Doc envious of today’s Jays
Former ace Halladay laments brass not making big trades during his time
Roy Halladay can’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy when he scans the star-laden Blue Jays lineup these days.
Halladay, either the best or second-best pitcher in team history — depending on how one feels about Dave Stieb — never made the playoffs during his outstanding 12 seasons in Toronto (148-76 with a 3.43 ERA).
“I would have given my left arm to have the team we have now, it would have been a dream come true the last four years to do this here,” Halladay said on Sunday morning in the Blue Jays dugout.
He was on hand as part of a 40th anniversary celebration of the best pitchers in franchise history.
“But things work the way they did and we were kind of going the other direction to allow this to happen now. Glad it worked out.”
He said that last part with a wry smile. While he finally reached the post-season once he went to Philadelphia, Halladay’s heart has always been in Toronto and he would have loved to have played truly meaningful games while here.
Halladay talked about how loosening the purse strings has now paid off.
“It’s funny how one trade (Troy Tulowitzki), with a good team and going after it (David Price, etc.) with one trade deadline seemed to really turn them all around,” Halladay said.
“You only have excitement coming into the next spring, the extra income you got in the playoffs to go out and get better ... it’s been awesome.”
Unfortunately for Halladay, that wasn’t the way things were done during his tenure and he quickly answered when asked what the biggest trade deadline move by those Jays was.
“I don’t think we did (make any deals),” Halladay said.
“We were in first one year going into the break and I don’t think we got anybody that year. I think we were all kinds of dejected when we came back, because the Yankees got two or three guys, the Red Sox got two or three guys, and that pretty much was the end of us.”
Ultimately, the lack of contending teams ended Halladay’s time in Toronto, as he had to leave in order to finally get a shot at a ring.
Halladay officially retired in December of 2013 after signing a oneday contract with Toronto.