Carlos Delgado’s contract expires at the end of this season, and opinion is divided on whether the Blue Jays will be able to re-sign him at that time. Whether he stays or goes, however, no one but Carlos, his agent and their immediate families will be saddened by the expiration of that deal, signed as baseball’s turn-of-the-century spending frenzy approached its end. In case you’ve forgotten, the contract paid him $14.8M in 2001, $17.2M in 2002, $17.5M in 2003 and $18.5M in 2004.

Many Toronto fans have since bemoaned this contract, at length. But if you don’t think the Jays got off easy, you haven’t been keeping an eye on the rest of baseball.

As avid Boxers are no doubt aware after reading Scott Lucas' roundup today, the Jays have acquired .091-hitting Frank Menechino to temporarily address their "short"comings.

Frankly (heh), that just cries out for another edition of Baseball's Hall of Names. Menechino probably won't make the cut, but here's one stab at what may be a first: Baseball's All-Frank Team.

Watch it separate in two
Whatever the day wants it to
Finding out that the worst is true
Finding out that it can escape you

We've recently had a rash of postings at Batter's Box that have been made under the names of real people. "Donald Trump" was the most recent last night, but we've also had posts written under the names of local baseball-related people, everyone from JP Ricciardi to Richard Griffin -- posts most definitely not written by these folks. This is a statement explaining why these kinds of posts are outlawed at Batter's Box and the publication of an official Box policy on the subject.

Tonight the Jays are at home to the Boston Red Sox. As we all know, the crowd will be seeded with a larger than usual number of opposition fans. Therefore, it is an excellent night to bring out...

The Drum.

The Cheer Club will be in the upper half of section 518. We have a pretty good number of attendees for tonight, but we need everyone we can get, so if you have a spare nine dollar bill with no good use for it, come on out, meet up with us, and help us drown out those Boston fans and cheer on our beloved Toronto Blue Jays.

A big Batter's Box Hello! to Sportsnet's Scott Carson. Not only does his latest column echo many Bauxites' puzzlement over the continued use of Dave Berg as a left fielder, but he also plugged the Box in his latest column:

A shout out to the guys at www.battersbox.ca. I really enjoy your knowledge of and passion for the great game of baseball. For the uninformed, this is a website frequented by computer savvy Jays' fans, who are on-line throughout the game exchanging opinions, thoughts and strategies. I urge you hardcore fans check it out. (By the way, boys, I also saw that guy getting removed from his seats last Friday and he looked nothing like me!)

We hear you, Scott -- keep up the great work, and thanks for the spotlight!

Just a few days ago, it all looked great. The Blue Jays appeared to have finally emerged from their season-opening funk with six straight wins, and fans were looking ahead at the Yankees, not behind to the Devil Rays. Then came two straight demoralizing losses, including a truly ugly outing yesterday in Kansas City, and the news that Chris Woodward and Chris Speier were off to the DL. Now the Jays come home to face the powerhouse Boston Red Sox, the start of an intimidating 16-game stretch where the Jays play not one game against a team with a losing record. Add to that today's terrible news about Dustin McGowan, and this looks like low-morale time for the organization.

I know I haven't written much around here recently, but I really wanted to mention a new blog that I like quite a lot. It's called Dominican Players, and it's by Raul Tavares, a fan from Santo Domingo.

The name is self-explanatory. It's a site about Dominican players. Go read the archives; there's some great stuff in there.

Just a few days ago, it all looked great. The Blue Jays appeared to have finally emerged from their season-opening funk with six straight wins, and fans were looking ahead at the Yankees, not behind to the Devil Rays. Then came two straight demoralizing losses, including a truly ugly outing yesterday in Kansas City, and the news that reliever Chris Speier was off to the DL. Now the Jays come home to face the powerhouse Boston Red Sox, the start of an intimidating 16-game stretch where the Jays play not one game against a team with a losing record. Add to that today's terrible news about Dustin McGowan, and this looks like low-morale time for the organization.

Personally, I can't think of any possible worse news to emerge from the Blue Jays' minor-league system than that Dustin McGowan has been placed on the disabled list and is expected to miss the rest of the season. We don't know any more than you do at the moment, so we can't say whether McGowan will be back on a mound next April. More details to follow.

Through a crack in the ceiling
And I'll have to spend
My time on repair

Today, an afternoon tilt that won't be available locally on TV - it's Lilly v Affeldt.

The Royals most valuable pitching commodity may be Jeremy Affeldt. Affeldt has thrown the ball in his fiurst two years in the major, but he's been bothered by blisters. His strikeout rate has dropped considerably in 2004 (17 in 37.1 IP) - something to keep an eye on in the coming months.

Ted Lilly has looked better of late, apart from giving up gopher balls at the wrong time. The Royals missed him in Skydome, so it will be interesting to see who the element of surprise favours today.

The people keep on writing, and wishing I was well
I said, "It's no occasion, it's no story I can tell"

The Mighty Drum has been cleared for the upcoming homestand against the Boston Red Sox. Now that we have that out of the way, who's coming out to make some noise with the Cheer Club? I need your RSVPs ASAP so that we can give the Jays an idea of how many people are coming. Drop me a line at aaron@bluejayscheerclub.com.

I'm posting this game thread early because I'll soon be leaving for Team Coach's baseball game this afternoon. From there it will be over to the well-advertised Will Carroll Pizza Feed.

Though he is but 27 years old, today's starter Dennys Reyes is with his 7th major league team. He's been a reliever most of his career so pitch count should be an issue for him tonight.

Doc has been in a groove, notwithstanding the 11 hits he gave up his last time out. Most of them were bloopers and high choppers. A crazy idea has been bouncing around my head - would it be a good idea to sit Hinske and play Gomez at third and Woodward at short tonight? Interior defence is what Doc needs most, and Gomez' arm is so much better than Hinske's that he might get an out of two that Eric wouldn't.