The Roy Halladay sweepstakes has created a healthy rumor mill that won’t cease until either Halladay is sporting red pinstripes, or the trade deadline passes without a Jay-Phillies deal.

Regardless of how this plays out, or whether you are in the “trade for him” or “don’t trade for him” camp, one thing we can all agree about is that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr will be Monday morning quarterbacked to death on this one.

If the Blue Jays ask for too much for Ruben’s liking, and the Phils pass, we’ll always wonder what could have been if the franchise doesn’t win the World Series this year with their current starting rotation plus Pedro.

If the Phils decide to trade a collection of top prospects and maybe J.A. Happ in order to land Halladay, anything less than a World Series win in 2009 or 2010 will leave Phillies fans smarting, especially if Kyle Drabek and/or Happ are anchoring an up and coming Jays rotation.

MLB Trade Rumors is covering the Halladay circus front to back, and in reading report after report, it seems like Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is only moving Halladay if he gets half of some team’s farm system in the process. No one is getting Hallady on a discount, in fact, they’ll most likely need to overpay to land the righty ace in terms of sending an unprecedented number of top flight prospects to the Jays. With Ricciardi on the hot seat, he’ll need to make sure that what he gets in return is indisputably worth it.

Lastly, the Phillies current torrid pace has resulted in a healthy lead in the division and should color Amaro’s decisions as we head toward the stretch run. A 5 man rotation is only necessary for the regular season. Do the Phils already have 4 starters they could count on in the playoffs to help them win a second consecutive World Series? Hamels, Happ, Blanton and one of Moyer, Lopez or Martinez would be no worse than the 2008 version of the Phillies playoff rotation, assuming Hamels returns to form in time for October.

If the Phillies were locked in a heated battle for the National League race, adding Halladay would create a very formidable 5 man rotation. Having Halladay in the fold for the playoffs would certainly improve the Phillies chances of winning it all as well. The question is, do the Phillies need 2 aces with this offense?

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The first annual Dennis Bennett Award race marches on. For the uninitiated, the Bennett Award gives points in each Phillies series this season to the 3 players most responsible for putting the Phillies in position to win the series. 3, 2 and 1 point are given to the 3 players, with 3 points going to the player who had the most to do with the Phillies chances of winning games in the series.

The award is named after former Phillies hurler Dennis Bennett, who was my Dad’s favorite player on the 1964 team.

Raul Ibanez was of course leading the way for the better part of the season until he landed on the disabled list in June. Since Ibanez’s injury, Chase Utley has continued his impressive pace, and consequently, overtook Ibanez in the Bennett standings.

Ibanez has posted impressive numbers in his return to the lineup, but recent outstanding starting pitching as well as some remarkable offensive performances from his teammates has kept Ibanez from netting any points to keep pace with Chase.

Full series by series stats (Excel Download)

Top 10 Year to Date