Two days and our roundup thread is getting long in the tooth. Babies grow up so fast these days.

Time for a new thread.

How much money do the Jays have left for 2006 if they have indeed signed B.J. Ryan for 5 years and $47M? Here’s my guess at the 25-man roster they’d go with if the season started today, and how much I think it would cost. Naturally it’s inconceivable that there will be no more trades or signings, but this is useful for getting an idea of how many dollars can realistically be added. Numbers in bold are for contracts that have already been signed and publicized.

The Carlos Delgado trade has been finalized. The Jim Thome trade awaits medical concurrence and the Bud Selig seal of approval. Frank Thomas is a free agent and quite possibly headed for a new home. But, Jeff Bagwell remains in Houston.

So, on this frigid Friday, what is happening in the world of baseball?

All these deals, Beckett to Boston, Delgado to the Mets, await a doctor's concurrence. The Winter Meetings are about 2 weeks away, and the moves are beginning to be made. So, Bauxites, what do you think?

Hey, a real move! The Mets traded Mike Cameron to the Padres for Xavier Nady, pending physicals.

Where do we stand? Apparently, GM Ricciardi has pretty much ruled out the trade rumours involving Bobby Abreu ("too rich for our blood") and Kevin Mench ("they asked for WHAT?").

Well, apparently the Orioles have no intention of bringing back Sammy Sosa or Rafael Palmeiro...

OK, moving right along...

The GM meetings are over and free agency begins.

Here are your Blue Jay notes for today:

What's going on at the winter meetings?

Do they know it's officially not winter for another 40+ days?

Lots of action in the offices lately.

So that's what the off-season feels like ... every summer, I forget. No baseball yesterday!

That's not to say there wasn't baseball news -- okay, it wasn't BIG baseball news, and it's all out of New York, which I know annoys some Bauxites, but in Flushing, Mets RP Felix Heredia was suspended for the first 10 days of the 2006 season for violating MLB's steroids policy, while in Da Bronx, IF Mark Bellhorn elected free agency rather than a trip to Columbus. Wow, the implications of those two moves for fans of teams everywhere ...

Oh, and today is Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown's birthday (how did he tell people how old he was when he turned four, anyway?) and also the birthday of both Keith Foulke and former Cy Young winning closer-turned-meltdown Mark Davis ... parallels?

Once again, the baseball deities have conspired to remind me of the advice David Letterman offers whenever the "Stupid Pet Tricks" segment begins:

"No wagering!"

I was wrong, and Leigh was right, about Cleveland's prospects of success this season. And with the team suffering from last-week jitters, I thought I'd offer them a boost by posting my "public contrition thread" tonight.

On Friday night, someone made a monumentally idiotic decision: after the Jays loss to the Yankees, the song "New York, New York" was played over the Rogers Centre sound system.

After a tough loss on Tuesday night, the Jays came back for the series win. Swee-ee-t. Last night's game had the feel of a loss in the making early on. Falling behind 2-0 with Harden looking sharp on the mound is not a recipe for success, but the boys used patience and the big hit from Vernon along with fine bullpen work to head for Texas with a second straight W notched in their belts.