Roy Halladay, Jerry Manuel, the Dodgers and Johnny Damon

Blew off the boring Yankees today (seriously, they're about as tranquil as I've ever seen them) to attend Roy Halladay's first news conference at Phillies camp in nearby Clearwater.

As I watched Halladay walk around the clubhouse, condition and then speak with us afterwards, I thought of Joel Sherman's column today on Mariano Rivera.

Halladay lacks Rivera's national reputation, in large part because Rivera's team has been good enough to make 14 postseasons and Halladay's team has been good enough to make zero. But Halladay has that same grace that Rivera possesses, and if he isn't quite as revered throughout the industry, it's only because Rivera has been at it longer. Halladay is about as respected a player as you'll find in the big leagues.

When I asked him about Johan Santana's comments about being the best pitcher in the NL East (see previous post), and whether he'd enter the Mets-Phillies trash-talk wars, Halladay smiled and said, "No, I steer clear of that. I think it was a Lou Holtz quote, 'Well done is always more important than well said.' I've always tried to take that philosophy. I try to stay out of those things as much as possible."

I'll be writing a column on Halladay. In the meantime, MLB.com's excellent Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki has a write-up of the news conference here. You can see me and my big fat bald spot, to the left of the gray-haired guy in the orange shirt (The Toronto Star's Richard Griffin) in the front-center of the photo.

Other thoughts from Phillies camp: Cole Hamels looks amazing. He had great zip on the ball in his bullpen session.

I've never professed to be a pitching expert, but Phillippe Aumont, the main pitcher the Phillies received from Seattle for Cliff Lee, has a very odd delivery. Not fluid at all, and he didn't seem to know where the ball was going. Yup, it's February 19, and I've never seen him throw before. Stipulated. I'm just sayin', it stuck out.

Bobby Valentine, on site for ESPN, was impressed by J.C. Ramirez, who also came over from Seattle in the Lee deal.

--Well, not surprisingly, Jerry Manuel had plenty to say in his first news conference of the spring. My responses:

Jose Reyes hitting third? No, no, a thousand times no. He enjoys hitting leadoff, and he's good at it. You don't see too many guys develop respectable plate discipline while in the big leagues as Reyes has. Just hit him first.

Daniel Murphy as the leader to win the first-base job? Yes. At this point, give the kid a chance. Mike Jacobs as a lefty slugger off the bench isn't an awful idea, although I think Frank Catalanotto also deserves strong consideration for that pinch-hit job.

Jon Niese as the fifth starter? If he's full healthy, absolutely. But he might not be fully healthy in time.

Setup guy? Just about the least of the Mets' concerns. They at least have some interesting options in Kelvim Escobar (if healthy), Ryota Igarashi, Bobby Parnell and Brian Stokes. Oh, wait...

--This Los Angeles Times story about the McCourts' divorce displays just how brutally ugly this Dodgers situation is getting. Joe Torre must be yearning for the days of working for the Steinbrenners.

--It's a little-known fact that last year's stimulus package requires all mainstream media baseball bloggers to mention Johnny Damon at least once per day. With that in mind, good column today by Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press, who questions what the Tigers are thinking in pursuing Damon.

Thanks to Buster Olney's blog for the links to the McCourt story and Rosenberg column. Olney, meanwhile, reported that the Indians have signed Russell Branyan. Cleveland's offense could be good this year. The pitching? Yeesh.

--The Blue Jays signed Jose Molina, a good pickup for a low price, and I just want to know who on the Yankees has to deliver the bad news to A.J. Burnett.

UPDATE, 5:00 p.m.: Bruce Levine reports for ESPN Chicago that the White Sox have pulled their offer to Damon. Why do I anticipate the Braves getting involved again, just to prolong this neverending saga?