3 tidbits on the Jays from Peter Gammons:

"The Braves worked hard after Escobar, but wouldn't trade Adam Wainwright."

"The Blue Jays believe they can sign Escobar after the season, so if they couldn't get a top package for him, they wanted assurances that the team that traded for him wouldn't offer arbitration, so re-signing him wouldn't have cost draft picks."

"Has anyone noticed that all of a sudden with Jason Arnold, Dustin Magowan and David Bush in Syracuse and New Haven that the Jays are close to having a young pitching bonanza?"

According to John Sickels , in Dec. 2002, "Wainwright can, in my opinion, be a No. 1 starter in the majors, although he also needs a full dose of Double-A/Triple-A...". I don't know how he's done since then, but that would have been an interesting deal.

Robert, love the non sequitur headline.

Except for the Sox and Yankees series, I've been looking forward to this game more than any other game so far this year. I don't just want the Jays to beat the Rays, I want them humiliated as brutally and lengthily as possible.

Stop striking out, Josh! That's not inflicting lengthy brutality at all!

Someone please get a hit with a runner on base. Thanks.

Stop striking out, I mean it!

Seriously, I have no idea, but "Sparky" Johnson is in the starting lineup isn't he?

What is the score anywayz?

Stop striking out, I mean it!

Anybody got a peanut?

0-0 in the 5th.

Wow. What a catch by Rocco. On the D-Rays broadcast, it was like a lightning bolt came into the picture and this blur caught the ball.

Are we enjoying Lidle's second half renaissance yet?

Cory Lidle (in a fake, hoity toity accent): "Hello, my name is Mr. Sturtze. I believe you have a letter for me."

Postal Guy: "Ok, Mr. Sturtze. Uh, what's your first name?"

Cory Lidle (after a dramatic pause): "I don't know."

What can we learn from this post? Cory Lidle can't do a very good impression of Tanyon Sturtze, so he should quit pitching like him.

Maybe Tanyon should throw underhand. It's not like throwing overhand is helping him too much.

I hope he's the one that gets dumped when Walker comes back. He's useless.

It has quieted down to zero in these game threads since the Jays started their losing slide!

http://economics.about.com
I'm on vacation now, so I don't have time to post here. If I was working, tho... :)

Is anyone going to the 680 News "Day at the Races" at Woodbine this weekend?

Mike

Are we enjoying Lidle's second half renaissance yet?

I was always skeptical of his second half magic. If you flip a coin 2 times and it comes up heads both times it doesn't mean the 3rd time is anymore likely to be heads.

Pitching obviously isn't as random as a coin flip, but doing something twice in a row is probably more random than it is a trend.

I wasn't contributing to the game thread because I was experimenting with actually being away from my computer for a period of time. Reliable sources tell me that this is healthy for me. :-)

I was following the game on the radio until Lidle fell behind 4-0, at which point I decided that the whole thing was too depressing. In retrospect, this turned out to be a good call.

Maybe Sturtze finds it demeaning to pitch in blowouts, and thinks that, as an established pitcher, he deserves to be treated with more respect. (That was sarcasm, as I hope you noticed - I assume that he will be punted off the roster with great force as soon as Walker is ready to go. At which point we will all be doing little tap-dances of celebration.)

Are we enjoying Lidle's second half renaissance yet?

Tosca said Cory had the best stuff he's had all year. His offence was forcing him to pitch a shutout, and his defence let him down four times in the fifth, so I'm inclined to cut him some slack for the sixth inning. I'm not forgetting that he was terrible for several weeks, but he has improved recently.

It has quieted down to zero in these game threads since the Jays started their losing slide!

Especially on the long weekend. That's understandable, as many people were out of town. Every team has a percentage of fans best described as front-runners, who don't seem to realize that a bad day at the ballpark is better than a good day almost anywhere else.

I really want to be excited about the future, the pitchers at New Haven have been lights out and after a 3 inning 3 hit 4 K 0BB outing Vermilyea still has a 0.00 ERA at Dunedin....Pitching is around the corner!!!

What's the timeline on Vermilyea contributing in the majors? Do you think he should stick with long, Johan Santana-like relief work or go to the rotation with the big club?

Donkit,

For some reason Vermilyea prefers to come out of the bullpen. He actually wants to be a long relief guy. But with the numbers he's putting up, and the incentive to make more money as a starter, I'm sure he can be convinced otherwise.

Hello Gentlemen.
Great sight and I am happy I found it. Caught the lowlights on tsn (I was aorking at the time). Do you remember those unbelievably high batting averages with men in scoring position not too long ago. Well the god of averages has come back to bight the Blue Birds in the butt.

Yeah, Jason, I think they showed a graphoc with Delgado and Wells first and second (or third) and Myers fifth. Baseball Gods didn't like us getting too cocky, I guess.

Vinny Chulk had another good outing last night. That is two or three in a row now. Maybe if he keeps it going he will get a September call-up.

Maybe Tanyon should throw underhand
It might make logistical sense. If he's going to get hit every time out, then why give the ball any momentum? This way he might have a better shot at keeping the ball in the park...but I conceed he's still just hoping that it's hit at someone.

Why didn't (am I correct in asuming that after July 31st players cannot be waived?) the Jays waive Sturtze in favour of a roster spot for a AAA pitcher who could use MLB innings?

A: The Jay's can continue to place players on waivers throughout the year. The waiver process has not changed. The 31st deadline is merely the "trading deadline" whereby a player must clear waivers before he is traded now.

Has anyone found a site that explains the ins and outs of the transaction wire? I mean a comprehensive site that explains the waiver wire, DL, 40 man rosters, and so on. I've scoured MLB.com without success.

So who do we think gets Spetember call-ups? How many are we allowed? I'm thinking Arnold, Cash, and Chulk are the three leading candidates. Any more room (with the emminent release of Sturtze, that frees an extra spot) gonna be filled with good prospects? Maybe Pond?

J.P. has said that he's going to leave Arnold in Syracuse for the rest of the year and will battle for a rotation spot in spring training. I think that Cash coming up is a given, since they already started his arb clock last year. As for Chulk, Smith, and the rest of the AAA fodder, I say 5-6 of them will come up in September. My guess: Pond, Chulk, Smith, Alvarez, Werth and one of Bowles/Cassidy, plus Cash.

Why not bring up that Brian Bowles guy from Syracuse as a reliever? His stuff's been pretty good down there, and it couldn't be any worse than the crud we've been seeing lately....

Why not bring up that Brian Bowles guy from Syracuse as a reliever? His stuff's been pretty good down there, and it couldn't be any worse than the crud we've been seeing lately....

I'd say we'll see everyone(that has any chance of sticking around) that will have to be protected on the 40 man roster this winter, so as to get a look see on who to use the spots on. I guess that means Brents list though I'd say both Bowles and Cassidy will be here, would we also not see a return of Wiggins.....Tosca would probably like to use all the extra spots on pitchers----imagine all the possibilities for changes.....no first pitch strike, ok pitching change.....I think Tosca would be in heaven!!

Has anyone found a site that explains the ins and outs of the transaction wire?

Christian, you can download a pdf version of the CBA from the MLBPA Web site (see "Basic Agreement" on the sidebar) but you might want to start with Rob Neyer's Transactions Primer for an overview.

Pond is not on the 40 man roster. If the Jays want to call him up they have to clear a spot for him. If they really like him they will do it. If they don't then they are writing him off.

Maybe Pond is worth Sturtze's spot right now. He's old enough that what you see, is pretty much what they'll get (and there's a chance it'll be pretty good). Pinch hitting, with a , say, two starts a week (one at DH spelling Phelps, and maybe another there or at first). I think it would be worth it. Not that Sturtze is helping us at all...

Diegomar Markwell is on the 40-man and could be deleted without any concerns.

Also, I am only counting 42 on the 40-man with three on the 60-day DL (File, Walker, Creek), though Walker and File may have to come off that list sometime soon.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but Simod Pond == Luis Lopez.

Older, line drive hitter who doesn't hit enough to play 1st, but doesn't have enough D to play 3B.

I hope he breaks through as well -- he's come from nowhere in the last few years and posted some pretty nice numbers.

Vermilyea has been astoundingly good, especially for such a low draft pick (9th round).

Vince Perkins continues to post a remarkable ERA for someone who has no idea where the ball is going. Or maybe the break on his slider is so hellish that A-ball umps don't call it for strikes?

I don't expect Pond to be any more than a fringe major leaguer, but with the number she has put up there is a CHANCE he'll be an everyday guy as , say, a DH/1B type. Or a guy who gets 65 starts spelling 1B, DH, and MAYBE 3B and pinch hits. But likely, he'll be a AAAA guy.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but Simod Pond == Luis Lopez.

It's possible that Pond is a late bloomer but I have to more or less agree with Jacko here. (But when don't I agree with Michael Jackson? Don't worry Michael, I'm looking at the man in the mirror and I'm asking him to change his ways.)

The only things that Pond has going for him over Lopez is a little more power, the fact that he doesn't have the "undrafted out of college" tag on him and his citizenship. The Jays would be smart to have a BC boy on the roster.