Big trade speculation

After reading Jim Salisbury's very speculative piece that the Phillies may revisit the Roy Halladay trade negotiations, a thought occurred to me this morning: Might the Phillies package a deal around - gasp - Cole Hamels?

Management seems to be down on him, and including him in a deal would presumably mitigate the Blue Jays' demand for Kyle Drabek or one of the top outfield prospects.

Salisbury's story didn't mention this possibility, but while I was driving to work, Randy Miller, of the Bucks County Times, was on WIP with the same speculation I had. He had a couple of caveats, however, chiefly that if the Phillies acquired Halladay, they might have to cut payroll elsewhere, meaning Joe Blanton could be gone.

He did say the Phillies are fed up with Hamels for failing to develop a third pitch or learn from veteran lefties Jamie Moyer and Cliff Lee. He thinks they will definitely listen to offers for the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP, although they will be quiet about it because these megadeals rarely pan out and the Phillies are worried about Cole's fragile psyche if he learns he was placed on the trading block.

It's an interesting thought. My gut reaction is I wouldn't do it, but the Phillies may have more insight on whether Hamels can fulfill his promise in Philadelphia. If he can't, there are worse replacements than Doc.

While my perception was keen on the Hamels and Halladay speculation, I missed big time on the real implications behind the Red Sox announcing that Victor Martinez will be the starting catcher next year. That wasn't just about displacing Jason Varitek, but also signaling that V-Mart will not be at first base because the Sox may really go after Adrian Gonzalez.

It's no secret that the Red Sox have been looking for a corner infielder, especially with prospect Lars Anderson regressing this year, and the Padres are a team they have always been comfortable dealing with. Negotiations should go even better now that former Sox staffer Jed Hoyer is the GM in San Diego.

To further flame inane offseason SoxandPhils speculation is this tidbit that suggests the Red Sox may add nearly $50 million in payroll. I don't think there's that much talent available.