With pitcher Kyle Drabek officially claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox, it’s fair to say that the Toronto Blue Jays‘ front office did a terrible job getting proper compensation for Roy Halladay back in 2009.
#BlueJays exposed Kyle Drabek to waivers Thursday in case another team wanted a look before camps close. #WhiteSox bit.
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) March 27, 2015
Set to be a free agent following the 2010 season, the Blue Jays’ payroll then was nowhere close to the $130 million it is now. Halladay wanted to play for a contender, so management did what they could to make him happy and still gain some utility out of their returns. That ship has sailed.
Drabek, catcher Travis d’Arnaud and outfielder Michael Taylor were the Blue Jays’ haul from the December 16 trade of 2009. The Phillies got an ace who contributed 17.1 WAR, a .655 WPCT and a Cy Young award in 2010 to their pitching staff. The Blue Jays got a whole lot of nothing.
The acquisition of top catching prospect d’Arnaud would also spawn another controversial trade in Blue Jays history when he and Noah Syndergaard were the main pieces used to trade for knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. But that’s another article for another time.
So d’Arnaud is in the Big Apple and Drabek is in Chicago, where oddly enough, Michael Taylor ended his career. Many might think to blame former Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi for the Halladay deal, but his final day in office for the Jays was October 31 of 2009. The “Doc Deal” was executed later that year in December with major participation from current GM Alex Anthopoulos.
Anthopoulos then traded Taylor for Brett Wallace who eventually netted them Anthony Gose, who is now a member of the Detroit Tigers. So essentially, to dumb things down, the Doc Deal has cost the Toronto Blue Jays two free agent contracts at catcher in the form of Dioner Navarro and Russell Martin, as well as two 14-13 seasons of 200-plus innings pitched and combined ERA of 3.97 from Dickey.
It’s not the worst thing in the world, but it’s definitely not ideal for trading away a potential Hall of Fame ace pitcher. Drabek was not even serviceable during his time in Toronto. He posted a 5.27 ERA over 172.1 IP when he wasn’t logging over 370 IP in the minors from 2010-14.
Anthopoulos has seen mixed results from his deals over the last five seasons. The names he acquired in return for the second greatest pitcher in franchise history (according to WAR), but probably the popular choice by fans as the best ever, was disappointing. How Anthopoulos then managed that talent afterward was borderline disgraceful, some might say.
Blue Jays fans can take away from the Roy Halladay trade the fact that he pitched 12 of his 16 MLB seasons in a Jays uniform and won a Cy Young doing so in 2003. If he does get a Hall of Fame nod, there’s a strong chance Halladay will become only the second ever player wearing a Jays cap on his plaque in Cooperstown.