So apparently the Dodgers are in the mix for an ace named Roy Halladay.
Bloggers, writers, panelists, and commentators across the country are all leaning towards a "no deal" mentality especially if it means trading Chad Billingsley or Clayton Kershaw.
Why?
POTENTIAL.
–adjective
1. possible, as opposed to actual: the potential uses of nuclear energy.
2. capable of being or becoming: a potential danger to safety.
There is tremendous upsides to both Bills and Kershaw but who is to say it will ever become a weekly occurrence?
And IF it does, when will it arrive? Today, tomorrow, or two years after we lose Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp to free agency? In Roy Halladay we are getting Roy Halladay and we all know what that means. It's win now and not "Maybe in the future" with him.
The fact of the matter is that the Dodgers have reached back to back NLCS with virtually the exact same team and have lost twice. The reason being pitching. The miracle of sweeping the Cardinals after being shut down in games one and two came as a surprise to everyone. We can all thank Matt Holiday for that. What did help was our great bullpen that looked extremely taxed come September.
This is where Halladay becomes a week long event.
In comparing Halladay to Kershaw and Billingsley EVERYONE has mentioned the amount of innings, strike outs, ERA, quality starts etc...What EVERYONE fails to mention is the UNCOMMON denominator. Though they all rank in the vicinity of each other in all major categories both Bills and Kershaw are being graded upon their performances against the National League, mainly the NL WEST, and NOT the offensive juggernaut that is the American League...especially the AL EAST.
A quality start is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. In the case of Bills and Kershaw they are barely making that mark while making Joe Torre use the bullpen three to four innings a night all while pitching in a pitcher friendly park.
In the case of Roy Halladay pitching against the NL WEST, his numbers would sky rocket. In 2009 he averaged just over 7.1 innings a start with an ERA under three with nine complete games.
On the other end Bills averaged 6.1 innings and Kerhsaw just over 5 2/3, Halladays extras two innings would help save the bullpen which would not only affect the current game but possibly the next two. Halladay could easily win the NL Cy Young and out-pitch any pitcher in the heavly loaded NL West. His ERA would drop (2.79 in 2009), wins would go up (17 in 2009), complete games will rise (9 in 2009), and so will his strike outs (208 in 2009).
Bringing Roy Halladay to dominate the National League is something the Dodgers need to do in order to make a World Series appearance. He will help keep the bullpen fresh as Troncoso and Bellesario each had career highs in innings pitches by Aug. 6 and he would be the true Ace to lead off a series or pitch a decisive game.
Roy Halladay will easily win 25+ games in the National League by eating up the horrible teams like Arizona, San Diego, San Fransisco, Washington, Pittsburgh, etc etc as an appetizer to helping take out the Phillies.
And c'mon lets be honest here its not like we're trading Pedro Martinez for Delino Deshields.
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