Phil Hughes
Rumors

As the Roy Halladay hot stove begins to fire up, the Red Sox hope to take much of the drama out of the situation by acquiring the right handed pitcher before the start of the winter meetings on December 7th, Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.  In return for Halladay, the Jays are reportedly asking for top Sox prospect Casey Kelly and emerging starter Clay Buchholz. 

For the Blue Jays, the move to trade Halladay is not a desire, but more a need based on Halladay's unwillingness to sign an extension with Toronto and hopes to play for a contending team.  With one year left on a three-year, $40M deal that Halladay signed before the 2008 season, the Jays hope to get as much as they can for the perennial Cy Young contender this off season, rather than waiting until July.  They'd also save the $15.75M that Halladay is owed in 2010. 

The Red Sox are not the only team interested in Halladay, not even within their own division.  Despite winning the world series, the Yankees still have holes in their pitching rotation, something they'd be happy to will with Halladay.  The Sox urgency is certainly an effort to get out in front of the Yankees where general manager Brian Cashman is waiting to receive his budget for the 2010 season before making any major moves.  The Blue Jays would likely ask for some of the Yankees top propsects like Austin Jackson or Jesus Montero along with either Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. 

The Red Sox and Yankees will be in hot pursuit of Roy Halladay this off season

The Angels figure to be another team interested in Halladay if they are unable to retain free agent pitcher John Lackey.

Despite all the drama, espn.com's Buster Olney puts the odds of Halladay being traded at only 50/50.

Plenty of rumors to pass along this morning from Nick Cafardo's article in The Boston Globe. 

• If the Red Sox are able to land John Lackey that could allow them the freedom to trade Clay Buchholz to San Diego for Adrian Gonzalez.
• Speaking of the Red Sox, here's an interesting quote from one AL general manager: "The Red Sox could be the major player this off season if certain things fall together for them.  They still have enough chips in their farm system to make something happen."  Perhaps referring to A-Gone or maybe Roy Halladay.
• The Yankees will be involved in trade discussions for Halladay and seem likely to part with Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain.  You have to wonder who the bigger prospect is right now.  Our money is that teams would rather have Hughers over Chamberlain.
• The Twins and Brewers are "very interested" in Carl Pavano.
• John Smoltz is also on Milwaukee's radar, but they'll have competition from the Cardinals, who'd like to see Smoltz return.
• Gary Sheffield would like to return in 2010 and is more flexible about accepting a DH role than in the past.  

John Lackey could be the first domino in a busy off season for the Red Sox

Ken Rosenthal is staying busy and we're the benefactors.  Let's review his latest column:

• Previous rumors that the Blue Jays extended a four year $54M extension to AJ Burnett appear false as they've yet to make an offer. 
• The Boston Red Sox are also mentioned to be interested in Burnett.
• Scott Boras has made teams aware that he is looking for a Barry Zito-type contract for Derek Lowe.  Perhaps that means $18M a season, but there's no way anyone will sign the 35-year old Lowe.
• While Phil Hughes is apparently off limits, the Padres have informed the Yankees that a trade for Jake Peavy is still possible without Hughes.
• The Rockies are still listening to offers for Garrett Atkins and Huston Street.  They're also not expected to sign a free agent to replace Matt Holliday.
• The Mets need to add a right handed bat to their lineup, but are not high on Pat Burrell.

Let's look through John Perotto's Every Given Sunday column:

• The Braves, Yankees and Dodgers seem to be in the lead in the Jake Peavy sweepstakes and Perotto expects that Peavy will be traded before the winter meetings.  The Yankees are rumored to be willing to include Phil Hughes while the Braves are including Yunel Escobar in their offer.
• Randy Johnson is rumored to be strongly considering a moved back to his home state of California to play for the Dodgers or Angels.
• Perotta also thinks that the Yankees will make strong plays for CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Derek Lowe and Mark Teixeira.

Here are some highlights of Jon Heyman's latest:

• The list of pitchers the Yankees will persue in free agency includes CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Jake Peavy, Derek Lowe and Ben Sheets and they hope to acquire more than one of those pitchers.
• The Yankees could look at either Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez.  This likely means that Jason Giambi will not return to New York.
• In order to trade for a centerfielder the Yankees might need to trade Phil Hughes and/or Ian Kennedy.
• The Yankees would take Mike Mussina back if he's interested in pitch in 2009.

Here are some news and notes from around baseball:

• The Mariners will interview five candidates for their open general manager position this week: Peter Woodfork, the Diamondbacks assistant general manager; Jerry DiPoto, the Diamondbacks director of player personnel; Tony Bernazard, vice president of player development for the Mets; Kim Ng, Dodgers assistant general manager; and Tony LaCava, assistant general manager for the Blue Jays.
• Joel Sherman feels that the Yankees are valuing Robinson Cano as if his disappointing 2008 season didn't happen and thus won't trade him because his current market value does not match theirs. Sounds similar to when the Yankees were possibly overvaluing Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Kennedy also doesn't think that Bobby Abreu would be a good fit for the Cubs as has been recently rumored.
• Orlando Hudson would like to play for the Mets in 2009. Hudson signing with the Mets has been a rumored item as many people think the Mets will try to move Luis Castillo this off season.
• Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro spoke to the media today and gave some insight into the possible directions the Indians will take during the 2009 off season.
• Jayson Stark breaks down how a Manny-to-Philadelphia trade broke down this past July and Manny Ramirez ended up in Los Angeles.
• Paul DePodesta breaks down how the Padres evaluate pitching prospects.

ESPN is reporting that the feared Dr. James Andrews had a positive assessment of injured New York Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain, but the Yankees put the franchise starter on the DL yesterday.  Within this notebook George King of the New York Post reports that Phil Hughes is just a few minor-league starts away from returning to the Yankees rotation. 

Ian Kennedy is slated to return to the big leagues this weekend against the Angels (what a welcome back party) and King reports that even Carl Pavano could be coming back to "the show" if the Yankees get desperate enough.