The first round of Winter Meetings

So the first set of GM meetings is underway in Orlando. The hot stove has been buzzing like crazy. Since I'm super behind on posts (sorry) I thought I'd just give a quick take:

-John Sickels has his preliminary Jays top prospects list posted here. They're listed alphabetically. It's basically the same as Tammy's list (The Southpaw) He left out Michael McDade, and the commentors let him know.

-I already miss Edwin Encarnacion. Not his defence. I really belived that he could have contributed.

-I'm super glad Dan Uggla didn't get traded to Toronto, I don't see him as a good short term piece, or long term piece. Although Atlanta got him for almost nothing. Great trade for them. Kenny Rosenthal says the Jays offered Roenicke, Farquar and either Mastroianni or Ryan Goins (MLBTR)

-I'm all-in on Manny Ramirez. As soon as the White Sox decline to offer him arbitration. On a one-year redemption contract (a la Vlad Guerrero) I'd be satisfied with the value he would provide anywhere under $10 Million.

-News of the day: The Diamondbacks will listen to offers on Justin Upton. He just took the top spot on my off season wish list. (Above Colby Rasmus) Any 5 Players under Jays control (Who aren't named Snider or Morrow) would be my offer to them. ANY 5.

-The Red Sox are potentially willing to pay part of Papelbon's salary in a trade. The human rain delay would annoy me to death, but I'm intrigued.

-I'm also intrigued that the Chiba Lotte Marines have posted Tsuyoshi Nishioka. He is an OBP machine, and reportedly plays a good 2B. He's also only 26. I'm no expert, but this seems like a good candidate for a future leadoff hitter.

-San Diego now has about 8 Outfielders on their roster, I wonder if we could buy low on Kyle Blanks?

-The Marlins counteracted their poor return on Dan Uggla by signing John Buck. I wouldn't have believed that I'd be writing this a year ago, but he won me over. Look out for their young pitching staff next year.

-Last, but certainly not least, Roy Halladay won another Cy Young award. Obviously it was well deserved.