It’s after midnight and I’m about to hit the sack, but I thought I should at leats post something short on here about the Frank Thomas signing. ESPN.com first reported that the Jays were close to inking the Big Hurt to a multi-deal worth upwards of $30 million. Later, Foxsports.com reported that it was a two-year deal worth $20-23 million with a club option for a third year.

I made a few calls and got in touch with a club source who said the report was more than a simple rumor, but they wouldn’t confirm nor deny that a deal was close to being reached. The Fan590 cited a different source that did confirm the report. Basically, it appears as though Thomas will be Toronto’s DH next summer.

This could signal the end of Frank Catalanotto’s tenure with the Jays. If re-signed, he would’ve had a bulk of the playing time at DH. This also brings to question whether or not Toronto will bring rookie Adam Lind up at the start of next season. With Thomas as the DH, and Reed Johnson in left field, Lind would be on the bench. The Jays might want him to keep getting experience with regular playing time, which could mean he’d start at Triple-A.

I’m sure we’ll all learn more tomorrow. Also, here’s a story I filed after a lenghty conversation with Ted Lilly’s agent, Larry O’Brien. Goodnight, all.

• All right, no more sending me e-mails asking if Mark DeRosa would be a good fit as Toronto’s new second baseman. ESPN.com just reported that the good ol’ Cubbies have scooped him off the market and into their infield.
• Also, Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail writes on his blog that Cliff Floyd is not in Toronto’s plans.

• In today’s Toronto Sun, a source told the paper that free-agent Ted Lilly is seeking a four-year deal worth $9 million per year. Late last season, Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said an asking price of $8 million or more per year for Lilly might be too steep to re-sign the left-hander. Considering that Vicente Padilla reportedly wants $10 million per year, it makes sense that Lilly — considered by many to be one of the better available arms this winter — would seek a similar amount. If he won’t budge on the figures, it might be difficult for the Jays to bring him back.
• Ricciardi informed the Sun that free-agent shortstop Julio Lugo is seeking a four-year deal worth $32 million. That might be too expensive for the Blue Jays, too, meaning the club could turn its attention towards pursuing a second baseman instead of a shortstop. Ricciardi also told the paper that Toronto had no interest in free-agent Craig Counsell, but that Adam Kennedy is a player the Jays are interested in. “We’ll just have to see what the final figures are,” Ricciardi told the paper. “We know what we can afford and if the bidding gets too high, then we’ll go to Plan B.”
• On Monday, the Blue Jays signed free-agent reliever Matt Roney to a Major League contract and added him to the 40-man roster. He was mainly in Triple-A last year, but was called up three times briefly by Oakland. Other than three appearances in the Majors last year, Roney hasn’t pitched in the bigs since going 1-9 for the 2003 Tigers. He at least adds more depth to Toronto’s bullpen. Plus, the Jays haven’t ruled out trades this winter. Perhaps adding some depth in arms would allow Toronto to move some other relievers (a lot of teams are looking for bullpen help) to fill its own needs. I’m just thinking outloud here — nothing like that has been reported, yet.
• From the Denver Post: "The Rockies have also called about former Yankee Octavio Dotel, Scott Williamson, LaTroy Hawkins and Justin Speier. Given the anticipated bullish market for relievers, Speier and Hawkins are expected to land multiyear deals."
• From today’s Los Angeles Times: "The Dodgers are interested in Luis Gonzalez, Cliff Floyd, Trot Nixon, Aubrey Huff and Frank Catalanotto if they can’t land [Alfonso] Soriano or [Carlos] Lee." … "The Dodgers are targeting a proven middle reliever to help get through the sixth and seventh innings, which were problematic last season. Their wish list includes Ron Villone, Justin Speier, Russ Springer, Chad Bradford and David Weathers."
• From today’s Chicago Sun-Times: "The Cubs might be aiming lower, with right-hander Vicente Padilla (who’s seeking at least a four-year, $40 million package), about as high as they will top out for pitching. They remain intrigued by Japanese left-hander Kei Igawa of the Hanshin Tigers, and Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Ted Lilly is on their radar."
• From the Boston Globe’s Web site today: "The [Red] Sox, like several other teams, are also looking to upgrade their bullpen. Names like Justin Speier, Eric Gagne, Scott Schoeneweis have all been mentioned as possible targets. The Sox might also target outfielders J.D. Drew and Frank Catalanotto and infielder Julio Lugo, but Epstein had not made offers to any of them as of Monday."
• From New York Daily News today: "The Yankees were exploring free agent options including Randy Wolf, Gil Meche, Vicente Padilla and Ted Lilly…"

This is from today’s Los Angeles Times:

"If the Angels’ bid for Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka falls short, they will probably make a strong push to sign free-agent left-hander Barry Zito and look to use one of their young pitchers — Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver or Joe Saunders — in a trade for a slugger such as Toronto’s Vernon Wells, Baltimore’s Miguel Tejada or possibly Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez."

The Angels were talking about possibly trading for Wells last year. It was written about in the L.A. Times in September. The paper even asked Wells about possibly playing for the Halos:

"It’s a beautiful place," Wells told the newspaper at the time. "At the same time, I’m very comfortable here with Toronto. I’ve been here my whole career. This place is first, and everything else is second."

All that being said, I still think Wells will be in a Toronto uniform in 2007 even if he doesn’t sign an extension. He’s the focal point of the Blue Jays’ offense right now and it would set the team back to trade him right now. Toronto is as close to the Yankees as they have been in a long time and ridding of Wells would hinder that progress.

I’m back from vacation and baseball’s Hot Stove is starting to get cooking. Today is the final day in which Toronto has exclusive negotiating rights with its five free agents, but it’s highly doubtful that any of them will re-sign this quickly. As I hear rumors or reads reports, I’ll be posting on the blog to keep all you Jays fans informed.

• According to the Kansas City Star, the Royals have interest in signing catcher Gregg Zaun, who is acting as his own agent this winter. Toronto would like to bring either Zaun or Molina back in ’07 and Zaun is the more realistic option.
• The Detroit Free Press recently reported that the Tigers are interested in pursuing Frank Catalanotto. I don’t see this as a good fit. They have Gary Sheffield now, plus Craig Monroe in left field and Catalanotto would prefer to have regular time in the outfield. That’s one thing he said will play a role in where he signs. He didn’t mind being used in a platoon with Reed Johnson, but Cat preferred not to spend a lot of time as the DH, which would probably be his primary role in Toronto in ’07.
• According to ESPN, free-agent pitcher Vicente Padilla — one of a few starters who the Blue Jays are likely targeting — wants a four-year deal worth $40 million per year. In a weaker crop of available starters, he just might get it, too — just probably not from the Blue Jays. Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi said that paying upwards of $8 million per year would probably be too high to re-sign Ted Lilly and the same can probably be said for pursuing Padilla.
• On Tuesday, CNNSI’s Tom Verducci wrote that the Blue Jays have interest in free-agent lefty Randy Wolf. He went 4-0 with a 5.56 ERA for the Phillies last year after coming back from Tommy John surgery. Verducci also wrote that Toronto was interested in Sheffield, but we saw how that turned out.
• Jeff Blair of the Toronto Globe and Mail wrote on his blog yesterday that "Eric Goldschmidt, the agent for [Alex] Gonzalez, said that the Blue Jays were one of five teams with what he described as ‘serious interest,’ in his client…"
• Blair also reported that Ricciardi is considering using Aaron Hill as Toronto’s shortstop instead of its second baseman. Many within the organization feel Hill is better suited for second, but the free-agent crop of shortstops is lighter than that for second baseman. “We’d like to leave Aaron at second base, but this might be a matter of necessity,” Ricciardi told the newspaper. “David Eckstein has played shortstop for a couple of World Series winners. Sometimes, I think we all have a tendency to over-rate some things when we look at these guys. Aaron is a solid ballplayer, period.” Mark Loretta, Ray Durham, Ronnie Belliard, Mark DeRosa and Adam Kennedy are among the available second baseman. Gonzalez and Julio Lugo — rumored to be a primary target of the Red Sox — are at the top of the list of free-agent shortstops.
• On Friday, the Jays signed Geremi Gonzalez, Blaine Neal, Jeff Duncan, Beau Kemp, Kevin Barker, Chad Mottola, and Brian Wolfe to Minor League contracts with invites to Spring Training.

Bengie Molina filed for free agency today, making him the fifth and final of Toronto’s major free agents to send in their paperwork. There’s an outside chance that the Jays would bring him back, but I don’t see it happening. If either Molina or Zaun are back in ’07, it seems more likely that it’ll be Zaun.

Toronto also signed pitcher Jean Machi to a major league contract. I hadn’t heard much about Machi before today, but his numbers look pretty impressive in Double-A last year. His signing a major league contract rather than a minor league contract means he’ll likely be in the running for a bullpen spot in 2007.

In other news: I’m heading on vacation tomorrow morning. My wife and I are leaving on a jet plane and will be back in the GTA in a week. Until then…

The Toronto Star had an update on the Vernon Wells’ contract talks in today’s paper. Basically, the update is there is no update. Here is what Wells told the paper:

"When we do start talking, that’ll be exciting and something I’m looking forward to," Wells told the paper, "but I don’t think we’re in that big of a hurry right now. I think we have some other things we (the Jays) need to take care of before me. I still have another year, so I just want to see us continue to make the team better. My time will come."

So don’t expect Toronto to ink that much-anticipated extension with Wells right away. It is a priority, but it’s also something that doesn’t need to happen right out of the gates. Also, according to the Star, the Blue Jays don’t have any updated news on their payroll. So it remains at around $80 million until we hear otherwise.

UPDATE: A few hours after posting the above update, I talked to J.P. about a few things and also asked him about the payroll. Here is what he said:

"We have some money to work with and it’ll be defined by the time we get to the free agents. We should know in the next few weeks, but it’s not like we can’t do something."

So basically, by Nov. 12, when teams can start talking money with free agents, the Jays should be able to say what their payroll will be. Stay tuned…

UPDATE PART 2: Gregg Zaun filed for free agency on Monday. Only Bengie Molina is left to file.

Saturday was the first day that players could file for free agency and Toronto saw Ted Lilly, Justin Speier, and Frank Catalanotto do exactly that. This isn’t really big news — it’s just a formality. It’s a foregone conclusion that players who are eligible for free agency will file. Gregg Zaun and Bengie Molina — after Toronto officially buys out his contract for $500,000 — will be next to file from the Jays.

There are approximately 200 players who are eligible to become free agents who have until Nov. 11 to file. Then on Nov. 12, teams can start talking contracts with those players. Under the new labor agreement, players don’t face any deadlines for re-signing with their former clubs any more. Before the agreement, players had to re-sign by Dec. 7 — Jan. 8 if offered salary arbitration — or else they couldn’t re-sign with their former club until May 1. Those deadlines are no more.

Well, it’s official: the Cardinals made me sound smart. As I pointed out in my last post, a few weekends ago I blurted out "Cardinals over Tigers in six" on the Fan590 in Toronto when asked what my World Series prediction was. Naturally, I’ve been pulling for the Cards this week because my credibility was at stake! OK, so they won it in five games — close enough.

Anyway, congrats to St. Louis for an improbable World Series victory. They were underdogs coming in to the playoffs and the general consensus was that any AL team in the Series would dominate whichever NL team limped to the finish line. Well, it was the Tigers doing the limping.

As soon as the game ended, I left a voicemail on one of my friend’s phones (he is a HUGE Tigers fan), saying, "After 24 years of rooting for the Chicago Cubs, I have four simple words of advice: ‘Wait ’til next year.’" And, yes, as a person who grew up living and dying with every pitch on the North Side of Chicago, it was a little hard to see the Cubbies’ biggest rival — the Cards — celebrating yet another Series win. Ah well, Chicago’s time is coming — maybe they’ll win in 2008, when it’ll be 100 years since their last crown.

OTHER BITS AND PIECES:

–Because a lot of our MLB.com staff were swamped with World Series coverage, and I was one of the few who drew the short straw as far as covering the playoffs this year, I was asked to do a tough assignment last night. I got a call from my editor and was asked if I could write a tribute piece on pitcher Joe Niekro, who passed away on Friday (click the link there to read it). So while my wife and my dog chilled on the couch and watched the World Series, I was busy piecing together a story on Niekro. I knew much more about his older brother Phil, as do most people, so last night was sort of a crash course of Joe’s life for me. I found his career to be pretty interesting and was happy to be the writer tabbed with that assignment.

–Players can start filing for free agency, so in the next week or so you could see Ted Lilly, Justin Speier, Bengie Molina, Gregg Zaun, and Frank Catalanotto filing the proper paperwork. Stay tuned for more in that department.

–I am going on vacation from Nov. 1-7 with my wife, so the blog will likely be dorment during that period. If any Jays news happens while I’m away, I have people filling in for me and I’ll comment on any moves or news when I get back to Toronto.

Yes, congrats are in order for both the Tigers and Cardinals. My congrats are belated to Detroit and its fans on making it to the World Series for the first time since 1984. After first picking the Yankees, and then the A’s, I received plenty of flak from my Tigers-loving friends back in Michigan. I guess the kid in me — the one that grew up a diehard Cubs fan — just didn’t want to hear all the gloating from his friends about their team getting to the Fall Classic.

As for the Cardinals, they made me sound half smart! They weren’t my original pick to go to the Series, but last weekend on the Fan590 in Toronto, I was asked to make my World Series prediction, and I blurted out Cardinals over Tigers in six. I don’t know how smart that prediction was, but at least I was the only one of the three on the show to get the matchup correct.

JAYS TIDBITS:

–Josh Towers was removed from the 40-man roster on Thursday. Toronto outrighted him to Triple-A. He’ll get another crack at making the club in Spring Training, but he’s going to have to prove a lot after his disastrous 2006. I can’t say that seeing the Jays bump him off the 40-man was much of a surprise, but the reality is he’s still going to be paid almost $3 million next year. That’s a lot for a Minor Leaguer with a slim chance at making the rotation.

–Toronto also tried to outright both Pete Walker and Kevin Barker, but they declined their assignments and became free agents. I guess that means it’s unlikely we’ll see Pete in Dunedin, Fla. this spring, but you never know. Pete is a good guy and hopefully a team will give him an invite come Spring Training.

–The Jays also outrighted John-Ford Griffin to Triple-A, bumping him off the 40-man roster as well. Griffin had shoulder issues all season. When Walker went on the 60-day DL in September, he was removed from the 40. So minus Towers, Barker, and Griffin, the roster dropped to 37 players. Toronto upped it to 38 by purchasing Tracy Thorpe’s contract. Thorpe is currently pitching in the Arizona Fall League and will probably be at Triple-A next season.