So is Accardo out for the year and going to see Dr. Andrews or is he coming up in 4 days?

It looks like JP might have mixed up one of his lies, or maybe he just completely forgot that they just ruled Accardo out yesterday.

If he thinks that Glaus didn't have a productive year last season, I wonder what he thinks about Rolen's year to this point.

Who was the other AL pitcher this season who struck out 11 or more batters without issuing a single walk?

Kevin Slowey did that last week (12 K, 0 BB).

In the last year Tampa has shown they want to get rid of any bad seeds that they have in the line-up.  Could Upton be next?  In the last few weeks he's been benched at least twice for not running out ground balls.  On Sunday he non-chalanted a fly ball to centre-field and Pierzynski tagged up and took 2nd and eventually scored the winning run.  I've noticed he's been getting booed in Tampa.

The problem with Glaus is that he was going to leave anyway, and the Jays had nobody in the minors who was even close to being ready to replace him within a year or two.  They were facing a big problem at 3B within a year.  Rolen's long-term contract was actually an asset to the Jays, not a liability.  They wanted someone who could fill 3B for another two or three years, until the Jays could groom a prospect for 3B.   Actually there's a chance that this strategy could still be relatively successful.  Rolen and Bautista, between them, could cover 3B for another couple years, and it won't be a sinkhole as it might have been if Glaus had left and nobody was ready to replace him.

Isn't that the same reasoning that Gord Ash used to justify trading Shawn Green for Raul Mondesi? Or Roger Clemens for David Wells? Getting an equally expensive inferior player for more years just so a hole won't be created is absurd. What if the Jays traded Burnett for Barry Zito, with the same reasoning attached (subtract 3B with SP)? It's backwards logic. If Glaus opted out, the Jays would have had $11 million extra to find a 3B. Would that 3B have been as good as Glaus or Rolen? Maybe, maybe not. But being satisfied with average production due to the fear of the unknown is bad GM work, IMO.

I'd much rather have two picks and $11 million to spend with Bautista being the only viable 3B option on the team, rather than a 34-year old Rolen for $22 million over the next two years. Hell, the Jays could have traded for Adrian Beltre (who the M's may want to dump) if they had a hole at 3B heading into 2009. He likely wouldn't cost too much to acquire given his production and it would be a reasonable risk given his road numbers. Problem solved.

Why trade an asset for a liability? Just because the asset wanted out? Come on.

I'm pretty sure that JP and a fair number of other people thought of the trade as an asset for an asset.  If the M's didn't want to dump Washburn, they aren't dumping anyone.

I'm the biggest JP critic you will meet, and even I have to admit that I thought the Rolen for Glaus trade was a wash, if not a good deal for us.  You have to trust your doctors (who would have had a say) I doubt they would have predicted that Glaus would be this healthy, or that Rolen would be this unhealthy. 

In any event, Rolen could still get healthy this offseason and come back.  Regardless of whether its physically possible (debatable), I don't think anyone would question his desire to do so.

Earlier in the year, we all would have agreed that Rolen was the better half of the deal as he was outplaying Glaus significantly.  I have a feeling over the next few years we'll be flip-flopping on this a few more times, as they both go thru their health issues.

One point I will agree wholeheartedly is that with Rolen and Overbay as defense-first players, having a Scary Bat in the DH or other spots is essential to this team.  If we need Rolen and Overbay to be the big bats, we're going to be disappointed.  On the otherhand they can be great complimentary offensive weapons.  I'm hoping Snider can develop faster than we think, and he and Lind can rotate LF/DH, and occasionally spell Overbay.  Or pick-up the next Carlos Quentin - what a find that was!

Similarly, if we need Scutaro to be our everyday 3b option, then we're in even bigger trouble.  He's a great utility player, but I don't want him getting everyday at-bats (at least, not on a team that has similar value players in Eckstein, McDonald, maybe Inglett).

• The Toronto Blue Jays have the fifth-best adjusted record in baseball. I had said at the start of the season that they might be the eighth-best team in baseball and we’d never know it because of their schedule. Well, they’ve outdone that, thanks to tremendous pitching and defense. One other thing: they’re 33-23 since recalling Adam Lind on June 22. Way to finally get there, guys. Shame the New Shannon Stewart Era didn’t work out; no one could have seen that coming.

In the 4 years since the Jays gave up on him, he's hit 125 homers, 409 RBI and put up something around a 270/360/530 line.

Come on, Mike.  Even if we don't adjust for the vastly inferior overall quality of the National League, surely you remember that the Jays did not "give up on him" -- at least not in the sense that they came to a purely "baseball" conclusion that he would not be a meaningful asset to the club.

If the Jays offered him arbitration, he would have accepted it and collected around $18M per season, which he could not (and did not) get on the open market.  And this was before a massive relative increase in the Canadian dollar, improved attendance, and the budget increase.

Your overall point may be right -- though, for AL/NL reasons, it may not be -- but the issue did not play out the way you are framing it.

Does anyone remember how JP acquired Jesse Carlson?

"If the Jays offered him arbitration, he would have accepted it and collected around $18M per season..."

This is my #1 site on the net, and it is a great pleasure for me to read incredibly insightful posts about the Jays.

Just a minor request, could we try to limit our use of the word absurd?

The Angels may have soured on Wood but I don't think they're trading him for any of our infielders.  I'm not sure that Wood is good enough to stay at shortstop and his offence seems volatile too...there's no guarantee he's a long term solution.

As for Delgado, I don't see how a blocked trade to Cincinatti proves that the Jays did not give up on him.  He was their only elite offensive player and was never replaced.  JP underrates the value of having elite players around...you get the sense that he'd much rather have a team full of slightly above average players.  That's exactly what the Jays have now and it's garnered them slightly above average results year after year.

Without Adam Lind, this team might well be struggling to stay above .500 at this point.

Snider will need a nickname ASAP

Duke would be the obvious one.  Failing that, how 'bout Dave Van Horne?

This obviously isn't a move to try to compete this year. They are out of it, they know it, and this is one way to keep the fans interested.

Anyway, a couple of things.

First, I'm glad for Stairs that he gets to go to a contender. He's never won a championship in his career, and it's definitely one that is winding down quickly. It's also a good trade by the Jays as they get rid of Stairs' final year on the contract (though I'm assuming that they'll probably pick up some of it for the other team), freeing up some money for FA spending in the winter, even if it's only 1M+.

And then the major news, Snider being called up. As much as I'm excited about this, I can't help but feel that JP is rushing him. He's only 20 years old (outside of Kershaw, would that make him the youngest player in the majors right now?), and he hasn't even had full seasons at the AA or AAA levels. He wasn't even doing that well in AA (.807 OPS) for that matter. Is this an effort by JP to show his star prospect with one last-gasp effort to save his job? Will it come at the expense of Snider's development?

...no JP just trades for utility infielders and LH relievers.

I can see trading Stairs as this season is done.  But why rush Snider?  Letting him finish up in AAA and play a little in the AFL while fully recovering from his earlier injury would seem the more prudent course to me.  Give him 160 AB next year in AAA and if he is scorching the ball with a low K rate, bring him up.  I can't see how rusing a prospect now helps anyone - except JP.  Could it be that he is the best prospect ever drafted by JP?  I think the GM is getting desperate. 

The suggestion that Janssen is going to be in the rotation next year seems a little far fetched as well.  How is Chacin doing right now in his recovery?  How about waiting 'til Casey throws a pitch before announcing him in the rotation next year?