Blockbuster Deal

Reports are swirling that Roy Halladay and his agent are held up in a Philadelphia Hotel and a deal to send him from the Blue Jays to the Phillies appears imminent.  A twist to this deal according to Jon Heyman of SI.com and MLB Network is that it is a three team deal involving the Mariners as well and that Cliff Lee will be heading from Philadelphia to Seattle. 

Roy Halladay is regarded as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball but Cliff Lee has been doing his best to at least try to join that discussion.  Lee was 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in the postseason with the Phillies last season after coming over from a trade with the Cleveland Indians last July.  This potential deal may benefit the Mariners the most who can now boast a top of the rotation which will have AL Cy Young runner up Felix Hernandez and October Ace of the Phillies, Cliff Lee.  The Phillies did get one of baseballs best pitchers, but their rotation behind Halladay will be a huge question mark. 

In other baseball news, it appears the Red Sox are on the verge of locking up John Lackey to a 5 year 85 million dollar contract.  This deal will give the Red Sox a very formidable top of the rotation which will include Beckett, Lester and Lackey. 

Yanks begin talks with Damon

The Yankees have nailed down their Center Fielder in Curtis Granderson.  They have re-signed veteran lefty Andy Pettitte to a one year 11.75 million dollar contract.  Now they have begun negotiations with free agent Left Fielder Johnny Damon.  It is widely speculated they would like to bring Damon back for less than the 13 million dollars he made last year and they would also prefer it to be a 1 or 2 year deal at the most.  Bobby Abreu re-signed with the Angels for a two year deal worth 18 million dollars, a contract of that nature does seem more than fair for Damon.  The Yankees now have the luxury of controlling the negotiations since the trade for Granderson.

It is also widely speculated that if the Yankees can't come to terms with Damon, they will target free agents Mark DeRosa and Mike Cameron.  Johnny has stated how much he would like to remain a Yankee, if this is true he will have to be willing to give a discount to stay or at least take less years than he might get elsewhere. 

Red Sox, Yankees and Angels for Holliday

Truth be told I'm not the biggest Matt Holliday fan. He has spent his career in the NL playing in the hitter haven known as Coors Field for the Rockies. He than came to the American League and spent a little over half a season with the Oakland A's. In 93 games he only hit 11 HRs and it started to look like he was going to struggle to even get to 20 HRs and 100 RBI, all of a sudden on came his deal to the Cardinals. He spent 63 games with St. Louis where he hit 13 HRs and drove in 55 Runs and hit a robust .353, 67 points higher than he hit in Oakland. So when you look at his overall numbers from 2009, they look good. I for whatever reason still remember that guy struggling in Oakland; especially the first couple of months of the season. I was doing the I told you so, and spouting off at the mouth about how much Colorado and a weaker NL made Holliday better than he actually was.

So now into the offseason rumors have it he wants Mark Teixeira money, which is not going to happen. However, it does look like he will be one of the most coveted bats out on the market and the race has apparently come down to three teams according to John Paul Morosi of Fox Sports. It's going to come down to the Angels, Red Sox and Yankees. I'm not so sure how much interest the Yankees do have, but it would be pretty interesting seeing him in that lineup and then if you also bring back either Matsui or Damon to go along with him, that lineup gets even more impressive. I really think it's just one of those deals where the Yankees are said to have interest because hey, they are the Yankees. Plus they'd love to simply drive up the price on Holliday for the Red Sox.

I personally still see him ending up back in the NL, but I'm torn on how good of a fit it would be in New York with the Yankees, but on paper especially if you also bring back Damon or Matsui, that lineup would be looking pretty fat if it wasn't already robust enough.

Quick Notes on the GM Meetings.

-The Yankees are without question planning on checking with the agents of Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, but their current attention will stay with their own free agents which most notably are Johnny Damon, World Series MVP Hideki Matsui and Veteran Left-hander Andy Pettitte.



-The Twins continue to have interest in bringing back Carl Pavano who helped them win the AL Central Division last year, but the Indians are also thought to have a lot of interest in bringing back Pavano who started last year for the Indians. Let's not forgot, Carl Pavano started more games last year for the Indians and Twins then he did in his entire 4 year Yankee career from '05-08.



-No surprise here, the Cubs would LOVE to unload their personal headache by the name of Milton Bradley. Bradley who has pretty much burned bridges everywhere he's been, except for one team; the Texas Rangers. They are said to have some interest in bringing back the troubled outfielder.



-John Smoltz does indeed want to pitch next year, the only question now seems to be where. All signs point to him wanting to stay in the pitcher friendly National League.



-The Red Sox picked up the option for Victor Martinez, so he will be back in Boston for the 2010 season. They also reached a deal with rubber armed veteran knuckle baller Tim Wakefield who will pitch in his 18th season next year; and 16th with Boston. In other Red Sox news the future of Jason Varitek appears to be up in the air. If Varitek does hit the open market as it appears he will there was though the New York Mets would be interested, but currently I'm hearing that is not the case and the Mets may turn their interest to Free Agent Catcher Bengie Molina.

By Vinnie Ferrarini