I think it's a little early to get too worried about the price. If Batista closes all year, and Hinske ends up backsliding some, that deal still might not have looked so bad in terms of getting out from under the Hinske contract and the Batista contract. This team doesn't need a $4.75MM closer right now, particularly not one who's not particularly proven at the task.

I still am. When Hinske tripped there at the end, I almost passed out.

Shea's hitting about .340

agreed. those two throws he made in the 5th - while not getting either runner - were gold glove caliber plays nonetheless.

See, this is one area where I think Sawkiw's got it right. What's Halladay's nickname? Doc. How did he get the nickname? From Doc Holliday -- how else? Thus, one would pronounce the "Hall" in Halladay like the "hall" in hallway, no?

If it's Hal-a-day (Hal as in HAL 9000), then how did he get the nickname Doc?

ohh my goodness what a strikeout by RH 32!!

Hillenbrand is a fine player, but a little overpriced when the Jays got him, and creates a problem for the Jays with too many OF/3B/1B/DH and not enough spots for them all.

The Jays signed a 3B, Koskie, who has a history of injuries. They knew coming into the season that they'd need to give him days off to keep him at his peak performance. They also needed a contingency plan if Koskie were to be badly injured and miss a large chunk of the year.

Shea Hillenbrand fits into this role perfectly. When people speak of Hillenbrand blocking Gabe Gross, I don't see this at all, unless Gross can play third base. No, the person blocking Gabe Gross, the person whose signing you should be railing against if you want Gabe here on the team today, is Corey Koskie -- Koskie's signing necessitated the signing of someone like Shea Hillenbrand. If the Jays had signed just Hillenbrand and not Koskie, then there wouldn't be the same kind of worry about a strong backup 3B. Of course, I don't think that anyone really wants to advocate that course of action.

Really, I think that some people just don't like Hillenbrand and are really reaching when they give their reasons why. "Blocking Gabe Gross" is, in my opinion, a completely ridiculous objection to Hillenbrand without a full-scale alternate backup 3B plan that doesn't involve a roster spot.

Kudos, dp -- right up there with the most nonsense ever contained in one paragraph. Nobody has said, hinted, implied or even joked that Hinske is an upgrade on Delgado (except with the glove, where he's vastly superior) and I fail to see how adding one of the best Canadian players of all time can be construed as "horrible". In your Bizarro universe, do Hudson and Wells suddenly have no value?

And how do you feel about Alex Rios coming to the majors with absolutely no success in AAA? Gross has had over a season and a half of success in AAA.

I have my doubts about Rios as well. If he doesn't develop power or walks, he won't keep his job. I rate him slightly ahead of Gross, but that's because he's had more success in the majors to this point.

I don't think of Gross as having been that successful at Triple A in 2004. He batted .294 with nine home runs in 103 games; this isn't exactly the power production you want from a corner outfielder. Of course, he was hurt last year, like everybody else in the Blue Jay universe.

As I've said before, I'm not worried about the Gross situation. He needs to play every day to improve. If he truly is good enough to be a major league regular, and he's healthy, he'll start beating up on AAA pitching. Since the Jays aren't stupid, they'll make room for him if it happens.

What does qualify as superstar talent? Are there numbers to show it, or just word-of-mouth opinions? Can it be developed, or is it something a player either has or does not have from the moment he's drafted?

These players are technically known as "Sil Campusano Clones" :)

Further to Robert's post, John Sickels has an ongoing feature on Prospect Retrospectives on his site. It is impossible to tell whether Adam Lind will develop into Don Mattingly Jr. or Lou Piniella or never make the majors, or whether Curtis Thigpen will develop into Craig Biggio or Don Slaught or never make the majors. For that matter, Aaron Hill might develop into Bobby Grich or Lou Whitaker or maybe into Jay Bell. Youneverknow.

It is true that there are no would-be sluggers in the pipeline- no Carlos Delgados, Fred McGriffs, Jack Clarks or Frank Thomas. But, there are lots of different kinds of "superstars" (Bobby Grich was never considered to be on in the 70s, but he was one of the best players of the time). In other words, prospect evaluation is a combination of art and science, and the "art" is highly subjective.