Rob Neyer on the Halladay Question:
Leaving aside his bloated ERA, Hamels is pitching just as well as he did last year. Blanton's pitching just as well as he did last year. Moyer's struggling, almost entirely because he's giving up far too many home runs. Happ is pitching better this year than Brett Myers -- a rotation mainstay in 2008 -- pitched last year.Fundamentally, the Phillies' top four starters right now are just as good as the Phillies' top four starters last year. And just in case anyone's forgotten, last year the Phillies won the World Series.
So I'm begging you and everyone you know, please stop saying the Phillies need Roy Halladay or anyone else. The Phillies, right now, are good enough to win the World Series again. They would need a bit of luck, of course, but that's true of any team. The notion that adding Halladay would suddenly turn the Phillies into big favorites is preposterous, for the simple reason that baseball doesn't work that way.