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OFFSEASON PLAYER MOVEMENT

Players signed	Players lost
LHP Doug Creek (free agent)	RHP Chris Carpenter (refused assignment)
RHP Jeff Tam (free agent)	LHP Mike Sirotka (refused assignment)
C Greg Myers (free agent)
Acquired via trade	Players traded
RHP Cory Lidle (Athletics)	INF Mike Rouse, RHP Chris Mowday

Complete Player Movement

Lidle acquired from A's


	Lidle

The A's traded right-handed pitcher Cory Lidle to the Blue Jays on Nov. 16 for two minor leaguers -- infielder Mike Rouse and right-handed pitcher Chris Mowday. Lidle was the No. 4 starter in Oakland's talented rotation the past two seasons behind the young, high-profile trio of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and AL Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito. Lidle was a career reliever before the A's gave him a regular spot in the rotation, but he won 21 games over his two years in Oakland.

Gammons: A dead deal | Diamond notes

Hinske claims rookie award


	Hinske had 24 homers and 84 RBI last season.

Third baseman Eric Hinske won the AL Rookie of the Year award on Nov. 4, gathering 19 of 28 first-place votes. He hit .279 with 24 homers and 84 RBI. Baltimore right-hander Rodrigo Lopez, who went 15-9 with a 3.57 ERA, was second with nine firsts, 17 seconds and one third for 97 points. Hinske, 25, is Toronto's first player to win the award outright. Alfredo Griffin tied Minnesota's John Castino in the 1979 rookie voting. "I just wanted to be staying in the big leagues the whole year," said Hinske, acquired from Oakland in the deal that sent closer Billy Koch to the Athletics. "The success I had was pretty surprising for me."

Jennings makes all-rookie team

Creek signs one-year deal


	Creek

The Blue Jays signed left-handed pitcher Doug Creek to a one-year contract on Oct. 29. Creek went 3-2 with a 5.82 ERA in 52 relief appearances for Seattle and Tampa Bay this past season. The Mariners purchased Creek's contract from the Devil Rays on July 24 after Tampa Bay designated him for assignment. Creek, 33, is 7-14 with a 5.29 ERA in 238 career games. He made his major-league debut with St. Louis in 1995 and has played for the Giants, Cubs and Devil Rays, besides spending the 1998 season with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan.

AL East: Five key questions

NEWS AND NOTES

The Blue Jays signed C Greg Myers to a one-year, $800,000 contract Dec. 11.
One of the most watched players in Puerto Rico this winter is SS Felipe Lopez, who figures to be an ex-Blue Jay by the time the winter meetings wrap up. Among the teams interested: the Orioles, who are in the market for a shortstop to replace Mike Bordick, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported.
To get Cory Lidle as its prospective No. 2 starter behind Roy Halladay, Toronto not only had to pick up all of Lidle's $4.8-million salary for next year, it had to kick in another $250,000 due Lidle if he got traded this winter, Stark reported.
OF Bruce Aven and RHP Josh Towers agreed Nov. 8 to minor-league contracts and were invited to spring training. Aven, 30, hit .188 in seven games with Cleveland this season. Towers, 25, went 0-3 with a 7.90 ERA in five games with the Orioles before being optioned to Triple-A Rochester on May 2.
INF Howie Clark and OF Rob Ryan signed with the Blue Jays as minor league free agents Nov. 5. Both received invitations to spring training.
Luke Prokopec has returned to the Dodgers. The 24-year-old Australian right-hander, traded by Los Angeles to the Toronto, agreed Nov. 4 to a two-year, minor league contract with the Dodgers. Prokopec was 2-9 with a 6.78 ERA in 22 games (12 starts) for the Blue Jays before surgery on his right shoulder Sept. 14.
The Blue Jays signed veteran reliever Jeff Tam to a one-year contract Nov. 1. In 207 major league games, Tam has posted a 23-22 record with a 3.18 ERA while pitching for the Mets (1998), Indians (1999), Yankees (1999) and the Athletics (2000-02).
The Blue Jays signed free-agent pitchers Doug Linton and Trever Miller on Oct. 30. Both received a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Linton went 9-11 with a 2.53 ERA in 28 starts for Atlanta's Triple-A affiliate in Richmond last season; Miller went 9-5 with a 6.18 ERA in 65 games with Cincinnati's Triple-A affiliate in Louisville.
LHP Mike Sirotka agreed to a minor-league contract with the Cubs on Oct. 30 and was invited to spring training as a non-roster player. Sirotka, a 31-year-old left-hander, never pitched for Toronto after being acquired from the White Sox in January 2001 in the David Wells trade. He had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder on April 24, 2001.

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2002 AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
TEAM	W	L	PCT	GB
New York	103	58	.640	-
Boston	93	69	.574	10.5
Toronto	78	84	.481	25.5
Baltimore	67	95	.414	36.5
Tampa Bay	55	106	.342	48.0
Complete Standings


AVG	S. Stewart	.303
HR	C. Delgado	33
RBI	C. Delgado	108
RUN	2 tied @	103
SB	S. Stewart	14
WIN	R. Halladay	19
SV	K. Escobar	38
ERA	R. Halladay	2.93
Complete Team Statistics: Batting \| Pitching


C	K. Huckaby	ROTATION
1B	C. Delgado	R. Halladay
2B	O. Hudson	E. Loaiza
3B	E. Hinske	P. Walker
SS	C. Woodward	M. Hendrickson
LF	S. Stewart	J. Miller
CF	V. Wells	CLOSER
RF	J. Cruz	K. Escobar
DH	J. Phelps

Blue Jays Official Batting Practice Cap Our Price: $24.99	Blue Jays Authentic Batting Jersey Our Price: $69.99
View all team products


Nov 21: Added catcher Guillermo Quiroz, infielder Dominic Rich, outfielder Alexis Rios and pitchers Vinny Chulk, Diegomar Markwell and Francisco Rosario to the 40-man roster.
Nov 17: Acquired pitcher Cory Lidle from the Oakland Athletics for infielder Mike Rouse and pitcher Chris Mowday.
Complete Team Transactions


No significant injuries.