Yesterday brought word that the Blue Jays are willing to listen to offers for ace Roy Halladay. Today there's plenty of reaction and speculation.  Let's take a look.

• An intial report has the Phillies as the "leaders" for Halladay, but that is likely only based on their obvious interest in acquiring a pitcher...any pitcher.  What can the Phillies really offer the Blue Jays?  Shortstop Jason Donald is considered their best prospect and after that they have a few 50-100 range ranked prospects, but not the haul that the Jays are likely looking for.
• Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated notes that the Jays were interested in Donald last year. 
• Heyman speculates about how impressive the Giants roster would be if Halladay were added.  That would give them four former Cy Young award winners AND Matt Cain.  Certainly Barry Zito and Randy Johnson are not the same pitchers, but they're pretty good for #4 and #5 pitchers. 
• While the White Sox would not trade Gordon Beckham for Jake Peavy Heyman says they'd consider moving the prospect for Halladay.  I don't entirely understand this unless they actually like that Halladay is only signed through 2010 while Peavy is under contract through 2013.
• The Cardinals seem unlikely to have the prospects to get a trade for Halladay done.
• Phillies general manager Rubin Amaro Jr. said that the Phillies do have the financial flexibility to add an ace pitcher like Halladay. 
• Joel Sherman of The New York Post confirms the sentiment that the Phillies are in the lead for Halladay and notes that the Rangers and Cardinals could be players as well (as we indicated yesterday).  
• In his discussion with Sherman Blue Jays general manager JP Riccardi noted that discussions with other teams has been very preliminary and while they're always interested in teams' best prospect, if they got a shortstop out of the deal, that would be preferable.  However, Halladay does have a no trade clause and has already provided Riccardi with a list of teams that he is not interested in playing for.  The Jays are able to afford Halladay for 2010 if they need to, so Riccardi is trying to give the impression that they are not desperate to move their star pitcher.  He does not, however, think they'd be able to resign him after 2010. 
• Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein has given no indication that the team is interested in acquiring Halladay.  That's a bit of a misnomer.  I'm sure they're very interested, but just not for the price tag that it will realistically take to get him.
• Lyle Weber of mlb.com throws out major leaguers Erick Aybar, Joe Saunders or Ervin Santana and minor leaguers Brandon Wood, Sean O'Sullivan and Jordan Walden as possible pieces to group together in a package offer for Halladay.  It seems unlikely that the Jays would be interested in Aybar or Saunders, but Santana could get their attention along with Wood.

We had a number of sons and relatives selected in the draft this past week.

• Carlos Beltran's cousin, Reymond Fuentes, was picked by the Red Sox.
• Boston also took Carl Yastrzemski's grandson, Michael Yastrzemski.
• Dodgers owner Frank McCourt's son, Gavin McCourt was picked up by the Red Sox.  However, Scott Boras, will not represent him.
• The Orioles selected Mike Flacco the brother of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
• Robert Amaro, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro was drafted by the Phillies.
• The Cubs grabbed Joey Jocketty, the son of Reds general manager Walt Jocketty.
• The Tigers added another Porcello: Rick's brother Jake Porcello.
• Muhammad Ali's son, Asaad Ali, was taken by the Angels in the 40th round.
• The White Sox drafted general manager Kenny Williams son, Tyler Williams and Harold Baines Jr.
  

While the baseball winter meetings have already begun, Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports put together a nice preview of what each team will look to do in Las Vegas this week.  Let's start with the NL:

• New Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro is involved in negotiations with Jaime Moyer and is also interested in Derek Lowe and AJ Burnett.
• The Nationals have been rumored to involved in the Mark Teixeira bidding, but Adam Dunn seems like a more realistic target.
• The Jake Peavy trade rumors have dominated the headlines for the Cubs, but the team could also look at signing Raul Ibanez or Rafael Furcal or even trading for Brian Roberts.
• The Astros are willing to consider trading Jose Valverde to improve their starting pitching.
• After trading for Khalil Greene, the Cardinals are still looking for starting pitching.  The Cardinals could also look to acquire Huston Street if they feel Chris Perez is not the answer as their closer.
• The Reds have been rumored to be interested in Jermaine Dye, but they may also be considering Willy Taveras from the Rockies.
• The Pirates are sellers at the winter meetings, looking to trade Jack Wilson, Adam LaRoche and Nate McLouth.
• Manny Ramirez and CC Sabathia remain on the back burner for the Dodgers and they try to resign Furcal at a bargain.
• The Rockies don't expect much interest in Garrett Atkins because the asking price is very high.

News and notes from around baseball today:

• Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. called rumors that the Phillies would listen to offers for Jimmy Rollins false. 
• The Diamondbacks are rumored to be interested in Mark Loretta.
• Meanwhile, the Tigers are rumored to be considering Brandon Lyon.
• The Phillies have signed Scott Eyre.
• Jeff Passan ranks all of the free agents from #1 CC Sabathia to #138 Vance Wilson.
• The Giants are interested in middle relievers on the free agent market.
• Pat Burrell has not heard anything from the Phillies regarding a contract extension.
• Kenshin Kawakami is still deciding on whether to play in the MLB or not.

Let's take a spin around baseball for a summary of today's rumors:

• Mark Mulder may want to return to Oakland, but there's no guarantee the As would be interested.
• AJ Burnett may not be interested in the Yankees if he opts out of his contract.
• Ruben Amaro Jr. appears to be the favorite to land the open Phillies general manager position.
• A rumor surfaced earlier this month about a swap of Luis Castillo for Jose Guillen, but here is a analysis of why that won't happen.

Jon Heyman's latest post is up on si.com.  Let's pick through it.

• The three biggest free agent names, CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira, are likely to be bid on by the two Los Angeles and two New York teams.  Not surprising that those are the biggest markets in baseball.
• Despite that, Heyman lists the Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles and Phillies with the Phillies interest being dependent upon Pat Burrell's status with the team. 
• The Rockies are willing to sign Matt Holliday for $100M over five years, but rumor has it that Holliday is looking for more.  Despite this, the Rockies remain unlikely to trade the slugger.
• Suitors for Brian Fuentes include the Mets, Rangers and Indians.  Heyman lists the Mets as the front runners who will allegedly offer a three year, $36M deal.
• Jake Peavy has allegedly already rejected being traded to at least one American League team.  Heyman feels that Peavy is not interested in playing for the Rangers and doesn't find the Yankees very appealing either.
• Luis Gonzalez does not appear to be welcome back in Arizona because of a tenuous relationship with Stephen Drew and Chris Young.  This is quite an odd story.
• Heyman feels that Ruben Amaro Jr. is the front runner for the Phillies general manager opening.

Here's Jon Heyman's latest:

• The Mets seem likely to make a run at New York native, Manny Ramirez.
• If the Mets do not go after Francisco Rodriguez, they'll certainly need to make a run at Brian Fuentes.  Billy Wagner is likely done for 2009.
• Heyman confirms earlier reports that Brian Cashman will return to New York. 
• It's increasingly looking like the Phillies will promote Ruben Amaro Jr. to general manager for 2009.
• The Dodgers seem forced to bid on Manny Ramirez this offseason.
• Ryan Dempster is likely to stay in Chicago.
• Derek Lowe, however, is seemingly playing his last games as a Dodger.
• The Rockies are unlikely to be able to trade Todd Helton because of his back injury.  Helton has an astounding $52.3M remaining on his contrat from 2009-2011 including either a $23M option for 2012 (0% chance the Rockies pick that up) or a $4.6M buyout.  Wow.  No wonder the team is considering moving Matt Holliday. 

Plenty to get through from John Perotto's latest column.  Let's get started:

• Despite rumors of a lot of movement in the GM ranks this offseason, Perotto thinks that all we'll see is Ruben Amaro Jr. taking over for the retiring Pat Gillick in Philadelphia and Kim Ng taking over the vacant Seattle job. 
• Angels owner Arte Moreno says that they will not exceed their current payroll of $123M.  The Angels have plenty of free agents for 2009 that they'll need to make some hard decisions on. 
• The Yankees seem likely to make a run at Orlando Hudson meaning that Robinson Cano is likely to be traded. 
• The Tigers hope to resign Freddy Garcia for 2009 and have been rumored to be interested in Derek Lowe as well.  Kenny Rogers is not likely to return.
• The Royals are rumored to be discussing trade talks with Atlanta for Jeff Francoeur. 
• Perotto fuels the rumors that the Giants are looking to trade pitching for hitting by suggesting that the team is shopping Matt Cain for a quality hitter in return.  Prince Fielder has been heavily rumored as a trade option for the Giants.
• It is looking more likely that the Mariners will non-tender Erik Bedard for 2009.  Bedard is scheduled for shoulder surgery and will likely miss a lot of 2009.