I had a quick look at the calendar to make sure it wasn't April first -- Jeff Blair at the Globe and Mail has revealed that Troy Glaus will indeed play shortstop tonight against the Chicago White Sox. It's not permanent --

"I'm just looking at tonight's game," Gibbons said. "This guy is one of the better pitchers in the league and we need offence. These guys (the White Sox) are going to score a lot of runs and we're going to have to keep pace."

The farm affiliates went 3-1 on Thursday night.

....and the second and the third rounds. After the Jays first pick they pick next at #120.

John McDonald, the Minister of Defense, takes a run towards a ground ball in today's photograph:

Syracuse and New Hampshire took it on the chin yesterday.  Josh Banks surrendered a couple more home runs as the Chiefs ran out of pitchers.  The Fisher Cats "blew up good" late in their game.  Dunedin salvaged a win for the affiliates as Lansing had a day off.  Orlando Trias pitched well enough to win, with thanks to the bullpen, while Robinzon Diaz and Ryan Klosterman supplied the offense.

Damn, but that Carl Crawford can play ball..

From Tuesday night against the Devil Rays, here's Shea Hillenbrand smacking the tar out of a baseball -- it landed somewhere in the cheap seats.

Josh Towers and Russ Adams have been sent to AAA. The Jays must have a special deal on the AAA shuttle or they want the frequent flyer miles but the shuttle has been busy this year. Jason Frasor, Vinnie Chulk, Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan and now Towers and Adams have all been sent down to AAA.

UPDATE: Sportsnet is reporting Adams will play second base in Syracuse.

15 ground balls, 3 fly balls. 7 strikeouts. Classic Roy Halladay.

How does NH follow up a 23 run night? By making their two day average 11.5 runs.

The affiliates went 1-3 on the night with the Lugnuts getting the win.

It don't get any fresher than this!

From Tuesday's Jays-Rays tilt, mere hours ago, here's Aaron Hill leaping over Ty Wigginton to turn the double play:

Here's an interesting thought experiment ...

What ballplayer has been traded the most times for the most All-Star or All-Star caliber players? We're not necesarily talking about individual lopsided deals here, or even blockbusters; just guys who have been dealt a number of times for a number of recognizable names. No doubt the gentle readers of Batter's Box will have a number of nominees, but let's start with the guy who prompted the idea for me while hitting against the Braves on TBS (Mike Cameron) and the daddy of baseball's current headliner, the most vagabond of all All-Stars ever (Bobby Bonds).

Oh, and a couple of, not "rules," really, but for the purposes of this thread, "parameters" ...

The Jays seem to have avoided the Coors Hangover effect.

The Toronto farm goes 2 – 1 as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats supply the fireworks to honour Queen Victoria and the Dunedin Blue Jays supply their fans with a double dose of comeback thrills.

Theo, Mrs. Hank and I joined the regular 518 crew as well as legendary former Cheer Club drummer Bird Droppings and his girlfriend Suzie (to whom I must apologize -- when we found out she was Australian somehow we immediately started talking about the circumstances surrounding Michael Hutchence's death), who were on a brief North American visit.  I won six bucks in RBI Pool when I put my dollar on Troy Glaus -- does that mean I'm going to gloat by making Glaus the subject of today's photo?

Hell yes!