Halladay remains a Blue Jay after all

After weeks of speculation and rumours that Roy Halladay's career in Toronto would be over, the Blue Jays have decided to keep their ace in the fold for at least the remainder of this season with the intention of contending in 2010. For a while Halladay seemed all but destined to punch his ticket to another city, with J.P. Ricciardi fielding proposals for the 6 time all-star, but instead, he is staying with the only organization he's known.

On one hand, I'm extremely glad that J.P. Ricciardi didn't trade Halladay just for the sake of making a deal. Taking anything less than market value would have hampered a team that would surely be in the dumps with the loss of the 2003 CY Young Award winner. But on the contrary, trading arguably the best pitcher in baseball really would have netted a slew of prospects that could have aided this team down the road. And that is the distinction that continues to fail to be made. Are the Jays rebuilding with an eye to the future? Or are they contending for a title?

Ricciardi has indicated that because he wasn't "wowed" and "moved" by any offers, the team is keeping Halladay with the intention of contending in 2010. I don't believe Toronto has the personnel to be a factor late into the season next year, because it'll be mostly the same lineup coming back (Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Lyle Overbay are all bums) Trading Doc is still a possibility in the off-season or at the trade deadline in 2010, because his value will still be sky high (he is, after all, the best pitcher in baseball)

Because Halladay is such a class act, it's really disappointing that the bulletproof Ricciardi managed to bungle his status through the media, further isolating the team's best player.

How is it that Ricciardi still has a job?