Wells and Rios both homer in the same game!

Unbelievable.

Incredible.

My

eyes

are

burning

Ricciardi confirms Halladay will test free agency

As the days inch closer to the July 31st trade deadline, it appears even more likely that Roy Halladay will indeed be moved by the Blue Jays. Today in an interview with ESPN's Jim Rome, Jays General Manager J.P. Ricciardi indicated that Doc has stated his wish to hit free agency when his contract expires in 2010. Knowing this, the club is intent on dealing Halladay to maximize the return for their star ace.

I don't want Ricciardi to be the one making this trade. It's not as if his track record as Blue Jays GM has been stellar, because if it was, we wouldn't even be in this situation right now. It appears that Ricciardi will not be retained by the team next year, so why should he be the one to pull the trigger on what clearly will be the most important transaction in Toronto Blue Jays history.

I've never been one to tab Ricciardi's tenure in Toronto a total disaster, but in this case, he is a lame duck, much in the way former Maple Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr. was before he was fired. It seems that Assistant GM Alex Anthopoulos might be the new man at the helm next year, so why not send Ricciardi his pink slip to accelerate the process and install Anthopoulos as GM now? Ideally, Halladay would not be traded until after Ricciardi is gone.

Because with this team moving closer and closer to missing the playoffs for a 16th straight season, this potentially epic trade has to work.

Wells returns (did anyone realize he was gone?)

Vernon Wells made his return to the Blue Jays lineup against the Indians after sitting out the previous 3 game series against the Red Sox with a stomach ailment. Not so coincidentally, the Jays won 2 of 3 against their division rival in the $126 million dollar man's absence then lost to a garbage team when he came back Tuesday.

Did you even realize he was gone in the first place? It's not as if the team was hampered when he was gone anything because he's been terrible all year anyway. He returned last night to post a spectacular 0 for 4 showing at the plate.

No word on whether Wells mysterious stomach ailment occurred when he decided to dissect his horrendous first half of the season on film.