Big Bro' on white horse is near
The hippies won't come back you say
Mellow out or you will pay

Bauxite Rob has taken a look at the famed "proven closer" theory, and has some thoughts on the subject. Thanks, Rob!

My Jays preview was published today over at The Hardball Times. There's nothing that's news for Batter's Box readers, and not a patch on Coach's magnificent preview, but if anyone wants to discuss the piece they can do so here.

Just a reminder that our fantasy drafts are coming up quickly:

BBFL Alomar: Thursday, 9:00 PM EST
BBFL Barfield: Thursday, 9:30 PM EST

The Leftovers!: TODAY!!!, 9:00 PM EST

When Monday comes around
She'll turn once more to Sunday's clown
And cry behind the door

Test your prognostication skills in the 2004 Batter's Box Predictions Contest!

Last year's contest drew 39 entries and was miraculously won by yours truly.

The prize for winning this year's contest may or may not include one of the following:

• One of my old plaid flannel shirts with a crudely forged signature of Rob Neyer.
• A portrait of Peter Gammons.
• A mason jar of the corn liquor Jason Stark drank before writing his prediction for 2003 American League MVP.

Spring training games are designed to get players ready for the season ahead. For minor league players spring training gives them a chance to test themselves against the best. For 2004 spring training I tracked the appearances of the Blue Jays minor league pitching prospects. I am particularly interested in minor league pitching prospects and I was curious to see how they fared. All of these pitchers are now back in minor league camp getting ready for their season so now is a good time to review their spring.

Everything you say is lies
But to me there's no surprise

The job is very boring, I'm an office clerk
The only thing that helps pass the time away

All the latest and greatest Jays news that's fit to blog.

The latest from Florida and beyond.

Our 20,000-word "synopsis" concludes at last. Part One reflected on 2003, examined the front office and followed up on Craig's "Tosca in a Box" from last spring. Part Two counted down the 25-man roster, from most replaceable to most important player. So much for the past and the present; today is all about the future, which the late, great Dan Quisenberry assured us is much like the present, only longer.

For anyone not familiar with the Toronto organization, Syracuse is the AAA club, last year's AA affiliate was New Haven (it's now Manchester), the High-A team is Dunedin, Low-A is Charleston, and short-season Auburn is rated "above" Pulaski. For more on the fledgling Jays, see our depth chart and farm system links.

Though I do have personal favourites among these outstanding youngsters, when it comes to the minor leagues, I happily defer to our resident expert, Jordan Furlong. Take it away, "Gideon."

Last night, twenty fantasy team owners completed the first five rounds of the 2004 BBFL draft without touching a keyboard or saying a word.

With the draft set to take place next Thursday, yesterday was the last day to announce for owners to change any of their five "keepers," players retained by owners from one season to the next. Surprisingly, no owner made any last-minute changes to decisions announced earlier this month.

And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

Yesterday in Part One, I reviewed 2003 and gave the organization two thumbs up. Tomorrow, don't miss Part Three, Jordan's look at the system's best prospects. Now, let's meet your 2004 Fighting Jays.

Here's where I could have done some research, crunched the ZiPS numbers, factored PECOTA and invented a longevity quotient. It's more fun for me to rely on my eyes and my baseball instincts. However, I have refined my tried-and-true WAG (wild-ass guess) method — you know, the nonsensical approach that appraised Doc at 22-7 last March and foolishly predicted a career year for a 37-year-old backup catcher — into the COACH system, an acronym for Completely Optimistic, Analysis-free hunCH.

Don't laugh; I use the same unscientific style in fantasy ball, where I'm usually a contender and have won a league or two. I've loved baseball stats for more than 40 years, and Bill James and his disciples have greatly increased my understanding and even appreciation of the game, but I'm also from the Stengel-Berra school — if you know where to look, you still can observe a lot by watching.