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I'll be posting rumors from around the internet, at least decent ones I can find that concern the Jays.

--The Blue Jays will trade outfielder Michael Taylor to the A's for third base prospect Brett Wallace, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney.

--ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick says there's speculation that the Jays will deal Lyle Overbay now that they're set to obtain Brett Wallace.

--The Indians and Blue Jays have interest in free agent outfielder Marcus Thames, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Thames, 33 in March, hit .252/.323/.453 in 294 plate appearances this year, logging 125 innings in left field. He's also spent time at right field and first base in his career. Thames earned $2.275MM this year, and the Tigers let him go in November.

--Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun says the Blue Jays talked to the Nationals about pitcher Craig Stammen but "he does not appear to be available."

--Torrealba hopes to re-sign with Colorado, but the Mets, Giants, Blue Jays, and Royals are other suitors

--The Pirates and Blue Jays are discussing a trade for catcher Ryan Doumit, reports Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. One Kovacevic source wonders if Jays reliever Jeremy Accardo could be involved. Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported mild interest from Toronto in Doumit on Wednesday

--Quick! Who do you see spending the most money on the draft in 2010? Bet you didn't guess the Blue Jays. They will have in upwards of 16 million dollars to spend.

--The Mariners are interested in free agent first baseman Nick Johnson, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com. Johnson has also heard from the Giants, Mets, and Yankees. Despite their interest in Johnson, the Mariners are still negotiating with Russell Branyan, and they've also discussed Lyle Overbay with the Blue Jays. Toronto appears willing to pay some of Overbay's $7MM salary according to the Fox scribes.

--Remember Brandon Phillips Blue Jay fans. His name has popped up again in Blue Jays talks. With the recent acquisition of 1B Brett Wallace, Toronto still has a hole to fill at 3B and they think Brandon Phillips may just be the man.

I'll post some more when they come in, some of these are old but still relevant.

Just out of curiosity. where does the "Blue Jays will have upwards of $16million to spend on the draft" come from? Has the from office talked of this?

The 16 Million figure came from an article in the Toronto Sun. Here's the link...

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/baseba ... 1-sun.html

INDIANAPOLIS — Guess who plans on being big spenders come next June?

Word in the lobby at the winter meetings is:

Your Toronto Blue Jays.

“It’s going around the scouting community that Toronto is set to spend $16 million next summer on the June draft signing players,” said an envious scouting director of a large-revenue club.

“I don’t know how they are going to spend $16 million,” said another scouting director. “It must be counting international players signed.”

International players signed?? Aroldis Chapman maybe...I doubt it, but it's a good dream I guess.

Can you post current rumours? Torrealba and Doumit were talked about over a week ago, and since then we have signed 3 catchers (Buck, Chavez, Castro).

Do we have any shot at Bryce Harper if we're willing to spend that?

Depends how the Jays do, but Mr. Harper should be the consensus #1 pick. The dude is already a beast and will command a boat load of cash. So best case scenario is that the smaller market teams may pass on Bryce Harper who falls to the Jays.

Hendrix wrote:Do we have any shot at Bryce Harper if we're willing to spend that?

I doubt it...he would have to tumble 10 spots to be there for our pick, and even with Boras by his side I'm sure that someone will take him. Almost certainly the Nationals at 1, but even if they shy away the Mets pick above us; they've been pretty stingy in past drafts, but I would think that they would dig out the pocketbook for a talent like him.

We might pick off another tumbler or two, though...our glut of top-100 picks means that it's a virtual guarantee that we'll be able to grab players falling due to their exorbitant demands, if we so choose.

I'm not exactly sure how baseball draft works. Is it like the NBA where we could move some things for the #6 pick, should the top 5 pass on Bryce due to monetary demands?

Hendrix wrote:I'm not exactly sure how baseball draft works. Is it like the NBA where we could move some things for the #6 pick, should the top 5 pass on Bryce due to monetary demands?

No, can't trade draft picks in baseball

I can't really find any current rumors..all of them are revolving around Halladay. I posted the ones that are still of some relevance if you even cared to read my last sentence OldNo7.

Two of the three catchers were signed to minor league contracts, doesn't mean we can't take a run at Doumit or Torrealba.

well they still have to move overbay and possibly downs, so rumors should start soon

jalenrose#5 wrote:I can't really find any current rumors..all of them are revolving around Halladay. I posted the ones that are still of some relevance if you even cared to read my last sentence OldNo7.

Two of the three catchers were signed to minor league contracts, doesn't mean we can't take a run at Doumit or Torrealba.

Now that Buck is signed, I'd be surprised if we were still going after Doumit or Torrealba. I could be wrong however.

jalenrose#5 wrote:I can't really find any current rumors..all of them are revolving around Halladay. I posted the ones that are still of some relevance if you even cared to read my last sentence OldNo7.

Two of the three catchers were signed to minor league contracts, doesn't mean we can't take a run at Doumit or Torrealba.

Where did you hear Castro was a minor league deal? $1 million is a surprising amount for a minor league contract.

That said, even if two of them are on minor league deals, we only have one spot in the minors for them, so one of Chavez and Castro will almost certainly be up here.

The rumor is revolving around Accardo going to PITT for Doumit from the best of my knowledge. Accardo (1 million) wants out from what I hear and if you can acquire a good, managable contract in Doumit (2.15 million) who I believe becomes a FA after next season.

John Buck is awful and there's a reason he wasn't resigned by even the Royals, because he's a marginal MLB talent, plain and simple.

After the 09 Season, our payroll sat around 72 million. With Halladay now gone, it sits around 58 million. This is not including the possibility of Overbay and maybe even Downs being shipped out soon too...that's an extra 11 million off the books if they're shipped out for prospects.

Payroll for 2010 season could sit below 50 million...that's the rumor I'm most interested in.

John Buck is similar to Barajas. He'll have trouble putting up a decent average, but with Cito (working wonders to some of last year's hitters) in town who knows. There's no denying his power though. If the Jays can't get Doumit via trade, Buck has the chance at putting Napoli type numbers.

His defense on the other hand, I'd like to see.

Travis Snider NOT on the Trading Block

paddlepop: Al -- Please do NOT trade [Travis] Snyder! Thank you.

Anthopoulos: We love Travis Snider. No idea where these rumors are coming from. We think he's going to be an impact middle order at bat and in addition he has such a tremendous makeup he could be a great leader on this team one day.


RIPEXPOS: With the additions of Drabek, Wallace, and D'Arnaud assumably shoring up the future in the rotation, first base and at catcher, what positions/skill sets (OBP etc) do you think still need to be addressed, and how could you go about doing so?

Anthopoulos: We still need to address several long term positions on the diamond. I'd say the left side of our infield is an area we continue to evaluate and we're always looking for more pitching.


nearyj: Acquiring young, controllable talent seems to be the focus of the offseason for the Blue Jays. What are your thoughts on Cuban defect, Aroldis Chapman? Several teams watched him pitched last week. Were there representatives from the Jays there?

Anthopoulos: Yes we had Roy Smith and Gary Rajsich watch Chapman pitch this past Tuesday. We will be on top of every amateur player that is available.

Anthopolous Talks With Fans

Not really much new news lately. Didn't see that Morrow Deal coming to say the least. This is a very good read for those interested.

The Cubs have apparently kicked Jason Frasor's tires. I'd be on the fence about trading a potential Type-A unless the return is good, and there aren't many worthwhile prospects in their organization that they'd be willing to trade for him. Unless Jim Hendry wants to fire Hak-Ju Lee our way or some such.

Schadenfreude wrote:The Cubs have apparently kicked Jason Frasor's tires. I'd be on the fence about trading a potential Type-A unless the return is good, and there aren't many worthwhile prospects in their organization that they'd be willing to trade for him. Unless Jim Hendry wants to fire Hak-Ju Lee our way or some such.

Exactly how I feel about dealing both Frasor and Downs. Would rather keep them and collect the picks.