I don't have the loquacious bug this morning, so let me just stick to bullet points on this one.

• If Soriano (knee), Soto (shoulder, oblique, waistline), and Ramirez (shoulder) are as healthy in 2010 as they were in 2009, nothing will matter -- the team will suck.
• If, instead, they are healthy, our offense will be vastly improved. We have the pieces to score runs, I promise.
• In March 2009, Z, Lilly, Demp and Harden were sure things for the rotation, and Marshall, Heilman, and Gaudin were duking it out for the fifth rotation spot.
• This March, Z, Demp and Wells will be warming up, Lilly will be recovering from shoulder surgery, and we'll be crossing our fingers on either Marsh or Shark figuring out how to pitch more than 4 innings a start while keeping the ERA under 6.00.
• Hallady dominated in the AL. The NL is worse than the AL (see M Holliday, C Lee, C Sabathia, et al).
• To a large extent, you have to remember: prospects are prospects (see F Pie, C Patterson, et al).

So yeah, in a nutshell, that's my case for trading Castro (lots of people love him, but others have cited flaws in his game), Vitters (absolutely NO plate patience whatsoever), and CashNER (might not stick as a starter) for Halladay.

Of course, if the deal were made, I would then bet a ton of money on the fact that Halladay would soon need Tommy John surgery, Cashner would be a lights out starter, and Castro and Vitters would both be perrenial All-Stars at SS and 3B, the two toughest positions to field beyond center.