Canada might have a shot of beating the United States in the World Baseball Classic if the game is close in the late innings.  As John Northey pointed out in an earlier thread, the American bullpen will be without Jays closer B.J. Ryan and Twins relief ace Joe Nathan as they have pulled out of the World Baseball Classic.  Ryan says he needs to work on his mechanics while Nathan has a sore shoulder. 

Jeff Blair from the Globe and Mail reports the Jays are showing interest in free-agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera.  He thinks the team may try to accomplish this by dealing a corner infielder or reliever to clear some salary off the books.

UPDATE March 2/09:  Cabrera's going to Oakland according to ESPN's Buster Olney.  He has signed a one-year deal for $4-million bucks.

Travis Snider has belted the first home run of spring training for the Jays, an opposite field poke to tie today's proceedings at 1-1 against the Phillies in Clearwater.  He was robbed of extra bases in his first at-bat on a leaping catch at the wall by John Mayberry Jr., the offspring of former Jay John Mayberry.   Just remember, when Snider wins the rookie of the year, you heard it here first!!

Meantime, Jason Lane has just followed with another solo poke and J.P. Arencibia just missed making it back to back to back jacks.  You can listen to today's game on bluejays.com.

Real baseball is about to be played - well, it may not actually count but guys in Blue Jays uniforms will be going against guys in Yankee uniforms including a few actual major leaguers today at 1:05 PM. Woohoo!

Many moves to note around the majors, some involving familiar big names, if not players of impact (any more) ...

• At the top of the list, old friend Orlando Hudson is now a Dodger.
• Joe Crede switches AL Central addresses, moving from Chicago to Minneapolis to take on the Twins hot corner.
• Recovering frontline starter -- and Anna Benson boytoy -- Kris Benson moves to the Pitchers' Purgatory in Arlington, Texas as an NRI with the Rangers.
• Nomar to the A's?

Any thoughts on these or other moves? What else is going on?

Now that we got this Valentine's Day crap out of the way, let's get on with something that'll warm our hearts - Jays pitchers and catchers have reported to Dunedin!  Boo-yah!!  

The Jays have avoided arbitration with right-handed reliever Shawn Camp.  The 33 year-old will be paid three-quarters of a million bucks for 2009.

A report from the New York Post says former Marlin, Red Sock and Oriole Kevin Millar is on the verge of signing a minor league deal with Toronto.  If this gets done, the Blue Jays clubhouse will never be the same again!

Today, future Hall of Fame (class of 2034) mortal lock Travis Snider turns 21 years old. Happy Birthday, young man, now go resurrect this franchise, y'hear?

Now for the rest of you, today's only-tangentially-related-to-baseball Question of the Day ... how did you spend your 21st birthday? (For the youngsters out there on the Interwebs, then, how do you hope to spend it, kid?)

Keep it clean, folks. And if you can, do relate it to The Great Game somehow!

The Blue Jays signed a pair of players to minor-league contracts today, agreeing to terms with outfielder Jason Lane and infielder Brandon Fahey. Both will receive invites to spring training, but will probably spend the majority of the year in Las Vegas. However, Lane provides some cover if Snider demonstrates he isn’t ready for the big leagues and Fahey is a better option than Jorge Velandia as the team’s top middle infielder at Triple-A.

The Jays signed Brandon League for $640k (minimum is $400k), Jeremy Accardo for $900k, Jason Frasor for $1.45 million, Jose Bautista for $2.4 million.  Arbitration figures are being passed along, and a batch of Jays are going to the Classic along with a Canadian team.

And the winners are... Rickey Henderson (94.8%) and Jim Rice (76.4%).

So the hot stove league chatter of the winter meetings has dwindled to mere embers in the December fireplace, and what are you hearing now? (Or hey, what would you like to be hearing, anyway?)

The big news today, if you can call it that, is that the inimitable Chan Ho Park, who has 117 career wins, and last season got his ERA down below 4.81 for the first time since 2001 -- has signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the defending champion Phillies. Apparently the Jays were also in contention to sign The Ho ... speaking as a North Texas resident, let me tell you -- be glad that didn't happen.

What else?

Peavy to Cubs is dead.

Huge deal - huge in terms of volume, not necessarily star talent - between the Mariners, Indians and Mets. J.J. Putz is the centerpiece of the deal. Franklin Gutierrez and Aaron Heilman are other big names changing teams. Summary of player movement:

Mariners -> Mets: Putz, RHP Sean Green, OF Jeremy Reed
Indians -> Mariners: Gutierrez
Mets -> Mariners: OF Endy Chavez, RHP Aaron Heilman, 1B Mike Carp, RHP Maikel Cleto, LHP Jason Vargas, OF Ezekiel Carrera
Mets -> Indians: RHP Joe Smith
Mariners -> Indians: IF Luis Valbuena

In the AAA phase of the Rule V Draft, the Jays lost Anthony Hatch and Ryan Klosterman, and selected Cody Haerther from St. Louis. There was no Jay-related activity in the Major League phase. The AA phase hasn't been updated yet.

And finally, a Blue Jay transaction! The Jays signed Matt Clement to a minor league deal. Quick analysis after the break.

Update (Friday): Raul Ibanez signs with the Phillies for 30/3. Still on the slugger market: Mark Teixeira, Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, Manny. And Teixeira is the only one who seems to be drawing much interest.

Tony Kubek won the Ford Frick Award.

Joe Gordon was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee.

The big news from today is that C.C. Sabathia is close to a deal with the Yankees worth about 160 million over 7 years.

Yesterday, Francisco Rodriguez set the bar low in the closer market, signing with the Mets for 3 years and 37 million, with a vesting option for a 4th year. Jose Valverde is feeling great about himself.

Also, Casey Blake signed a 3 year deal with the Dodgers, and Kerry Wood is reportedly close to signing with the Indians. Jake Peavy talks don't seem to be progressing.

Update: Keith Law, Rob Neyer, Will Carroll and Christina Kahrl have been admitted to the BBWAA. This became a big issue last off-season when Neyer and Law were denied entry, and resulted in Neyer and Tracy Ringolsby butting heads on Baseball Think Factory. It's great to see those two get in after the disappointment of last off-season, and it's also a good sign to see the BBWAA extend membership to Baseball Prospectus writers Kahrl and Carroll.