With not just free agents, but some of our own home grown stars this is becoming a big question for the Jays - do you lock in a player for a decade or do you say 'screw it'?

With all the 10+ year deals going on and the Jays having 3 franchise players in Vlad, Bo, and Alek the question becomes should the Jays do it? How have guys like those 3 done in the past?

With the free agency debates going, how long a career can one expect from a player has come up. Lets dig into the history.

The rotation sucked this year. How badly? Quite.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!

Yup, I've dusted off the Big Honking Database and propose once more to look at One-Run Games in general and the hometown heroes in particular.

This one's for BlueJayWay, obviously.

This is a post from bauxite Mike D.

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An analysis of whether the Blue Jays’ bullpen has succeeded or failed this season is surprisingly complex.

Looking at the most basic mainstream measure of saves, the Jays have been an atrocious 6-for-16 in save situations (while the first-overall Cardinals have been a tidy 25-for-29). On the other hand, the Jays’ reliever ERA is better than that of eight other teams’ bullpens, and the bullpen’s K/BB ratio is second-best in the majors while holding opponents to the tenth-lowest opposing OPS.

For the twelvth year in a row, I am once again asking for hardcore baseball fans to participate in the annual Scouting Report project, in which you evaluate the fielding characteristics of players on your team. If you have a few minutes, please drop by and evaluate your team.

http://www.tangotiger.net/scout/

(Hey, it just sounds better than "Inside the Rogers Centre.")

Anyway, the Jays have been playing full-time at their current digs since the 1990 season. Certain trends have been established. But what Toronto's pitchers have been doing at the Rogers Centre this season hasn't been seen before.

The Home Run Derby is tonight, which means at least 60 minutes of being subjected to Chris Berman saying back back back. Robinson Cano and Adrian Gonzalez whooped everyone last year, with Cano taking the crown by a single dinger (bonus points if you remembered that).

Who will win this year? Let's have at it.

We're pretty close to mid-season, and since I didn't feel like Advance Scouting the Royals, let's review the Jays offense over the first half of the season (all numbers prior to Monday's game, except where noted).

A few years ago, I ranked Michael Saunders very high on the list of Canadian prospects (yes, even ahead of Brett Lawrie). I was impressed with his athleticism and his improving minor league batting record. Unfortunately his major league trials since them have been disappointing and he has spent a lot of the past two seasons in AAA. But with the continued absence of Franklyn Gutierrez, Saunders has stepped into the everyday centerfielder job. I expect him to remain there even when Gutierrez returns.

A thread on BBTF about Chipper Jones got me to thinking about how long players stay with one team and has it changed drastically recently. So I figured, what the heck, lets check!

In the past 12 years the Jays have been, well, kind of trapped. 6 years of 3rd place, 1 in 2nd, 1 in 5th, and now 4 straight years of 4th place. During this time attendance has been as mediocre as the team. But when do those fans come out? What does it take to get a crowd? Would it be smart for the Jays to spend millions on stars to push them over 90 wins, push for a move to the AL Central (easier competition) or (financially) is it best to stick as is with the Yankees & Red Sox and perpetual 3rd/4th place finishes.

The Jays have avoided arbitration with Casey Janssen, signing the 30 year old reliever for 2 years, $5.9 million with a team option for $4 million in 2014. Janssen had been seeking $2.2 million in arbitration, the team offered $1.8; the signing also buys out one of Janssen's free agency years.

The Jays signed Brandon Morrow to a (for all intents and purposes) 3 year, $21 million deal with a club option for $9 million. Will he be worth it?