More than 125 pitchers will be available in the winter after all the free-agent filings and non-tenders are completed. But far too few front-line starting pitchers -- the kind who can lead a pitching staff through a long summer, the type who can carry the responsibility of being a staff's ace -- will be on the market.
Roy Halladay certainly fits that description, and it's fairly evident his time in Toronto is nearing an end. He will be eligible for free agency after next season and has told the Blue Jays that above all else, he wants a chance to win. Toronto is in the midst of restructuring, and Halladay's timeline might not fit the team's timeline, as new Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos conceded recently during an online chat. The Jays won't market Halladay as they did in July, but they will listen to the offers that inevitably will be thrown at them.
To read more about where the winter's top available aces -- including Roy Halladay, Javier Vazquez and John Lackey -- are headed, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Buster Olney
