No Roy Halladay Shopping: Red Sox Should Keep Clay Buchholz

The minute the announcement was made, the conspiracy theories began swirling. Clay Buchholz had barely finished his most recent ho-hum start at Pawtucket Sunday afternoon when the Red Sox announced he—and not a pitcher already in the five-man rotation—would make the first start for the big league club following the All-Star break.Why? Whispers have included everything from the possible (he’s being showcased for a potential trade, perhaps for Toronto ace Roy Halladay) to the probable (they want to give him another look at the MLB level so they know what to expect going forward) to the borderline preposterous (the Red Sox are pretending to showcase the youngster in order to entice the Yankees to overpay for Halladay).The latter nugget is courtesy of Michael Felger, as delivered on Comcast SportsNet last night. Felger has been known to float ideas suitable for the Tinfoil Helmet Hall of Fame at times, and my guess is that’s the case this time. But the references...