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Phillies Grading the Trade: 2009 Winter Deal for Roy Halladay

By John Town

Mar 7, 2015; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies fans stop to pick up Roy Halladay bobble heads before the start of the spring training baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Bright House Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2015; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies fans stop to pick up Roy Halladay bobble heads before the start of the spring training baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Bright House Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nearly seven years ago, the Phillies traded for Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays. The Doc pitched four seasons with the Phillies, and now it is time to ask the question, was it worth it?

2009 was a big year for the Philadelphia Phillies. They made a blockbuster deal with the Cleveland Indians to acquire the 2008 AL Cy Young winner, Cliff Lee, at the deadline. The move propelled the Phillies to the playoffs for the third straight year and their second straight World Series appearance. After coming so close to winning the championship, the front office was willing to make another big move to return to the Series.

The opportunity came in December of that year. The Phillies made another blockbuster trade for an ace, this time Toronto’s Roy Halladay. In exchange, they sent minor-league prospects Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Drabek, and Michael Taylor to the Blue Jays.

Soon after the Halladay trade, the Phillies traded Lee to the Mariners in the hopes to replenish their minor-league system. The payoff of that trade is another article for another day.

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The only prospect that even somewhat panned out from the trade was d’Arnaud, who is now catching for the Mets. The Blue Jays sent d’Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, and other prospects to the Mets in the R.A. Dickey trade.

Injuries dampened d’Arnaud’s potential, as he played in more than 80 games just once since his debut in 2013. His best season was in 2015, where he produced 2.3 fWAR despite playing in just 67 games due to two separate injuries.

This year, d’Arnaud had a .247/.307/.323 line in 75 games. He missed nearly two months due to a rotator cuff strain. If d’Arnaud could manage to stay healthy for a full season, he could be a good player.

Otherwise, the prospects from the trade never made much of a major-league impact. The Blue Jays quickly shipped Taylor to Oakland for Brett Wallace, a corner infielder now with San Diego. Taylor made his major-league debut in 2011, but never played more than 11 big-league games in one season. In his career, Taylor was a below-replacement player, creating -1.2 fWAR and -1.1 rWAR.

Drabek was the only prospect from the trade to debut with Toronto, but he also had a dead-end career. Between 2011 and 2012, Drabek threw 150 innings for the Blue Jays with a 5.40 ERA and 1.71 WHIP. A sprained right elbow ended his season, and he never was the same.

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Drabek most recently threw this year in Arizona’s minor-league system as well as one appearance in the majors out of the bullpen. The Diamondbacks released Drabek at the end of June, and he signed with the Giants as an infielder instead of a pitcher. In ten games with the Arizona League Giants, Drabek batted just .160 with a .414 OPS.

After seeing what little value the prospects in the trade created, Roy Halladay didn’t have to do much for the Phillies to come out as the winners in the trade. His 2010 season alone made the trade worth it. He led the league with 21 wins, nine complete games, and four shutouts.

One of those shutouts was a perfect game in May, and he also tossed a no-hitter in Game One of the NLDS that year. Halladay unanimously won the NL Cy Young that year, the second Cy Young of his career.

By Baseball Reference’s WAR standards, Halladay’s 2011 was even better. He was worth 8.9 rWAR that year, which was the best mark of his career. Halladay’s 163 ERA+, 2.20 FIP, 1.3 BB/9, and 6.29 K/BB ratio all led the league that year.

Unfortunately, Halladay’s next two seasons in Philadelphia didn’t go nearly as well, mirroring the trajectory of the Phillies. He finished 2012 with a 4.49 ERA and 2013 with a 6.82 ERA. Halladay missed significant time in 2013 after receiving surgery to “remove a bone spur and clean up fraying in the labrum and rotator cuff,” according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. He retired with the Blue Jays after the season, citing injury and the desire to spend more time with his family.

Next: Phillies Offseason Trade Target: Melky Cabrera

Evaluating the trade as a whole, the Phillies certainly came out as the winners. The prospects that the Phillies dealt in the trade never sustained success in the majors. All Roy Halladay had to do was keep on track with his career to win the trade for the team; instead, he went out and had two of the best seasons of his career. While he stumbled towards the end of his career, Halladay gave the Phillies two years of ace-caliber pitching in exchange for prospects who never really panned out.

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