If you live in Toronto or anywhere in Canada or are a baseball fan anywhere on planet Earth and were near a computer, radio or television on November 13th (bad luck number in Miami, good luck number in Toronto) this was probably how you took in one of the biggest trades in sports history. If you’re a fan of the Blue Jays you probably also had a mixed bag of emotions to.

Trades this big don’t happen very often that’s why they’re considered big trades. In baseball big trades don’t typically happen in November either because it’s the month after the season ends and teams haven’t figured out the trade and free agent market enough to do anything crazy. Trades this big also don’t happen to the Blue Jays, to the chagrin of Blue Jays fans for years.

It would be hard enough just trying to trade for one of Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle let alone all 3. The perfect combination of the Marlins needing to dump salary and not having no trade clauses along with the Blue Jays having a very deep farm system to make trades from and having a substantial payroll increase because of increased attendance made this trade possible.

The fact that all the players the Blue Jays acquired have no trade clauses made it a lot easier than it normally would be to get star players to Toronto. It also makes it a lot easier for the Blue Jays to trade any of them to if they were inclined to.

This trade is so big that if the Blue Jays chose not to do anything else for the rest of the offseason, no one could say they’re not contenders. It would be a huge boost if they got someone better than Maicer Izturis to play 2nd, someone better than Emilio Bonifacio or Rajai Davis to play left field, someone better than Adam Lind to play DH, someone better than J.A. Happ to be the 5th starter but even if they don’t they would still be a very good team.

There is still a lot offseason left though which means a lot of time for the Blue Jays to make those upgrades and get even better. It also means all the other American League teams have time to get better to but the Blue Jays just got a huge head start.

On April 2nd 2010, I made some bold and “out of the norm” predictions about the upcoming season. Some people may have called them crazy, in fact some did, because I was one of a very few people who predicted that the Jays would finish off the 2010 season with a winning record. To make such a bold prediction after the Jays dealt the best pitcher in franchise history was not easy to do, but I truly saw the potential of the squad at the time. Sure, some of my assessments didn’t pan out, and I don’t have a crystal ball to look into. But, I did make a few calls that turned out just great. Here are the verdicts, with a link to the article itself available here.

1. Blue Jays Record: My overall record projection was 82-80. The actual record was 85-77. I was off by 3 games. (more…)

There were no real surprises in the end, and here’s the full rundown:

Courtesy of SI.com

C Miguel Olivo

Olivo’s decision to decline the Jays’ offer and test the free agent market was the closest to the 11:59 p.m. EST deadline, as first reported by Jon Morosi of FOX Sports about two-and-a-half hours ago (via Twitter).

This wasn’t surprising considering Olivo was slightly bitter to be traded away from Colorado in the first place and was a Blue Jay for about one hour.

Ken Rosenthal reported a few hours ago that the Dodgers are one of the teams interested in Olivo’s services. (more…)

Image Courtesy of the Miami Herald

If the Jays ever considered Leo Nunez as a possible addition this off season, now would be the time to ask for him in trade.The Marlins just completed a deal with the San Diego Padres that had the fish taking on 2 relievers in return for the talented Cameron Maybin. Not only does this add some big time pieces to their already well-stocked pen, but it makes it more likely that they’ll look to deal Leo Nunez or others in order to afford Dan Uggla – if a deal is attainable at this point, after Dan Uggla‘s side have stated that they’re willing to make a deal happen but have been cut off in communications with Florida executives.

Leo Nunez is arbitration eligible for the 2nd time this off season and cost the Marlins $2 million in 2010. With a raise on the way, this money would go a long way to getting Dan Uggla under contract, if this is still in their plans. Why else would they give up Cameron Maybin for 2 relievers? Leo is by far their biggest cost in the pen and lost his closing job to Clay Hensley at the end of the 2010 season, making him expendable. I’m fairly certain that with Jose Ceda making the jump fromt he minor leagues, Clay Hensley, and the 2 new additions, Florida is more than satisfied to use Leo Nunez and his bigger than average Marlins salary as trade bait.

On the Jays side of things, whether it’s along with Dan Uggla or not, Leo would go a long way to adding some depth and experience to a Jays pen that very well needs it. They can definitely afford his salary, but the question leans more towards whether or not Leo will be effective in the American League, or more specifically in the AL East? (more…)

First things first, the newest fan favorite on the Jays roster: JP Arencibia. If you’ve read my blog for a while you already know how much I like the way JP plays and love his power potential as a catcher. When everyone was down on him for having a bad year while playing through injuries, I stood pat. He had, and is going to continue to add power in this already power loaded lineup and will be a game changer. His catching will improve and I saw him watching every single thing Jose Molina did during his first “uniformed” game. To have such an excellent defensive catcher there to teach you the ropes when you get to The Show is a huge asset. I’m sure he helped keep JP calm. (more…)

Here’s a breakdown of what I think of each trade chip and its chances of being around in 2011.

Scott Downs:

The majority of the teams who wanted Scott Downs wanted him cheap. I firmly believe that there was no way Alex Anthopolous was going to take the ball out of his scouting department’s hands by trading him for anything less than 1 top prospect and another high end prospect. He’ll stick around for the remainder of the season to be sure since he’d never pass through waivers, and the chances of a trade being worked out once he is nabbed are slim. Not impossible, but slim.

Jason Frasor:

The Jays apparently did lower their price for Frasor, it was rumoured anyways, and they still found no takers. Teams went with other routes, such as Kerry Wood and Octavio Dotel. Frasor could be a possible August deal since it’s more possible to see injuries force some teams hands and that a deal for 1 prospect would take place, even in a 3-way deal. (more…)

• I watched a pre-geam interview with Alex Anthopolous last night and got the sense that he has made his prices known and is simply waiting for others to get back to him. Interestingly, Jose Bautista’s agent has stated publicly that Jose loves Toronto and would love to work out a long term deal to remain here. The question is, at what cost Jose, and for how many years? It’s obvious that Alex Anthopolous’s mind is elsewhere right now since the agent also added that no talks have occured to extend Jose’s contract, but I doubt it will happen any more quickly now that his value is as high as it can get. Any GM would be smarter to wait until part of 2011 is in the books in order to see if Jose’s performance regresses at all, which would make signing him to an extension cheaper and possible over fewer years.
• With rumors of the Jays targeting the DBacks Kelly Johnson, Aaron Hill has admitted that although it’s not his top choice, he would be willing to make the move to 3B if necessary. Whoaa Aaron, what about Adeiny Hechevarria? Where would he slot in? I’m all for obtaining a great 2B, but chances are that if the Jays are looking at getting Kelly Johnson, you’re likely to be on the move Aaron, not moving to 3B. Just saying. I do agree that if Adeiny Hechavarria looks better at 2B, then moving Aaron to 3B makes some sense and the power does match the position, so it’s an intriguing proposition. I still doubt the Jays would land Kelly Johnson since it would be a “buy high” proposition that doesn’t seem to fit the AA profile. (more…)