Major League Baseball’s general manager’s meetings began yesterday in Chicago, Illinois.

The meetings will be a very important and determining factor involving the Toronto Blue Jays future direction.

I am going to try and cover all the news I can from these meetings to keep Blue Jays fans aware of any and all information that is possible.

Over the weekend before the meetings even began the Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks had a deal in place to send first baseman Lyle Overbay to the Diamondbacks in exchange for catcher Chris Snyder. The deal hit a snag and is still up in the air.

The Jays are shopping Lyle Overbay at the GM meetings.

Since before the end of the 2009 season the Jays have seen a major reconstruction of their front office with a new general manager being announced in Alex Anthopoulos, a new president & CEO being announced in Paul Beeston and a slew of player development, scouting and coaching changes.

In roster moves, small moves such as the additions of reliever Sean Henn and second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir via waivers were also made.

All moves so far have indicated a move towards the future of the ball club rather than next season in this writer’s opinion.

This could mean a serious number of trade discussions followed by possible moves during the meetings this week.

It’s apparent the Jays want to move Overbay, but the Jays largest bargaining chip is obviously Roy Halladay. Trade discussion for Halladay may not be as rampant as they were leading up to the July 31st trade deadline of last season, but the talks will occur.

The Jays also were notified via the Elias Sports Bureau of the classing of free agents yesterday with Marco Scutaro being listed as a Type A free agent and Rod Barajas being listed as a Type B.

What this means is that if they offer salary arbitration to these players (which is very likely) and the players leave via free agency to another team the Jays will be compensated with draft picks, one for Barajas and two for Scutaro.

Since the Jays seem to be going in the direction of a younger squad the chances of Barajas and Scutaro re-signing may not be great.

Also, the Jays trying to acquire Snyder from the D-Backs could also be an indication that the Jays are not interested in bring back Barajas.

This leaves the Jays in the market for a starting shortstop, a starting catcher and a power bat in the middle of the lineup, as well as role players to fill their bench as John McDonald and Kevin Millar both filed for free agency as well.

Alex Anthopoulos has a lot to discuss this week at the meetings.

With Anthopoulos looking to make a big move to create a name for himself within the Jays organization do not be surprised if the Jays make one or more moves during the meetings.

Already being discussed, albeit pure speculation and rumor is that of a Milton Bradley to Toronto deal.

In the past rumors arose of a straight swap of the Chicago Cubs Bradley for the Jays Vernon Wells. The deal was a way out for both teams to rid themselves of a) Bradley’s terrible attitude towards the city of Chicago & b) Vernon Wells hefty contract in Toronto.

The rumors amassed to nothing and the news of Bradley making a trip to Toronto disappeared until yesterday when Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal reported the possibility of a three team deal involving the Jays, the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs.

The deal would see Milton Bradley come to Toronto, Lyle Overbay go to the Mets, and Luis Castillo go to the Cubs.

Milton Bradley in Toronto doesn't make any sense.

You can read the Fox Sports article here: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/10346028/Sources:-Bradley-being-discussed-in-3-way-deal

The deal does not make sense for the Jays (going young) nor the Cubs (Ryan Theriot at second with Starlin Castro coming up in the farm system), but it makes perfect sense for the Mets as they are in need of a first baseman with gap power with Carlos Delgado becoming a free agent.

If Anthopoulos is to make a big first move as new general manager of Toronto this is not the one to make, as Bradley could be a troublesome character in a clubhouse that experienced problems meshing with coach Cito Gaston at the end of last season.

It’s apparent the Jays will do something at the meetings, but what is not apparent is what that is. Will Overbay be traded? Will Halladay trade talk resurface? Will the Jays look in another direction?

Toronto fans will have to wait and see how the meetings turn out for the club.

Keep your eyes on this page for all the news from the general manager’s meetings as far as the Toronto Blue Jays are concerned.