Here's the complete list of Silver Slugger winners from MLB.com. It's really a prestigious award; rarely is one of the winners placed on irrevocable waivers the same day.

Shocking and bold move by Boston. They certainly don't have an offensive problem if they replace Ramirez with a modest free agent and get two more starting pitchers with the freed money.

Escobar gets arbitration. If he's ranked as a reliever by ESB then $5 million would probably be the most he'd get in arbitration despite whatever protests his agent made after a half season of generally good starts.

Lidle despite his status as a Type A is just too much of a risk to give arbitration to; if the market continues as it did last season then clubs are going to hold out to get Lidle types cheap. He might be ideal rotation filler for teams in pitching parks like the Giants or Dodgers. I just don't feel he's a good fit on turf; not with the Jays defence as it currently stands.

The complete list of 'A' players is in the print edition of USA Today. I wasn't able to find those online anywhere.

Cliff Pollitte is an A player!

From Hal Bodley's article on USA Today.com:

Flaws in the system are evident in the rankings of AL relievers. Oakland's Keith Foulke (91.464) was first, with Boston's Byung-Hyun Kim (89.828) second and the Yankees' Mariano Rivera (88.871) third. While Rivera was first in wins plus saves, fourth in strikeouts per walk ratio and fifth in ERA, he was 20th in relief appearances, 26th in innings and 26th in hits per nine innings.

I'm not sure why this "proves" the system is flawed, but it's easy to forget that it covers two years. That's why Politte, who held AL batters under .200 in 2002 and fanned one per inning, is rated where he is, and it's why Barry Zito remains second to Doc among AL pitchers. Mulder and Hudson are third and fourth, by the way.

Speaking of A's hurlers, what happens now that coach Rick Peterson has moved on?

Terrific news that Escobar is an A guy. If he departs, then that's one first-round and one supplemental first-round pick (assuming the signing team picks in the lower half of the first round) in the bank. I now won't feel quite as bad if he leaves via the free-agent route.

You know, I'd be half-tempted to offer Lidle arbitration too. Someone suggested here the other day that Lidle was a pretty good pitcher before this season (and wasn't dreadful in the first half) and has a pretty decent shot at a bounce-back year. And if he's offered arbitration and goes to a lower-half first-round team ... well, can you imagine the Jays' braintrust with five first-round picks?

Nice as it is to dream, though, I don't think I would pull the trigger. Lidle knows he won't get many offers as good as what he'll get in arbitration, and the fact that he'll cost a first-rounder will scare off other would-be signees; Lidle's a buy-low, sell-high guy right now. And even if the club did have five first-rounders, they then have to sign them all, and even in this age of regulated signing bonuses, that's more cash than the Jays probably have.

Offering Politte arbitration, though? That would be interesting....

As far as I'm concerned, Escobar being named a Type A seals the deal. He won't be back. JP will offer arbitration, and make a very modest contract offer. Kelvim will test the market and find a buyer. JP will be happy and Kelvim will be happy. A win-win situation if I ever saw one.

Politte isn't a free agent; the choice is to non-tender him, work out a deal or go to arbitration.

Offering Politte arbitration, though? That would be interesting....

The Jays have the medical reports, and we don't. I believe Politte's shoulder was "tight" all year and started to "hurt" (ballplayer euphemism for being unable to scratch your head) in May, right about the time he was promoted. Even after his DL stint, he never got back the fastball he was blowing by people in 2002, the one that hitters say "rises" because it seems to defy gravity.

It may have been more about trying to pitch through the pain than any fear of working the ninth inning, but Cliff's agonized facial expressions on the mound and tortured post-game comments left the impression that he's far more comfortable as a setup man than a closer. Even if he's supposedly 100%, unless he'll accept a cut to something like $600,000 with incentives, I'd have to let him go.

The AL and NL lists are on the Toronto Sun site.

Mike Bordick is a B player; he declared free agency as a formality, so the Jays should make him a qualifying offer just in case he changes his mind about retirement and signs somewhere else.

Pat Hentgen is a free agent without compensation -- I hope J.P. talks to him at the earliest opportunity (November 10).

If the Jays ever find themselves in a position to have five first round draft picks, I would hope money wouldn't be much of an obstacle. JP has said they would take a risk on a higher signing bonus for the right player and if he's presented with a lot of picks I would hope he'd take the best players available. That's not going to happen very often so hopefully Rogers would loosen the purse strings.

All the same, being guaranteed two extra picks before the 3rd round would be big for 2004. And righthanded pitching seems to be the strength of the upcoming draft...though maybe the Jays can benefit from taking hitters if the rest of the clubs focus on pitching.

Doc is also the recipient of the 2003 Satchel Paige Award for AL Pitcher of the Year, as chosen by the The NLBM (Negro Leagues Baseball Museum).