Halladay and Mauer both set deadlines by opening day

For contract extension for Mauer, and trade acceptance from Halladay

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/1...-deadline.html

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/1...for-trade.html

and the phillies signed brian schneider

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

apparently mauer denies it?

I think it's a good decision for Halladay to do this. It's also helpful for the Blue Jays. They won't be thinking about dealing him come May-June.

What it does mean is that the Jays may get a King's Ransom for Halladay from some team. Deadline approaches...team has to make some kind of move...bam he's traded.

and it's good for the players dealt