Fuck Off, Rosenthal

"We have to see what's out there," Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi says. "I'm not saying we're going to shop him. But if something makes sense, we at least have to listen. We're (leaning) more toward listening than we've ever been."

There’s the money quote from the latest effort from an American writer to explode a tiny kernel of possibility acknowledged by JP Ricciardi that the Jays might consider maybe considering listening to an offer on Roy Halladay if they get an offer that makes sense—this time from that fucking Oompa-Loompa, Kenny Ken Kenneth Ken Kenny Rosenthal—into full-blown Halladay-on-the-block hysteria.

Fuck. Off.

This is not news.

I know those maybe sound like the words of a Jays fan fiercely in denial, but they're really not. This is just fucking tiresome. How many times over the years has Ricciardi said—about not just Halladay, but any player—that “if something makes sense, we at least have to listen”?

Of fucking course he’ll listen! Is that seriously all you’ve got???

The article—which is titled “Jays’ Halladay all but gone in Toronto”, though I’ll give Kenny Ken Ken the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t title the piece—is just a cheap way for Rosenthal to exploit a tiny shift in Ricciardi’s language from statements month ago, get some face time and some page views, and to give sports talk radio shows an easy topic to run with. [Cue wanking motion].

That's right, Fan590 and your ridiculous fucking morning dedicated to making a mountain out of this horseshit, you’re not a whole lot better in my books right now. I mean, I know it's early, but could you maybe read a little more than just the title?

Oh, but here’s the fucking bulletproof conclusion that Rosenthal has come to:

Ricciardi says the Jays will not trade Halladay if they do not receive the right offer, knowing that the team's best chance of competing next season is with the pitcher at the top of the rotation.

C'mon.

Once this process starts, it's almost impossible to stop. Rest assured, the Jays are assembling prospect lists and preparing to assign their scouts to investigate rival farm systems. Halladay is a goner. It's just a matter of when and where.

Yeah! C’mon!

A real fucking compelling argument. Never heard of a team saying that they might consider listening to an offer on a player and then not eventually going through with it.

Rosenthal then goes through about ten teams who he figures could potentially be in the “sweepstakes”, and basically concludes that none of them appear to have the right combination of prospects to move, payroll to accommodate taking on the Doc’s salary, while still being a desirable-enough destination for him to waive his no-trade clause for.

He also said on the Fan's morning show that his immediate reaction was "whoa, this is a reversal," but that when he spoke to Ricciardi about it, JP said it's not, and that the Jays have "always been open minded."

So… ? Then... ? What… ?

Fucking ridiculous horseshit is what. Is Kenny really prepared to look JP in the eye with this nonsense? I mean, provided he was able to find a chair to stand on. Talk to me when there’s something new to discuss here. What a fucking waste.

UPDATE: Ricciardi showed up on Mike Hogan's show on the Fan 590 this morning to address this tiresome non-story:

"We're not putting up a sign that says we're trading Roy Halladay. I think that's the furthest thing from what's going on right now."

"We're not out there shopping him, but like any of our players, if someone comes knocking, we wouldn't be doing our job if we don't listen."

"That's what it's like this time of year, during the trading period."

"We've always said that a) we don't want to trade Roy Halladay, and b) if we do decide to trade Roy Halladay, it's going to be very painful for the other organization."