Razak Al-Hassan's arm being broken wasn't the gruesomest thing on occurred on the night.

Straight out something you'd see on YouTube. Hill's leg was shattered after a leg kick in which Dale Harrt checked.

MMA Weekly:

via www.mmaweekly.com

For those that haven't seen the fight, Hill proceeded to land on the broken leg and fell. Harrt moved to Hills side control qucikly before the referree and UFC commentators Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg could take notice. Rogan was screaming "Stop the fight!" once looking at Hill's now deformed leg.

While the UFC made the right decision to not broadcast this on live TV, I'd still like to see the fight and the footage afterwards...

I haven't contributed as much as I've liked but the worst is over as far as exams go and I wanted to have a look on Jesse Carlson who has sparked my curiosity as a fan and I know next to nothing about the guy.

In fact, if you have any interesting tidbits on Carlson, I think they would be most welcomed as there is next to nothing on this guy.

Jesse Carlson was born on December 31st, 1980 out of New Britain, Connectcut. The birthplace of major league pitchers such as Ricky Bottalico and Carl Pavano. At the age of 19, his daughter passed at a mere 18 days. I feel terrible for sharing this but... I guess the more we know about the guy the more we'll like him.

Carlson, started his career out of the Detroit Tigers organization after being drafted in the 15th round (440th overall) in the 2002 draft. At UConn he was a starting pitcher posting a ERA of 4.50. He had a fair 8.25 K/9 rate but he definitely wasn't dominating. He does have the right left handedness (intended bad joke) and was probably drafted as an organizational arm.

His stint with the Tigers organization did not last long and looks quite suspicious to me actually. Carlson posted a solid season in short-season A ball with an ERA of 1.66 in 38 IP with 47 Ks and just 10 free passes. Very solid numbers for a reliever and being a lefty, definitely would require a move up.

So what happened? I did a little searching because you just don't release a 22-year old left handed pitcher who posts a 1.66 ERA in A ball. I did some digging up and he was released as being part of a joke gone bad . He really wasn't the perpetrator but he was guilty by association and it ultimately lost him his job. Carlson and two other teammates were performing a rap song when, Luke Carlin rapped about sleeping with major league vet Randy Ready's wife. Apparently Ready found it funny but the Tigers organization dubbed it sexual harassment (it does cross the line imho) and all three players were released. That saying, the release and potentially a guy's career isn't worth something that was meant to be funny and when a player is indirectly involved.

Carlson moved on quickly to the Astros organization where he pitched in A-ball moving up a level and improving on his work. He has a 12 K/9 with a 0.84 WHIP. Extremely impressively. Carlson according to Jim Callis of Baseball America has a sharp slider but that was back in 2003-2004 and I think he piqued the interest of a few Astro fans.

The Astros were aggressive with Carlson skipping the High-A level to AA. He didn't fare too well as hitters were catching up to him as he was rather mediocre. An ERA of 5 isn't that bad for a 23-year old but Houston didn't think so and was released. The Jays picked him up for a season where he fared well in his second stint in AA posting a 1.83 ERA in 39 IP. He was average again in a short stint at AAA. He would leave as a 6-year free agent from Toronto after th '05 season to hook up with Texas which produced further mediocre/unspectacular but not terrible numbers. He returned last season where he pitched in AA to a 4.86 ERA.

Carlson at 27 made his major league debut, you could use that journeyman tag on him as he's been with 4 organizations already. In his short stint he's pitched a 2 innings with 2Ks. He may just end up being a loogy with a repertoire that includes a slurve and a slider. He may even pull off a surprising season like Wolfe (if anyone saw his success before his major league debt had to be psychic especially with him posting era's in the 8s). Either way, I'm definitely rooting for him to be successful and after reading about some of the hurdles in his career that he has to go through, I wish him the best not just because he's currently a Jay.

I've been busy with exams but one thing that needs to be done every year is your own predictions for the year. With opening day starting tomorrow (for us anyway), what are your predictions for the 2008 year. I promise to revisit them at the end of the year to see who's got the midas touch.

AL

Rookie of the Year: Clay Buchholz (no hitter hype probably carries over)

MVP: Miguel Cabrera (he's not on Florida anymore and he's the best player in best player in baseball)

Cy Young: CC Sabathia

AL East (this has done by our writers already): 1. Boston Red Sox 2. Toronto Blue Jays 3. New York Yankees 4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5. Baltimore Orioles

I think they Toronto Blue Jays improve by 3 games with the Yankees a game or two back. I don't see the Yankees having that come back after early struggles with Girardi. Boston doesn't need an explanation (it's not fair!).

Al Central: 1. Detroit Tigers 2. Cleveland Indians 3. Kansas City Royals 4. Chicago White Sox 5. Minnesota Twins

Any other year, having Kansas City would be a stretch but I think they'll be a pleasant surprise. As for Detroit and Cleveland they are interchangeable to me.

AL West: 1. LAA Angels 2. Seattle Mariners 3. Oakland A's 4. Texas Rangers

I wanted to choose the Mariners (go Bedard) but once Lackey returns the Angels should be fine.

Wildcard : Cleveland Indians

Pennant: Detroit

NL

Rookie of the year: Kosuke Fokudome (is that fair?)

CY Young: Mark Teixeira

MVP: Ryan Howard

NL East: 1. New York Mets 2. Atlanta Braves 3. Philadelphia Phillies 4. Florida Marlins 5. Washington Nationals

It was sad last year to see the Mets fall apart. They've made considerable moves at least to make sure that doesn't happen (see Santana). The Braves I expect to be solid but they did those Andruw Jones and their rotation has a mix of young and old. I expect the Phillies to struggle with their pitching but all three teams should make it interesting down the stretch.

NL Central: 1. Chicago Cubs 2. Cincinnati Reds 3. Milwaukee Brew Crew 4. St. Louis Cardinals 5. Houston Astros 6. Pittsburgh Pirates

Talk about flipping a coin. Other then Pittsburgh, anyone can be #1-5.

NL West: 1. Arizona Diamondbacks 2. Colorado Rockies 3. Los Angeles Dodgers 4. San Diego Padres 5. San Francisco Giants

This will be a fun division to watch as any team is both capable and worthy of winning this division. It's sad that 2 out of these 4 teams can't make the playoffs.

Wildcard : Colorado Rockies

Pennant: New York Mets

World Series champion: Detroit Tigers

What are your picks?

I haven't posted in ages but I'm able to squeeze some time to talk about an important retirement. Shawn Green #23 on on our Top 40 All-Time Greatest Blue Jays List has called it quits at seemingly young age 35 according to the New York Post

I don't really know how to feel about Shawn Green. When he was a Jay I was a huge supporter. There was something in my memories of skinny dude that can whack the ball like it's no tomorrow (Adam Lind kind of reminds me of him) and he added at least 20 steals. The moments I remember were 1998 where he became a 30-30 guy and topping that the following season with 42 jacks and earning himself an all-star  appearance. In the end he spent only 5 seasons with us and I would've wished it to be 10 or 15 seasons as a Blue Jay because he was one of my favorite Jays at the time. Everyone probably heard about the trade involving him and Raul Mondesi which will always be a tough pill to swallow. He was pretty good for the Dodgers later making rounds with Arizona and the Mets. He earned himself a gaudy $100 million over his career. He ended up with a fine career line of 283/.355/.494 and 328 home runs. Not bad at all.

I didn't really know what was going on around contract negotiations or why Shawn Green was traded at the time but I always remembered the trade and how it was discussed a ton. I always looked up his statistics randomly at times during the season just to see how Shawn was doing. In a cruel way I wished for him to struggle to make the Jays look good for trading him and how him wanting out.

I guess I can forgive Shawn Green now that he has officially called it quits (still feeling a little bit bitter). Leaving the Jays at such a young age and being such a great player to watch, it was a bitter pill to swallow to see him having success with the Dodgers. 35 years old seems like an early retirement age these days and I'm sure he could've put in a few seasons as a platoon or pinch hitter but alas he has decided to call it quits and we at Bluebird Banter wish him the best.

We haven't had much news in the off-season so far but the Jays made a move today trading for utility man Marc Scutaro for 2 of our prospects.

I am not surprised at who this trade partner is as it's again the Oakland A's which is Riccardi's old boss.

Scutaro is a light hitting SS that many compared to John McDonald. Scutaro does have some power, hitting 7 home runs last season but bats a career average of .259. Scutaro is arbitration eligible and will make somewhere around $2 million. He has a good chance of starting as he is a slight upgrade with the bat at SS. He can give whoever days off as well. They also make a very good platoon option with McDonald hitting well against lefties in 49 games with an .818 OPS and a .329 BA. Over his career (.257/.306.645) he is considerably better against southpaws.

The prospects we gave up, never featured in my top 20 prospects. Kristian Bell and Graham Godfrey are two 23-year pitchers in A ball.

Kristian Bell is the type of arm that seems expendable. Bell has really struggled with his control and seems a bit too hittable with a career WHIP of 1.43 in A ball.

Godfrey had a 3.98 ERA for Lansing and didn't light anything on fire in his professional debut. Solid numbers but had a high hit rate and K rate that wasn't anything special.

Overall another decent move by Riccardi I would say. Scutaro is a very cheap option (was hoping for a Crosby trade) and is at least slightly better then McDonald with the stick. The players we gave up were expendable as all had considerable questions about them and were all the way down in A-ball. The likelihood they make to the show is slim. For Oakland this is clearly a salary dump and utility players aren't hard to come by when it comes to minor leaguers anyway.

From the great site, Cot's Baseball Contracts we should analyze the Jays finances. The Blue Jays have a unique system with their revenue based on the Canadian dollar and the exchange rate has played a huge factor in their financial situation in the past.

The Blue Jays should be flush with more finances despite an increasing payroll. Let's take a look so far with the contracts we have in 2008:

CF - Vernon Wells $0.5M + $8.5 M
RF - Alexis Rios ?? (Arbitration)
LF - Matt Stairs $2.25 M/Reed Johnson (??)/ Adam Lind (~300K)
3B - Troy Glaus $12.75 M
SS - John McDonald $1.9 M
2B - Aaron Hill (??)
1B - Lyle Overbay $5.8 M
DH - Frank Thomas $8 M
C - Gregg Zaun $3.75 M
Bench:
Curtis Thigpen (~300k)
Russ Adams (~400k)
?? - likely to be filled
SP1 - Roy Halladay $10 M
SP2 - AJ Burnett $12 M
SP3 - Dustin McGowan (~300k)
SP4 - Shaun Marcum (~400k)
SP5 - Jesse Litsch (~300k)/ Gustavo Chacin (~400k)
CL - BJ Ryan $10 M
RP - Casey Janssen (~400k)
RP - Scott Downs (??)
RP - Jeremy Accardo (~400k)
RP - Jason Frasor (??)
RP - Brian Tallet (~400k)

There is a lot of guesswork involved when trying to predict the salaries of players under the team's control.

A few big cases for arbitration:
Reed Johnson - IF it is offered I think they will match it at $3.075 M

Alex Rios - I think he can get $4-5 M depending on who they can use as comps. Hint to Jays management: get this guy signed long term. I'll say $4 M here.

Scott Downs - I'm thinking between $2-3 M to keep his services. Considering the market, Downs could fetch 3 years/$15 million for his services once he hits free agency in 2009. I'll say 2.5 M.

Frasor - Arbitration eligible, I think he fits in the $1-1.5 M range. I'll say $1.25 M

Aaron Hill - Not sure but if he ends up being considered a Super 2 he may get around 800K.

Approximate Total:
With Sparky: $90.7 M
Without Sparky: $87.6 M
Last Year's Salary: $81.9 M
Last Year's Exchange Rate: 86 cents Canadian/US Dollar
Last Year's Salary in Canadian: $95.2 M
Current Salary in Canadian:
With Sparky: $87.2 Million
W/O Sparky: $84.2 Million

Depending on whether we choose to retain our lead off man. We CAN make one significant signing this off-season or do what we did last year and bring guys in as role players.

What would you do with the extra money?
There are plenty of things the Jays management can do. They can sign a catcher to have a platoon, Alexei Ramirez looks like an interesting player at SS, or how about trading AJ Burnett for Tejada and signing another pitcher?

All speculation but it's fun to do. Hopefully the Jays don't go quietly...

Since the off-season is important in dictating the future of some prospects, I figure we put up this list now and make edits as the Jays make some more moves.

New eligibles (not on 40 man roster):
David Purcey*
Kyle Yates*
Ryan Klosterman
Cory Patton
Chip Cannon
Danny Hill
Mike MacDonald
Aaron Mathews
Daryl Harang
Paul Franko
Aaron Tressler
Adrian Martin

Others that may not be on the 40-man roster:
Lee Gronkiewicz (seems like a decent pick up)
Jamie Vermilyea
Ty Taubenheim
Sergio Santos
John-Ford Griffin

Likely 40-man roster removals:
Joe Inglett
Ryan Houston
Tracy Thorpe

Anyone I'm missing? Anyway a few important prospects may be left exposed in Aaron Mathews, Adrian Martin and Mike MacDonald. Let's hope we protect Gronk.

I probably would be happy to see Santos, Taubenhiem, Griffin and Cannon let go to pursue other organizations.

The top 20 prospect list is always based on opinions. I am just a 19-year old kid and if you really think about these top 20 prospects list aren't that useful but they're fun!

I'll try to share some of my insight but most of the time people are going to have different opinions. Feel free to share away.

Here is my updated top 20 Blue Jay Prospect List:

1. Travis Snider OF (Lansing Lugnuts)
   
2. Brett Cecil LHP (Auburn Doubledays)
   
3. Curtis Thigpen C (MLB/Syracuse Chiefs)
   
4. Robinzon Diaz C (Syracuse Chiefs)
   
5. Yohermyn Chavez OF (GCL Jays)
   
6. Jonathan (JP) Arencibia C (Auburn Doubledays)
   
7. Ricky Romero LHP (New Hamshire FisherCats)
   
8. Kevin Ahrens SS/3B (GCL Jays)
   
9. Kyle Ginley RHP (Lansing Lugnuts)
   
10. John Tolisano 2B (GCL Jays)
    
11. Marc Rzepczynski, LHP (Auburn DoubleDays)
    
12. David Purcey LHP (New Hampshire Fisher Cats)
    
13. Josh Banks RHP (MLB/Syracuse Chiefs)
    
14. Chi-Hung Cheng LHP (GCL/Auburn)
    
15. Adrian Martin RHP (Dunedin Jays)
    
16. Eric Eiland OF (GCL Jays)
    
17. Justin Jackson SS (GCL Jays)
    
18. Balbino Fuenmayor 3B (GCL Jays)
    
19. Ryan Patterson OF (New Hampshire Fishercats)
    
20. Brandon Magee RHP (Dunedin Jays)

Some thoughts:
This list is filled with new faces specifically from the 2007 draft. Cecil and The "Zep" are the two big lefty pitchers that we seem to keep drafting. Hopefully for them they don't hit the dreaded AA wall faced by our former top prospects.

As great as it that we have some promising players in the GCL Jays. Just remember the young guns as a whole struggled. Balbino Fuenmayor has fallen from grace but others struggled just as much but are receiving recognition for their tools.

I find that our system is very weak at the moment. We have a lot of unproven talent. Cecil and Snider look like studs but the rest have a lot of question marks going forward. We also don't have a lot of talent in the upper levels of our system.

What do you think?

Nothing better then seeing our rivals lose. One down, one to go. Let's go Cleveland!

Anyway, if Steinbrenner is serious then Torre is out and the Yanks are looking for a new manager.

Does it mean that A-Rod will be leaving as well?

This is great news for us if A-Rod leaves and the Yankees roster can start to look pretty weak if they lose some key free agents. Then again, they could always spend their way back into contention.

Sunday September 23 - Bronx, New York
1:05 PM (EDT)

Sorry for being late, stayed up too late doing one too many biochemistry questions.

This has been an entertaining series thus far despite our struggles with the lead.

If it's any consolation it feels like we're back to last year's antics with great hitting and shooting ourselves in the foot with our bullpen.

Saturday September 22 - Bronx, New York
1:05 PM (EDT)

They are resting Roger Clemens for Phil Hughes as the Yankees do some serious rotation juggling.

Both the Yankees and Jays wasted some arms in the 14 innings game yesterday. We have Banks, Towers and League who didn't pitch yesterday. I am sure Frasor and Downs could step in as well. Hopefully Marcum can go deep into a game but that isn't likely where he has struggled against the Yankees this season to a tune of a 6.06 ERA in 16 1/3 IP.

There isn't much news as it is the end of the season and while we are out of it, beating up on our AL East enemies feels sweet. Go Jays!

Friday September 21st - Bronx, New York
7:05 PM (EDT)

I haven't been around this month due to school and I am just filling in for Hugo who will be at the game.

With Wells being shut down for the rest of this year (should have been done a few weeks ago?) it opens up a spot for Sparky and Rios to show their true fielding skills at slightly tougher positions.

With this being the end of the year, for some of these players they are jockeying for position on next year's roster. Russ Adams' heroics have been noted and are very surprising since most of us probably wrote him off (including me). He looks to be a utility type with decent speed. He did have good at bats in the minors before hitting the majors but he seemed to struggle with the bat along with his defensive problems. I do like him as next year's backup 3rd basemen and Johnny Mac as the defensive sub in late games.

What do we do with Sparky? He has a little bit over a week to prove that the Toronto Blue Jays should tender him (at $4 million) which is highly unlikely.

The last of the Canadian minor league teams above A ball is now gone. While not official it's a foregone conclusion.

It's sad that the Blue Jays are the only Canadian team and how else is baseball in Canada supposed to grow?

Here's SI's article as the Lynx played Syracuse to end the season:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/more/09/03/bc.bbm.lynx.finalgame.ap/index.html

Syracuse 8, Ottawa 6
JotG: John Hattig had the game winning hit.

Trenton 5, New Hampshire 4
JotG: Ryan Patterson was 2 for 4 with a home run.

Fort Myers 17, Dunedin 5
JotG: Jesus Gonzales was 3 for 4 on the night.

Lansing 12, West Michigan 11 (13 innings)
JotG: Keivn Nelson was 3 for 6 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI.

Auburn 2, Jamestown 1

Sunday, September 2nd - Toronto, Ontario
1:07 PM (EDT)

The last month of the season is underway. We currently sit 6.5 games out of it with 27 games to go. There is still some hope but chances are very slim though beating up on some teams is nice.

We probably will have some familiar faces and some new ones on the team as the MLB rosters expand. Some are reporting newly signed Kennedy, Fasano, Luna and even Josh Banks to be called up tomorrow. Unless New Hampshire makes the playoffs, I'd expect De Jong, Howie Clark, Lee Gronkiewicz, and Vermilyea to be called up eventually.

Robinzon Diaz who is ont he 40-man roster would also seem like a possible choice.

As for today's lineup. We have Russ Adams in the 2-hole and it begs the question, is Gibbons trying to get fired? He could easily have a better left handed hitter there with Lyle Overbay who is instead hitting 6th instead of the weak bat that is Russ Adams. The mistake Gibbons made yesterday isn't forgotten where it cost the Jays an out and possible run.

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
Ben Zeskind
Zeskind was the leadoff hitter throughout the entire season for the DDays and arguably you could say their MVP. Hitting .303 is impressive at the leadoff spot. He probably doesn't feature as a prospect being 24 and repeating Auburn. He doesn't have huge power numbers being a LF. Prospect or not he has led the DDays to an impressive 6th straight title.

Syracuse 5, Ottawa 1
JotG: Josh Banks. Banks pitched 7 2/3 with just one run given up on 6 hits while striking out 5. Banks is believed to be up for a promotion (finally) as MLB rosters expand. Kevin Barker gets honorable mention as he was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI.

Trenton 3, New Hampshire 1
This was an important game for the Fisher Cats as they sit a half game behind Portland for a playoff spot. JotG: Ty Tuabenheim pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up just 2 hits and a run.

Fort Myers 1, Dunedin 0
JotG: Adrian Martin was the tough luck loser giving up 1 ER in 7 innings while striking out 5.

Lansing 7, West Michigan 4
Jimmy Dougher pitched to 1 batter in the 1st inning walking him and was pulled due to an arm injury. Good to see that he was noticed by the organization but hopefully his arm injury isn't too bad. JotG: Pettway and Franko. Each had 2 doubles apiece. Pettway had 3 hits while Frank just 2 but had 4 RBI.

Auburn 7, Jamestown 2
As I've said, this game was a division clincher for Auburn. You can read the MiLB article.JotG: Ben Zeskind was 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI.

I am a little bit under the weather so I'll make this quick or I'd probably end up falling asleep before I finish this.

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
Jesse Carlson is minor league journeyman reliever.  He is 26 years of age and first started when Detroit drafted him in 2002 in the 15th round.

He was released after his rookie campaign despite being very good in short-season A ball. He was picked up by Houston, was excellent in A ball and was aggressively moved to AA in 2004. Where he struggled with a 5.04 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He was subsequently released and the Jays picked him for the '05 season. Where he shined in a relief role with New Hampshire with a 1.64 ERA and a was moved to Syracuse that same year struggling with a 1.77 WHIP. He was released after one year and caught on with Texas after being released again with continued struggles this time in AA.

He has struggled again this year as hitters tend to hit well against him which isn't great for a reliever. He may get a chance to pitch a handful innings in mop-up duty or in September possibly.

Ottawa 5, Syracuse 4
JotG: Wayne Lydon was 3 for 4 with a walk and triple. He has 2 runs and an rbi.

New Hampshire 6, Trenton 5
JotG: Jesse Carlson for 4 shutout innings in relief with 4Ks. HM to Ryan Patterson was 3 for 5 with a home run. Klosterman had the winning hit in the bottom of the 11th.

Fort Myers 7, Dunedin 4
JotG: Kyle Phillips was 3 for 4 on the night.

Dayton 4, Lansing 2
JotG: Jonathan Diaz was 2 for 2 with a walk, double and triple.

Auburn 9, State College 3
JotG: Ben Zeskind was 3 for 4.

I am a bit annoyed by the recent news that Vernon Wells has concealed a shoulder injury throughout this year.

Wells has been pretty bad from his career norm and his injury does make sense when putting into context.

What doesn't make sense is why now?

We were perturbed when BJ Ryan debacle went down and he was out for the year. Shouldn't we have the right to know he's injured so we don't bash a fan favorite?

If Wells was injured why was he not pushed lower down the batting order instead of being the 3-spot where he is expected contribute?

Lots of questions are not going answered and this is upsetting because if Wells was indeed injured then this team is managed horribly both on the manergerial side and with GM duties.

It does look like an excuse to say why he is playing poorly as this could have been stated much earlier. The Jays are shooting themselves in the foot by not revealing some information.

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
CJ Ebarb or (Roger Ebarb).
Ebarb is a catcher currently with Auburn. Ebarb is 24 as JP Arencibia's backup. He struggled in his pro debut with Pulaski last season hitting just .229. He is definitely not considered much of prospect due to age and due to results. He was drafted in the 41st round of the 2006 draft.

Scranton/W-B 6, Syracuse 3
JotG: Ryan Roberts was 2 for 4 with a home run.

Connecticut 8, New Hampshire 1
Yates struggled giving up 5 runs in 6 innings.

Clearwater 7, Dunedin 3
JotG: AJ Wideman pitched 5 innings giving 1 unearned run.

Lansing 4, Dayton 3
JotG: Julio Pinto pitched 5 shutout innings with 6Ks.

Auburn 11, State College 10
JotG: CJ Ebarb was 4 for 5 with 3 runs, a home run and 4 RBI.

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
Brett Cecil.
Brett Cecil who seems to be back to form after getting a finger injury and would only "start" for 2 innings at a time. He currently has a 1.18 ERA and as the season dwindles down he will definitely be promoted to either Lansing or Dunedin for next year and will probably feature as one of the next top prospects in our system.

Scranton/WB 6, Syracuse 2

New Hampshire 7, Connecticut 1
JotG: Ricky Romero gave up just 1 run in 7 innings while striking out 7. Kratz and Cosby each had 3 hits.

Clearwater 4, Dunedin 2
DJays mustered only 3 hits.

Lansing 4, Dayton 1
JotG: Reidier Gonzalez had a decent outing pitching 7 2/3 innings and giving up just 1 run.

Auburn 3, Mahoning Valley 2
JotG: Brett Cecil pitched 4 2/3 IP giving up just 2 hits and striking out 8 with a dominating performance.

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
David Corrente is currently in AAA while Fasano and Diaz recover from injuries. Corrente is Canadian and was drafted back in 2001 in the 14th round. He is a minor league backup catcher and was playing mainly in Dunedin this season.

Syracuse 8, Buffalo 4
JotG: David Corrente was 3 for 4 with a double, home run and 2 RBI.

Connecticut 3, New Hampshire 1 (Game 1 - 7 innings)
JotG: Rob Cosby was 2 for 3 with a home run.

Connecticut 2, New Hampshire 1 (Game 2 - 9 innings)
All the runs came in the 9th inning. JotG: Jo Matumoto pitched 6 shutout innings with 5Ks and only 2Ks given up.

Lansing 10, Dayton 5
JotG: Travis Snider was 3 for 5 with a double, home run and 2 RBI.

Auburn 3, Mahoning Valley 2
JotG: Marc "The Zep" Rzepczynski pitched 5 2/3 IP giving up 1ER and striking out 4.

Minor league team playoff situation:
New Hampshire 1 game behind Portland for playoffs.
Dunedin is 2 games up on Clearwater.
Lansing has clinched a playoff spot.
Auburn is 5 games up on Mahoning Valley.
GCL Blue Jay season is over.

Blue Jay Prospects playing in Arizona Fall League:
Travis Snider
Sergio Santos
David Purcey
Ricky Romero
James Vermilyea
Ryan Patterson
TBA

Jays Organizational Player of the Day:
Brandon Magee
I am bit hard on Magee. He has struggled this year but he does possess major league stuff and while he had a very unsuccesful year, he's still considered as a prospect and has the potential to make a major league bullpen. He has been terrible at times but awesome at others. It's a crapshoot what the Jays will do with him, such as moving him up or moving him into the pen if his K/BB remains very low.

Buffalo 8, Syracuse 7
JotG: Hector Luna was 4 for 5 with 2 doubles.

Conneticut 3, New Hampshire 2
JotG: Ty Taubenheim 6 2/3 IP with 6Ks and 2ER.

Dunedin 3, Lakeland 1
JotG: Bradon Magee had 6 2/3 shutout innings with 5Ks.

Lansing 7, Great Lakes 4
JotG: Kyle Ginley 7IP 2ER 8Ks.

Batavia 5, Auburn 4
JotG: Manny Rodriguez was 2 for 4 with a home run.

GCL Jays 7, GCL Tigers 2
JotG: Jonathan Del Campo was 2 for 3 with 2 doubles.

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
Chi-Hung Cheng

Chi-Hung Cheng is a 22-year old pitcher just coming off a serious injury (torn labrum) and is finally making his return. He was signed in 2004 for $400,000 out of Taiwan. He is one of our better prospects as he has done well at lower levels and looked to be heading to Dunedin before the injury. He has been held to low pitch counts but it seems as if he is back to fully return for the minor league playoffs. I am not sure if Toronto will rush him but he remains as a prospect of note (and in our top 20) despite missing most of this year.

Ottawa 12, Syracuse 10 (10 innings)
Syracuse made 10 ERRORS!!!! on the night. It didn't help that Ottawa had 17 hits as well. 3 errors were made by 3B John Hattig all of them throwing errors. Chad Mattola had 4 errors, one being a missed catch, one fielding error and 2 throwing errors. Lind, Lydon and Corrente added in the other 3. Does anyone know what the record is?

New Hampshire 3, Portland 0
JotG: Dustin Majewski went 2 for 4 with a triple and home run. He had two 2 RBIs.

Lakeland 6, Dunedin 5 (Game completed from yesterday)
JotG: Carl Cota was 2 for 2 with 3 walks.

Lakeland 2, Dunedin 1 (7 innings)

Lansing 8, Great Lakes 7
Lansing had 8 hits and got 8 runs while the Great Lakes scored 7 on 17 hits. JotG: Travis Snider was 2 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBI.

Auburn 6, Batavia 3
JotG: Chi-Hung Cheng pitched 5 shut out innings with 7Ks.

Jays Organization Player of the Game:
Kyle Yates

Kyle Yates was one of our top pitching prospects heading into the season. He was originally drafted in 2004 in the 13th round.
Yates is 24 and stands 5'10 so while I wish I was that height he is short for the ideal pitcher image of most scouts. He apparently has great control but not great stuff. He rated as a C+ prospect with a great curve ball coming off a great season in 2006. He was sent this year to repeat in AA again (why? no clue) and all his ratios are down, he's giving up more hits and has really struggled at times.
Yates is falling on the prospect lists whether he pitches well or not. The incoming draft talent definitely drops Yates behind. Yates looks like at best a #5 (unlikely to me) and more as a reliever. With the way our rotation is looking and lots of prospect in front of Yates (with their own struggles but Purcey, Romero, Banks, Chacin will be tough to beat) I am not sure his future is with the Blue Jays and he is still a good prospect to be included in a trade.

Syracuse 5, Ottawa 4
JotG: John-Ford Griffin who singled in the winning run. Had a good 2 for 3 night with 2 walks.

New Hampshire 6, Portland 1
JotG: Kyle Yates had a very good night, pitching 6 shutout innings and striking out 5.

Lansing 6, Great Lakes 2
JotG: The batters were on tonight with 15 hits but Chris Reddout had the best individual performance pitched 4 shutout inning with 5Ks in relief.

Auburn 5, Batavia 4
JotG: JP Arencibia went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles.

GCL Jays 5, GCL Tigers 1
JotG: John Tolisano with a 3 for 4 night and a home run. Joel Carreno gets honorable mention for his 8K in 5 IP performance.

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
Brett Cecil

Brett Cecil is currently dominating Short-season A-ball while he was just drafted this year. Being drafted in the supplemental round I expect him to be pushed hard a bit and I wouldn't be surprised to see him in Dunedin this season following the path of Brandon Magee. He is definitely one of our top prospects now. The Jays were being cautious with him by giving him 2 innings start and yesterday was the first of 4 innings starts that I can remember in awhile. He is also a lefty so hopefully he doesn't take the path of Romero and Purcey...

Syracuse 5, Ottawa 3 (Game 1 - 7 innings)
JotG: Adam Lind was 3 for 3 with a home run. Honorable mention to Corrente for the game winning two-run home run.

Ottawa 6, Syracuse 4 (Game 2 - 7 innings)
JotG: Ryan Roberts was 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Chiefs had only 7 hits on the night all by the top 3 hitters (Luna with 2, Lind with one)

Portland 12, New Hampshire 6
Romero struggled again giving up 8 runs (5 earned) in 2 2/3 IP. At this rate it looks like he'll be repeating AA. JotG: Juan Peralta was 3 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI.

Dunedin 6, Clearwater 5
AJ Wideman was decent giving up 2ER in 6 innings while striking out 4. JotG: I'll give it to Brian Jeroloman who was 3 for 4 on the night.

Lansing 4, Great Lakes 1
JotG: Julio Pinto pitched 6 innings with just 1 run (unearned) given up and had 5 strikeouts.

Auburn 4, Williamsport 1 (Game 1 - 7 innings)
JotG: Brett Cecil pitched 4 shutout innings with 5Ks. Maybe he's deserving of a promotion for the Lansing playoffs.

Williamsport 7, Auburn 4 (Game 2 - 7 innings)
This game was blown in the top of the 9th were Williamsport scored 5 to break the game open.

GCL Jays 5, GCL Indians 3
JotG: Jimmy Dougher continues his dominance on the GCL with just a run (unearned) given up in 4 innings with 5Ks. Ahrens bumped his average up to .228 with a 3 for 4 night.

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
Adam Lind

Lind had a breakout season last year vaulting to the top of prospect lists and shot up through the system to get a major league shot. He struggled earlier this season with the Blue Jay and while some people are concerned about his struggles his .289/.331/.470 in AAA is nothing to worry about. He does have plate discipline issues he is dealing with but from what I've seen... I believe this is just a slight slump and he will still be a great starter if not fringe all-star for the Blue Jays.

Syracuse 7, Ottawa 3 (Game 1 - 7 innings)
JotG: John Hattig went 2 for 3 with a double, home run and 3 RBI. Michael MacDonald pitched a complete game.

Syracuse 7, Ottawa 1
JotG: Adam Lind was 3 for 3 with a double, triple, home run with 4 RBI. Just a single away from the cycle. Gronkiewicz pitched shutout innings with 4 Ks.

New Hampshire 7, Portland 1
JotG: David Smith went 3 for 5 with a home run and 2 RBI.

Clearwater 12, Dunedin 7 (Game 1 - 7 innings)
JotG: Eric Nielsen was 3 for 4 with a double, home run and 3 RBI.

Clearwater 3, Dunedin 2 (Game 2 - 7 innings)
JotG: None

Lansing 8, South Bend 1 (6 innings)
JotG: Matt Lane was 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI.

Auburn 4, Williamsport 2
JotG: Marc Rzepczynski gave up 2 ER in 7 1/3 IP but struck out 12 batters. "Zep" has become a K machine since being put in the rotation.

GCL Blue Jays 9, GCL Indians 5
JotG: Yohermyn Chavez went 3 for 4.

Jays Organizational Player of the Day:
Sergio Santos

Sergio Santos is a shortstop we received as a throw in when we traded O-dog and Miguel Batista for Troy Glaus. Santos was a top prospect for Arizona once as he was a 1st round draft pick out of high school in 2002. He performed well at each level until hitting a wall in AAA due to strike zone judgment.

After his first year in AAA where he had a line of .239/.288/.367 he managed to worsen that with a .214/.254/.299 season with Syracuse. The Blue Jays organization sent him to start this season with AA with New Hampshire. He had a brief stint in AAA again but was sent down again once Hector Luna was sent down. So far he has had good power numbers with a .253/.326/.488 season.

I don't like him as a prospect. He strikes out an awful lot and a .253 batting average in AA isn't exactly stellar. He is no longer considered a prospect by most and though he will have great nights sometimes he will also have a lot of bad ones.

Syracuse 3, Rochester 1
Adam Lind had golden sombrero on a tough night. Banks was tough going 7 innings with a run allowed (via the home run) and with just 2 Ks and gets the JotG.
New Hampshire 12, New Britain 0
JotG: Ty Taubenheim and Sergio Santos. Taubenheim went 8 shutout innings while striking out 5 and giving up only 2 hits. Santos went 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI.

Dunedin 11, Fort Myers 6
Brandon Magee allowed just 2 runs in 7 innings but struck out just two. JotG goes to Kyle Phillips who was 3 for 5 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI.

Lansing 6, South Bend 3
JotG: Jonathan Diaz was 2 for 2 with 3 walks as the leadoff man.

Auburn 8, Mahoning Valley 7 (12 innings)
The Ddays pounded out 18 hits and had a 5 run 9th and made a comeback from being down 6-2. JotG goes to Adam Calderone and Brad Emaus. Calderone was 4 for 6 on the night with just one RBI and Emaus was 2 for 6 with a 3-run home and the winning RBI.

GCL Phillies 4, GCL Jays 6
JotG: Jonathan Del Campo went 3 for 4 with a home run to increase his batting average to .322. Honorable mention goes to Yohermyn Chavez who was 2 for 4 with a home run. Brian Letko pitched 4 shutout innings with 5 Ks.

Doing game summaries generally suck. First off it means that we missed the game entirely and need to hype up a game that it's over (it's hard). Secondly, when we lose there really isn't as much to be excited when we win.

Final Score: Oakland 4, Toronto 1

The Good:
AJ Burnett continues to pitch well for us. He pitched 7 innings and gave up 1 ER (charged with 4 runs but will get back to it) as well as striking out 9. He lowered his ERA to 3.85 but like his career has been (.500) he is only 7-7.

The Bad:
Our defense let us down in this game. All four of Oakland's run came in the 7th inning. A fielding error by Matt Stairs allowed Davanon to get on base. Followed by a Jack Cust home run with 1 out. Aaron Hill also made a fielding error to allow the 4th run to cross the plate.

The Ugly:
Esteban Loaiza made a return to the rotation with a stellar outing by allowing 3 hits in 7 2/3 IP. Last I checked, this was a home game...our bats get infested with termites?

Jays Organization Player of the Day:
Adrian Martin

Martin is a pitcher currently in Dunedin. He was drafted out of high school in the 19th round in 2003.

Martin has progressed a level higher each year and has yet again proven that he can be dominant at High-A and looks deserving of a shot at AA next year. Martin featured mainly as a reliever with great control with his superb K/BB rate at all levels. He was just moved out of the bull pen to mediocre success until tonight. Will he stay as a starter? I don't know but you definitely should take a flyer on him. He may be up in AA and you may see him as a reliever. Being just 22 with 4 years of minor league experience he still has a lot of time and has done well so far.

Pawtucket 9, Syracuse 7
JotG: John-Ford Griffin was 3 for 4 with 4 RBI.

New Britain 2, New Hampshire 0
JotG: Iriki gave up 1ER 7 innings with 6 Ks.

Dunedin 9, Fort Myers 3
JotG: Adrian Martin pitched 7 shut out innings with 2 hits given up with 8 innings.

Lansing 3, Southbend 2 (Game 1 - 8 innings)
JotG: Graham Godfrey gave up 2 ER in 6 2/4 with 4 Ks.

Lansing 5, Southbend 6 (Game 2 - 7 innings)
JotG: Brian Pettway had a home run and 2 RBI.

Mahoning Valley 7, Auburn 2
JotG: None. Chi-Hung Cheng was moved up to Auburn going 4 innings giving up 2 runs with 4 Ks.

GCL Jays 6, GCL Phillies 4
JotG: Yohermyn Chavez went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles and a triple while driving in 2 runs. He has .290 on the year so far.

(forgot about today--4 am)
Jays Organizational Player of the Day:
Robert Ray is a 23-year old 6'5 righty pitcher in Dunedin. He was drafted in the 7th round in 2005 out of Texas A&M. Ray has a great size for a pitcher and his K/BB has been respectable at each level. He currently sports a 4.77 ERA. He basically gets hit around a lot but that may be due to a high BABIP (.411 as of August 18). He definitely needs more outings where he can show that where he limits the amount of hits getting to him. Not sure if he is deserving of a shot at New Hampshire but it is his second year at repeating High-A without much improvement. He may be better at AA due the better level of defense.

Syracuse 8, Pawtucket 6
JotG: John Hatting was 2 for 5 with a homerun and 2 RBI.

New Hampshire 4, Binghamton 2
JotG: Kyle Yates allowed just 1 run in 6 1/3 innings. He did give up 8 hits and just strike out 2 but was able to get by.

Dunedin 8, Fort Myers 2
JotG: Robert Ray surrendered only 1 hit in 7 innings however he did walk 4 and only struck out 3. Limiting a team to one hit is impressive nonetheless.

GCL Jays 4, GCL Braves 3 (10 innings)
JotG: Jason Monti struck out 5 in 2 2/3 IP in the late innings of the game.