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INDIANAPOLIS -- There has talk that the Blue Jays were the third man in on the three-way deal between the New York Yankees, the Detroit Tigers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But for the Jays to have been involved, they would have had to satisfy the Tigers' need of two young arms. Arizona send two of its previous three No. 1 draft picks -- right-hander Max Scherzer and lefty Dan Schlereth -- to the Tigers.
Could the Jays have done that (Brett Cecil, Marc Rzepczynski?) for, say, centre field prospect Austin Jackson, right-hander Edwin Jackson and reliever Phil Coke?
On the way
Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro predicts big things for right-hander Scott Mathieson in 2010.
Mathieson, of Aldergrove, B.C. is expected to contend for a spot in the bullpen, especially with the Phillies undecided on what to do with free agents Chan Ho Park and lefty Scott Eyre.
"If we don't get deals done, we have Antonio Bastardo and Sergio Escalo and a guy who has bounced back almost miraculously in Mathieson," Amaro told reporters.
Mathieson has battled all the way back from two Tommy John surgeries finishing the year at double-A Reading with a fastball clocked at 96 m.p.h. He started at the Phillies' rookie-class Gulf Coast League affiliate, pitched at class-A Clearwater (for manager Ernie Whitt) and Reading, combining to go 4-0, with an 0.84 earned run average, walking 12 and striking out 34 in 321/3 innings.
Signings
The Seattle Mariners signed third baseman Chone Figgins to a four-year, $36-million US deal. Said one scout "The M's are going to run and score with Ichiro Suzuki and Figgins at the top of the order." .... Ivan Rodriguez signed a two-year $6-million deal with the Washington Nationals ... Third baseman Mark Teahen agreed to a $14-million, three-year deal with the Chicago White Sox and avoided arbitration ... The St. Louis Cardinals have completed their deal for free-agent pitcher Brad Penny. He joined the NL Central champions yesterday after passing a physical. His one-year contract is for $7.5 million.
Tweet of the day
Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman: "Hearing that the Red Sox won't give up either Clay Buchholz or Casey Kelly for Roy Halladay. Can you say "market crash?"
New man in town
The Twins added a Canadian area scout in Mark Wilson, of Lindstrom, Minn. Wilson replaces Jim Ridley, a former Jays scout who worked Canada until his passing in 2008 and left the Twins so prepared, according to GM Bill Smith, that they did not need to hire a replacement for 2009.
Wilson, who scouted the Canadian national junior team in Florida in October, also will cover Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and the Dakotas.
Braves reject Church
The Atlanta Braves' surplus of late-inning relievers forced the team to part ways with outfielder Ryan Church yesterday.
Church was designated for assignment by the Braves to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for reliever Rafael Soriano, who made a surprise decision a day earlier to accept salary arbitration.
The Braves last week signed closer Billy Wagner and setup man Takashi Saito.
Farewell
Peter Gammons, a pioneer in ball writing at the Boston Globe, and the face of baseball at ESPN, will leave the network Friday after 20 years to pursue other opportunities. He is a former J. G. Taylor Spink award winner in 2005.