The Jays know that if they don’t trade Doc this off-season, they’ll get two picks next year when Doc is signed by one of the following four teams: the Yankees, BoSox, Phillies, or Angels. (The Rangers or Seattle would be outside chances if either team has the money & believes it is one pitcher away from a WS appearance.)

You can rule the Angels out from the above list if they resign Lackey; Moreno won’t spend that much money on two pitchers.

That leaves the Yankees, BoSox, and Phillies, which means the Jays will most likely receive no better than the 28th pick for Doc, plus a supplemental pick. Pretty crappy compensation for Doc, right?

So, the Jays absoultely MUST trade Doc this off-season, which means the Jays are NOT dealing from strength here. They’ll be lucky to get one good pitching prospect (Joba/Hughes or Buchholz, plus one mediocre prospect. No way do they get A-Jax OR Montero or anybody similar from the BoSox . . . unless they can get the Yankees & BoSox in a bidding war . . . and both team are too smart to do that, I believe.

Why? If the Yankees get Doc; Boston simply signs Lackey. If Boston gets Doc, the Yankees sign Lackey. Neither team will give up the farm for Doc, as long as Lackey’s out there.

Lackey isn’t as good as Doc, but he’ll cost far less & he’ll cost zero current prospects. As long as Lackey’s out there, the Jays will get very little for Doc. I think they know that and, more importantly, I think Lackey’s people know that, and they know his value will jump after Doc is traded; so, unless a phenominal deal comes in from LAA or Seattle, Lackey won’t sign with anyone until Doc is moved.

The second Doc is traded to the Yankees, Angels, or Boston, Lackey’s value jumps at least $10-15 million over 4-5 years.

Pineiro and Wolf are this year’s JC. Penny(ies). They’re strict good NL ptchers; that’s it. They’ll both pitch to a 5.50 ERA in the AL East.

And forget about Wang rejoining the Yankees. If I’m reading between the lines correctly on the dozen or so stories I’ve read on Wang, the Yankees don’t believe Wang will be physically fit enough to be a real factor this year . . . so if they’re going to gamble on extra pitching help (assuming Andy comes back), then Sheets is the better gamble.

I would say Wang will sign with the Dodgers. Torre likes him & he won’t cost the cash-strapped Dodgers much money.

He only comes back to the Yankees if he absolutely positively wants to, to the exclusion of all other teams in MLB. That’s not likely. LA, for one, will give him more pitching opportunities in a division with a ton of AAA hitters, which will raise his market value immensely next season, assuming he signs a one year deal with LA, which is very likely, given their financial restraints.

Even a guy like Halladay has had some years with shoulder problems. So has AJ. So has a ton of other pitchers. it is part of the job. The fact that Lackey was so effective and productive even when coming off injuries in encouraging to me, not a negative. His build is just as big as Halladay, and his delivery just as smooth. He is not as good, but if we don’t trade for Halladay, there is a good chance we never get a shot at him.

I don’t think that would be an issue.
Any team he went to, healthy Sheets = guaranteed rotation spot, no debate. That would include the Yankees in this scenario.
From the team’s side, it wouldn’t hurt to have Hughes as the 6th starter–everyone knows how much use they get, especially with such an injury prone rotation as they would have.