In this business, we like to give credit to those who gave us anything useful for our articles, blogs, you name it. For example, if I write something and Chris Price has a useful quote from a player that I throw in, I’ll put at the bottom that he contributed to the report. Fascinating, right?  Well for this one, I’ll be crediting two people, only one of which is a writer. The other? One of the WEEI.com faithful.

A reader named Jim wrote this yesterday in regard to a potential trade for Roy Halladay (minor spelling errors have been corrected):

Whether it’s 2, 5, or 10 years from now, Clay Buchholz will never be Roy Halladay. Get the damn deal done. With the exception of Bard, any 4 top 10 prospects including Buchholtz is OK with me. Halladay, Beckett and Lester in the playoffs and World Series spells championship to me.

The last sentence of that comment is completely reasonable. Even with some of the defensive woes of the Red Sox, one would have to think that a potential acquisition of Halladay would substantially boost the odds of Terry Francona seeing his third World Series title since 2004. That being said, it’s the beginning of Jim’s statement that I wouldn’t be so quick to agree with.

Roy's been there, too

WEEI.com’s Alex Speier (the other guy that’s getting credit– I know you were all on the edge of your seats) filled in for Rob Bradford for Sunday’s “Mut & Bradford” show. While he accrued a cult following in the live blog,what stuck out to me was a fascinating point made by Alex to a caller. During a discussion about Buchholz, Alex asked the caller to think about a guy who came up late in the season as a rookie, turned heads in just his second career start, struggled mightily shortly thereafter, and was sent back through the system to rework his approach. He then dropped the bomb on the caller that he was no longer talking about Buchholz, but his potential trade counterpart in Halladay.

(Alex wrote about this last summer at the time of Buchholz’ struggles. Click here for his piece.)

When thinking about it, it’s pretty amazing. Back in ’98, Halladay came just one out away from no-hitting the Detroit Tigers (Bobby Higginson hit a solo shot with two down, Detroit’s only hit of the game). He struck out eight, whereas Buchholtz K’d nine in his no-no. Halladay was fine in ’99, posting a 3.92 ERA in 149.1 innings, but it was the 2000 that was similar to Buchholz’ 2008.

In that season, Halladay looked like a lost boy, posting a 4-7 record to go along with a 10.64 ERA. What once looked like can’t-miss was now missing, and the Blue Jays were missing out on a big talent.

Sound familiar?

For those who declared themselves officially off the Buch-wagon last season, perhaps it might prove beneficial to compare Halladay’s 2000 season to Buchholz’ 2008. With the two seasons stacked against each other, it’s relatively easy to see that Blue Jays fans had it even worse.

Pitcher                  IP        W-L      HR      BB    SO    ERA
‘00 Halladay       67.2      4-7        15      42      44    10.64
‘08 Buchholz      76.0      2-9        11      41      72     6.75

Obviously, this is in no way suggesting that the similarities in early-career success followed by struggles means that Buchholz is guaranteed to end up being the same caliber pitcher as Halladay, but there is no denying the comparison.

Maybe Jim’s right– in all likelihood, he is– but if Halladay has taught us anything, it’s that the baseball world has seen speedbumps in a future-ace’s development before. So while time will certainly need to elapse before the question of whether Buchholz is an ace is answered, maybe it’s best that trade-hungry fans re-adjust their approach. Hell, it worked for Halladay.

Alex Speier and Jim the reader contributed to this report.

The Sox are undefeated in the World Series under Terry Francona, so if they make it this year, they could be celebrating in road uniforms once again

Yes, there was some Major League action yesterday, but around this neck of the woods, life has been utterly meaningless with the lack of Red Sox this week. Yes, they did assure that, if history repeats itself, they could be celebrating a World Series victory on the road once again, but aside from that, there’s been nada.

The Roy Halladay fiasco continues, and while readers and fans continue to mispronounce and misspell his last name at an incredible pace, the flames regarding Red Sox rumors seemed to have died down a bit. They’ll undoubtedly pick back up when Clay Buchholz takes the hill tonight.

While he’s technically not a prospect– he graduated from said status last season– Buchholz is the Crème de la Crème of trade chips. No-hitter aside, he’s taken the time after a dreadful ’08 stint with the Sox to develop into a dominant starter who projects to be a top-of-the-rotation guy down the road.

This isn’t to say everything’s been peachy with the 25 year-old. Buchholz had been itching for this start long before Sunday’s announcement, and his frustrations with being stuck in the minors had been made apparant on multiple occasions earlier on in the season. Now possibly trade bait, Buchholz continues to view Fenway Park as the endgame, however, as he told WEEI.com’s Alex Katz on Sunday.

That does it for this mini-entry, enjoy the return of Boston baseball!

Good morning New England, and hope you enjoyed your extra hour of sleep!

No need this morning, but at least you have to start setting your fantasy rosters again!

Let me explain. No new news, no Red Sox, no need for SportsCenter today. If you’re opening your laptop to view this as you turn on ESPN, close it and turn off the tube. Come back in an hour.

The Red Sox return to action (finally) tomorrow with a series in Toronto that will be marked by both a big debut and a couple of key returns.

While it is almost certainly a bigger deal that Boston will be getting the left side of their infield back in Mike Lowell and Jed Lowrie, it is understandable for Sox fans to be more excited to see what Clay Buchholz can do in his first start of the season tomorrow when he goes up against Toronto’s Ricky Romero. Buchholz has posted a 2.36 ERA at Pawtucket while striking out 89 batters through 99 innings. His 0.98 WHIP is second in the International League.

While nobody expects Buchholz to repeat his 2007 no-hitter or May 25 one-hitter this season, he is very capable of doing something that only three Sox starters have done this season: pitch seven innings. In 29 combined starts between Brad Penny, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and John Smoltz, there has been a grand total of zero seven-inning outings. Buchholz has accomplished the feat five times this season at Triple A.

As for Lowrie, the shortstop has seemingly dealt with the unglamorous aspects of the business (injuries, trade rumors, etc.) more than he has dealt with actually playing the game. He said last night that he’s ready for that to change.

Confirming what anyone who has followed Joe Haggerty has already known for quite some time, the Bruins and NHL announced yesterday that the team will take on the Flyers on Jan. 1 at Fenway. This won’t be a game that you’ll want to be sitting in section 48 for. Though it will be far away from the ice, the Budweiser deck and Green Monster appear to be the best seats in the house for the event, barring any additional seating that will be added. Imagine that overhead view!

Maybe this time every golden ticket won't be placed in the same box

Between the Winter Classic thing unofficially being old news and the sight of the image to the right, the coolest thing of the day involving the Bruins has nothing to do with Fenway Park. The Golden Ticket Giveaway is something any Bruins/Celtics/anything at the Garden fan won’t want to miss.

If you’re going to make it out to any of the participating location, it won’t hurt to go the Michael Scott as Willy Wonka route. (It won’t help, but it won’t hurt.) Also there’s free chocolate. Everyone’s a winner!

With training camp just two short weeks away, WEEI.com’s Christopher Price has the latest news the Patriots continue to reach agreements with their ’09 draft class, including two of their three second rounders. Seventh-round defensive lineman Darryl Richard is the latest to agree to a deal, making him the fourth Patriots selection to come to an agreement. Top two picks Patrick Chung and Ron Brace remain unsigned.

[UPDATE: Price is reporting that Brace and the Pats are close on a four-year pact]

Speaking of signings, the New York Post is reporting that Jon Lester may not be the only flame-throwing lefty in Boston in the future. As if the Red Sox were thin on pitching prospects. Cue the classic “You can never have enough pitching.” Tell that to Buchholz.

That does it for this edition of LEEInks. Try to hang in there without the Sox and, for God’s sake, go find a golden ticket!