Blue Jays win 7-1.

And the Orioles will trade away another crappy reliever.

We've all been saying we wanted a spare part outfielder. Would Karim Garcia have been any use? Perhaps better than Berg?

Would Karim Garcia have been any use? Perhaps better than Berg?

Well, if Cat's back for good today, we don't need one any more.

What, you think acquiring Garcia would "promise you a miracle"? Buncha "simple minds" here.

Come on, guys, let's keep it simple. I'm not promising a miracle, but Cat's return should spark better things.

Would Karim Garcia have been any use? Perhaps better than Berg?

No. Karim Garcia isn't any better than Berg.

I knew Garcia was a bad example but there has to be some journey man out there. I'm not sure Cat is coming back in the near future. I'm very excited about Rios. His fielding doesn't stick out any more to me which means he must be near league average now. Did he get his BA over .300 last night?

Nice work Mick and Four Seamers.. I'm going to have a big prize thread in awhile, but until then, this will have to hold you over:



Your guess is as good as mine of who this guy is supposed to be. The site I got it from is in Russian. :)

By the way, I'm wondering is Griffin can manage to find a third side of his mouth to talk out of. Late last year, he was implying that Tosca was technically and tactically incompetent.

I'm not sure Cat is coming back in the near future.

Well today's Fordin Notes suggest otherwise (by Guest Fordin Rick Eymer):

When Halladay officially goes on the disabled list, Ricciardi said that outfielder Frank Catalanotto will be activated from the DL.

The answer to my question: Rios is batting .302

To anyone that knows: There was a plan to get a lot of people out to see the Yankees game on the 26th. Is there any organization to that? I'm going to buy tickets myself this week but I'll go with the group if it's on.

Wow, thanks Moffatt! Even half of that prize is something I'll treasure for a long time...

I see Bob Elliott has been reading Da Box... He says the Jays are trying to pry Morneau from the Twins in today's paper.

Elliott's been on that kick for the last couple weeks. In fact, I think he's the one who came up with that rumour. So we've been copying him, and not the other way around.

Not to give Elliott any credence but according to Will Carroll, Mauer's knee problems probably mean his catching days are numbered. I don't think he has another position other than 1st base or DH which would create a bit of a logjam.

I don't have my copy of Baseball Prospectus 2004 handy. Can someone check something for me? At the back of the book, they discuss Mexican League park factors. I remember them grouping the teams into three rough groups - very high-offense parks, medium ones, and very low-offense parks.

Can someone look that article up for me - if you have BP 2004 handy - and let me know which ones are in each group? Thanks. E-mail is OK if you don't want to post... cburley@hardballtimes.com

Thanks!

alsiem, I tried but the response I got was completely lousy -- about five people wanted tickets. I had to cancel the reservation last week.

Anyways, the good news is that you should be able to get the first few rows of 518 because as of last week they were unsold.

If things change and there are more people interested I can call them up and buy the tickets, but the season has demoralized a lot of people.

To finish my point this might make Morneau available but at what price?

Here ya go, Craig:

LOWLANDS
---
Veracruz .915
Tabasco .830
Campeche .912
Yucatan .879
Cancun .940

MEXICO CITY
---
Cordoba 1.089
Oaxaca 1.078
Puebla 1.103
Angelopolis 1.132
Mexico City 1.190

NORTH
---
Two Laredos .926
Monterrey .976
Monclova .980
Vaqueros 1.149
Saltillo 1.024

Hope this helps.

To finish my point this might make Morneau available but at what price?

Heck, it might make Mauer available - a potential that never existed before. The Twins face a logjam at those positions and they might well decide to throw their hats into Rob Bowen's ring instead. Bowen's not been hitting, though...

Morneau for Ted Lilly, Kevin Cash, and Chris Woodward. :)

(No, I'm not serious. It'd be pretty sweet, though)

Thanks Mike. Aguascalientes isn't on the list (it must be new this year). I was hoping to see what kind of PFs it had since perennial Burley favourite Rontrez Johnson is raking there (.346/.440/.568 with 54 stolen bases in 100 games). Unfortunately, it's at 6000 feet, making it on a par with the Mexico City parks.

Batting leader Demond Smith at Monterrey (a pitcher's park) is having a very impressive year at .405/.475/.656 with 30 steals. The best hitter in the ML so far is Morgan Burkhart, .365/.517/.658 at Saltillo.

"Aguascalientes", I assume, means "Hot Springs" in Spanish, is that right?

Heck, it might make Mauer available - a potential that never existed before.

The beauty about this is, Mauer still has that "golden boy" aura still around him. Remember, he was the number one pick, and that carries some weight around these parts. I would think that Morneau would be the odd man out, but even if he is, he would fetch a lot more than Batista, I would imagine.

The Twins do seem like the team to have interest in Cash though.

Morneau for Ted Lilly, Kevin Cash, and Chris Woodward. :)

(No, I'm not serious. It'd be pretty sweet, though)

Obviously, you've been consuming some of those Magic Unicorn M&M's :)

Regardless of who we might get back, I think the Twins might prefer Zaun to Cash. They already have a good-field-no-hit catcher named Henry Blanco. Zaun may be a journeyman, but at least he can hit a little.

Gleeman and Batgirl must be crossing their fingers and hoping the Twins don't do something stupid...

Hey, if they'd rather have Zaun, I'd gladly swap Zaun for Cash.

I can't figure out why everyone is so high on a career .250 hitter than the Jays picked up off of waivers.

So, Mike Wilner was whooping it up with Hazel Mae this morning on RSN news: nice job. He said something I've been thinking: is Delgado's refusal to waive the no-trade clause an indication he'd like to stay? Based on his performance this year he won't get more than $7mil. per season from anybody anyways.

You might ask, if he wants to stay, why didn't he just sign a contract extension in his talk with JP instead of just not waiving the no-trade clause? Well: would you sign a contract extention while hitting .210 with 10 HRs at the All-Star break?

Carlos and JP are in a cat-and-mouse game. JP wisely didn't extend his contract at the end of last year, having sound reservations about Carlos' lack of production in the second half, and knowing that it would only work to a financial disadvantage to sign someone right after a career year: Let's see what he does in 2004.

Carlos is probably pressing to show he's worth big money TO THE JAYS. Now he too will want to wait until the end of the year to see what his numbers are like, to see what kind of coin he can command.

Prediction: Carlos re-signs with the Jays before arbitration date: $15mil. for 2 years.

I can't figure out why everyone is so high on a career .250 hitter than the Jays picked up off of waivers.

Mostly because GM's have short memories?

Regarding Cash vs. Zaun.

Cash is still strugging to hit MLB pitching, so why would any contender would want to deal for him? The only scenario I can think of is a team that already has a good-hit-no-field catcher, and they want an offense/defense platoon. With Henry Blanco doing the bulk of the catching right now, Minnesota is definitely not that team.

Zaun is hitting well this year, he's got that World Series Veneer (TM) that GM's covet.

Mostly because GM's have short memories?

I really don't see much evidence of that. Then again, nobody ever got rich by overestimating the intelligence of their competition.

So, Mike Wilner was whooping it up with Hazel Mae this morning on RSN news: nice job.

Yeah, I saw him this morning this well. I wasn't really paying attention, but heard his voice and thought "where have I heard those dulcet tones before?" He did pretty well for what was supposed to be his first time on tv. Huge points for not hamming it up like that grinning fool, Marty York.

After enjoying listening to him for so long, it was nice to see what he looks like. It never fails though: radio guys never look anything like you expect them to look.

Really? He looks exactly as I pictured him. When I met him two weeks ago, he was wearing THE FAN golf shirt, and based on that alone I said: "Oh, you must be Mike Wilner." He looks like he could have a pro golf career in his future.

I wonder if high-ranking individuals, sick of Marty York, purposefully give him bogus information. eg. on the York Report last week: "and Vernon Wells, who won't be back until well into August."

Holy Cow: Cabrera's still an Expo. What happened Marty?

After enjoying listening to him for so long, it was nice to see what he looks like. It never fails though: radio guys never look anything like you expect them to look.

The only exception I've ever experienced to this rule is Tom Cheek: when I met him earlier this year he looked exactly like I've always pictured him.

Really? He looks exactly as I pictured him.

I had the opposite reaction with Wilner. I don't know why, but I did not expect him to be as tall as he is.

I imagined Mike Weir for Wilner. And it's a close physical comparison. But Weir sounds like Tony Gwynn in interviews, or Eddie Murphy when he used to imitate dorky white guys.

Wilner, of course, is far cooler than all those names.

Wilner's also about seven inches taller than Weir.

Wilner looks like he'd be a good golfer. If the Batter's Box ever hosts a golf tournament, I want him on my foursome.

Really? He looks exactly as I pictured him.

I imagined Mike Weir for Wilner.

Keith, he doesn't look anything like Mike Weir! He looks more like Mike Harris (the curler, not the former premier), before Harris got those goofy blond highlights.

Keith, he doesn't look anything like Mike Weir!

Well, enough so that a Japanese tourist would confuse the two.

He looks more like Mike Harris

We could make this debate a whole late easier and say all Mikes look alike.

I don't see the resemblance either. Here's Mike Weir:



and here's Mike Wilner:



Weir is around 5'8", 160lbs. Wilner is at least 6'3".

So you're saying you'd take Wilner in a cage match?

re: the twins log-jams... true, but the organization seems to have a inability to recognize log-jams and use them to fill holes elsewhere... look at all the outfielders they have, and last year they get shannon stewart... you almost get the impression they'd let morneau, mauer, etc., etc., rot in the minors shuttling between AAA and the Majors then trade 'em for USEFUL additions (infielders, pitching, and if mauer cant catch: a catcher). They also need to dump Mientienwicz...

but if mauer's knees preclude him from catching, boy they'd like pierzynski back :)

Mientienwicz vs. Pierzynski

Now there's a cage match I'd pay money to see!

We could make this debate a whole late easier and say all Mikes look alike.

As a Mike, I have to say this is patently false. We even make it easy on you non-Mikes by wearing different hats so you can tell us all apart:

Re Delgado's future: a lot depends on whether somebody is willing to throw big money at him based on the numbers he put up in the first half of 2003. Baltimore and Tampa Bay, for example, are teams that are willing to throw money around and have spent unwisely in the past; Tampa, in particular, could use another big bat.

If such an offer materializes, Delgado will have to decide whether to take the cash and play in perhaps not his preferred choice of venue. He probably won't take the money and run, but it's hard to turn down millions of dollars.

If no such offer materializes, I predict that Carlos will sign a one-year deal with Toronto. It's a win-win: the Jays get him for a year at a more affordable price, and can use the extra money to go out and buy more pitching. At the end of the year, the Jays can then offer him arbitration with his 2005 salary as the baseline rather than this year's huge 2004 salary, and will know whether Phelps is the long-term solution at first base.

Carlos benefits because he gets to stay in Toronto - which he seems to prefer, or else he would have waived the no-trade to go to a contender. He gets a chance to put up the sort of numbers that would lead a good team to offer him a longer-term deal.

Wilner is at least 6'3".

No way. He may sound taller, and he does have a large presence, but I'd say Mike's six feet even, maybe a fraction of an inch less -- I rarely see him barefoot.

I used to be five-eleven and three-quarters myself, but in my sixth decade, I've begun to shrink. Actually, what I've lost vertically, I've more than made up for horizontally.

Really? I thought he was around my height, but I only talked to him for about 15 seconds.

For Wilner I will go with 5'11", I know he is not 6'3", I was definitely taller than him

Wilner will verify his height. It is funny that on TV, where he is sitting down, we are discussing his height. But Mike is probably sleeping, did he even go to bed before appearing with Hazel? When is that Hazel show recorded, at 6 am? The Jays show on the radio probably ended at 1:30 or 2, and Mike has to be back in studio for 2 or 2:30 today. A hectic schedule! Mike has to earn those big bucks.

Yeah, I saw Wilner for the first time this morning too. I'm never up out of bed in time to watch Sportsnet AM (sorry, all you working folks) and I didn't know if that was a regular gig for him or not.

Either way, he looked nothing like I figured. What did I figure? I don't know, it's just different.

Yeah, Mike'll set the record straight.

I'm sure you guys are right.. again, I only talked to him for a few seconds. He certainly seemed quite tall, though.

I think Hazel said this was his first appearance, but he'll be a regular on Tuesday mornings from now on.

For what it's worth, which is absolutely nothing, he looked to be of average height on tv. They might have given Hazel a booster seat so that he didn't tower over her, though.

I admit I was arong about the height thing. There's no debate. :)

One thing that impresses me about WIlner is that he isn't just "Jays smart," like a lot of the Toronto media. He is well versed in the overall Major League landscape. Wilner reminds me of a guy by the name of Shulman.

To anyone that knows: There was a plan to get a lot of people out to see the Yankees game on the 26th. Is there any organization to that? I'm going to buy tickets myself this week but I'll go with the group if it's on.

The day the Yankees picked up A-Rod I decided to go see them this year and bought my duckets for the 26th the first day they went on sale.. I'm in the first deck, but I'll watch for you...

So, Mike Wilner was whooping it up with Hazel Mae this morning on RSN news: nice job.

Is there a more perfect woman on TV? Small, cute, really cute, nice smile and loves sports... Ok, Jody Vance is fine too.. but Hazel tops my list...

I don't like Griffins article... that often true though normally because I don't agree with it... this one I just plain don't understand!

Is he saying that Tosca is toast because:
1) J.P. can't admit to the problems being his so he'll blame the injuries?

2) because of over-reaching on his starters instead of sending in the Arsonists?

3)Because Tosca doesn't like Moneyball?...
[ED]Is moneyball the Bloop-bloop-blast theory, cause he's saying its not small ball... I thought Money ball was as system of rating ball players bases on fundamentals such as runs produced and OBA.

Or
4)because he needs someone else to go down with the ship again next year?

the only thing I understand and agree with is that Tosca deserves better...

Is there a more perfect woman on TV? Small, cute, really cute, nice smile and loves sports... Ok, Jody Vance is fine too.. but Hazel tops my list...

Daryn sure sounds a lot like Darren Millard!

I'm assuming that those two are still dating. I may be way behind on the gossip, however.

My only point against Hazel Mae? JZone.
Other than that, Hazel Mae > Jennifer Hedger > Jody Vance

Did I forget anyone from TSN/RSN?

And let's not start rating the TSN hockey guys. I'm not that desperate yet.

Wasn't Hazel engaged to a football player?

Sounds familiar...Ti-Cat player, I think.

A new woman just started with TSN. She's impressed me because she doesn't go out of her way to be cute. And she puts up with Jay Onrait. I don't know her name, I only know that it's Lisa Hilary.

I swear Hazel Mae was hitting on me before a Jays game once! (CAPITAL LETTERS ANDREW was there too. Hazel's got a thing for him as well.) I had a camera in my hand and she came over, shook my hand, asked my name (I nearly forgot my name when she asked), then asked to pose in a picture for me. And she did. I still have it. I wish I could post it here but it's at home.

Am I gonna have Darren Millard after me now?
I'd tell that guy to button up his shirt, geez. It's like he thinks he's Don Johnson or something.

Whoops.

I only know that it's NOT Lisa Hilary. (Who also does a good job. I like them both better than Hedger and Onrait)

You know, when I was about 13 I thought Theresa Hergert was hot.

A new woman just started with TSN. She's impressed me because she doesn't go out of her way to be cute. And she puts up with Jay Onrait.

I haven't seen her, but any woman who can tolerate Jay Onrait qualifies for sainthood. I just shake my head whenever he comes on.

The word on Halladay from Will Carroll:

Can a visit to Jim Andrews have a happy ending? Monday, Roy Halladay visited the good doctor and found that there are no tears and no structural problems. Instead, Halladay is merely fatigued and sore.

Where's the love for Martine Gaillard on the Score?

I like the interplay (tension?) between her and Greg "porn star" Sansone.

Hazel's not small - I mean she's not an Amazon or nothing, but neither is she some 4-11 petite little dwarf.

OK, she's about as tall as I am...

I would call her build 'athletic'.

I thought that was Griffin in the Star today - when I read it (very early) there was no byline. I was waiting to see which terrorist would claim responsibility.

I think its reasonable to describe this piece as a hatchet job. Its malicious, snide, ignorant, and uninformed.

Otherwise, I have no problems with it.

Everyone knows that The Score has the hottest female sportscasters- Martine Gaillard, Patricia Boal, Deb M (won't even try to spell it) have the others beat by miles.

As far as Mike Wilner goes, he reminds me of Tom Green's friend Glen who used to sit on the couch next to him on his show and get milk poured on him every show.

Does anyone else find it weird that we started talking about which female sportswhatevers are the hottest after some of us saw Mike Wilner for the first time?

Do I ever not want to go there...

Does anyone else find it weird that we started talking about which female sportswhatevers are the hottest after some of us saw Mike Wilner for the first time?

Yes.

After viewing such sites as Consumption Junction, I am never shocked by anything I see online anymore.

I'm shocked no one's called me on my Hazel Mae story. It's all true though.

Dude!!!

Zack Jackson signs!

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story.asp?id=91728
Indeed he does. COMN for details.

Hijack:

After reading the Griffin hatchet job, I had a quick look at the standings and was quite surprised.

Either the Jays have been unlucky, or Tampa has been really lucky. They've both scored exactly 412 runs and allowed 449. But Toronto is 40-52 while Tampa is 45-47. Weird.

Either the Jays have been unlucky, or Tampa has been really lucky.

Those are both very true, Jacko.

By the way, my own loser friends released an album today. It's pretty damn good, actually. Check out their site if you're into alt-rock.

I think Tampa's higher than expected record may have to do with a very efficient bullpen. The Jays' pen has been much better as of late since Chulk/Frasor took over the late innings, but the pen as a whole has been much worse than expected and have either lost leads or simply lost late in the game a lot. This would lead to the Jays losing a lot of close games. And they have had the odd blowout in their favour when their offence has actually clicked.

Tampa's offence is at the same (poor) level but when they have a close lead they tend to hold it which means they tend to win more close games but perhaps have lost more games to blowout. I don't know how the Jays are going to do it but they have to figure out a way to balance the bullpen and preferably get at least one more reliever on par with Frasor. And the veterans they sign and trade for have to not suck for once. Even with more money this year they managed to find the guys having the worst years of their career.

Maybe I've become too cynical of Toronto's print baseball coverage, but I expected to see someone state that Halladay knew he wasn't 100% in the off season, so he jumped at the money the Jays were offering, knowing he might have shoulder problems this year.

Zack Jackson signs!

Nonsense, according to The Score's ticker the Jays signed Zachary Johnson.

I'm shocked no one's called me on my Hazel Mae story.

Keith, show us the picture and nobody will doubt you. :)

Obvious joke:

What's the score going to be in today's game?

I say it will be 11-10 Toronto.

Either the Jays have been unlucky, or Tampa has been really lucky. They've both scored exactly 412 runs and allowed 449. But Toronto is 40-52 while Tampa is 45-47. Weird.

I think the Jays score a lot of meaningless runs after the game is effectively over... while I like that scrappiness, I'd like to see more of them scored in winnable games...

i.e. 4 HR's on the last day of the season..

I think the Jays score a lot of meaningless runs after the game is effectively over... while I like that scrappiness, I'd like to see more of them scored in winnable games..

In "Arena Baseball", you can never score too many runs.

why is this thread showing up in hot topics...for 2009?