Anyone watch Monday Report last night?

Character-clause? I dunno what makes a baseball writer qualified to determine someone's character. Last time I looked, no writer has walked on water, or taught a whole village to fish.

Magglio got what now?

Success in the draft is a key component of the “plan” for the low budget Blue Jays; “poor” teams cannot afford to sign top free agents and must develop them themselves. JP Ricciardi is a former scout; was Director of Player Development in Oakland; and lists player evaluation as one of his strengths. JP, and his team, must utilize their player evaluation skills to draft and develop major league talent to strengthen the Blue Jays from the inside. The Jays would like to emulate Oakland’s success in the draft; when JP was working for Oakland they drafted Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito and Eric Chavez.

Here are a few of the things going on in the Tepid Lukewarm Stove League ...

Yes, it's time for the All-Julio Hall of Names team, inspired by Mike Green's typically oustanding Hall Watch item on Julio Franco -- and perhaps forecasted by the All-July team several months ago.

Did you know that Julio Franco is the only Julio in the history of MLB to make an All-Star team? Actually, the odd thing about entering "Julio" as a search term in the always-fabulous BaseballReference.com site ...

Anything new to talk about today?

John Sickels 2005 Baseball Prospect Book is now shipping. In addition to the book, some of you might be familiar with John's work from his Down on the Farm columns for espn.com. The book includes scouting reports and grades for hundreds of minor leaguers including, for 2005, 36 Blue Jay prospects. Any fan interested in minor leagues and prospects should invest in a copy of John's book.

I've heard from all the owners, thirty-eight of whom are returning. We have lost one Alomar owner (Jordan "Dad" Furlong's SABR Magicians) and one Barfield owner (Mike Hansen's Springfield Isotopes, relegated from Alomar). It speaks well of our league that everyone responded quickly and that almost everyone can continue to play. Kudos to the returning owners, and thanks to Jordan and Mike for playing the last two seasons.

Let's say that we all agree to watch the same 3 games one weekend. Our job will be to keep track of all BIP, and, by IF/OF, say "was that a routine play or not".

Routine would mean that even putting Manny Ramirez ( or Derek Jeter!!.. just kidding you thin-skinned Jeter lovers... ) at SS or CF would make that play.

Then

He may not be a Hall of Famer, but Julio Franco's story will be told long after he hangs up his spikes. Even if that doesn't happen for another 10 years.

So, did anything happen yesterday?

It's Groundhog Day, and you know what that means ... it's time for 2004 pre-season nominations for the Annual Batter's Box Joaquin Andujar Award. The player who will eventually be awarded the 2005 Andujar will be the epitome, in retrospect, of a low-risk, high-reward transaction. (If those two sentences sound Bill Murray-esque Groundhog Day familiar, well they should.)

Batter's Box authors and readers are invited to cast their ballots for the top five pre-season candidates for the 2004 Andujar. Points will be tabulated on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis and balloting will conclude, after a second round of reminders, near the end of Spring Training, at which time the pre-season list will be published.

To win an Andujar ...

Gitz asked me whether I thought Barry Zito, following his down year in 2004, was a good candidate for the "buy low, sell high" theory of player acquisition.

Some tidbits to start you off: