According to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Phillies are scheduled to announce on Wednesday the acquisition of pitcher Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jay at Citizens Bank Park.

The blockbuster and complicated trade involving four teams - Toronto, Philadelphia, Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics - features two of the best pitchers in baseball changing teams and swapping leagues, as well, it officially paves the way for the rebuilding effort now clearly underway in Toronto.

Multiple reports indicate that the Blue Jays will receive the following package of players from the Phillies for Halladay: righthander Kyle Drabek, outfielder Michael Taylor and backstop Travis d'Arnaud. The Blue Jays would then ship Michael Taylor to the Athletics for first baseman Brett Wallace.

There were many moving pieces to make this trade a reality, the least of which was the Phillies and Halladay agreeing to a contract extension on Tuesday evening.

The Phillies agreed in principal with Halladay to a contract extension on Tuesday evening that extends the best pitcher in baseball for $60-million (all currencies U.S.) through to the 2013 season.

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had long coveted Halladay, and was deeply engaged in talks to acquire the pitcher in July. But then-Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi requested Drabek, Happ, and highly touted outfield prospects Domonic Brown and Anthony Gose, and talks collapsed. By not including Happ, Brown, and Gose in this trade, Amaro negotiated a lower price in December than he was able to in July.

The second-tier prospects used to acquire Lee must also be considered part of the price for Halladay. On July 29, the Phillies sent four minor-league prospects, pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp, catcher Lou Marson, and infielder Jason Donald, to the Cleveland Indians for Lee. The trade was made possible by Cleveland's need to shed payroll.

When word leaked before the Baseball Winter Meetings that Halladay would exercise his no-trade clause if a deal wasn't consummated by Spring Training, the deck was effectively stacked against in-coming Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

Whether this deal turns out closer to the one that sent David Cone to the New York Yankees for Marty Janzen, Mike Gordon and Jason Jarvis, remains to be seen. However, Drabek clearly needs to be an impact pitcher for this deal to be considered a wash at best.

Do you agree with the Toronto Blue Jays decision to trade Roy Halladay?

Yes, a rebuilding (and a new focus) was in order after eight years of mis-management.

No, I think the Blue Jays are close to contending and would have preferred the organization increase the payroll to $120-million and take my chances with "Doc" Halladay in the rotation.

What say you Fadoo?

Phils set to introduce pitcher Halladay [Philadelphia Inquirer]