"Roy Halladay remembers a lot of late Julys during his 12 years with the Blue Jays when he got his hopes up as the trade deadline approached, only to be disappointed year after year when team officials didn't make a major move.

Maybe that's why Toronto never reached the playoffs while Halladay was in a Blue Jays uniform.

While he was winning 148 games and a Cy Young Award, going to six All-Star Games and winning 20 games twice, the Blue Jays were good enough to post eight winning seasons but never made the moves necessary to take that next step down the stretch.

One of the reasons Halladay is now a Phillie is his confidence in this organization making deadline moves to improve the roster. No matter how good the roster already is.

"It was always frustrating watching New York and Boston do it whenever we got close around the break, so it's nice to be on a team that goes out and gets those guys, whether it's in the winter or during the break or whenever," Halladay said after beating the Padres Sunday afternoon for his 12th win. "They're always trying to make us better."

The Blue Jays haven't been to the playoffs since beating the Phillies in the 1993 World Series. They were always pretty good while Halladay was in Toronto – they won at least 80 games in nine of his 12 years – but those blockbuster late-season moves?

That's what the other teams in the AL East did.

With the Phillies, Halladay expects those moves. And that's one of the big reasons he's here."