Okay, even with the World Series yet to get underway, the off-season Hot Stove League has opened in Toronto early again, continuing a streak of more than a decade that all Jays fans would like to see broken in 2008.

But let's all "play GM" for a moment and see if we can't dream up some trades that would help the Jays break that streak next season. (J.P., are you ready for some uninformed suggestions?)  Just a couple of ground rules ...

At this writing, our two polls (see left side of this page) show Bauxites believe the Red Sox will win the World Series, but they are heavily rooting for the Rockies -- early on, even "Don't care either way" is outpacing the Sox vote.

Write whatever Series thoughts you have here, but let's start with a "fun" question/prediction. Who will win the 2007 World Series MVP? Will it be a big name like Beckett, Ramirez, Holliday or Helton? Or some lesser light, in the line of past winners like Bucky Dent, Steve Yeager and David Eckstein?

The first correct prediction will win a retro Batter's Box NO-PRIZE. Serve it up!

Joe Torre, the eighth-winningest manager in major league baseball history, is now, as they say, a free agent. In a twist on the expected "will they bring Joe back?" storyline, it was Torre's decision to leave the Bronx Zoo.

Although it would have been a pay cut, the Yankee offer he turned down was for a $5 million, one-year contract that still would have made him the highest-paid manager in baseball.

Whatchathink, Bauxites?

TSN.ca is reporting that that Tony LaCava has been promoted to Assistant General Manager.  LaCava's name has surfaced several times as a candidate for other general manager jobs.  With most GM jobs filled for next year the Jays have moved to promote LaCava.  The promotion would not likely stop LaCava from pursuing other GM opportunities.

It is not clear how this will change LaCava's day-to-day responsibilities.  Those details will likely come out by tomorrow.

In which I present my Grand Summing Up of the work of the Blue Jays starters this past season, complete with Game Scores and pretty pictures.

With the surprising Colorado Rockies looking to take a 3-0 advantage in the NLCS today, I found myself wondering what an All-Rocky team would look like; no, not a Helton-Holliday squad, but rather a Colavito-Bridges sort of Hall of Names collection.

Unfortunately ...

I took an extensive look at sixth starters the other day. The point of the exercise was simply to show that five starting pitchers are never, ever enough.

Here are some random thoughts about the 2007 season from a Blue Jays fan's perspective.

Two teams this time, one of which is composed of players sharing surnames with DC Comics' stable of superheroes, and the second is similar but with Marvel heroes. I made the arbitrary rule to restrict each team to a single player/hero with a given last name, but I'm not above fudging the spelling a little bit if it gives us a cooler team.

No one ever talks about the Sixth Man.

Usually members of the Roster disappear without much fanfare. Articles with their name at the bottom simply stop appearing on Battersbox. People could get the wrong idea. So, my disappearance will be public and friendly, consistent with the truth that Battersbox is a pena, not a junta.

Courtesy of John Northey.

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I found the following information about payrolls and exchange rates:

The new hitting coach, Gary Denbo, comes from the Yankees minor leagues.  As with most hires they sound good when they happen.  We'll see if there's any noticable change next year.

I have always been fascinated by teams which are able to piece together unlike talents into a coherent whole better than the sum of its parts. The October 10 birthday boys have the potential to be one such team.

Got predictions? Observations? Questions, comments, concerns? Post all your Rockies/Diamondbacks witticisms and dissertational items right here, Bauxites!