With the trade dealing inching closer, the rumors are rampant regarding the Yankees and Roy Halladay. The local papers are having a field day predicting the deadline trade that could be. But the question for me isn’t really could the trade happen, it’s should the trade happen?   I’m going to say right off the back that I really have no interest in signing him. And I really don’t think the Yankees NEED to sign him like Daily News staffer John Harper claimed in Thursday morning’s paper. But maybe I don’t agree with him because I’m naive to his argument.

Mr. Harper is claiming the Yankees NEED Halladay because of Joba’s apparent seasonal-inning cap. The Yankees had claimed at the beginning of the season that Joba would not pitch an excess of 160 innings. After last night’s 8-inning gem (8.0IP 3H 0R 0ER 5SO), Joba has pitched a total of 110 innings. That puts him 50 shy, or roughly 7 games, from being yanked from the starting rotation because of his 160 limit.

Sounds like a good argument and maybe it would be if I actually thought the Yankees would go through with it. Joba is young and I do see that their intentions all season long  have been to keep him from throwing out his arm too soon. However I don’t see the Yankees sitting him down if they need a win and he can give it to them.

The Yankees (Especially George and the gang) have always been about winning. It’s why people hate them, it’s why they spend all their money and it’s one reason why a large generation of Red Sox fans never saw a WS championship. You better believe if the Yankees need a win and Joba is good to go, he’ll be up there on the hill pumping his fist, honing his inner Tiger.

I’ve always been against his babying. For decades if pitchers could throw, they threw, yet today and especially with this tubby young fella, the Yankees feel the need to watch his every pitch and step. If they monitored him this closely and held his hand all season long just to sit him when the game really matters, or worse, trade him, then for the first time in my life I’d have to say the Yankees are preparing him to win next season. That just doesn’t sound like the Yankees to me. Winning next season? As in, not now? As in, not this year? I don’t know about you but something tells me we’ll be seeing him in late September…if we need him.

But if the fear for Joba’s injuries are great and his 160 inning cap is real then why not trade him for someone who can pitch more innings now? The answer is simple Halladay is older (32), has played in a dome his whole career on a crappy team that never made the playoffs (not his fault but still) and is NOT worth either of the Yankees hottest pitching projects (Joba and Hughes) or their two best minor league prospects (Austin Jackson and Jesus Montero). Halladay simply isn’t worth that. Maybe at 26 or 27 he was but not at 32 in the last years of what is considered a baseball player’s “prime.”

Brian Cashman has for years talked about his young studs in the minors, particularly Phil Hughes and Austin Jackson. We have waited and put in the time as fans, and the team has waited and anticipated them as colleagues. So why get rid of any of them to a grumpy Roy Halladay. I really don’t care that his career has been “wasted” in Toronto and he’s looking to win the World Series. He should have thought about this a few years ago. Did he actually think Toronto was going to make a move?

My thoughts on this trade possibility are a little sporadic. A lot of the questions can only be answered by the passing of time; there is no crystal ball. What I am certain about is that the Yankees do not need to give up their young talent for the antsy probable ’09 Cy Young winner. The Yankees made their moves in the off-season and came up with some pretty big names that are putting up good numbers. The uneasy feelings about the rotation seems to be a creation of the media and not reality. Need I remind everyone that they’ve won 11 of 13 since the All-Star break?

The Yankees have the best team in baseball right now. Leave the trades to someone else. Chemistry is important in baseball and it shouldn’t be screwed with this far into the season. So why doesn’t everyone just calm down before they give up too much for too little, too late.