What have we missed in the past few days? Well ...

• Sorry, Rangers fans ... Mike Lowell isn't going anywhere (except maybe the hospital) ...
• Nick Johnson has returned the Bronx, likely to DH and to hit second ...
• Nothing official yet, but Coco Crisp appears headed to Oakland. Can we start the "Coco/Beane" pun contest yet?
• Ex-Jay Scott Rolen restructured his deal with the Reds and will earn $6 million in 2010, plus a $5 million signing bonus ... The club, in return, extended Rolen's contract  through 2012. He will earn $6.5 million in each of those two seasons.
• Mike Gonzalez got a two-year extenstion from the Orioles ... The Phillies exercised the 2011 club option on SS Jimmy Rollins ... Javier Lopez signed with the Pirates, LaTroy Hawkins with the Brewers, Juan Pierre with the White Sox and Hideki Matsui with the Angels ...

What else did we miss? And what do you think of these or any other possible moves around the sport?

Alex Anthopoulos participated in a web chat with fans yesterday though the official Blue Jay site.  He answered about forty questions with several interesting answers.

This recently traded pitcher gets the December Double POTD!

Well, the Seattle Mariners hope the old board-game-maker's slogan holds true on the ballfield, too. The M's acquired embattled CF Milton Bradley from the Cubs today in exchange for nearly-as-embattled SP Carlos Silva plus $9 million.

Thoughts?

J. P. Ricciardi was the Blue Jays general manager from 2002 to 2009. In that time...

So, what else has been going on in baseball land while the most interesting trade in the last ten years for the Blue Jays was being finalized? Well, there is one piece of news that I haven’t seen raised anywhere that affects the Jays. John Lackey signed a 5 year, $82.5 million deal with Boston. While that's been reported, what I haven't seen mentioned, unless I’m mistaken, is that this signing echoes AJ Burnett’s in more than just the dollar value. Because Boston signed Lackey it means the compensation pick the Jays receive for Scutaro will now be Boston’s second rounder and not their first. Just like last year, Toronto’s “A” free agent will only net them a second round pick and a supplementary pick, as opposed to a first-rounder.

Yes, it really happened. ESPN has the story here: Phillies obtain Halladay, send Lee to Seattle.

Now is not the time to re-hash or analyze -- there are multiple threads already in place for that.

No, this is the time to speak from the heart, as a fan ... what is your favorite Roy "Doc" Halladay memory from his 12 years, six All-Star appearances, 148 wins and five top-five Cy Young voting finishes in Toronto? Forget about Roy the Phil (that's even a little hard to imagine right now, isn't it?) ... what are your memories of Roy the Jay?

.......out standing in his own field.  We'll give our very own Mick Doherty a couple of seconds to process that one or it will go over his head for extra bases.  :D  Anyways, the winner of the 2009 Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter award is in the spotlight of yet another December Double POTD. 

In perhaps the most analyzed deal in recent memory, the Toronto Blue Jays dealt former Cy Young award winner - and life-long Jays hurler - Roy Halladay to the Philadelphia Phillies in a set of trades that involved four teams. With the dust now settling, the club has received back three solid prospects: Right-handed starter Kyle Drabek, corner infielder Brett Wallace, and catcher Travis D'Arnaud.

BA published their top ten prospects today.  The mystery of who would be number one was finally solved, BA went with the Batters Box concensus and Zach Stewart ascended to the top of the list.

It is day two for speculating who is in the Jays, Phillies, Mariners trade.  By the end of Monday almost every prospect had been thrown in to some of the speculation plus half of the Blue Jay bullpen.  So let us take a step back, catch up on the latest news, and ask if the Jays are doing the right thing here.  Plus Buster Olny is tweeting that there are more moves in this re-make of the Jays.

The December Double POTD shines the spotlight on the man who wore two different numbers with the Jays in 2009.

... should you choose to accept it, is really quite simple. Doc's gone. Sure, we don't know (at this writing) which of the six hundred seventy-seven versions of the trade we've heard about will (have) happen(ed) ... but we gotta do something about the banner that flies high above the Batter's Box masthead.

We need your suggestions ...

 

Roy Halladay has reportedly been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in a three-team deal that also involves Seattle. The trade is apparently contingent on him signing a contract extension, which appears likely. There is a chance this is not a three-team trade, but is rather two separate trades involving Philadelphia, one where they acquire Roy Halladay and one where they ship pitching, probably Cliff Lee, to Seattle. Caution: everything is still tentative at this point, although all indications are that some deal will be finalized in the next 24 to 48 hours.

The latest rumours suggest that Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis d'Arnaud are prospects that Toronto may receive for Halladay and there is still the possibility they acquire some prospects from Seattle. Seattle appears likely to include Phillipe Aumont, among others that possibly include Tyson Gillies, in a deal to Philadelphia for Lee. JA Happ and Joe Blanton took physicals in Philadelphia today, but it does not appear that either is in the deal, as far as is known at this point.

One of the Jays who was offered arbitration over the weekend is the focus of today's December Double POTD Plus One!