Opinion

For the Mariners, this trade is, to sum it up in one word, awesome. Not only are they significantly improving their chances of being a serious contender in 2010, but they're doing it without giving up all that much of the future.

As of right now, it appears that the Mariners will be sending Phillippe Aumont, JC Ramirez, and Tyson Gillies to the Phillies, in exchange for Cliff Lee.

With the 2009 free agent market beginning to turn the corner, names are being erased off the chalkboard and only a few big players remain. One week ago when the GM Meetings were taking place, we didn’t see too many signings, only trade rumors.

To start the week off, Phillies fans received a nice little Christmas gift from the Toronto Blue Jays. After being strongly connected to trade rumors involving SP Roy Halladay since June, the Phillies finally set the deal in stone and acquired Halladay.

On Tuesday the Dodgers dealt Juan Pierre to the White Sox for two pitching prospects to be named later.  While the transaction will cost the Dodgers their fourth outfielder (who had a successful 2009 season), they will save about $8 million.  The deal, yet again, exemplifies this off-season's plan for the Dodgers: the No Improvement Plan.

I realize that the sale of the team will not actually take place today, and that Bud Selig's "deadline" is really just to establish which group will get exclusive negotiating rights to buy the team, but my feelings are still the same.

There are no numbers or stats that support my feelings, simply a strong tug on my gut that really just wants to see Tom Hicks tip his hat and leave the organization.

When you look at the Mets' offseason to date, what you see is a whole lot of nothing.

The Mets have made no splashy moves, no free-agent signings, and no impact trades as they determine how the market will play out.

But while the Mets have remained stagnant, the Mets' chief rivals have all made impact moves that will improve their prospects for 2010:

Phillies

Acquired Roy Halladay

Braves

Minaya Out of Answers In Attempt to Improve Hapless Club

Roy Halliday is a Phillie today. John Lackey is in Boston and Matt Holliday may end up staying in St. Louis. The fourth big fish to be had this offseason, Jason Bay, is still out there.

The Mets have an offer on the table to Bay, the player they had the most chance of landing this offseason.  The question is, will they close the deal on this much-needed asset?

With the passing of Giants' Principle Owner Sue Burns earlier this year, is San Francisco Giants' current ownership, led by Bill Neukom, in trouble?

Where there's smoke, there is or at least maybe some fire. The Giants are in a slow motion back peddle on their specific commitment to winning in a specific timeline and how much they can spend...even with contracts off the books of Bengie Molina, Randy Winn, and more.

Last week in Indianapolis, an offer was made hours before the end of the week long session to Jason Bay.

He has not yet accepted Omar Minaya's offer and its becoming more likely that he will not be on the Mets in 2010.

In 2009, the Mets sent nine men to play in left field, but Gary Sheffield was by far the most reliable for much of the season. Daniel Murphy was a failed experiment in left field, but found his home at first base. 

The baseball dominoes are beginning to fall, and it won’t be too long before the Washington Nationals know which free agent(s) will bolster their starting rotation.

Now that John Lackey is destined for Boston, and Roy Halladay is about to become a Philadelphia Philly, the rest of that second tier of starters is about to play their own version of musical chairs.

The White Sox have made a few moves this offseason to bring in guys that were at one time good, and at this current time fall somewhere between “ok ” and “retired .”

However, since the Tigers have decided that owning good young players is “soooo last year” and the Twins don’t have the resources to add to their team, the Sox seem to be the favorite in the AL Central for next season.