Opinion

There was a void at Citizens Bank Park this year. Everything was the same on the baseball field, but for any fan or member of the organization it was just not the same. Harry was gone. “We lost our voice,” as David Montgomery so eloquently put it.

Each win just wasn’t as sweet without Harry Kalas, the 38-year voice of Phillies baseball.

It’s hard to comprehend how a single man could mean so much to a city.

ESPN.com reports that Roy Halladay will not re-sign with the Toronto Blue Jays after his contract expires at the end of the 2010 season assuming that he is still a Blue Jay for this coming season.

Toronto went public during the summer that they would listen to offers for the right-handed pitcher, and it ultimately got to a point to no return for the Blue Jays.

2009 Arizona Fall League has ended as the Peoria Javelinas defeated the Phoenix Desert Dogs 5-4 to win the league.

Seven players from the Mariners organization played for the Javelinas and some looked they're close to the big league. Let's review how they've done this fall.

Dustin Ackley 1B/LF

The Mariners drafted Ackley second overall in last year's draft. He did not sign with the club until the signing deadline so he didn't play in the minors.

We have been subjected to every theoretical trade scenario under the sun since Roy Halladay was rumored to be available via trade last season.

There are dozens of hypothetical deals that send an entire farm system worth of players in exchange for Halladay and his contract, which expires after 2010. 

National League clubs see Halladay as the key to defeating the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Distractions abound surrounding the future of the Dodger’s organization, but the real focus should be on filling the holes in the lineup and building a team that can muscle past the NLCS next season.

And so, our attention shifts to the ballclub’s No. 2 priority behind pitching: second base.

Rumors ran wild this past week about the potential of the Cubs trading for Roy Halladay or Curtis Granderson.

What is sad is that the Cubs have the highest payroll in the league, and both of these players are going to be considered too expensive.

What's worse? Both of these players would fulfill enormous needs for the Cubs. In fact, they are the two biggest needs of the current Cub team.

On Friday November 20, Chien Ming Wang spoke to reporters in Taiwan about his questionable future with the New York Yankees organization. Wang has been plagued by injuries the last two years and is no longer the Yankees ace pitcher. 

When speaking to reporters in Taiwan, Wang said that the Yankees are his "first choice". But afterwards mentioned that he would be alright pitching for any other major league team. 

It's really hard to argue with the way the Florida Marlins do business.

Despite having a payroll consistently at the bottom of baseball, in the last seven seasons, The Marlins have had five winning seasons and won a World Series.

They have a philosophy of building through the draft, develop their own talent, and once that talent gets to a point where they will make serious money, they trade them for more inexpensive talent.

The National League MVP will be announced this week, and it will undoubtedly be handed to Albert Pujols.

With this year's race all but locked up, I wanted to take a look at a player who I consider to be the front-runner for MVP in 2010. 

At 25 years old, Matt Kemp has already put up impressive numbers that rank up there with some of the elite names in baseball history.