Blue Jays GM sets deadline of July 28 for Roy Halladay trade

Blue Jays set July 28 deadline for Halladay trade

TORONTO — Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi still hasn’t received an appropriate trade offer for Roy Halladay, and has set a July 28 deadline to complete a deal for the 2003 Cy Young Award winner.

“At this point, it’s probably unlikely that we’ll trade Doc,” Ricciardi said Tuesday.

Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline is July 31. Ricciardi said July 6 he would field offers for Halladay, who is signed through 2010 and has a full no-trade clause.

“No one has really stepped up yet,” Ricciardi said. “We’ve got to be highly motivated to move him. We haven’t been highly motivated yet.”

Ricciardi said the deadline is necessary to get an agreement in place for what is likely to be a complicated deal. He also wants the matter resolved before Halladay makes a scheduled start July 29 in Seattle.

“In three days, not much is probably going to happen,” Ricciardi said. “It’s such a magnitude, the trade. He’s got to OK the team he’s going to, we’ve got to agree on prospects. That doesn’t happen, traditionally in baseball, in one hour. I think we need a little more time than that.”

Ricciardi declined to say how many teams have entered the bidding for Halladay, but acknowledged “there’s been enough.”

The AL starter at this month’s All-Star Game, Halladay is 11-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 18 starts. He pitched a six-hitter to beat Boston on Sunday, his first victory since June 7.

Halladay was placed on the 15-day disabled list and missed two turns in the rotation after injuring his groin while pitching against Florida on June 12. He has gone 1-2 in four starts since returning June 28.