What's the point of assuming all AL shortstops have average defence and then using McDonald's above-average defence as part of the reason for naming him 4th best in the league?

I guess you really CAN use statistics to prove anything...

Wilner is just a company shill.  There I said it, now I feel better. His fawning support for JP and Gibbons is beyond reason.

Johnny Mac is a great defender but even on defence alone he ranks behind much of the AL. He ranks 13th in overall  win shares (not a perfect stat but it does include defense) for AL shortstops and 8th overall defensively.

Wilner is just a company shill.  There I said it, now I feel better. His fawning support for JP and Gibbons is beyond reason.

I know, I was listening to a "Wednesday's with JP" a couple of weeks ago when a fan made a point about some poor decision JP had made.  In a rare JP move, he took the blame based on the information he had on the time and incorrect guessing, then Wilner steps in and adds "a lot of those guys were injured".  Wilner would not even accept self-criticism from JP.  That answer seemed to rattle even JP, and made me understand what the Americans mean they say Toronto doesn't really know baseball.

I think Wilner was right in his original judgment that McDonald's offence meant he could be nothing more than a backup and defensive replacement. And the stats do show that the longer he plays the worse his offense is getting.

 And I think you hit the nail on the head – now that JP is talking about bringing him back as a starter, Wilner suddenly thinks he defense justifies him remaining a starter. Hey, I was at the game a week ago Sunday in which the Jays won 4-3 in OT. McDonald was clearly the star of that game with an outstanding diving catch early and his heads up play to cut off Rios’s throw to nail House at first. But the fact is he didn’t get a hit in the game nor drive in any runs and he is not the player a contenting team can carry (at least not in the AL East).

 My beef is not with McDonald. I only wanted to get off my chest my thoughts on Wilner.  While I enjoy listening to his show, I do disagree with him much of the time. For instance he has repeatedly insisted that players go through hitting slumps and that this Blue Jay team will come out of it – no blame should be put on Gibbons, nor Brantley, nor the fact that JP assembled an all righty lineup that lets opposing pitcher get in a groove against said lineup. But we are now 5/6th of the way through the season and there is no sign of this slump ending.

 His stance on Gibbon’s handling of the “Lilly affair” last year was way off.

 Wilner is paid to promote the team, and that he does well. Like jasona said “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.

• Marcum and McGowan have taken huge strides forward.
• Accardo has become a quality closer
• Janssen has become an excellent setup man
• Downs has the best LOOGY stats since the days of Dan Plesac
• Litsch has done more than anyone could have expected (now a 3.40 ERA in 14 starts)
• Halladay and Burnett have been solid

The pitching has been an extremely pleasant surprise, and for all the heat he takes over AJ Burnett's mercurial performance, I think Brad Arnsberg deserves a heap of credit for shepherding a young pitching staff to such heights.

However, I have to note major red flags over Litsch and Janssen: specifically, their respective BB/K rates of 26/33 in 79 innings and 17/33 in 64 innings. That's going to catch up to them both soon, and in unpleasant fashion. And with a HR yielded every six innings, Shaun Marcum is walking a tightrope too. All of which is to say, don't count on these three guys posting sub-3.50 ERAs next year if those peripherals remain unchanged.

Jays perhaps the top defensive team http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7168142

I'm comfortable with JMac and Olmedo as our shortstops next year if we can get better production from the rest of the lineup.  This could be two years in a row that our record falls short of our Pythagorean prediction.

The problem seems to be that only Stairs and Rios can do anything with a pitch on the 1B side of the plate.  I like both Glaus and Thomas, but wouldn't mind seeing one of them moved.  Any starter displaying good control seems to breeze through Wells, Thomas, Glaus and Hill - after that comes Zaun and JMac.  Thomas and Glaus have been good mistake hitters this year, whereas when Wells has adopted the patient approach, he invariably pops up the mistake pitch.

Since acquiring Saltalamacchia, the Rangers have pretty much let it be known that their young catcher, Gerald Laird, could be had, particularly for a 1B and/or for pitching.

What would the Jays be willing to give up for Laird, who could be a pretty decent upgrade over Zaun? Though to be completely accurate, Laird isn't having much of a year in '07 ... his OPS+ was over 100 last year and this season sits at an ugly 62.

Would Texas take Litsch? If that's not enough, toss in Frasor or Downs?

Maybe Frasor or Downs straight up for Laird.  A developing and successful 22 year old starter for a defensive specialist at catcher seems a bit laughable to me.  Laird's career numbers are not very impressive (and he's seen the majors in five seasons now so we can probably forget about that minor league line).  2006 looks like an anomoly for Mr. Laird.  2007 is the first decent sample size he's had too.