Mike, how 'bout this hockey headline, perhaps from a New Jersey newspaper:

"The Devil inside the crease: Martin Brodeur is in excess of playoff excellence."

http://economics.about.com
You, sir, are the world's greatest champion! One million points, which is clearly larger than 3.

Can we use player names? Bartolo Colon provides myriad lowbrow possibilities.

http://economics.about.com
Can we use player names? Bartolo Colon provides myriad lowbrow possibilities.

Sure.. just try and keep it PG13. :)

just try and keep it PG13. :)

Can you say this on television?

Bears squeeze out the Browns!

From the comedy troupe The Frantics.

http://economics.about.com
From the comedy troupe The Frantics.

See point #2 in the top of the thread. :)

Edmonton wins on the road: "Oilers drill in Mighty Ducks' habitat"

I'm just gonna stay away from 'Bear' altogether.

"Running of the Bulls: Smith named Chicago GM"

"Thrashers Combine to Harvest win over Habs"

"Jackson leads Patriots to victory in New Orleans"

"Leafs raked by Rangers"

"Kings see Stars in Los Angeles"

There's gotta be one with the Senators, but I can't come up with anything really good.

Damn, I was too slow on the Frantics ("I get urges in my areas") and the song.

Senators take advantage of Canucks' give-aways, cruise to Florida on high.

"Speier Caps Towers' Win".

I agree with Hermansen being called up, but I think Pond should be on the team over Dave Berg. I’d rather have a potent left handed batter on the bench than a 2nd reserve middle infielder. Gomez should be able to handle 2nd or SS, and played 18 games at 3rd for the Twins last year. Both he and Berg are right handed, so in my mind they’re essentially the same player.

I’m a bit out of the loop. Is Speier the closer now until he proves he can’t do it?

Garret Anderson signing a 4yr $48 million extension with the Angels yesterday. He's a good person to look at to determine what Delagdo could get next year. They're both 31 (although for some reason Carlos seems way older...weird), Anderson's production over the last 5 yrs has been great. I'd say Delgado is a better offensive player than Anderson, but Anderson is defensive asset. The Jays could afford to give Delgado similar money to what Anderson is getting in this contract, and I don't think it would be a bad deal for either Delgado or the team.

They're both 31 (although for some reason Carlos seems way older...weird),

When I heard about this deal I was surprised to find that Anderson was only 31. Not sure why I had him pegged as a mid-30's guy.

I love a good Josh Towers quote. How many pitchers would assess themselves as "terrible"?

Note to "Royce"/"Ping Pong"... e-mail me at craig@battersbox.ca and let me know why I should un-ban you.

12 Million for Delgado would be good to me (in that I think the team can do it) and I think that is about what he shoud be getting too, but I can't see him taking that big a hit in salary in the middle of his very productive years, in order to stay with a team that has an average chance of ever getting him to the playoffs. Sad to say, I see Phelps at 1B next year and JFG and others at DH. Please, please tell me I am wrong.

Jonathan: Well, who's going to give him more than that? I can't see anybody going that high. The Yankees might not have a problem with the money, but they don't have room at first base/DH, really.

Delgado may stay or he may go, but either way I think he's taking a big hit.

Mets? Dodgers? Seattle's gonna need a new 1B by way of either Edgar and/or Olerud's decline/retire and the freed up money as a result. Boston too...Ortiz will be a FA as will other hitters and will surely have the money to throw at him. Big hitting 1Bmen like Delgado will never have a hard time finding a market, even when their best days are over! (aka Giambi)

I'm of the opinion that he won't be resigned. I love the guy, but I can't see us A: committing that kind of money to first base or B: competing with somebody that WILL give him that kind of money.

So just for the hell of it - let's skip ahead to the offseason and imagine what JP will do with the leftover money - let's say 15-19 million. Who's available this year? What needs do you address?

Looks like Ordonez - a similar offensive force to Carlos - is close to signing with the White Sox for $14 mil per. Whether Rogers okays it or not is TBD but I'd think Carlos would definitely sign for something between Anderson's $12 and Magglio's $14 mil. It would seem to be a waste to continue to keep a young talent like Phelps at DH for a lot longer though.

On Rotoworld baseball site it noted that the Jays have sent Simon Pond back to AAA and have purchased the contract of Chad Hermansen for the Jays as a backup outfielder.

There goes our Canadian content, a really great hitter, and a humble, hard-working guy!

So, in the interest of today's Headline Writing Challenge (tm), that'd be ...

Pond Sinks; Chad Hanging Around

Is David McCarty still around? How about a game in Cincinnati in which he ALMOST hits a walkoff homer?

McCarty Propagates Reds' Scare

Eddie Zosky, it's way too early to know what the team's needs for 2005 are likely to be. At every position, they have players signed or prospects who may or may not be ready to contribute by 2005. Check back in 3-6 months, and then we'll have a better idea.

There goes our Canadian content, a really great hitter, and a humble, hard-working guy!

Well said, Jim854. Too bad Pond couldn't switch-hit. If he doesn't get called back up, our Olympic team just got a lot better.

Hermanson is now the 39th man on the roster, right?

Halladay, Battista, Wells and Hinske will eat up a lot of the savings on Delgado's salary over the next few years as their contracts are back-loaded. The amount of money that is available to sign Delgado is dependant on the number of young cheap prospects the Jays can plug in starting next year and of course if Rogers raises the payroll. I think there's a spreadsheet somewhere with salary commitments over the next few years.

Eddie Zosky, it's way too early to know what the team's needs for 2005 are likely to be. At every position, they have players signed or prospects who may or may not be ready to contribute by 2005. Check back in 3-6 months, and then we'll have a better idea.

Boourns! ;-) I'm not asking for a written report, I'm just anxious to hear some dialogue. How can you talk about re-signing Delgado without talking about alternative ways to spend the money.

Or would you rather talk about the skateboarding dog

That skateboarding dog is brilliant. Thanks for the link Eddie.

Personally, any discussion about whether or not to keep Delgado is premature. At the end of the year, the team will know so much more. We need to know whether Phelps can handle first, whether JF Griffin can hit enough to make the 2005 roster, and just how much of a prospect Big Vito is.

If there isn't enough development out of those three then the Jays would be wise to talk to Delgado about staying. Personally, I think we'll see positive development from all three that, unlike the Star, I won't whine and cry when Delgado moves on.

Luckily, Delgado is not clamouring for an extension at the moment and JP has been honest that no discussion will take place until the season ends.

OK, OK, Eddie. Idle speculation time. If Delgado leaves, the Jays might have some money to pump into a starter, assuming that only one of McGowan/Bush/Arnold/Rosario are ready in 2005.

Personally, I'd rather that they kept Delgado and continue on with the strategy of sifting through pitchers to accompany Halladay/Batista/Lilly in the rotation of 05, rather than attempting to sign a big name on the FA market.

Following up on former Jays:

From Lee Sinin's ATM Reports today

"The Dodgers re-signed P Tanyon Sturtze to a minor league contract.
Late in spring training, the Dodgers released him, at his request, so he could try to catch up somewhere else. The Marlins signed him, but then released him, so he's returning to the Dodgers system.

The Dodgers placed OF Jayson Werth on the 15 day DL, retroactive to April 6, and called up OF Chin-Feng Chen.
Werth has a strained oblique muscle. He has -4 RCAA/.674 OPS in 42 career games, including 0 for 1 in 1 game in 2004"

Forget re-signing anyone.

Given this off-season's crop of free agents, would you prefer that JP bid around $13 million for Delgado, or use the money elsewhere? I'm not sure I know the answer, because Delgado's pretty good. But the answer to the question 'will I stay invested in this player?' should be identical to the answer to the question 'would I sign this player if he were a free agent coming from another team?'

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/stories/passion20040322
From an actual Yahoo headline in the fall of 2002:

"Colon Blows into Windy City"

Unrelated to baseball, this recent CBC headline made me howl. COMN.

It's too bad Pond went down, but he really was a fourth outfielder in name only. Hermanson has a much better glove and has been pounding the ball since he arrived in the organization. What I don't really understand is why Pond made the trip north at all if the team wasn't going to use him and if they didn't consider him a true outfielder. This has to be disappointing for the young man, but hopefully he'll continue to stay positive, as he's done throughout his career. It's possible that another team is looking to acquire him and the organization wants him to get full-time showcase work. One way or another, I'm certain he'll be back in the majors before long.

I'm glad Hermanson's up, but query how much playing time any extra outfielder will get these days; Tosca hasn't used his bench much (perhaps understandable; at 2-5, you don't want to be seen sitting your regulars). I'd like to see Delgado get a day off every 10-12 games or so, and I'd like to see Reed Johnson grab some pine about as often so as not to overexpose him. Cat needs some bench time too.

Ex-Jay Brian Cooper is actually starting for San Francisco today. That can't possibly be a good sign for their playoff hopes...

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3022716&l_id=&t_id=
Douglass down, Frasor up. COMN.

Frasor up, Douglas down

Hopefully we can keep Frasor away from Justin Morneau.

By the way, how many pitchers make their major-league debut with only 4 innings at AAA?

Sean Douglass cleared waivers, which is good news. This was all a rather nice piece of roster management by J.P. to gain some extra AAAA players for depth. I get the feeling that Frasor may not be here long, though - cup of coffee and then back to Syracuse for a guy who can start when needed.

If someone were to get hurt, and the Jays needed a starter on short notice, they'd have to get someone from Syracuse, unless it's Terry Adams.

Can't believe that happened given Douglass's work yesterday. Man, rapid changes between AAA and Toronto. Douglass impressed yesterday, but I figure it's ok because I am curious to see Frasor.

I have to post this link to some awesome video from FOX.

Coolest. Thing. Ever.

Also, the video is provided by "Les Duffyducks", a French baseball team. I just thought that was neat.

*chuckles* ... The Frantics, eh? Can never say "urge" or "area' the same way after hearing them.

I have to post this link to some awesome video from FOX.

They were talking about this on the Dan Patrick show today. I agree -this is some amazing technology. Remember what football was like before the first down and scrimmage markers? If used in the right circumstances, this should add a lot of value to the telecast without making it seem gimmicky. It should give newcomers a better understanding of what's going on out there. Very cool in my opinion.

On the other hand, I never liked the fox glow pucks.

Thanks Craig.

I posted this in the minor report, but I'll put my thoughts up again, cause I'm lazy :)

Re: Frasor

Wow, that's kinda outta left field, especially with Hentgen not performing overly well as of late. As weird as it sounds, and I'll prolly get flamed for it, I'd rather send Hentgen down for a few starts and try to work out his arm and call up either Miller or have Douglass try to take them 5 innings til the pen can take over. The pen seems to be the strong suit so far, why they're sending down someone who can give you 3-5 innings (especially with yesterday's very solid outing) is kinda weird, unless they're trying to get Towers some pen work before the fifth spot opens up.

On the plus side, Frasor seemed to be lighting up the AAA batters, and from what I've read on this site, he really didn't seem to need any more time there. For all people were blasting the Werth trade (DL'd already) around the baseball community, it could end up being a steal for us.

"Colon Blows into Windy City"

Did anybody else read this and flash on the old Saturday Night Live kids' cereal skit "Colon Blow"?

The Syracuse Shuffles now have their own thread. Feel free to copy-and-paste your comments there to consolidate the discussion.

Amusing stuff in the Central today. Billy Koch (who "earns" more than Ligtenberg, Speier, Adams and Lopez combined) gets the call for the easiest possible save -- a 3-run lead to start the ninth. A walk, a single and two homers later, he leaves trailing 9-8. In comes Leskanic to nail it down for K.C., but with two walks sandwiching an error by the second baseman Lopez, the Royals hand the game back to the Sox.

It makes you appreciate a pretty solid Jays bullpen.

For the Canucks in the crowd:

You may have heard about it, but CBC is doing a thing called The Greatest Canadian. We get to nominate our choices for who the greatest Canadian is, and they'll do a ten-part show featuring the top ten vote-getters, and there'll be a call-in vote to pick the winner. (It's based on a BBC series called Great Britons (Churchill won) that they're trying to sell around the world so eventually there can be a worldwide series, like a playoff, to pick the Greatest Human Ever, or something. Germany's already done theirs and I think they picked Konrad Adenauer.)

The reason I'm posting this here is to try to drum up a bit of support for my candidate, who wasn't one of the ones suggested by the CBC and therefore is likely to miss out unless he gets a bit of press.

So if this interests you at all, you can cast your vote here. By all means vote your conscience, but I'd appreciate it if you'd give John Humphrey a bit of consideration; I think he's a lot more deserving than Dan Aykroyd.

I admit that it's sort of inconsequential, but I hope that at least someone will find it diverting.