Joba To Jays? Unlikely

So ESPN reports the Phillies are unwilling to meet the Blue Jays asking price for Roy Halladay and a short time later, SI's Jon Heyman posts this on Twitter:

#yankees might - repeat, might - consider giving up joba for #halladay. but wont entertain request of joba & hughes.

Earlier in the day, Heyman Tweeted that the Jays would need the Yankees to offer both Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, but something tells me the Yankees aren't willing to part with either and are just playing the game.

Let's assume the source for Heyman's post on Joba is from the Yankees.

If the Phillies are indeed not willing to go the distance for Halladay, that means the bidding for the 32-year-old former Cy Young Award winner will open up.

The last thing the Yankees want is to see Halladay remain in the American League, specifically the Red Sox or Angels, both of whom are interested in the righthander. The Jays and Red Sox did have discussion last week, ESPN reported.

By leaking that the Yankees might be willing to trade Joba, the Yankees would be keeping their hat in the Halladay sweepstakes and driving up the price for other potential suitors.

It's a mirror of the game they played in the Johan Santana sweepstakes, when they seemed willing to trade Hughes or Ian Kennedy.

Now let's assume Heyman's source was from the Jays.

Their proposal had just been rejected by the team that seems to be their best trade partner. In addition there have been reports that Halladay might not be willing to sign an extension, which would drive down his trade value, especially because he would be able to demand a trade in the offseason.

By saying the Yankees might be willing to trade Joba, the Jays would be applying pressure to other potential trade partners to improve their offers, specifically the Phillies, who have been reluctant to part with both Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ.

This is just a case of trade-deadline gamesmanship. Nothing more.

Joba's going nowhere.