As the Philadelphia Phillies agreed to a deal for Cleveland Indians left-hander Cliff Lee early Wednesday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays were not close to a deal involving All-Star pitcher Roy Halladay.
Things had not changed as of early Thursday morning; sources indicated the Blue Jays had no active talks regarding Halladay.
The Blue Jays set the bar very high for teams interested in Halladay and were steadfast in their demand for two of Philadelphia's best and most developed young pitchers, J.A. Happ and Kyle Drabek. The Phillies moved on to their talks for Lee, and time will tell whether any other team will step forward to pursue Halladay aggressively.
The Blue Jays have had talks with the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees about Halladay, and while names have been exchanged with all teams, the Jays had not made significant progress with any team as of midday Wednesday.
"We'd have to be wowed," Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi told ESPN's Peter Gammons. "And we haven't been wowed."
Despite a report of renewed interest from the Yankees, they so far appeared to be just monitoring the market for Halladay. The Yankees have no interest in giving up both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain and don't have room within the budget currently defined by team ownership.
Senior writer Buster Olney covers Major League Baseball for ESPN The Magazine.