The St. Louis Cardinals have finally found slugger Albert Pujols some protection in the lineup, as the Red Birds traded three minor league prospects to the A’s in exchange for outfielder Matt Holliday according to ESPN.com.

One of those three minor leaguers was Brett Wallace, who was Baseball America’s 40th-best prospect entering the season, while the other two were 24-year old right-hander Clayton Mortensen and outfielder Shane Peterson, who was a second rounder in 2008. Apparently Oakland will also chip in $1.5 million to help pay for some of the $6 million still left on Holliday’s contract.

After a slow start, Holliday is now hitting .286 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI. He instantly makes the Cardinals the favorites to win the NL Central and challenge the Dodgers and Phillies for the NL Pennant by adding much-needed protection behind Pujols in the lineup. His presence in the order should also make players like Mark DeRosa and Ryan Ludwick better as well.

Billy Beane once again did well in a trade. The Oakland GM wanted to get Holliday’s contract off the books (or as much of it as he could), but he also didn’t want to just stick a for sale sign in Holliday’s forehead and give him away for free after trading multiple players to acquire him from Colorado last winter. With Holliday set to become a free agent at the end of the season, Beane did well to not only shed salary, but also get one of the Cards’ best prospects in Wallace.

What will be interesting to keep an eye on over the next two weeks as the trade deadline approaches, is whether or not the Cubs or Brewers will make a big move to counter this trade. Chicago doesn’t have much to offer in its farm system, but Milwaukee, as usual, is stacked and could look to add a pitcher. Although it would require giving up a haul, it’ll be interesting to see if the Brew Crew makes a run at Roy Halladay or the Tribe’s Cliff Lee.

If (and that’s a big if) Roy Halladay gets traded in the next two weeks, the deal might include one of the Blue Jays’ other players too.

Say a team needs a middle infielder … hop aboard, Marco Scutaro.

If someone needs bullpen help … Jason Frasor or Scott Downs could join Halladay.

If a club needs a lefty specialist … Brian Tallet could join Halladay on a plane out of Dodge.

“We’ve been told that the deal could expand, depending upon our need,” said an American League scout.

Scott Rolen has drawn interest from the Cincinnati Reds, but now the Reds look as if they will be sellers rather than buyers.

The Jays have scouted the Philadelphia Phillies’ class-A Clearwater club this week and watched Kyle Drabek’s start for double-A Reading at Altoona last night.

The Jays have watched the Milwaukee Brewers’ affiliate at triple-A Nashville, where shortstop Alcides Escobar, 22, is hitting .298 with three homers and 29 RBIs with 33 steals in 91 games. Scouts compare Escobar to a young Derek Jeter … “without the intangibles.”

Third baseman Mat Gamel, who turns 24 this week, is hitting .336 with eight homers and 31 RBIs in 33 games at Nashville.

The Jays also have scouted class-A Greenville, part of the Boston Red Sox organization. Kyle Evans, a second Sox scout, showed last night, joining scouts from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Brewers and the Phillies.

I’m starting to have the mindset that Halladay isn’t going anywhere. I think Toronto GM J.P. Riccardi is playing everyone. He’s dangling Halladay out there to see what kind of coup he can expect next year when he really has to trade Halladay before the ace becomes a free agent. If he gets a massive offer this year then obviously he’s going to listen, but I don’t think he’s going to get a massive offer and therefore Halladay is staying put for another year.

I just don’t think Riccardi is ready to trade his most popular player yet. I think he’s getting the fans ready for the enviable; Halladay will be traded next summer.

Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi has set a July 28 deadline to complete a deal for ace Roy Halladay, but admits that a trade is probably unlikely.

“At this point, it’s probably unlikely that we’ll trade Doc,” Ricciardi said Tuesday.

“No one has really stepped up yet,” Ricciardi said. “We’ve got to be highly motivated to move him. We haven’t been highly motivated yet.”

“In three days, not much is probably going to happen,” Ricciardi said. “It’s such a magnitude, the trade. He’s got to OK the team he’s going to, we’ve got to agree on prospects. That doesn’t happen, traditionally in baseball, in one hour. I think we need a little more time than that.”

If a trade is unlikely, then I have to question Ricciardi’s thinking behind putting Halladay (somewhat) on trade market in the first place. Granted, he’s said all along that he would have to be blown away by any offer, but what was he expecting?

If he believed that some team was just going to swoop in and offer him three top prospects and a bona fide All-Star for Halladay without even attempting to do the negotiation dance, then Ricciardi has been in la-la land the entire time. Halladay is a phenomenal pitcher and could easily make a playoff contender into a World Series favorite, but the Doc is also 32, doesn’t come cheap, and becomes a free agent in a year and a half. That’s a lot to consider for a team even remotely interested in him, nevertheless one seriously entertaining putting a package together.

I think Ricciardi never had serious intentions on trading Halladay in the first place. Putting Halladay on the trade market this year was essentially a practice round for him next year when he will actually have to move the ace before Doc becomes a free agent after the 2010 season. With the Jays freefalling out of first place following a red-hot start, Ricciardi couldn’t risk the backlash he would receive trading away the club’s most popular player.

While there’s still a chance he could be dealt, it appears that Halladay is going to be a Blue Jay until this time next year.

- While the Braves are targeting a bat, GM Frank Wren doesn’t think that the club will be sellers around the trade deadline and although he is thought to be Atlanta’s best trade piece, it appears that pitcher Javier Vazquez might be staying put.

- It appears that Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is putting the squeeze on teams that want to acquire Roy Halladay. Ricciardi said that his trade deadline for Halladay will be sooner than the July 31 MLB deadline, seeing as how it’s going to take a massive offer for any club to acquire the ace.

- Due to Randy Johnson’s health concerns, it appears that the Giants will probably hang onto starter Jonathan Sanchez, who threw a no hitter in his second to last outing. A couple of weeks ago it seemed like Sanchez’s days in San Fran were surely numbered, but maybe the Big Unit’s injury was a blessing in disguise because Sanchez appears to have fixed a lot of the control issues that has haunted him over his career.

- Larry Beinfest and the Marlins still can’t decide whether or not they’re buyers or sellers. If they’re buyers, they reportedly are interested in a closer, possibly the Pirates’ Matt Capps.

- The Dodgers are in the market for a reliever and names like Francisco Cordero, Matt Capps, George Sherrill and Arthur Rhodes have been linked to the boys in blue.

- Tom Gage of the Detroit News doesn’t think the first-place Tigers will make a major move around the trade deadline.

- Even though the Rangers are currently in contention, the Star-Telegram says that Texas is reluctant to trade away any of its prospects in order to make a move for a pitcher.

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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Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune writes that the White Sox should be willing to give up a significant amount of talent in order to acquire Blue Jays’ ace Roy Halladay.

Let’s put on our GM cap and start with shortstop Alexei Ramirez and pitcher John Danks. I know: a steep price. But worth it. Halladay is the overpowering pitcher the Sox haven’t had since Jack McDowell. Last season, he struck out 206 batters and walked 39. So far this year, it’s 106-17.

He would be a difference-maker for a club like the White Sox, who are within 1 1/2 games of first place in the American League Central. How does a rotation of Halladay, Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras and Gavin Floyd sound? It makes all the heated conversations about a fifth starter seem almost meaningless.

The White Sox played well enough before the All-Star break to end any discussion about whether they’ll be sellers before the July 31 trade deadline. Now they need to be buyers. It very well could be that they would have to give up a prospect or two in addition to two major-leaguers. Do it.

Not that I disagree with what Morrissey wrote, but allow me to play devils advocate here.

Halladay is a free agent after the 2010 season and will mostly likely test the free agent waters searching for his last opportunity to win a championship (assuming of course he doesn’t win one this season or next). That means the White Sox will probably only get him for a year and a half. Is a year and a half of Halladay worth giving up Ramirez, Danks and two decent prospects for X amount of years?

It might be, but that’s a steep price. Kenny Williams would absolutely have to feel that Halladay makes the Sox legitimate World Series contenders to give up multiple pieces. If he doesn’t fully believe that Halladay gets them to the WS, then Williams needs to continue his rebuilding plan with the core he has.

Roy Halladay says the odds that he’ll get traded this season are a “flip of the coin.”

“I’d rather hit than face Jeter, A-Rod, Matsui and Teixeira,” Halladay said.
He added: “I think there is so much that goes into it. 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.”

Halladay, who is under contract for next season at $15.75 million, has a no-trade clause and would have to approve any deal. He did not say whether an extension would have to be part of any deal.
The Blue Jays have sent scouts throughout the majors and minors as they try to gauge the talent pool they might get back for one of the game’s best pitchers.

“It’s a tough situation, but you always want to win,” Halladay said. “You want that chance to win, that’s every player’s dream. For me, I’m looking [at] it as they’re exploring options. Something may come of it, something may not. I’m trying to keep the emotions out of it as much as I can.”

I happen to think the Jays will hang onto Halladay because they’ll be afraid of the potential fan backlash that they’ll receive from trading away their biggest star. That obviously wouldn’t be a good baseball decision (as in, it wouldn’t be wise for a team to allow their fan base to make a decision for them), but it’s not like keeping Halladay for the next year and a half is a bad thing. After all, he is one of the top 5 pitchers in the game.

I think Halladay will wind up being shipped out next season because he’s a free agent after the 2010 season. I think Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is just kicking the tires on a deal this year to see what he could potentially land for Halladay. Of course, he could probably get more for Halladay this year, with it being a weak trade market for arms.

- ESPN.com’s Buster Olney is reporting that no team has made an aggressive offer for Blue Jays’ ace Roy Halladay yet, but adds that the Dodgers have now entered the “Doc” sweepstakes. Olney still thinks the Phillies have the best chance of landing Halladay, although will their pursuit of Pedro Martinez change that notion?

- Freddy Sanchez is quickly becoming the most talked about player on the trade market (not named Roy Halladay, of course). According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Giants would be willing to part with left-hander Jonathan Sanchez in a trade package for Freddy, although the Mariners and Rockies are also heavily pursuing the second baseman. Apparently the Bucs covet Colorado minor league prospect Eric Young Jr.

- The Seattle Times speculates that the M’s might be close to dealing Yuniesky Betancourt, who is currently on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma. To whom and for who Betacourt could be going is uncertain at this point.

- Count the Reds in as a possible suitor for Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins, who is also on the Red Sox radar due to Mike Lowell’s injury.

- If you thought Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns were sure bets to be traded by the Nationals, think again. GM Mike Rizzo told ESPN The Magazine that, “We don’t have to move money, and that unites our hands a little bit. That means we’re going to make good solid baseball decisions, based on building this franchise the right way.

- Gil Meche doesn’t want to go anywhere according to the Kansas City Star, and isn’t inclined to give up his no-trade clause so the Royals can deal him.

There’s an interesting situation developing in Philadelphia, where the Phillies are in serious talks with free agent Pedro Martinez, but have also been linked to Blue Jays’ ace Roy Halladay.

According to a report by SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Phillies and Martinez may have already agreed to a $4 million contract, which would be a hefty price for a club that has also been linked to Halladay. If they take on a $4 million contract with Pedro, would the Phils still be willing to pursue Halladay, who’s owed $14.25 million this year and $15.75 million next year?

My guess would be no, unless Philadelphia has another trade scenario in their back pocket involving another pitcher. A likely candidate would be J.A. Happ, a 26-year old who has pitched incredibly well this season, posting a 5-0 record with a 3.04 ERA and 1.20 WHIP.

Maybe the Jays would be interested in a package that involved Happ and a couple of minor league prospects. If so, a rotation that included Halladay, Martinez and Cole Hamels would be awfully tough to beat in the second half of the season, although Hamels has struggled a bit this year.

We’ll see if the Phillies go through with the signing of Martinez and then if they drop out of the Halladay-running soon thereafter.

Anyone that has a hair up their ass about the way the Yankees go after big names on the free agent and trade market will be happy to know that the Bronx Bombers won’t be pursuing Blue Jays’ ace Roy Halladay.

The New York Post’s Joel Sherman is reporting that the Yanks will not attempt to trade for Halladay because he would essentially cost too much both financially and in prospects. If you remember correctly, Yankee officials said the same thing about trying to acquire Johan Santana last year and they stuck to their guns by not heavily pursuing the former Twin.

Not wanting to give up a ton of prospects I buy. But who are the Yankees fooling by saying Halladay would cost too much? Even after handing CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira truckloads of money last winter, the Yankees wouldn’t bat an eye paying the rest of Halladay’s salary.

That said, I do believe the Bombers will inevitably stay out of this one. Jays’ GM J.P. Ricciardi is going to ask for a hefty package in return for Halladay, seeing as how he’s easily a top 5 pitcher in a weak market for starters. In the end, the Yankees, as with a lot of teams, don’t want to give up three or four top prospects for what could be only a year and a half of Halladay (who becomes a free agent after 2010).

The Phillies, Angels, Dodgers and Cardinals remain the teams most interested in Halladay, although there are bound to be others that will emerge as the trade deadline approaches.