Consider this a catch-all thread to discuss whatever's on people's minds this long weekend. Andy Pettitte vs. Pedro Martinez at Fenway should be interesting. The Expos. Those crazy Central Division races. The BBFL. Eric Gagne's Cy Young chances.

Congratulations to the New Haven Ravens, who clinched their division, for the first -- and last -- time in their ten-year history. The players, coaches, manager and the entire organization should be proud. I envy Pistol and others who got to see this team, and hope we get more eyewitness reports in the Eastern League playoffs. A best-of five against the New Britain Rock Cats, the Twins farm club, seems likely. The Southern Division champion Akron Aeros (Cleveland) will play Pittsburgh's Altoona Curve; the winners will meet in a five game series. Go Ravens!

(from the site) Rios Breaks Record in Style

In front of a sellout crowd of 6,246 fans at historic Yale Field on Saturday August 23, outfielder Alexis Rios set the team record for hits in a season in dramatic fashion. He started with an RBI single in the first inning to tie the record, set by first baseman John Gall last season. He then broke the record with a solo homerun in the fifth inning, his tenth of the season and second in as many nights. The Ravens went on to win the game 8-3. Rios is currently leading the Eastern League in batting average and was recently named to the post-season All-Star team.

I miss Gideon's (and Neary's) farm reports -- we're spoiled -- and don't have time to do the research today, so discuss amongst yourselves. Hope the move is going well, Jordan. Much happiness in your new home.

Thanks to the tireless work of Coach Kent, Batter's Box has secured an upcoming interview with the Toronto Star's principal baseball writers, Geoff Baker and Richard Griffin. The best part? They have kindly agreed to let our readers ask the questions.

Now the Star gets a lot of criticism around here for its often-controversial baseball coverage, but I think we can all agree that these two gentlemen have showed a lot of class in agreeing to take questions from what may be a hostile audience. I'd like to venture over a slightly broader range than just the Star coverage; I'm sure some of you would as well... the beat writer's and columnist's jobs are pretty interesting, and these guys watch a lot of baseball, so they have interesting things to say. But feel free to ask them anything that's on your mind.

We ask that you keep it clean, and please get your questions in by Monday afternoon. Some of our Batter's Box writers will pick the questions that get asked; we'll get to as many as we can.

E-mail your questions to Coach Kent.

Yes, there is no finer city in the full splendour of autumn anywhere in the world than Montreal. But add playoff baseball to the mix? Heavenly.

Finally, a look at the Indians, who the Advance Scout says are "in expanded-roster mode already" with a lot of inexperienced players vying for future jobs. Apart from DH Matt Lawton, nobody in tonight's Cleveland lineup has 600 big-league at-bats. They will face talented enigma Kelvim Escobar, who got rocked in his latest, further exaggerating his odd splits at home (3-7, 6.39) and on the road (6-1, 2.04) this season.

Against giant lefty C.C. Sabathia, conservatively listed at 6'7" and 290, the Jays will send up eight righty bats and Carlos Delgado. O-Dawg, F-Cat, Myers, and Hinske are on the bench with Tom Wilson. Bordick is at 2B, Berg at 3B, Phelps the DH and Cash behind the plate. Bobby Kielty, hitting .389 off Sabathia (8-for-17) with two homers and a 1.310 OPS, returns to right field. Sabathia is 2-0 with a ridiculous 0.75 ERA in two previous starts against the Jays, and he's won four of his last five starts, allowing more than two runs just once. Escobar's done well vs, the Tribe in his career (2-1, 3.77, 3 SV) so this shapes up, on paper at least, as a pitchers' duel.

If only this series began just three days later!

Two young clubs with loads of minor-league talent square off, just days before the expanded 40-man rosters take effect. Of course, smart clubs are wary of starting young players' arbitration clocks...but it would have been fun to see at least some of each team's touted kids. As it is, the Jays march into Jacobs Field with their standard 25.

They'll face a team that seems like it's in expanded-roster mode already. Injuries to star hitters Milton Bradley and Ellis Burks mean more playing time for the likes of Jody Gerut, Ryan Ludwick and Coco Crisp, who are each taking advantage of their opportunities to play. While the Jays need to guard against a letdown after 16 games agains the AL's elite, Cleveland will be trying to ramp up its game after six against Detroit and Tampa Bay.

Tonight has the potential to be an outstanding pitching matchup, and none of the games are gimmees for the Jays; the Tribe features a retooled (and red-hot) bullpen, and a surprising lineup that is getting better at the plate (if still a little shaky in the field and on the basepaths).

On to the Advance Scout!

Let's get it on, suckas.

Somehow, in all the excitement about our own interview with J.P., we missed this fine piece by Jeff Blair in the Globe and Mail:

The bottom line of Ricciardi's philosophy (often lost in the carping about scouts being fired and all the other evils that never seem to be dredged up by the people who matter the most — the fans) is risk management. Striking a balance when it matters. And defence is a part of it.

Hear, hear. Some people incorrectly portray Ricciardi as a stathead, obsessed with OBP. This article confirms my impression -- if you can't afford multi-dimensional studs like A-Rod, Vlad and Ichiro, you must sacrifice something to stay within budget. The Jays, while far from perfect, have at least become cost-effective. No more strong-armed $5 MM shortstops and $12 MM right fielders who are out machines.

Just got this in the mail this evening:

That's what Richard Griffin calls Delgado and Halladay in this morning's column, before saying their chances of winning the MVP and Cy Young awards "are fading as fast as the Jays."

This isn't one of those letters-to-the-editor-generating pieces that works the ZLC into a collective tizzy, it's a realistic look at the possibilities. Griffin thinks Garciaparra and Loaiza are the front-runners; for those of us without votes, the distinction between who will win and who should win makes the debate more complicated.

Some of our readers wish we would never link to another R.G. piece, but he does provoke a response. So does his Toronto Star colleague Geoff Baker. Negotiations are under way to have both writers step into Da Box to answer your questions. Please, hold your fire. When the ground rules are finalized, we'll let you know. One suggestion: while you're thinking about what to ask, consider how you would phrase the question if you could pose it in person. Sometimes, the relative anonymity of a fan Web site affects our rhetoric. It's a sign of respect that Baker and Griffin would contemplate doing this, and they deserve the same from us, even when they're wrong.

A reader pointed out that the Win Shares page currently credits Albert Pujols with slightly more offensive Wins Shares than Barry Bonds, despite Bonds' huge edge in the key rate stats. Craig Burley doubted that Pujols' bat could actually be worth more than Bonds and a brief discussion ensued. I chimed in with a suggestion - to use Base Runs in a team context to estimate the true value of a player's production.

The Advanced Rookie-level Pulaski Blue Jays finished their Appalachian League campaign recently, and I've taken the opportunity to import individual stats for every player in the league into one spreadsheet. Pulaski compiled the third best record in the league at 38-29 (.567). I haven't checked, but I think that with Auburn possessing one of the best records in minor league baseball (52-15, .776), the Blue Jays farm system will sport the best short-season winning percentage this year. That is a testament to the quality of the last two drafts, which provided the majority of the players for the two squads.

Yeah, I know, it's only a two-game set, but the Red Sox haven't been swept at home this year. Yet. Also "at stake" is the season series between the teams, tied 9-9 going into the finale. Just like last night's exciting (if sloppy) contest, this one's about pride for the Jays, but has playoff implications for Boston, now a game back of their AL West rivals in the wild-card standings.

The pitching matchup certainly favours the good guys. Roy Halladay, 10-4 with a 3.54 ERA in 16 road starts, seeks his 18th win. One slight concern is that Doc's facing the Red Sox for the sixth time this year, so they are very familiar with him. He's 2-0, 4.26 in those five starts, including a complete game 5-2 victory in Fenway last month. Based on their 2003 numbers, he must be extra careful with Johnny Damon, David Ortiz and Trot Nixon, but he's done a nice job shutting down the righthanded heart of the order.

John Burkett, one of those guys I love to hate, has made three starts vs. the Jays this year, lasting a total of just 11 innings. He's 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA -- almost everybody's hit him, especially Greg Myers, Chris Woodward, Vernon Wells, Eric Hinske and Carlos Delgado. All are in the lineup. Mike Bordick and Josh Phelps are on the bench, along with Tom Wilson, Dave Berg and the still-hobbled Bobby Kielty. Anything can happen in that ballpark, and no lead is safe with these bullpens, so the only prediction I'll make is that it should be fun to watch.

The Toronto Sun's website has a CP article by Shi Davidi on sabermetric approaches to building teams (it's on Canoe, so get it soon before it disappears) inspired by the recent Oakland-Toronto series.

The article contains a vintage J.P. Ricciardi quote, this one about a young Mike Bordick (who Ricciardi signed for the A's back in 774 B.C.)

We were in the Blue Jays private box, between the radio booth and press row, awaiting the start of a ball game, the rubber match of the Mariners series. J.P. Ricciardi had promised Batter's Box a sit-down to answer some of the questions posed by our contributors and readers. With his wife and two young sons in town, and busy with many other responsibilities, he had run out of time for the second straight day, but J.P. is a man who honours commitments. I joked about him "ducking the hard-hitting interview" and assumed we would reschedule again, so the last-minute invitation to join him was completely unexpected. It was a dream come true for this fan to watch the first nine outs of a 7-2 Toronto win while chatting with the architect of my favourite team.

Most Batter's Box regulars already know his bio: born September 26, 1959 in Worchester, Mass., played baseball and basketball in high school, college ball in Florida. After two seasons in the minors, Ricciardi became a coach at age 23 in the Yankees system, before joining the Oakland organization in 1986 as a minor-league instructor and New England area scout. At 32, he was promoted to East Coast Scouting Supervisor; two years later he became National Crosschecker. In 1996, he became Special Assistant to then-GM Sandy Alderson. Under Billy Beane, his title was changed to Director of Player Personnel. J.P. was hired by the Blue Jays on November 14, 2001 and has four years remaining on the contract extension he signed after rejecting overtures from the Red Sox. He's already improved the talent on the big-league club and throughout the farm system while simultaneously trimming millions of dollars from the payroll. There's no doubt that he's one of the brightest front-office minds in the game, with an energetic, charismatic personality.