Ir'a Christmas Eve (or by the time some of you read this, Christmas Day or Christmas Past), and that means time for Bauxites everywhere to gather 'round the (Hot Stove enflamed) fire and join in a round of Christmas Carols, Hall of Names style.

Yes, mid-1980s journeyman catcher Steve Christmas (Reds, White Sox, Cubs, 1983-1986), even with a career OPS+ of 27, is going to get used a lot in this holiday "card," but ideas also came from the 2003 Holiday Chatter thread, not to mention the (2004-05) New Year's Wishes from Baseball's Hall of Names foray. But for now, let's all just join together and sing ...

Everyone seems to think it's a done deal but the specifics are lacking. Troy Glaus appears to be headed for the great white north while Orlando Hudson and Miguel Batista are headed south. There could be a prospect headed to Toronto; the cash side of the deal is unknown; and whether Glaus had to have his deal sweetened is also unknown.

By Fawaz.

Every time I read a suggestion that Orlando Hudson is headed to Team X for John Q. Slugger, one name pops into my mind: John ‘Hot Rod’ Williams. I vividly recall my cursing out loud (to the chagrin of a 10-year-old Fawaz’ parents) and the ensuing swoon in my fandom following the announcement that the Phoenix Suns had finally acquired the big man that was going to put them over the top. I didn’t know much about the guy. He was 6’11” and I had his basketball card, though I never looked at it. I knew everything about the guy he was traded for. He was an all-star, went for 16-5-4 in 1994-95 and knocked down threes whenever Charles Barkley felt moved to pass the ball. (He was in town last season doing the colour commentary for the Suns broadcast and before the game he started knocking down long three-balls in his suit… one-handed.) He was Thunder Dan Majerle.

Yesterday, we looked at starting pitching over the last 100 years through a basic statistical lens. Today, we work on tools for measuring the quantity pitched in evaluating a pitcher's career.

JP's checking his offseason list (2 arms, 2 bats)
He's checking it twice (3 down, 1 to go)
We're gonna find out who's naughty (Hudson?) or nice (Hill?)
Troy Glaus is coming to town??

Don't worry, that's not a prediction -- it's a challenge. It is, if you will, today's Question of the Day ...

The winter meetings are done. Christmas is near, and it's time for Hall Watch to get rolling in earnest again. We will begin with the starters. Before we tackle the big questions such as "is Roger Clemens better than Walter Johnson?", we need some tools. The first step is getting a statistical handle on starting pitchers over the last 100 years.

As expected the Jays tendered contracts to all arbitration eligible players yesterday. But more interestingly Mike Rutsey reports that the Jays have an interest in free agent catcher Bengie Molina.

As the title might imply, this is a Spring Training thread. Not about the players, non-roster invites and positional battles, but about the actual activity itself. Readers with Florida experience are welcomed to join in with advice and anyone with questions about attending exhibition baseball is welcomed to pose them here -- odds are, someone can answer them!

So if you have questions about Spring Training in Dunedin (or other Florida locations), questions about the area or if you just want to know the best way to get there and simply enjoy baseball, read on.

Two months into the baseball off-season and I am starting to get restless, itchy, looking for my baseball fix. I am not talking about baseball in the big sense of the word, I am talking the game, on the field, seeing a nasty change-up, a beautifully turned double play, a runner turning a double into a triple, an Ichiro gun to third, a Rolen laser to first, Mariano mowing them down, you get the picture.

That's right, Nomar to the Dodgers, where he will apparently play first base.

Say, another pretty fair Cubbie shortstop moved over to 1B and turned it into a Hall of Fame plaque. Maybe Nomar will, too?

Which brings us to today's Question of the Day ....

According to CBS Sportsline.com Jarrod Washburn is close to signing with the Mariners for four years and between $36 and $38 million.

Christmas Day is just nine days off now, meaning most schools are closing down for a while following a week of exams, people at work are trying to finish spending (or finish justifying, depending on how well the employer's year went) the 2005 budget, and baseball fans are stuck in the midst of five months of what is collegially referred to as "the offseason."

The winter holidays are great in so many ways, but for baseball fans, frankly -- except for the Winter Meetings, which are already over -- they are a time of reflection and anticipation and ... ah, hell, a time of baseball-free boredom.

So maybe if we all close our eyes and hope real hard, St. Nicholas will bring us ...

The second player drafted under the J.P. Ricciardi regime was the first to reach The Show. With all due respect to other prospects who have been drafted and moved up and moved on, Dave Bush is the first of “Ricciardi’s own” that this Jays fan is pained to see gone. In a move that signals the organisational shift from rebuilding mode to the future is now, Dave Bush was dealt along with Gabe Gross and Zach Jackson to the Brewers for Lyle Overbay on December 8.

To get you started on making your own roundup of what's happening out there in Jays-land, here's a Geoff Baker piece that contains one hell of a promise from Shea Hillenbrand:

"I'm very confident that it's now going to allow me to become a player who can hit 30 home runs and drive in 100,'' Hillenbrand, the subject of widespread trade rumours, said yesterday in a telephone interview from his home in Arizona. "I've been in this game a certain number of years and I felt it was time to take things to the next level. You can quote me on that: I think I'm going to hit 30."