A season of Holliday's (Halladay's)

The St. Louis Cardinals vastly improved themselves over the week when it acquired Oakland Athletics outfielder Matt Holliday. The 29-year-old is a lifetime .317 hitter and has postseason experience after helping the Colorado Rockies reach the World Series in 2007.

As I look up and down the Cardinals roster, I realize it's difficult to not believe this is the team to beat as October crawls toward us. With two nasty starting pitchers in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, a monster in Albert Pujols surrounded by a deep lineup are my favorites to win the National League pennant.

At the start of the season, I believed the New York Mets were going to overcome its yearly September blowup. I didn't expect them to have nearly half of their opening day lineup to be traded or spend significant time on the DL. Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Gary Sheffield have missed a combined 195 games this season. Pitchers John Maine and J.J. Putz have missed considerable time, as well.

The NL owns a handful of serious World Series contenders in St. Louis, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. All three clubs are loaded with offense, but the Cards have the edge with their elite starting pitching.

—If there was one thing the Phillies need before their turn comes to defend their World Series title, it's another starting pitcher. Lucky for Philadelphia, there's a really, really good pitcher named Roy Halladay who wouldn't mind trading in his Canadian passport for a shot at the postseason. The Toronto Bluejays own the rights to Halladay and gave the Phillies a wishlist that they would like to receive in return.

I'm still stunned that Philadelphia turned down a run at Halladay. By not handing over a couple prospects for a more secure shot at a repeat World Series, the Phillies management might be looking for a Double-A Minor League championship, too.

The prize of the summer

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay is reportedly on the trading block. He's already been linked to teams like St. Louis and Philadelphia. The question is whether or not those teams have the prospects in order to acquire the former Cy Young award winner.

Halladay is the type of dominant force that would easily improve a contender and he seems to be enjoying the thought of heading to a team in the race.

The situation reminds me of the Randy Johnson/C.C. Sabathia effect. When Johnson was traded to the Houston Astros in 1998, the monster left-hander dealt bullets over the final two months and propelled the Astros to a playoff berth. Sabathia aided the Milwaukee Brewers in its run to clinch its first postseason birth since 1982.

Which team will trade its future for the present? We'll see in a few short weeks as the July 31 MLB trading deadline inches closer.

—I checked out a handful of movies over the past week. Tonight I'm giving "Moon" an hour and a half in Yellow Springs. I'm going in with high hopes.

Public Enemies — C+

Night at the Museum II — B

Transformers II — C-

Bruno — B+

Across the border we go

Each day up until the NBA Draft on Thursday, June 25, I will be taking control of an NBA franchise and selecting its next star (it seems in this classes case, its next seventh man).

9. Toronto Raptors — Earl Clark, F, Louisville

The Raptors have experienced mainly the opposite end of the success spectrum when it comes to their draft history. Over the previous 10 drafts, Toronto has selected one lone player that's worn a Raptors jersey in an All-Star game (Chris Bosh). With selections like Michael Bradley (No. 17, 2001), Rafael Araujo (No. 8, 2004) and Joey Graham (No. 16, 2005), Toronto hasn't exactly givien hope to its feeble amount of fans.

The Raptors have to plan for the impending departure of Bosh in the hyped free-agent summer of 2010 that possibly involves LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.

I'm taking Clark here because his versatility seems to clone that of Bosh. The 6-foot-10 Clark can bang down low, as well as show off an above-average outside game. Clark averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds a game as a junior for the Cardinals.

The Raptors could fill plenty of holes with the ninth pick. Toronto lacks on the wing and the interior with both Anthony Parker and Shawn Marion listed as unrestricted free-agents this summer. General manager Bryan Colangelo always shows a soft spot for versatile forwards.

Clark will never be a go-to option, but his bag of tools could make him a solid starter in the league. Think of a poor man's Lamar Odom (if there is such a thing).

Next up: the New York Knicks at the No. 8 spot (June 18).