Blue Jays trade for R.A. Dickey, agree to terms on extension

This isn't Pirates-related, but it seems worthy of a thread here. The Mets have traded R.A. Dickey, Josh Thole, and a prospect to the Blue Jays for Travis d'Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard, John Buck and another prospect. The Jays subsequently agreed to terms with Dickey on a $25 million extension that will cover 2014 and 2015.

This is pretty interesting all-around. d'Arnaud (yes, Chase's brother) is ready to start at catcher, and he's one of the better position player prospects in baseball, having now hit well at Classes AA and AAA. Buck will presumably serve as an insurance policy or a backup to d'Arnaud. Syndergaard is a big righty with a plus fastball who dominated Class A last year at age 19. He's an excellent prospect. This is a really good haul for the Mets.

The Jays, meanwhile, now are clearly serious contenders in the A.L. East after adding Dickey, Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Melky Cabrera this offseason. The extension, which carries Dickey through his age 40 season, is risky, but not as risky as it would be if Dickey weren't a knuckleball pitcher. This is a very interesting trade for both teams.