Canada’s Globe and Mail reports that Stan Kasten is at or near the top of the Blue Jays wish list and that Kasten was recently in Toronto.

The list of candidates to be the next chief executive officer of the Toronto Blue Jays contains 35 to 40 names, according to Paul Beeston, who is conducting the job search for the American League club.

While the BlueJays’ interim CEO will not reveal the identity of any of the candidates, it is a good bet that Stan Kasten, the president of the Washington Nationals, is at or near the top of the list.

Beeston said the list of CEO candidates is still growing and that he has yet to conduct any formal interviews for the position being vacated by Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Godfrey, who is stepping down at the end of the calendar year.

However, according to a highly ranked Toronto sports executive, who asked that his name not be published, Kasten was in Toronto about three weeks ago. The executive said he would be stunned if Kasten’s visit did not have something to do with the vacant Blue Jays position.

“I can’t think of any other reason why he would be in Toronto,” the executive said.

Kasten could not be reached for comment.

The Blue Jays have said in the past that the ideal candidate for the job would have a baseball background, and Kasten does.

The New Jersey native has close to 30 years of experience in the sports administrative field.

Kasten was the first person in professional sports history to hold the position of president of three clubs simultaneously when he held that title with major-league baseball’s Atlanta Braves, the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers.

Kasten resigned from those jobs in 2003 to become the president of the Nationals.

Beeston, who attended yesterday’s meeting of the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, said the Blues Jays’ job is drawing strong interest from both Canadian and U.S. citizens.

Beeston said some of the names on the list would be familiar to many and some would not. He said he hopes to have the position filled before the Blue Jays head south for the start of spring training in February.

He added that taking up full-time residency in Toronto will be a requirement for the job.

…changeups
…our beautiful new stadium
…our memories at the old one
…Manny Acta
…Cantina Marina’s Cajun Corn Dogs
…Elijah Dukes, for growing up a lot and proving us all wrong
…Ryan Zimmerman, for giving us an Opening Night to remember forever
…Mark Teixeira and Scott Boras, for bringing Mark to D.C. and giving us a spectacular 2009 season (hey, a girl can dream)
…a special summer family that has become a year-round family.   We love you guys.
…Coach, Carlos, Antonio and all of the game-day staff that make each game, win or loss, enjoyable for us.
…Phillies Nation, for treating us to a night in the President’s Club.  We’re still grateful.
…Our bullpen, past and present, for signing autographs for the kids before every single game and throwing them balls in between innings.  There have to be more Saul Rivera autographed balls in the world than any other.
…Stan Kasten.
…The Odalis Perez vs. Angel Hernandez fued, for some entertainment in an otherwise depressing season. 
…for our excellent radio broadcast team.
…for XM’s MLB Home Plate.
…for your insightful comments, feedback, suggestions and criticism.  Thank you for reading. 
…to have met so many wonderful people since we started We’ve Got Heart
And…to have a baseball team in Washington D.C.

What are you thankful for?

Rosenthal says that the Oakland A’s and Billy Beane have a serious interest in Nick Johnson, a fragile OBP machine. They have requested his medical records.

Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reports that Odalis Perez is considering a 2-3 year offer from the Nationals and that he intends to stay in DC.

On the other hand, reports received from the headquarters of the Dominican pitcher Odalis Perez indicated that the southpaw has received several offers (including from the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox), but their goal is to stay with the Washington Nationals.

“Mi agente está trabajando con los Nacionales. Tenemos una oferta por dos o tres años y es cuestión de afinar detalles”, dijo Pérez a ESPNdeportes.com el lunes. “My agent is working with National. We have an offer for two or three years and is subject to fine-tune details,” Perez said to ESPNdeportes.com on Monday.

Perez is 31 and posted a 4.34 ERA for the Nats this year.

MLB Trade Rumors had the link.

Dave at Bottom Feeder Baseball and I have been talking this morning about whether RHP Ryan Wagner ever left the organization.  Yesterday, Peter Gammons wrote that Wagner was eligible for the Rule V Draft and Dave quickly pointed to NFA to back that up.  So despite the official release and an AP story reporting that Wagner elected free agency when being outrighted to Syracuse, in fact he just accepted the assignment.  Dave pointed out the transaction history here.

I also wanted to encourage you to read this feature piece on Kim Ng.  It talks about her style and impressive qualifications to be the first female general manager.

From the Athletics:

Chris Schroder, a veteran right-handed reliever who pitched for the Washington Nationals the past three seasons, has signed a major league contract with the Oakland Athletics, the club announced today.

The A’s also announced that they have selected RHP Ryan Webb to their 40-man roster. His addition increases the team’s total to 39 players on the current 40-man roster.

Schroder, a minor league free agent, is a 30-year-old relief specialist who posted a 2-5 mark and 4.46 ERA in 62 major league career appearances with Washington in 2006-08. The 6-1, 210-pound Okarche, Okla. native saw limited duty with the Nationals last season, recording a 0-0 mark with a 5.40 ERA in 5.0 innings over four relief outings. He also went 5-4 with a 3.97 ERA in 43 appearances with Washington’s Triple-A affiliate Columbus last year.

A former 19th round selection by the Nationals in the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Schroder enjoyed his best big league season to date in 2007 when he reeled off a 3.18 ERA and allowed only 36 hits in 45.1 innings over 37 relief appearances, striking out 43 while walking 15 batters and registering a 2-3 record. He has proven to be quite tough on right-handed hitters during his major league career, limiting them to a .193 batting average (34 for 176) over the past three seasons.

Webb, a 22-year-old starting pitcher in the A’s minor league system, earned a 9-8 record and 5.19 ERA in 25 games, 22 starts, for Double-A Midland in 2008. He struck out 94, walked 44 and allowed 165 hits in 130 innings for Midland.

From the Nationals:

Washington Nationals left-handed pitcher John Lannan today was named to the 50th Annual Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team. Lannan was one of 10 players to earn the citation, which annually recognizes one rookie for each position on the field, as well as the top right-handed and left-handed pitchers.

The 24-year-old turned in one of the top rookie seasons in franchise history, going 9-15 with a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts. Lannan led all big league rookies and tied for eighth in the NL with 21 quality starts, which represented the third-highest total ever by a Washington Nationals (2005-08) pitcher and tied for the fifth-highest rookie total in the past 23 years, beginning with the 1986 season. He finished among this season’s freshman leaders in wins (tied for sixth), ERA (fourth) and starts (tied for third), while also ranking among the top rookies with 182.0 innings (fifth), 112 strikeouts (fifth) and a .252 batting average against (third).

Lannan has a career mark of 11-17 with a 3.95 ERA in 37 starts. He was selected by the Nationals in the 11th round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of Siena (NY) College.

All Star Team:

Catcher Geovany Soto of Chicago; First baseman Joey Votto of Cincinnati; second baseman Alexei Ramirez of the White Sox; third baseman Evan Longoria of Tampa Bay; shortstop Mike Aviles of Kansas City; and outfielders Jay Bruce of Cincinnati, Denard Span of Minnesota and David Murphy of Texas.  Oakland’s Brad Ziegler and Washington’s John Lannan were named the top rookie pitchers.

In the DR:

Anderson Hernandez is racking up triples in the Dominican League.  He was 3 for 4 last night with his 5th triple in 27 games.   He’s hitting .414 with a 9 game hitting streak.  Six of those were multi-hit games.  Licey won 6-5, maintaining their second place tie with Azucareros del Este.

In Puerto Rico:

Nationals prospect Jorge Padilla hit a grand slam and drove in six runs for the first place Lobos.  Justin Maxwell’s fallen into a brief 1 for 16 slump with 7 strike outs.

In Venzuela, Alberto Gonzalez returned to the lineup after missing a week.  He went 1 for 4 with an RBI in the 9-6 win.

In Arizona, the Saguaros lost 4-7. Davis was 1 for 4 with a double.  Rhinehart went 2 for 4 with a double,  a homer and 2 RBI.  VanAllen pitched 5 scoreless innings, giving up only 2 hits while striking out 6.

Good news!

The Nationals just sent an email out to season ticket holders confirming that the Nats Express will continue FREE service in the 2009 season.

Happy 61st Birthday to Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Development Bob Boone.