On Friday, November 25th I had the pleasure of spending an hour talking to Toronto’s Vice-President of Consumer Marketing, Laurel Lindsay, in Kingston. Laurel, who graduated from Queen’s with a Special Field Degree in Communications in 1991, returned to her alma mater to give a talk at the Queen’s Sports Industry Conference that weekend and she generously agreed to speak to me an hour before her evening address to the conference.

Ted Lilly avoided arbitration by agreeing to a 1 year, $4 million contract. Lilly can also earn up to $200,000 more based on innings pitched.

The Jays exchanged figures with Hillenbrand and Walker. Hillenbrand has asked for $6.7 million with the Jays offering $5.0 million and Walker has asked for $850,000 with the Jays offering $575,000.

Additionally, the Jays acquired LHP Brian Tallet from the Indians in exchange for RHP Bubbie Buzachero. Tallet was recently designated for assignment by the Indians.

The Blue Jays agreed to terms with Lyle Overbay and Scott Downs for one year contracts, avoiding arbitration.

Treat this thread however you want ... roundup, speculation, whatever. But share your Rance Mulliniks memories, too, as the man turns 50 today!

Batter's Box Challenge: The best (as judged by, ahem, me) limerick or haiku birthday greeting/memory to or about Rance wins a No-Prize, courtesy of your favorite interactive magazine!

The new administration in Tampa completed their first significant trade sending relievers Danys Baez and Lance Carter to the Dodgers for former top prospect Edwin Jackson and lefty prospect Chuck Tiffany.

Another Hall of Names submission from erstwhile Bauxite Anders Whist, who today wakes up the echoes of old Tiger Stadium with this All-Detroit squad.

No, Mike "Thriller" Jackson didn't make the team (he's from Houston) but these Detroit Dandies would give many other squads a decent run for their money. The lineup's not much to look at –- Ernie Witt is DHing, so that might give you some indication. But when John Smoltz isn't good enough to crack the rotation -- he's the closer -- then you're cooking. Pat Hengten wasn't about to beat out Smoltz as closer, but he is one of three ex-Jays on ...

Pinch-Hit submitted by Craig Burley

Pennsylvania's rural Washington county, near the Ohio border, can put together a very thin but overall solid team. Washington County boasts the largest number of covered bridges of any county in the U.S., and two (soon to be three) Hall of Fame ballplayers. Thanks to the former, we're proud to introduce ...

During his career, there were questions whether Jack Morris might be a Hall of Famer. He seemed to find his way to winning teams, and to pitch deep into games and win more than his share. His 10 inning shutout of the Braves in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series was thought to be the crowning jewel on his career. Let's take a second look.

Baseball America released their top ten prospects on-line today. The list was available to magazine subscribers a week ago. The top ten are, in order, Dustin McGowan; Ricky Romero; David Purcey; Adam Lind; Josh Banks; Casey Janssen; Brandon League; Franciso Rosario; Curtis Thigpen; and Vince Perkins.

Pinch-Hit by Colin Jaffray (username: 5hoursahead)

I couldn't resist finding out if we could put up a team from over the pond here [Editor's Note: That'd be the British Isles, kids] and I'm surprised, but delighted to say that we can. I had to take advantage of a few multi-skilled players and it shouldn't surprise anyone that the majority racked up most of their playing time in the late 19th century.

That said, this team ain't too shabby considering their home nations ...

Jordan Bastian reports that the Blue Jays have signed Ben Weber to a minor league contract and have invited him to spring training.

The Mets signed 1st round pick Mike Pelfrey yesterday to a major league contract with a large bonus. My question for the day is: "do the escalating salaries at the major league level affect the reasonable bonuses for first round picks, and if so, should that change draft strategy?".

The story of Bert Blyleven's career has been told many times in the last few years. So, we will give it a brief re-telling. With his greater than 50% share in this year, there is still the possibility that the writers will eventually choose him.

Bruce Sutter was elected to the Hall of Fame on this year's ballot. Sutter's fame began with his superb 1977 season, and continued with another fine one in 1979 which landed him a Cy Young award.

When Batter's Box first issued what Craig Burley has taken to calling the "Hall of Place Names" challenge, to be honest, I expected a bunch of U.S. states (some are upcoming, incidentally) and some major cities (we've already seen Brooklyn, Mobile and San Francisco, with more on the way) to dominate the submissions. Barring that, perhaps a series of foreign countries similar to the All-Canadian team that started it all.

Wouldn't you know, the very first two teams received (from Bauxites Matthew Elmslie and Greg Williams, in that order, respectively) were for the same non-North American city? And if you think hard enough, you can probably guess that it's ... well, let's turn that description over to Elmslie: