Cito Gaston was in a no-win situation with JP Arencibia yesterday. Meanwhile, on Wednesday Brian Tallet went to bat for a Blue Jays fan.

It's been a couple of years since I examined how the rotation was managed...

As I write this sentence, the Jays (81-76) are sitting squarely on a season total of 81 wins, which is exactly half of the schedule's 162 games, which means they cannot, in any scenario finish below .500 and label 2010 as a "losing" season. Um ... hooray?

So, the question today is this ... does it matter to you at all ... should it matter to you at all ... does/should it matter to players, to retiring manager Cito,, to the fanbase, that the team win at least one of its final five to finish at least 82-80, a "winning" record?

Obviously, nobody wants to close the year on a six-game skid, so there's that. But a fourth-place finish in what is clearly the toughest division in baseball, where two teams are making the playoffs and a third might end up with a better record than three other playoff teams? So, overall, our Question of the Day ... does that 82nd win matter? Should it?

The All-Star teams that get to play, that everyone remembers, get picked at the beginning of July when there's an awful lot of baseball yet to be played. Let's do this thing right!

The Blue Jays handed out the Webster Awards on Saturday at the RC.  Prior to the game, in an on-field ceremony, the award winners received a plaque to recognize their achievements.  The Webster Awards are an MVP-type award for the minor leagues.

It's time once more for me to pick up, with failing hands, the torch first carried by the great Dave Till....

You know what we need?  Another Jose Bautista thread!  Here's a look at #19's 50th homer of the season Thursday afternoon.

Well, this has been a year to remember for Jose Bautista. Jumping his Slg by 214 points, OBP by 34, Avg by 30 from last year. He is 29 though, a great age for peak seasons. But how odd is this? How often has this happened, and to whom?

The Blue Jays have never had a 50 home run hitter before. Now they do. Thanks for the great season, José! Here's a tribute to your amazing achievement.

When I was much younger, my then-favorite team, the Cincinnati Reds mad a trade to acquire a starting pitcher you may have heard of, guy named Seaver. And for several years, every time he took the hill, I was confident (even convinced) the Reds were bound to win that day. He was the Jays' Roy Halladay, c. 2009 and before. He was, put another way, the anti-Mike LaCoss.

Now to be fair, LaCoss was not a bad pitcher; he won 98 games (and lost 103) over 14 years, cracked double-digit wins in a season four times, even made the 1979 All-Star team, ahead of his teammate Seaver. But LaCoss was a guy, in my young teen brain, who every time he took to the mound, disaster awaited. Not sure why I thought that, exactly, but it seemed inevitable.

So today's Question of the Day: What Blue Jays fit this profile in your personal history? Don't stick to pitchers, though they're probably the easiest to identify ... let's see if we can build an entire lineup, or even a full roster ... who are The Scary Jays?

Today, the Blue Jays announced the 2010 R. Howard Webster Award winners today, honouring the Most Valuable Player at each of the team’s minor league affiliates.

In another thread, veteran Bauxite Mike Green intones, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  Can we not talk about something else, like ...

• Perhaps the best pop song which adverts to September? The efforts of Kurt Weill, Rod Stewart, Earth Wind and Fire and Green Day come to mind. 
• Or perhaps, the best Septembers by a ballclub? 
• Or whether Lyle Overbay or some other defensively qualified first baseman should be signed during the off-season?

First person to answer all three questions by tying them together into a single, annoyingly hip Mad Men-ish advertising slogan wins the coveted Batter's Box No-Prize! But don't worry, if you're not first, the BEST such entry will win FIVE No-Prizes. Quintuple your winnings!
 

Here's a look back at the Jays series opening win over the Texas Rangers at the Dome on Labour Day Monday.

Much of the talk this year has focused on Jose Bautista, and for good reason - he recently broke the Jays' franchise record for home runs in a season and will likely soon become the first Blue Jay to ever hit 50. In the Year of the Pitcher, he leads the majors in home runs by a whopping ten over Albert Pujols, and his .998 OPS ranks 4th in the bigs. This incredible power surge seemingly came out of nowhere, and has prompted numerous discussions about What To Do With Jose Bautista.

The Houston Astros have reached a player development deal with the Oklahoma City RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League and that means the Blue Jays and the Las Vegas 51's will still be together for at least the next two seasons according to the National Post.

UPDATE 09/21 @ 6:30 p.m. - The Jays have officially announced a two-year PDC with the 51's.