The second half of the 2009 MLB season has kicked off and with that, I’m going to make some predictions that are sure to be proved wrong in a couple months.

Feel free to whip out your crystal ball in the comments section but before you do, please do everyone a favor and take off your favorite team prescribed glasses and be objective for once in your life, will ya?

1. The Blue Jays will trade Halladay…to the Phillies.
Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is reminding everyone who will listen that he doesn’t absolutely need to trade Roy Halladay – which he doesn’t. But the bottom line is that he’ll probably get more in return for the “Doc” this season than he would next when Halladay is set to become a free agent after the 2010 season. And despite Ricciardi stating that he’s open to trading Halladay within the division, he’s not stupid. He’s not going to trade Halladay to the Red Sox or Yankees and risk becoming public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Jays fans for not only getting rid of their best and most popular player, but also trading him to a division rival in the process. In the end, I think Ricciardi will trade Halladay to an NL team and my guess is that it will be Philadelphia that will eventually puts a package together to acquire him. Although they might balk at the $7 million that’s remaining on Halladay’s contract, the Phillies are built to win now and need more starting pitching to make another run at a World Series. They also have enough appealing prospects to entice Ricciardi to make a deal.

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- Anthony Riber of Newsday writes that if the Yankees really want ace Roy Halladay, they might have to take Vernon Wells too, who could fill their potential void in left field…

…however, Ken Davidoff of Newsday essentially contradicts his co-worker by writing that GM Brian Cashman prefers to improve his roster this year without taking a dive into the trade market. So in essence, the Bombers might be fine with staying pat around the trade deadline.

- Speaking of Halladay, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Brewers could have the ace in their sites, as GM Doug Melvin has already had a conversation with the Blue Jays regarding the “Doc.”

- The Giants are still in search of bats, but it’s unclear if GM Brian Sabean wants to pull the trigger or not on a bat like Matt Holliday or Jermaine Dye. Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News threw out Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen as a possibility for San Fran as well.

- Bill Ladson of MLB.com is reporting that there isn’t much of a market for Nationals outfielder Austin Kearns, who has been delegated to back up duty in Washington.

On Sunday, the Padres traded outfielder Scott Hairston to the A’s in exchange for minor league pitchers Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano, in addition to a player to be named later.

MLB FANHOUSE discusses the possibility of the A’s acquiring Hairston as a precursor to a Matt Holliday trade:

For the A’s, they already have Ryan Sweeney and Matt Holliday in the outfield. Hairston gives them the ability to play Sweeney in right field instead of either Travis Buck or Jack Cust. Digging deeper, though, the A’s could easily be preparing to trade Holliday, who is in his walk year, certainly won’t be re-signing in Oakland and would likely be a hot commodity in the trade market. According to a source close to the A’s, Hairston will initially split time in center field with Rajai Davis, but they are looking at him as a corner outfielder in the long term. There’s no real word from Oakland about Holliday specifically, but it certainly looks like a precursor-type move — especially with the news that Hairston will begin in center and eventually shift to a corner.

At this point, it seems inevitable that Oakland will move Holliday. Trade wizard Billy Beane isn’t going to accept just anything in a deal, but he’s going to get something in return for Holliday, especially after giving up multiple pieces to acquire him from Colorado last winter.

The Cardinals, Giants and Reds have all been linked to Holliday, although nobody should ever count out the Yankees making a move.

With the All-Star break quickly approaching, many MLB teams are trying to figure out whether or not they’ll be buyers or sellers later this month. It’s a tricky game front offices must play, because they don’t want to alienate their fans by suggesting that their club is already out of contention with half the season left to go, but teams also don’t want to miss out on adding a piece for the future because they’re hanging onto a veteran that won’t play a significant role down the line.

That said, I’ve compiled a ranking of the five most intriguing names that either are on the trade market, or could be. Granted, every player outside of guys named Pujols, Jeter and Howard could potentially be on the trade market, but I tried to keep the list to only those names that continue to pop up in the weekly rumor mill, whether their teams have officially those names as available or not.

Two names you won’t find on the list are Dan Haren and Jake Peavy, even though they have been brought up in various trade rumors. The Diamondbacks aren’t going to trade Haren unless some team offers a ridiculous package (as in multiple top prospects) and Peavy’s injury situation has all but killed his trade value. I would be shocked if either player gets dealt this season.

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According to a report by the St. Louis Dispatch, the Cardinals are “redoubling efforts” to acquire A’s outfielder Matt Holliday, who is 29 and will be a free agent at the end of the season.

Even though the club acquired utility man Mark DeRosa from the Indians over the weekend, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa still wants to add a bat to serve as protection for Albert Pujols, who is essentially exposed in the Cards’ lineup with nobody hitting around him.

Holliday certainly isn’t setting the world on fire with his bat (he’s hitting just .274 with 8 HRs and 39 RBI) this season, but he could certainly get hot in the second half, especially if he winds up back in the NL were he’s used to the pitching.

The Cards actually tried to acquire Holliday last fall, but weren’t unwilling to part with the prospects that the Rockies wanted in order to complete the deal. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch speculates that the Red Birds would be willing to include Ryan Ludwick and either reliever Jason Motte or Kyle McClellan, plus a prospect.

St. Louis already has enough offense to battle the Brewers in the NL Central, but if they could acquire Holliday to go along with the addition of DeRosa, the Cards might be able to create some separation in the division.

It’s been five years since the San Francisco Giants have made a postseason appearance, so you’ll have to pardon their fans if they’re overly optimistic about the chances of their club possibly making the playoffs this year despite a lineup that often employs Edgar Renteria as its two-hole hitter.

The G-Men are currently 8.5 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and with the PED Predator coming back from his suspension soon, L.A. is surely to stay well ahead of San Fran in the division. But the Giants are currently one game up on the Brewers for the NL Wild Card and if GM Brian Sabean could add a player or two before the July 31 trade deadline to help mask San Fran’s biggest flaw, then the five-year playoff drought could end.

What’s the Giants’ biggest flaw you ask? Well if anyone can look at their lineup without doubling over in side-splitting laughter, then some kind of award is deserved.

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More specifically, Tony La Russa is searching for another bat to project Pujols:

“The No. 1 thing we can get is a guy to hit behind Albert [Pujols],” La Russa said. “That’s the No. 1 thing.”

And whereas in past years, such comments have sounded like an attempt to prod the Cardinals’ front office, on Thursday they had a different tone. La Russa spoke like a man who has expectations, rather than hopes. La Russa indicated that the club has some financial flexibility, and it’s clear that St. Louis has some young pitching to deal — especially relief pitching.
“It’s really hard to make a significant move,” La Russa said. “There aren’t many guys that fit what you’re looking for. I felt like last year they made an attempt. And since Day 1, we came into this year knowing we were a better ballclub than we thought last year at this time, and we’ve gotten off to a good start, but we know we’re thin.”

The most intriguing name that the Cards could eventually pursue would be A’s outfielder Matt Holliday.

Oakland currently resides at the bottom of the AL West standings and is 8.5 games back of Texas. Not that they’re completely out of contention, but GM Billy Beane could be looking to do one of his trademark deals soon with Holliday set to become a free agent at the end of the year. It’s not a matter of if Holliday will be dealt, but when.

Getting back to the Cards, I don’t know what they would have to give up to swing a deal for Holliday (and it’s not fair at this point to speculate), but adding him to their lineup might be the thing they need to create a cushion between them and the Brewers/Cubs in the NL Central. Of course, a healthy Chris Carpenter remains the biggest factor in how much success St. Louis will have this season, but landing Holliday could make them World Series contenders.

It appears that Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday won’t be heading to the St. Louis Cardinals in the foreseeable future as a potential deal between the two clubs is dead.

Mozeliak did not discuss specifics of his talks with the Rockies. However, Cardinals right fielder Ryan Ludwick remained a central name within the talks until their apparent breakdown. Misgivings existed within some quarters of the organization about committing multiple players for Holliday, who is eligible for free agency after next season while the arbitration-eligible Ludwick will make considerably less than Holliday’s $13.5 million in 2009.

Fox Sports reported Friday that the Rockies also sought outfielder Skip Schumaker and righthander Mitchell Boggs, who currently ranks as the organization’s top starting pitcher at Class AAA.

Mozeliak did not disclose what caused a breakdown in talks, but a source familiar with the process said the Cardinals GM balked at the player package rather than salary concerns.

The source also indicated he believed it possible the parties could resurrect talks in upcoming weeks.

This will be the main issue regarding Holliday this offseason. The Rockies want to get fair value for their best hitter, but teams trying to acquire him don’t want to sell the farm because they know Holliday might be a goner after the year because his contract is up. Eventually the Rockies might have to settle for less, which is a shame considering Holliday’s immense talent.

The World Series Champions aren’t sitting pat this offseason. The Phillies are apparently aggressively pursing Rockies’ outfield Matt Holliday to add another potent bat to their lineup.

The Rockies surely would be interested in Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino, but it isn’t known whether Philadelphia would consider moving him. The Phillies have several other well-regarded young players, including catcher Lou Marson, shortstop Jason Donald and pitcher Carlos Carrasco. Sources indicate that the Phillies have enough good young players to be able to do a deal for Holliday if the sides can agree.

Baseball executives expect Holliday to be traded at some point this offseason, but nothing appears imminent.

Any team after Holliday is about to play Russian Roulette. His contract expires at the end of the 2009 season, so there’s a great chance that whatever team acquires him will only be doing so for one season. Obviously a long-term deal can be struck, but most players want to test the free agent waters before making a decision on if they want to return to the team they just played for.