Opinion

The Philadelphia Phillies are set to open its free agent signing as soon as next week with the signing of free agent utility man Juan Castro, late of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The signing appears imminent, according to his agent, who added in a Philadelphia Inquirer report that Castro is out of the country and has to pass a physical to make the signing official.

It's all over the Internet: the Boston Red Sox are making a huge push for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay.

I'm 23 years old, and along with my family, friends, and a handful of great girls, sports have been one of the loves of my life. I grew up gazing in awe at a gliding Michael Jordan, wanting to mash homers like Ken Griffey Jr., and wondering why every running back couldn't reverse fields like Barry Sanders. (Of course now I realize how unique Barry was). And as I watched the superstars do their thing for other teams, I had my own personal favorites to worry about: the Mets, Jets, and Islanders. Maybe you know where this one is going...

I remember being about five or six years old and writing a letter to Santa every year around Thanksgiving. I would grab a sheet of the paper with the HUGE lines, and write a list as long as I could, with the smallest chicken scratch handwriting I could muster. It would include all things Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, or Darkwing Duck. And I would never get everything I wanted, but if I had gotten just one or two of the items on my list, I would always be exceptionally happy.

I expect this list to have a similar effect.

With the list of potential free agents being adequate at best, this Hot Stove season will be heated with potential trades. Leading the list of "Who Will Win The (insert name) Sweepstake" is Roy Halladay.

The current market seems to include both Los Angeles and New York teams, Boston and Chicago Cubs. I expect this list to grow with Atlanta, St. Louis and Philly jumping in the game.

Before deciding who will win and pay at least $120 million over six years, we need to understand what the Toronto Blue Jays need and who they may want.

Needs

The Red Sox finally winning the World Series was the best and worst thing for the franchise. It was the best day in most (well, at least mine) Red Sox fans' lives, and finally shut Yankee fans up, for at least one season.

On the flip side, winning championships is addicting for die-hard sports fans. Now, Red Sox nation wants to win every year.

Brian Cashman won't meet with the Steinbrenner family until next week to discuss what the team's 2010 payroll is going to be, but regardless of what they tell him, he won't make the same splash he did a year ago.

"We spent a lot of money last year," said Cashman, who dumped a combined $429 million on Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte and watched the quartet play a big part in the Yankees winning the World Series . "We're not going to spend as much this year."

Before you read any further, I would like to issue a disclaimer of sorts. Despite all the buzz around the Internet about Adrian Gonzalez and/or Miguel Cabrera, I don’t believe that either will be traded this offseason.

Furthermore, I would like to go out on a limb and say that even if they were to be traded, I don’t see the Mets on the receiving end of either of the potential deals.