Flags Fly Forever: R.A. Dickey Trade "Imminent"?

Rumours continue to brew over the Toronto Blue Jays' possible acquisition of knuckleballer and Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets. The principal player going back is said to be Travis d'Arnaud, but it is widely believed that the deal will be larger than just a one-for-one swap and may even include Noah Syndergaard. At this point, I am almost inclined to believe that something will happen, possibly this evening. Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan has been the leading reporter of this trade and offered out these tweets this afternoon:

Source: Mets-Jays inching toward finish line. At least some players' medicals have been reviewed and OK'd. At this point, it's imminent.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 15, 2012

Two other executives who have asked on Travis d'Arnaud this offseason were told flat-out no. Shows you how badly Toronto wants R.A. Dickey.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 15, 2012

That second tweet is not too surprising, I think most of us knew that there would be a lot of interest surrounding catchers J.P. Arencibia and Travis d'Arnaud this offseason. I don't know how much it reveals whether general manager Alex Anthopolous had been pining for Dickey.

Passan also tweeted that the other players involved in this deal were unknown to him, but Mike Puma of the New York Post (alert!) reported that the Mets have "discussed" possibly getting top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard from the Blue Jays as well. Of course, keep in mind that "discussed" can simply mean that they floated his name in the negotiations. Along with Syndergaard, Puma reports that the Jays would also send over catcher John Buck and "another player" in exchange for Dickey, "possibly" 26-year old catcher Josh Thole, and "another player" in a possible seven-player swap. Blue Jays prospect Anthony Gose is now apparently not involved anymore.

It is hard for me to sit here and judge this rumoured combination of players involved when there are two "other players" that have yet to be identified, but I would sincerely hope that the "other player" coming back from the Mets had better be a high-impact (or at least a high-ceiling) player should the Jays trade away both their top catching and top pitching prospect. Names like Zach Wheeler, Matt Harvey, or Ike Davis would be nice, wouldn't it. Another big unknown is whether the Blue Jays and R.A. Dickey have agreed on anything regarding a contract extension, although the New York Times reported that someone "with knowledge of [Dickey's] feelings" have said that he wouldn't be against signing an extension with Toronto, but he won't want to play in 2013 without a secure contract through 2015.

Only thing to do is to sit and wait for further developments, but there is a certain disconcerting silence from major national sportswriters like Ken Rosenthal and Danny Knobler as well as Toronto's Shi Davidi. Where have their sources gone?