What we know so far

You may have heard about the potential 3-team trade that is on the verge of being finalized. It does have a Timber Rattlers connection.

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times pointed to this Jayson Stark article at ESPN yesterday. The Stark article was updated this morning, so that is where I'll link.

A couple of companion deals that would send Roy Halladay to Philadelphia and Cliff Lee to Seattle are "close" but "not done," according to two sources familiar with the negotiations.

As part of the deals, Halladay would agree to a three-year extension through 2013, with a vesting option that could lengthen the deal by another year or two, one source said. The extension is expected to guarantee Halladay in the neighborhood of $60 million, plus the $15.75 million he would make in 2010, the final year of his current contract.

The specifics of the trades took some twists and turns on Monday. The latest structure would send three Phillies -- outfielder Michael Taylor, catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud and pitcher Kyle Drabek -- to Toronto, sources said.

Under that scenario, the Phillies would not have to include their top position-player prospect, Domonic Brown, and they would receive Seattle's top pitching prospect, Phillippe Aumont, who originally appeared ticketed for Toronto.

Why is Aumont, a Rattler in 2007, included in this deal? Baker explains here:

Aumont had several closer-type candidates either right with him or ahead of him, including David Aardsma, Mark Lowe, Shawn Kelley and Josh Fields.

Baker also throws out some other potential farmhands that could be part of the deal in that post. There is also this post that is about Aumont's '07 Rattler teammate, Juan Ramirez. Well, at least, that's how Rattlers fans remember him. He now goes by JC or Juan Carlos Ramirez.

We're seeing all kinds of names thrown about as some of those who could be dealt in the Cliff Lee blockbuster. Here's another to add to your list that I've now heard from a couple of places.

Class A starting pitcher J.C. Ramirez (also known as Juan Ramirez).

Ramirez was recently added to Seattle's 40-man roster and was listed by Baseball America's as the No. 5 overall prospect in the organization heading into this coming season. He was a part of that Class A High Desert juggernaut we told you about from this past season. The native of Nicaragua is only 21 and went 8-10 with a 5.12 ERA last season.

But like I said, he's only 21. And at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, he's a big, imposing guy with a lot of appeal. He struck out 111 guys in 142 1/3 innings while walking 53.

He's a name I'm hearing now. Not the only name, but one of them.

For the amount of time it took me to put this post together, the deal is probably finalized by now, but if there are updates, I'll pass them along later today.