Mets on verge of trading R.A. Dickey to Blue Jays

SUNDAY, 2:09 PM: The seven-player trade has been agreed to in principle. Bang it HERE for more.

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SATURDAY, 9:45 PM: Sherman says the trade, as it now stands, will send Dickey, Thole and a non-elite prospect to the Blue Jays for d’Arnaud, Syndergaard, Buck and a non-elite prospect. Sherman guesses that the swap might not be finalized until Monday.

6:58 PM: Adam Rubin of ESPN New York heard from an “in-the-know” source that a resolution might not happen on Saturday night. It seems likely that talks will trail into Sunday.

3:04 PM: Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that as of this morning, seven players were involved in the deal, including four coming to the Mets and three going to the Blue Jays.

Puma hears that the Jays want a catcher back and speculates that Josh Thole could be involved. He has a rapport with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, so that would make sense. If that happens, it’s possible the Mets could take John Buck in the deal.

Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledger hears that Blue Jays prospect right-handers Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Sanchez have also been discussed. Those are two impressive prospects, so this deal could get a little crazy.

2:54 PM: Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Mets and Blue Jays are “inching toward the finish line” on the deal. Some players’ medicals have been reviewed and OK’d, but there’s still work to be done. R.A. Dickey and Travis d’Arnaud are the centerpieces of the deal, but still no word on the other players involved.

12:55 PM: CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that the Mets rejected a package of Gose and Arencibia. The two sides have since agreed on d’Arnaud as the center piece in a deal for Dickey, but they are currently trying to finalize the last piece. Assuming they can agree on the other players in the deal, it’s now thought that Dickey is willing to talk about an extension.

11:42 AM: Hold the phone. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Anthony Gose is NOT part of the trade talks for R.A. Dickey. However, Travis d’Arnaud is.

11:19 AM: Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star reports that if the Blue Jays are to include d’Arnaud and Gose, they need to have Dickey signed to a two-year extension and receive a top prospect from the Mets.

9:30 AM: Andy Martino of the New York Daily News confirms that the Blue Jays are willing to offer d’Arnaud and Gose in a trade for Dickey. We’re still awaiting word on the other players involved.

8:15 PM: CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman hears that the Mets and Blue Jays have reached agreement on the players involved. No word yet on the full scope of the trade.

Meanwhile, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports that the Blue Jays have been looking at the medicals on Dickey since at least yesterday afternoon. It’s yet another indication that a deal is close to being finalized.

1:27 AM: Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Mets and Blue Jays are “on the verge” of a trade that would send Dickey to Toronto and d’Arnaud to New York. The teams are currently looking at medicals, so it sounds pretty close.

As Rosenthal mentioned earlier, Passan hears that more players are involved in the deal.

11:55 PM, Friday: Rosenthal and his colleague, Jon Paul Morosi, are reporting on FOXSports.com that Gose is likely to be included in the deal while the Mets are also expected to receive either d’Arnaud or Arencibia. As Rosenthal noted earlier, if d’Arnaud is included, the deal is likely to be expanded.

11:36 PM: Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com confirms that d’Arnaud is “very much in play” in trade talks for Dickey. However, he notes that the deal would be bigger, with multiple pieces going both ways.

You may recall that the trade talks between the Marlins and Blue Jays began with Josh Johnson and morphed into something much larger. While it’s unlikely 12 players will be involved this time, it probably won’t be a simple swap.

10:30 PM: Andy Martino of the New York Daily News was told by “a person with direct knowledge of the discussions” that during the Winter Meetings, d’Arnaud was a “must have” for the Mets to do a trade with the Blue Jays. Toronto resisted at the time, but a person involved in the potential trade has expressed a “gut feeling” that d’Arnaud may be involved. Again, nothing confirmed.

Contrary to earlier reports, Martino hears that Dickey is willing to sign a contract extension if he’s traded to the Blue Jays. This could have a major impact on the return package.

8:00 PM: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports hears that the Mets may be getting prospect catcher Travis d’Arnaud back from the Blue Jays, though he cautions that the information is unconfirmed. However, he was discussed “heavily” in trade talks along with fellow catcher J.P. Arencibia.

6:07 PM: Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was told by “two people involved” to not expect resolution with Dickey tonight. Things could always change, but it appears he’ll remain with the Mets for at least one more day.

5:45 PM: FOX Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi reports that the Mets and Blue Jays have made progress on a possible trade involving Dickey. However, it’s not a done deal yet.

Also, updating a previous story by Joel Sherman, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News writes that reports suggesting Dickey wouldn’t sign a contract extension with the Jays are false.

4:29 PM: Jon Heyman is hearing that the players coming back from Toronto — assuming a deal can get done — are J.P. Arencibia and Anthony Gose, though that may just be speculation, as those two have been talked about in trades involving the Blue Jays for some time. And let’s keep in mind that this is all fluid and depend on Dickey being willing to sign an extension. We think. As we learned with the Shin-Soo Choo trade earlier this week, early reports may only be capturing part of the story.

Rosenthal says the Rangers are OUT on Dickey.

4:05 PM: Joel Sherman reports that the Mets and Blue Jays are far along in trade talks for Dickey — and a deal could be close — but that things are being held up by Dickey’s refusal to agree to sign a contract extension with Toronto. Now, he needn’t sign off on the trade — he has no no-trade protection — but obviously the Jays would be far more willing to give up real value to the Mets if they can lock up Dickey for what will, presumably, be three years instead of just 2013.

Updates, obviously, as warranted.

3:30 PM: In case you didn’t think that the Mets were serious about trading R.A. Dickey:

Sources: Intense trade talks yesterday regarding Dickey, with Texas, Toronto and, hey now, Baltimore being serious players.

— Andy Martino (@MartinoNYDN) December 14, 2012

The Rangers have been talked about as a possible trade partner with the Mets for a couple of days. The Jays and Orioles, not so much.