RA Dickey

While the level of excitement in Toronto about baseball has not been this high since the World Series runs of 1992 and 1993, the level of expectation is considerably high. For close to two decades, franchises like the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers continuously had very high payrolls with no championship to show for it.

The 2012-13 MLB offseason has had its share of surprises.

One of the biggest surprises this offseason was the Los Angeles Angels signing of Josh Hamilton to a five-year, $125 million contract.

Surprising because, it seemed the Angels were relegated to bystander status after spending a combined $317 million on the Albert Pujois and C.J. Wilson contracts during the 2011 offseason.

Surprising because, the Texas Rangers allowed Hamilton to leave the club and join an AL West rival.

Not too long ago, the New York Mets went after the top-tier free agents as aggressively as the Yankees and Red Sox. Recently, with the departures of Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and R.A. Dickey, they have become the team known for shipping their starts out of town.

The New York Mets have sent R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays, and the identity of the franchise, into a state of flux, hoping to reach the playoffs by 2015.

Before signing with the New York Mets, R.A. Dickey was treading water at the Major League level, finding little success in Texas, Minnesota or Seattle with his knuckleball. 

The New York Mets are close to dealing reigning National League Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays, according to CBS Sportsline's Jon Heyman, who broke the news on Twitter early Saturday morning:

It appears the New York Mets have wasted no time in killing any goodwill with the fans by signing David Wright long term. With the trade of NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey potentially looming (per ESPN), we are once again reminded that the Mets have a talent for making the worst out of a good situation.

It would appear the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets have agreed on players for an R.A. Dickey trade, but according to Jon Heyman of CBS, stranger things have happened than a trade like this falling through. 

By all accounts, New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is one of the nicest guys around. That combined with his sick knuckleball and incredible life story account for why he's such a fan favorite.

But now is not the time for Dickey to be Mr. Nice Guy. Now is the time for him to bare his teeth and stomp his feet, and he needs to do these things where his employers can see him. 

There's a famous proverb that goes a little something like this:

"Every cloud has a silver lining." 

I argue that the strongest testament to this quote is the New York Mets of the 2012 season. Well, it could just as easily be applied to any Mets team since 2007, but I prefer to not dwell on the dark days of the past of my team and focus more on the dark days of the present!