Dave Niehaus, the  one-and-only voice of the Seattle Mariners -- the team's primary broadcaster since their inception in 1977, has passed away.

There were plenty of legitimate complaints to Niehaus' style -- extreme homerism, Americanization of Latino names, stuff like that. But these were minor points compared to the voice-becoming-part-of-the-family joy Niehaus brought to the entire Pacific Northwest United States.

Rest well, David.

Quick, who had the best outfield in baseball last year? Well, it wasn't the Blue Jays, but they were pretty darn close.

Three Reds. Two Rockies. Two Cardinals. An Astro and a Phillie. Here they are ...

The complete list for NL GG'10:

C Yadier Molina Cardinals
1B Albert Pujols Cardinals
2B Brandon Phillips Reds
SS Troy Tulowitzki Rockies
3B Scott Rolen Reds
OF Carlos Gonzalez Rockies
OF Michael Bourn Astros
OF Shane Victorino Phillies
P Bronson Arroyo Reds

Any thoughts, BoxNation? Who got ripped off? Who got erroneously rewarded, and if you answer that, who SHOULD have won that position? And finally, which "team" is better overall, defensively, the AL or the NL?

Alternate titles: The Buck Stops Here! Molina, Mo Passed Balls. Encarnacioner of a Lonely 22 Home Runs. Okay, I'll stop.

Yes, that's right. For the fifth time, Derek Jeter's fielding glove has officially beend deemed "Gold." In fact, three-quarters of the Yankee infield -- Mark Teixeira, Robby Cano and Jeter -- were so recognized this year, so everyone in that infield except Alex Rodriguez ...

The complete list for AL GG'10:

P Marl Buehrle, White Sox
C Joe Mauer, Twins
1B Mark Teixeira, Yankees
2B Robinson Cano, Yankees
SS Derek Jeter, Yankees
3B Evan Longoria, Rays
OF Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
OF Carl Crawford, Rays
OF Franklin Gutierrez, Mariners

Really, no surprises. Any thoughts, BoxNation? Who got ripped off? Who got erroneously rewarded, and if you answer that, who SHOULD have won that position? And hey, this is the AL  -- no Gold Glove DH?

Bullpen as weak link, Gregg as Matsuzaka, Downs as icon, Roenicke as Purcey, and absolutely no idea what next year's pen looks like.

Three coaching gigs have been filled, and you'll certainly recognize a couple of names.

By Mike Green, Bauxite emeritus

The hallmarks of Roy Halladay’s career have been precision, dedication and durability.  2010 was just another great year for him.  It looked superficially like his best year, as he went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA and 30 walks and 219 strikeouts in 250 innings. It wasn’t really though, as he had moved to the weaker league, and run-scoring was down in both leagues in 2010.  The most important addition to his Hall of Fame portfolio was probably the playoff no-hitter, his second of the season. 

 

Roy Halladay was drafted by the Blue Jays out of high school with their first pick, the 17th overall, in 1995. 

Kyle Drabek will be featured on the cover of Baseball America's American League East issue in which the top 10 prospects for each team in the division are profiled.  To mark the occasion, here are photos of his debut in Toronto September 22nd.

Drabek is greeted by bullpen coach Rick Langford as he gets ready to make his second major league start against Seattle.

The difference between the Jays 2009 and 2010 starting rotations was like night and day. Or maybe just afternoon and afternoon.

Baseball America released their Blue Jays top ten prospect list today.  There is no surprise at number one but there are some surprises further down the list.

Breaking news just now, via Twitter, is that the Jays have declined their options on Kevin Gregg thereby making him a free agent.

Also via Twitter from Ken Rosenthal comes news that the Jays are trying to lure Don Wakamatsu here to be the bench coach.  The Orioles are also vying for him.

Also burning up the Twitter-verse is the news that the Jays have acquired Miguel Olivo for a player to be named or cash. 

I grew up rooting for the Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds, who produced three of the greatest teams of my lifetime -- the 1975-76 Reds and the 1984 Tigers. What did those three teams share in common? A manager of course, in George  Lee "Sparky" Anderson.

The Main Spark, as he was known in his Big Red Machine days, passed on to  the next plane today.

The owner of 2,194 lifetime regular season wins (sixth all time) and those three tiitles (in five Fall Classic appearances, was the first man to pilot teams to titles in both the AL and NL. He was 76.

RIP, Sparky. A part of my childhood goes with you.

This will be quick and painful, I promise.

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants, the 2010 World Series champions, and their World Series MVP, Edgar Renteria. Also, congratulations are in order for JP Ricciardi, who has found employment with the New York Mets, and Ron Roenicke, who has been appointed as the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.