Head over to mlbtraderumors.com for the most complete coverage of the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. If someone farts near Roy Halladay this week, MLB Trade Rumors will cover it, so you barely need to go anywhere else to stay on top of the goings on.

The Cliffs Notes version is that The Jays don’t seem to be backing down off of their demand for J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek and Dominic Brown. J.P. Ricciardi seems to want a player that can replace Halladay on the major league roster, hence the desire to have Happ included in the trade. The Phillies, for their part, don’t seem to be interested in giving away their top pitching prospect, their top position prospect and a member of their starting 5.

The Jays have backed off of their self-imposed pre-deadline deadline of tomorrow to complete a deal. Ricciardi wanted everything settled before Halladay’s next scheduled start on Wednesday on the road against the Seattle Mariners. Now it is being reported that Ricciardi will negotiate up until the last minute if necessary.

Todd Zolecki has a good piece on his blog about why we shouldn’t pitch Ruben Amaro Jr. off the roof if he balks at Toronto’s demands.

So, who is going to blink first? Will Ricciardi realize as the week winds down that, while he’ll have other opportunities to trade Halladay after the deadline, he most likely won’t get any better value than he will right now, regardless of who his trading partner is? And losing Halladay after next season, with only two high draft picks in return, will hardly be consolation for Jays fans.

Or will the Phillies, feeling the pressure from a fanbase and clubhouse hungry to build a dynasty, pull the trigger on the Jays request? Will they be able to hold onto Happ or Drabek and still land Halladay without making this a 12 for 1 deal including half the Reading Phillies roster?

Here’s a vote for not sending Happ, Drabek and Brown to get Halladay. Getting Halladay guarantees nothing, but letting Happ, Drabek and Brown go depletes at least 1 too many top prospects. I would only trade all 3 of those players if I could lock up Halladay beyond 2010.

The Phillies can win the World Series again this year without Halladay. Would it be nice to have him? Of course, but with the offense the Phillies have, 2 aces is not an absolute must, and a postseason rotation of Hamels, Blanton, Happ and Moyer/Lopez/Martinez could still get it done, especially if Brett Myers is in the bullpen ready to eat some innings should one of them run into trouble.

If the Phillies can get Halladay for something less that all 3 of those players, then go for it. My gut tells me that this deal isn’t happening. Ricciardi is on record as saying he won’t move Halladay unless he’s wowed, and he won’t be able to face the Jays fans if he takes anything less than a deal that looks extremely favorable for Toronto. The Phillies won’t acquiesce to the Jays demand, and in the end this staring contest will be judged a draw.

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In a totally unrelated topic, Mike Schmidt was a .255 hitter in his 20′s and a .277 hitter in his 30′s. Imagine if he’d played into his 40′s…

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The Phillies are on pace to win 94 games this year, a 2 game improvement on last year. The Phillies were 52-44 after 96 games last year.

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Can the Phillies trust Jamie Moyer down the stretch, or the postseason for that matter? Moyer has pitched better of last, but better means instead of being shellacked every 5th day, he is pretty much pitching to his career ERA, which before this season was 4.19. That is also Moyer’s ERA in his past 4 starts.

If the Phillies don’t land Halladay, expect them to ship off some prospects in order to land an upgrade over Moyer for a four-man postseason rotation.

I say this of course, as Moyer just completed 6.2 innings of shutout baseball in Arizona, helping us forget his last start (5.1 IP, 5 ER vs. CHC). Like I said – no consistency.