected Boston’s Dustin Pedroia to start. Pedroia is skipping the ASG to be with his pregnany wife — good call — and Hill has been named the starter at second as a result.

Hill, who will be batting eighth for the AL, should have been the starter all along.

Well deserved.

Halladay will be on the mound as the starter for the AL in his sixth All-Star appearance. Halladay’s has deserved to start before, but circumstances haven’t afforded him the opportunity — think Kevin Mench line drive in ’05 or Cliff Lee’s stellar season in ’08, for example. This year, Rays and AL manager Joe Maddon could’ve easily given the nod to KC’s Zack Greinke and no one would’ve complained. Instead, Maddon decided to hand the start to Doc due to the ace’s “body of work.”

Nice touch.

In his press conference, Halladay did address the recent trade rumors swirling.

“I think there is so much that goes into it,” Halladay said. “I’m still not 100 percent sure which direction we’re going in in Toronto. If Toronto does decide to do something, it’s really going to be something that helps the organization. There’s going to be a lot of pieces; it’s going to be complicated. I think it’s going to be kind of 50-50.”

~JB

Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston admitted that it was hard to not include Marco Scutaro or Scott Rolen in the starting lineup for Thursday’s tilt against the Rays.

Scutaro has hit .323 in his last seven games and has been a catalyst all season for the offense. Rolen is riding a career-best 25-game hitting streak. And the Jays are in a slump, losing 10 of their past 13.

“It’s real tough, especially when you’ve got one of your better pitchers going,” said Gaston, referring to ace Roy Halladay. “I just kind of gave [bench coach Brian]Butterfield the lineup and said, ‘Hey, go get ’em Doc.'”

The bottom line was that Rolen had been receiving days off on day games after night games frequently this season to help keep him fresh. Scutaro — a part-time player throughout his career — had started every single one of Toronto’s 86 games before Thursday.

“We talked about it earlier in the week that I was going to give him today off,” Gaston said of Scutaro. “It’s well deserved. I think after the All-Star break, I’m going to try to get him and [second baseman Aaron] Hill out of there maybe once a week and give [John McDonald] some more playing time — just rest those guys a little bit.”

Gaston said he hasn’t seen any signs of Scutaro tiring due to the increased work load.

“Not really,” Gaston said. “This kid goes and plays hard every day no matter what. I do know that he probably needs a rest here and there every once in a while and I think that’s what we’re going to do. What’d he get? Two hits last night? When guys are dragging, they don’t swing the bat like that.”

ON TALLET: Following the lemon he turned in on Wednesday night, Blue Jays lefty Brian Tallet described his outing as “horrible” and said that it seems like when he goes bad, he goes REALLY bad this season. It’s true, considering three blowups really skew his performance as a starter.

Here are Tallet’s worst three starts:

July 8 at Tampa Bay: 3 IP, 8 R, 11 H
June 14 vs. Florida: 3.1 IP, 8 R, 10 H
April 29 at Kansas City: 4 IP, 10 R, 11 H

In those three outings: 0-2 with a 22.65 ERA (10.1 IP/26 ER)

In Tallet’s other 14 starts: 5-4 with a 2.72 ERA (86 IP/26 ER)

“That’s the problem,” Tallet said. “It’s the game where I don’t get out of the fourth inning or I don’t get out of the third inning and I give up eight or 10 runs. I’ve got to find a way to get rid of those, because those are unnaceptable at this level — at any level. If I’m doing that in A ball, I’m getting released. I’ve got to figure out what’s going wrong when I’m going bad and not allow it to happen.”

STEPPING AWAY: Gaston will not be heading with the Blue Jays to Baltimore following today’s game in St. Pete. Last Thursday, Cito’s sister, Mattie Clarke, passed away and Toronto’s manager is heading to San Antonio to attend her funeral services this weekend. He hopes to rejoin the Jays on Sunday. Butterfield will serve as temporary manager until Gaston’s return.

HEADING HOME: I will not be making the trip to lovely Baltimore, either. I’m heading back to Toronto for a few days off. I am also not heading to St. Louis this week for the All-Star Game, so bluejays.com will be in someone else’s hands and I’ll be blogging a bit less until the second half resumes. I’ll probably roll out my First Half Award Winners during the break.

Today’s lineups:

TORONTO BLUE JAYS (43-43)
Fourth place AL East, 9.0 GB

1. Jose Bautista, 3B
2. Aaron Hill, 2B
3. Adam Lind, LF
4. Kevin Millar, DH
5. Vernon Wells, CF
6. Alex Rios, RF
7. Lyle Overbay, 1B
8. Rod Barajas, C
9. John McDonald, SS

Starter: RHP Roy Halladay (10-2, 2.79)

TAMPA BAY RAYS (46-39)
Third place AL East, 5.5 GB

1. B.J. Upton, CF
2. Carl Crawford, LF
3. Evan Longoria, 3B
4. Carlos Pena, 1B
5. Ben Zobrist, 2B
6. Pat Burrell, DH
7. Gabe Gross, RF
8. Jason Bartlett, SS
9. Michel Hernandez, C

Starter: LHP David Price (2-3, 5.21)

Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter: @MLBastian

~JB

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