Anyone interested? I'll be the commish, we need players. Last year we didn't have enough to fill a league. Hopefully we can get enough support for a league this year.

With all those rumours flying around about the Blue Jays sending Alex Rios to the Giants for Cain/Lincecum, I have been thinking about the pros and cons of each pitcher and can't decide which of the two I rather have. Both can potentially be front of rotation starter, but I can't help but feel that Lincecum's ceiling may be higher than Cain's. However, the stature argument also concerns me, will he break down in the near future? If you are the GM of the Jays, who would you rather have, Cain or Lincecum? Discuss

Poll

If you are the Blue Jays GM, who would you rather trade for?

45%

Matt Cain

93 votes

54%

Tim Lincecum

113 votes

206 votes | Poll has closed

Although the sample size is small, I can't help notice that a sizable number of you believe John Gibbons is doing an ok job and should be allowed to stay and some of you even believe his contract should be extended. While I wholeheartedly disagree with you, I am interested in your reasons for such a selection. What are everyone's thoughts on John Gibbons?

A month into the season, although the big club has not been doing too well thus far, I can't help but feel a sense of optimism because of the performance of two of our top pitching prospects. Dustin McGowan and David Purcey have always had the stuff, but have never been able to piece it together for their talents to show up in the box score. However, they have both dominated their respective leagues this year. Here is their line thus far this year.

                                  Record    ERA    K/9    K/BB    WHIP    Opp .AVG
Dustin McGowan (AAA)    0-2    1.69    13.5    4    1.19    .220
David Purcey (AA)         3-0    0.89    10.6    12    0.44    .111

Although it is only a couple starts in, but the results are nonetheless encouraging. The stuff of either pitchers have never been questioned. Their biggest question is whether they can locate their pitches often enough to have success. Historically, both pitches have had problems with their control. Although McGowan is still giving up walks at a higher than ideal rate, his ability to generate swing and misses more than compensate for his walks. His K/BB ratio is still at a very healthy 4/1. Purcey, on the other hand, looks like a completely different pitcher this year. Throughout his minor league career, Purcey has averaged over 5BB/9, with a K/BB ratio just a tad under two. Those are ugly numbers; it is nearly impossible to have any sustained success with control (of lack thereof) like that. This season, Purcey has only issued 2 free passes in 20 1/3 innings. Purcey's improved control has clearly shown up in the box score. The big left-hander is finally becoming the pitcher J.P. Ricciardi envisioned him to be when he drafted him in the first round of the 2004 amateur draft.

McGowan and Purcey are both projected as front-end starters. If they continue to dominate the minors over the next few months, don't be surprise to see one or both of these pitchers up with Toronto mid-season. Teams that takes it to the next level usually have some young players break out during contention (think Josh Beckett '03). Toronto is long overdue for breakout rookie performances. Hopefully McGowan and Purcey can push them over the edge.

Anyone interested? We didn't have a great turnout last year but hopefully we can get a full league going. Let me know if you are interested and if we have the numbers, I'll set up a league on Yahoo.

Although it is becoming increasingly difficult to find bargains in free agency these days, it doesn't mean Juan Pierre deserves $45mil/5yrs. Seriously, what has the world come to. Looking back at the offseason thus far, which contract do you think is the worst deal?

All in all, I think Catalanotto at $13mil/3yrs might end up being the biggest bargain of the winter.

Poll

Which of the following has been the worst use of money thus far this offseason?

33%

Gary Matthews Jr @ $50mil/5yrs

17 votes

0%

Other (please be specific)

0 votes

1%

Alex Gonzalez @ $14mil/3yrs

1 votes

13%

Alfonso Soriano @ $136mil/8yrs

7 votes

1%

Jamie Walker @ $12mil/3yrs

1 votes

9%

$51.1mil to talk to Diasuke Matsuzaka

5 votes

11%

Carlos Lee @ $100mil/6yrs

6 votes

23%

Juan Pierre @ $45mil/5yrs

12 votes

3%

Danys Baez @ $19mil/3yrs

2 votes

51 votes | Poll has closed

Here is an idea, albeit a ridiculous one.

Sources say that the Dodgers are willing to let Eric Gagne go as they have Takashi Saito and Jonathan Broxton in the wings ready to take over as Closer.

The question is, what is Eric Gagne going to make in the open market these days, after 2 injury riddle season? Another question is, would he be interested in settling for something less than being a closer?

If Gagne is at all interested in playing in his motherland, the Jays might be able to sign him to an incentive based 1-year deal that will let him serve as B.J. Ryan's setup man. If healthy, he is certainly an upgrade over Speier and will probably come cheaper than Speier this offseason.

How feasible/unfeasible is this idea? And who do you think would be some potential suitors for Gagne? I think the Red Sox can be potential suitors for the Red Sox since they are currently closerless with Papelbon moving to the rotation. A healthy Gagne will do more than enough to fill that hole.

Regardless, Gagne will be a player I will be tracking during this offseason, no matter how little press he is getting.

According to various reports (mlb.com, espn.com, Globe and Mail), the Jays are about to sign Frank Thomas to a 2-year deal worth between $20-$30million dollars with a club option for a 3rd. After not hearing much news from the Blue Jays camp thus far this offseason, this is certainly a huge splash. A healthy Thomas would certainly add a huge presence in our lineup that already inclues Glaus, Wells, and Rios, and would add the the murderer's row of hard hitting righties in the middle of our lineup.

What are everyone's thought on this? Personally, I think if Thomas can stay healthy, $10-$15mil/yr might actually be a bargain. Thomas has been a hitting machine all his life and I feel like he will continue to be into his 40s, his certain will certainly be felt in the Blue Jays' lineup. Kudos to J.P. for acting early and making a big splash in the free-agent market.

Now, we just have to wait for the official news. More on this later.

Update [2006-11-16 13:9:11 by Alpheus Chan]:

Latest report from The Globe and Mail says that the contract is $18mil/2yr with an option for a 3rd year that makes the contract $30mil in total. $9mil/yr sounds a lot better than $12mil/yr, this deal sounds better by the second.

I thought Brandon League and Dustin McGowan are no longer prospects due to playing time in the majors, but they have recently been named the #13 and #15 prospect in the International League by Baseball America.

Despite how low everyone is on McGowan these days, and how badly he pitched this year, obviously there are people who still thinks he can be a star in the big leagues.

I am very interested in the Arizona Fall League this year as it might be make or break time for McGowan's chance to succeed as a Blue Jay. If McGowan can harness his potential, he would fit in nicely behind Halladay and Burnett as the #3 starter in the rotation, but that is a big if...

What do you guys think of McGowan and what holds for him in the future? Bust or Late-Bloomer?

Why do every Top Jays prospect in recent memory either bust or blooms late? Chris Carpenter, Kelvim Escobar, Roy Halladay, Josh Phelps, to name a few, and now McGowan.

Travis Snider                                                   Adam Lind

Although this news does not concern the immediate future of the Toronto Blue Jays, it might be a harbinger of things to come a couple years down the road. Travis Snider, the Blue Jays' 1st round draft pick this year, had a huge season in short-season low-A ball with Pulaski in the Appalachian League, and was named to the All-Star, named the league's Player of the Year, and was ranked by Baseball America as the Appalachian League's number 1 prospect. Although he is still a couple years away from the show and who knows what his future entails, it is nonetheless exciting to hear success stories from a system that has seen a lack of fanfare in the past couple years.

On the other hand, the news regarding Adam Lind may have an impact on the Blue Jays roster as early as next season. Lind, a third round draft pick from the 2004 entry draft, out did his successful 2005 campaign with a MVP season in AA Eastern League with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. What is even more impressive, is that he won the award despite spending nearly a month of the season in AAA, where he also enjoyed success. As a reward for his season, Lind was called up to the big club and has continued to hit the ball with authority. Lind also joined Carlos Delgado and Luis Lopez as the only Blue Jays player to win 3 Webster Awards, which is given annually to the most valuable player in each Blue Jay minor league affiliate. Lind should be in contention for the starting/platooning LF job as early as next season. With the success he has had thus far, Ricciardi might be inclined to let Frank Catalanotto to walk as a free agent and hand the LF job to Lind. All in all, I am excited about the future of these two young sluggers. Hopefully their minor league success will translate into success in the big leagues.

Ted Lilly (10-11, 4.26ERA) vs. Dan Haren (11-9, 3.45ERA). 7:07 PM ET start.

Another early game thread today. Ted Lilly will face off against Dan Haren in the opening of this three game series against the A's. We will see if the Jays can mount any type of run in the last month a half to make the races even more exciting.

Roy Halladay (15-3,3.20ERA) vs. Erik Bedard (12-8, 3.81ERA). 1:35 PM ET start.

Following the Jays' most embarrassing shutout defeat since 1977, there is no better person to right the ship then Roy Halladay. He will probably go out and throw a shutout just to make a point.

It is going to be a solid pitching matchup tonight, but Halladay and Bedard have been pitching well lately, I expect a low scoring affair.

Unfortunately, the lineups have yet to be posted.

Shaun Marcum (1-2,5.12ERA) vs. Daniel Cabrera (5-8, 5.40ERA). 4:35 PM ET start.

Another early game thread today, sorry for any inconvenience.

In the middle of the three game series, the Jays will sent Shaun Marcum to the mound to face off against the wild Daniel Cabrera. After his fantastic first start against the Jays a couple weeks ago, he got rocked by the Red Sox in his last start, so asking me to predict what kind of start he is going to have is like asking to me to predict the lottery numbers. We will have to wait and see.

Aside from the 1 1/3 innings by Scott Downs last night, the Jays played a pretty solid game (pitching wise). I was especially impressed with rookie pitcher Davis Romero, who in his major league debut, threw like a wily veteran. He threw 2 2/3 shutout innings, giving up only 1 hit while striking out 2. His fastball might not light up the radar gun, but Jason Phillips said it looked more fast than it is. In addition, his curveball looked really sharp. Davis "The Other" Romero should have a future with this club. He surely raised a few eyebrows with last nights' performance.

Scott Downs (6-1, 4.03ERA) vs. Kris Benson (9-9, 4.74ERA). 7:05 PM ET start.

The Jays will kick off the weekend series with the Orioles with Scott Downs as the 5th starter of choice and a couple new faces in Blue Jays uniform making their major league debut. As some of you may know, following the Schoeneweis and Hinske trade, LHP Davis Romero has been called up to take Schoeneweis' spot as the LOOGY and OF John Hattig has been called up to be the fourth/fifth outfielder for the Jays. Since this is an early game thread, the lineups have yet to be posted. Enjoy the Game.

The Toronto Sun reported that resident LOOGY Scott Schoeneweis has been dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for a Player to be Named Later. This usually means that the player was drafted this year and is not eligible to be traded just yet, and will his name will be announced once he reaches his eligibility. Please correct me if I am wrong on this.

You must all know how I feel about unloading veteran these days and I am happy to unload any potential free agent we have, even for the most uninteresting prospects, cause you never know when you strike lightning in a bottle. Scott Schoeneweis has largely been a dissapointment this year and in my mind has been overtaken by fellow lefties Scott Downs and Brian Tallet on the depth chart, as Schoeneweis is borderline unusable against Righthanded hitters.

With Reds GM Wayne Krivsky overpaying for relievers, I quietly hope that we get something significant in return, but that's probably just wishful thinking.

I believe a move to the NL will benefit his career, he should be a useful part in the Cincy bullpen during their stretchdrive.

I wish the best of luck to Schoeneweis. Even though he was uneffective this year, he was one of the more stable arms in the bullpen in past years. I thoroughly enjoyed his stint as a Jay.

With his contract expiring at the end of the following season, he will likely sign an extension or be traded this offseason. As a 27yr old 5-tool player who plays a premium position, he is in position to command at a minimum, Adrian Beltre money (5yr/65mil), but with the inflated contracts, the starting point might be closer to 5yr/75mil. With Andruw Jones pushing 30 and possess 'old player skill sets', Wells could very well overtake the reign as the best centerfielder in the game, if he has not already done so. If you are J.P. Ricciardi, what would you do? Personally, I would do my best to sign Wells, and cut payroll somewhere. Cause a player like him, on the upward slope of the performance curve comes around every blue moon, once you have one, hold on to them for dear life. However, option 1 might not be feasible, as whether this happens largely depends upon what Wells want.

Therefore, I wonder what kind of a package we can get by trading Wells. This is the real reason why I am writing this diary, to get a gauge on how much VW is worth in the market, both in dollar value/yr and in players. Stud prospects and/or stud young pitching is a must in any deal involving Wells. Therefore, there are only a handful of teams that have enough to pay for Wells, in my mind. Two teams that immediately comes to mind is the Texas Rangers and the Anaheim Angels. The Rangers have Hurley, Volquez, Danks and Diamond as their top 4 prospects, all pitchers, all rated as B+ prospects by John Sickels, indicating potential as future stars. Any deal with the Rangers I believe should include at least 2 of the above group, but even then it might still not be enough for Wells. Although Wells' preference would be to play in Arlington, the Angels presents a better fit for the Blue Jays then the Rangers in terms of a trade. The Angels have 3 young pitchers that are on the verge of stardom in the majors (Weaver, Santana, and Saunders), a lot of highly rated positional prospects at or near the majors (Kendrick, Wood, Aybar, Morales), a couple of highly rated busts thus far (MacPherson, Kotchman) and a projectable pitcher like Adenhart who is further down in the minors. With the success of Weaver thus far, I don't know if the Angels would be willing to trade him, but a Santana and Wood package is not out of the question, it certainly would have the potential to solve several problems (SP and MIF).

Where else do you think would be a good fit and what do you think Wells is worth? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Ted Lilly (9-9, 4.02) vs. Chien Ming Wang (12-4, 3.77). 7:05 PM ET start.

Sorry for the late post today. Wang has been on fire lately and once again looks good thus far. We really really need this game if we are to make any sort of a charge at the playoffs.

Go Jays!!!

A.J. Burnett (2-3, 3.99ERA) vs. Jamie Moyer (5-9, 4.10ERA). 7:07 PM ET start.

The Jays will play their 100th game of the season tonight as they look for the series victory against the Mariners. They will have the bat of Vernon Wells back in the line up tonight.

Tonight's Blue Jays lineup:

Johnson
Hill
Wells
Glaus
Overbay
Molina
Mottola
Hinske
McDonald

Tonight's Mariners lineup:

Suzuki
Lopez
Beltre
Ibanez
Sexson
Dobbs
Betancourt
Rivera
Jones

Sidney Ponson (4-4, 5.24ERA) vs. Shaun Marcum (0-0, 4.91ERA). 1:07 PM ET start.

With Sir Sidney and Marcum starting today, we can see some fireworks today. This one is going to be a long one.

Tonight's Blue Jays lineup:

Johnson
Catalanotto
Wells
Glaus
Overbay
Zaun
Hinske
Hill
McDonald

Tonight's Yankees lineup:

Damon
Jeter
Giambi
Rodriguez
Posada
Williams
Cabrera
Green
Crosby

Chien-Ming Wang (10-4. 3.92ERA) vs. Ted Lilly (9-8, 3.86ERA). 7:07 PM ET start.

We really do have some pretty even pitching matchups during this series, Doc/Mussina, Burnett/Wright, Lilly/Wang, Marcum/Ponson. It should be another good one.

New Blue Jay Jeremy Accardo is listed as available in this game, I am excited to scope out the new Blue Jay.

Tonight's Blue Jays lineup:

Johnson
Catalanotto
Wells
Glaus
Overbay
Molina
Hinske
Hill
McDonald

Tonight's Yankees lineup:

Damon
Cairo
Jeter
Rodriguez
Posada
Williams
Phillps
Cabrera
Green

Jaret Wright (6-5, 4.29ERA) vs. A.J. Burnett (1-3, 4.25ERA). 7:07 PM ET start.

An interesting pitching matchup tonight, two ex-phenoms with big contracts that has yet to live up to the hype. However, neither has pitched that bad lately, expect a well-pitched game.

Tonight's Blue Jays lineup:

Johnson
Catalanotto
Wells
Glaus
Overbay
Zaun
Hinske
Hill
McDonald

Tonight's Yankees lineup:

Damon
Jeter
Giambi
Rodriguez
Posada
Guiel
Phillps
Cabrera
Cairo

Kevin Millwood (9-5. 4.66ERA) vs. Casey Janssen (6-8, 4.72ERA). 7:07 PM ET start.

Sorry for the late post tonight, another close game, but a good outing thus far by Casey Janssen.

Go Jays!!!

John Koronka (6-5. 4.63ERA) vs. Ted Lilly (8-8, 4.07ERA). 7:07 PM ET start.

With Glaus set to miss some time due to injury, Molina has stepped in to the cleanup spot today and Mottola will be the DH.

Today's Blue Jays lineup:

Johnson
Catalanotto
Wells
Molina
Overbay
Hill
Mottola
Hinkse
McDonald

Today's Rangers lineup:

Matthews
Kinsler
Young
Teixeira
DeRosa
Mench
Laird
Hairston
Guzman

Shawn David Green | RF | 1993-1999 | Career Stats | 1 All-Star

Awards:
1999 Gold Glove
1999 Silver Slugger

The Blue Jays Top-40 continues with #23, Shawn Green, who was one of my favourite Blue Jays growing up. With a sweet sweet swing that produce average and power while playing gold glove defence in right field, what's not to like about Green? (We will forget about wanting to play in his home town, and more importantly, Raul Mondesi). Although to this day, I was still a little bitter by his departure, this column is one to celebrate his accomplishments as a Blue Jay, which was pretty impressive to say the least.

Shawn David Green was drafted in the first round, 16th overall, out of Tustin High School by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1991 first-year players draft. For a high school draftee, Green progressed very quickly through the Jays' minor league system. He started his professional career in 1992 at Dunedin (A+), which is a very aggressive starting point for a high school hitter (in comparison, Travis Snider, the Jays' 2006 first rounder out of high school, started in Rookie Ball, which is 3 levels below A+). Maybe it was too aggressive on the Blue Jays' part, as Green was very ordinary in his first season. His underwhelming performance at Dunedin did not stop the Blue Jays' front office from promoting Green to AA the following season, which resulted in another mediocre season. However, while statisticians may see little reasons for optimisms, scouts loved him. For that reason, he was the #47th best prospect after his first season and the #28th best prospect after his second according to Baseball America's Top 100 Prospect List in 1993. In this case, I think the scouts are right.

In September of 1993, Green made his major league debut and played in a handful of meaningless games after the Jays clinched their division title. It was definitely not a fairy tale beginning to his career as he failed to do anything of significant in the 3 games he played (the only things that showed up on the record books are 6ABs, 1K, and 1PO). Nonetheless, by playing 3 games with the big club, he earned his first and only World Series Ring, which is quite a present for a 20 year old rookie.

After a couple years of failed potential, Green broke through big time in 1994, and developed into the 5 tool player that scouts have always envisioned him to be. He absolutely demolished International League (AAA) pitching, in addition to showing his Gold Glove potential in right field. At year end, he collected numerous accolades including being named the Blue Jays' minor league player of the year, and was ranked #6 in Baseball America's 1995 Top 100 Prospect List.

In 1995, Green has graduated from the minors and played full time in the big leagues. For the most part of his first three full seasons in the major, he was an extremely streaky hitter, almost like a Shea Hillenbrand evil twin. He habitually stank in the first half of the season and is one of the league's best post all-star hitter, which resulted in a couple of consistently mediocre lines by seasons end. Nonetheless, there are a couple achievements worth mentioning in his first three seasons in the big leagues, most namely his first. In his rookie season, he set a couple of then Blue Jays rookie records (extra base hits, .SLG) with his bat and led the atrocious 1995 Blue Jays team in several offensive categories (.SLG, .OPS) and tied for the team lead in extra base hits despite having nearly 150 at-bats less then his co-lead Paul Molitor. The talent is obviously there, but he just can't seem to get it all together for a full season.

There was also a lot of controversy surrounding Green in the first three years, most namely his relationship with then Jays' manager Cito Gaston. Green was in Gaston's proverbial "dog house". Gaston showed a lack of confidence in his young right fielder, holding him to a short leash whenever he struggles, and almost always benches him when a left-hander starts for the opposing team. At one point, the Jays even tried to replace Green with a then washed-up Ruben Sierra, which ended 3 weeks later as a failed experiment.

I am not sure if it is just coincidental or if the "Gaston factor" really made a difference in Green's performance, but in the year after Gaston was fired as manager, Green broke out and became one of the league's elite hitters. With the confidence of new manager Tim Johnson (a man who won't be appearing on any all-time Blue Jays list, maybe the Hall of Shame), Green became one of the league's few true five-tool player. In 1998, Green became the 22nd major-league player, and first Blue Jay, to gain admittance (there are now 29) into the exclusive 30/30 club (30HR/30SB) by clubbing 35 Home Runs and swiping 35 bags. If we were to create a 35/35 club, including Green, there would only be 13 members. Although Green posted huge numbers in 1998 in comparison to his previous seasons, I believe he could have done it a couple years ago if he was granted 600AB annually. If you take a closer look at his 1998 stats in comparison to his rookie stats, you will see that the two seasons are eerily similar, with only 250 at-bats separating the two:

As you can see, there is only a .009 difference in his OPS between the two seasons. The only real differences between the two seasons are the at-bats and the stolen bases. One can only imagine what Green could have done if he received 600 AB apiece in his first 3 seasons, his first 30HR season might have happened a couple years earlier.

If 1998 was his breakthrough year, than 1999 would be his BREAKTHROUGH year. Unlike 1998, where the biggest difference came from the added playing time, in 1999, he set new career highs in every single offensive category save stolen bases. Green's 1999 season was one of the best single season offensive performances in Blue Jays history. At season's end, Green was rewarded with his first and only Silver Slugger Award and Gold Glove. However, despite his impressive numbers, Green only finished 9th in the MVP voting that year, due to an extraordinary number of extraordinary seasons that year in the AL and in baseball in general, which may or may not have anything to do with the S-word that must not be named.

In the offseason following the 1999 season, the Blue Jays management faced a dilemma. With both Carlos Delgado and Green becoming free agents and demanding huge contracts, the chance of signing both without ruining the Blue Jays' financial flexibility seems improbable, and it is destined that only one will remain a Blue Jay by the end of the offseason. After a couple weeks of negotiating and listening to the wishes of the two free agent stars, Green ultimately decided he wanted to return home and play for the L.A. Dodgers. On November 8th, 1999, Gord Ash granted his wish by sending Green and 2B Jorge Nunez to the Dodgers for disgruntled star Mondesi and reliever Pedro Borbon. Ash was applauded at the time of the traded for being able to obtain a rising superstar in Mondesi for Green, but now it is clear who got the better end of this deal, and it is not Blue Jays.

Green remained one of baseball's premier sluggers over the next couple years for the Dodgers. One of the most notable highlights of his Dodger career is his 4HR performance on May 23rd, 2002 against the Brewers. That evening, he went 6 for 6 with 6 runs scored, 4HR (he is 1 of 15 men to do it) and 19 total bases, which is a major league record; he is also the first man to go 6 for 6 while hitting 4 HR. Over the next couple nights, Green rewrote a couple more records in the baseball record books, including a tie for most HR in 2 games (5), a tie for most total bases in 2 games (25), and set the record for most HR in 3 games (7).

Green's production took a nosedive following his 2002 season. He no longer hits for huge power but remained above average both with his bat and his glove. Following the 2004 season, because of salary reasons, the Dodgers traded Green to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Catcher Dioner Navarro and a trio of minor league pitchers.

Green, now 33, is on the downward slope of his career and will likely never eclipse 30HR again. Although his peak was relatively short in comparison to the other stars of his generation, he will still go down in history as one of the better all-around players of his time. Consider the success rate of even the top prospects, kudos to him for carving himself a long and productive career.

Top 10 Toronto Blue Jays Batting Ranks (min. 2000 PA):

Casey Janssen (5-5, 4.38) vs. Vincente Padilla (7-5, 4.47). 8:05 PM ET start.

Sorry for the late post. A brand new top of the order tonight with Catalanotto and Zaun hitting 1-2.

Also, congratulation to Lyle Overbay for being named the Player of the Week! Keep it Up.

Tonight's Blue Jays lineup:

Catalanotto
Zaun
Wells
Glaus
Overbay
Hillenbrand
Hinske
Hill
Adams

Tonight's Rangers lineup:

Matthews Jr.
DeRosa
Young
Teixeira
Blalock
Kinsler
Mench
Wilkerson
Barajas

The roster for the All-Star team came out today, and the Toronto Blue Jays is second among AL teams with five players named to the All-Star team (Ozzie Guillen's White Sox have six). No surprises here really, among the five named to the All-Star squad includes Vernon Wells, Troy Glaus, B.J. Ryan, Roy Halladay, and the injured Alex Rios. Rios won't participate in the game and his spot will be replaced by Gary Matthews Jr. of the Texas Rangers.

The complete All-Star roster can be viewed here

You can also vote for the final spot of each league's roster here

It is definitely a great showing by the Blue Jays to get 5 men selected to the All-Star team. However, personally, I am a little PO-ed by some of Ozzie Guillen's choices, eventhough he didn't snub any Blue Jays. How can Travis Hafner, the AL's answer to Albert Pujols, not get selected to the All-Star team. I thought he was a shoo-in for the team. There is nothing to debate, Hafner has been the best hitter in the AL this year and arguably has been the best hitter in the AL for the past couple years. David Ortiz, Jim Thome, and Paul Konerko are all having great years, but Hafner has the best combination of average, on-base, and power, there is no competition. I'll definitely cast my vote for Hafner for the final spot on the AL roster and I urge you all to do it, there is not a more deserving man for that last spot on the All-Star team.

Corey Lidle (4-6, 5.11ERA) vs. Ty Taubenheim (1-4, 4.73). 4:07 PM ET start.

Taubenheim will make his first start in a couple weeks facing-off against ex-Jay Corey Lidle. Very creative lineup tonight with both Wells and Rios unavailable due to injury, Glaus will play SS, Zaun is your number 3 hitter, and Hinske is your RF.

Tonight's Blue Jays lineup:

Johnson
Catalanotto
Zaun
Glaus
Overbay
Hillenbrand
Hinske
Molina
Hill

Tonight's Phillies lineup

Rollins
Utley
Abreu
Howard
Burrell
Dellucci
Rowand
Bell
Coste

• What looked like an innocent bruise on Alex Rios' left shin after he fouled a ball off of it Tuesday has now taken a turn for the worst. Although there is no visible cut on his shin, it has been severely infected to the point that Rios had a hard time sleeping and has been hospitalize the past two nights. However, with a couple strong doses of antibiotics, the bacteria will be sorry to infect it in the first place. There is currently no time table for the return. Since it was so much more serious than originally thought, there may be a chance that he will be placed on the 15-Day DL. Since this is a blog site and what blogs do is speculate, I feel like it is my duty to speculate potential consequences of such an injury.

  With the OF being an area of strength and depth for the Blue Jays, I feel like in the short run, Rios' injury is not going to make much of an impact. Both Frank Catalanotto and Reed Johnson have proven themselves worthy of regular at-bat thus far this season, and while it will be a tough task to match the production of the second most productive valuable RF in the majors (according to baseball prospectus), the drop off won't be big enough to make a significant impact on the powerful Blue Jays lineup. Defensively, Reed Johnson has proven he is capable on handling RF, he will be just fine. In addition, Eric Hinske might see some more playing time. As much as Blue Jays fans like to rip on Hinske, he has handled his diminishing playing time with class and has produced adequately when asked upon. He had a huge night tonight against the Nationals, falling a homer short of the cycle, if he can get some playing time over the next couple weeks and continue his solid play, he can potentially be a valuable trade chip at the deadline.

  If Rios does land on the DL, John Ford-Griffin will likely be the first in line for the callup. Although he has struggled for the first 2 months of the season, since he came off the DL a couple days ago, he has been raking, albeit being a very small sample size. He proved he can hit ML pitching last year, why not give him another shot? However, he may not get very many at bats with the big club even if he was promoted since we already have a shortage of at-bats to keep everyone happy. I know this may sound absolutely ridiculous, but I feel like we don't really need an extra guy to sit on the bench now that we are back to playing AL rules. A late inning pinch runner for Bengie Molina is always good, but another arm in the Bullpen for the short term might prove more useful than another warm body on the bench, I would vote giving Vinny Chulk another cup of coffee up here.

  As I said (and hope), the above scenario will likely not happen, but we should keep our fingers crossed and hope I am right with this one. Let me know what you think.

• I don't know if I have grown accustomed to Roy Halladay's ungodly dominance over the past few years, but a small but considerable part of me is reluctantly asking what's wrong after giving up 4ERs in three consecutive start. I understand everyone goes through slumps and giving up 4ERs over 6+IP is hardly a poor performance, but I have missed the goose eggs that Halladay put up seemingly as a routine in the past (which could be skewed perception of a past that never existed in the first place).

  One thing that many Blue Jay fans and I have noticed in the past couple starts, and to a certain extent, this year, is that it seems like hitters are getting more solid wood on the ball then before. Let's take a look at some of his batted balls stats from the past couple seasons:

  Roy Halladay's Batted Balls Stats
  

  The LD% has steadily risen over the past couple years, to 21.2% today, which ranks him in the bottom echelon among all regular AL starters. However, a high LD% does not automatically mean bad pitcher, Justin Verlander also has a LD% over 20%, Johan Santana's is just a shade under 20%. Despite all the line drives, opponents are still only batting about .250 off of Halladay, so clearly they haven't really figured him out. The most interesting stat of all I found was his IF/F ratio, up to 17.3% this season from 5.6% last season. Now thinking back, I do recall seeing more pop-ups this year than in the past hit against Halladay. My initial thought was that Halladay's pitches might be elevated, but after studying the Game Charts (see below) from his past couple starts it is surely not the case. Perhaps his sinker is not sinking as much? It sure looked like is was sinking pretty good tonight, but it is not easy to tell on TV.

  I tried putting his gamecharts here but I am not as technically savvy as Mark and couldn't figure it out, so you will have to take my word for it, or you can view it on CBS Sportsline by clicking on the links below.

  Halladay vs. Marlins
  Halladay vs. Mets

• 
  Halladay vs. Nationals

  From the charts, we can tell that Halladay was a little wild against the Marlins, left quite a few pitches up in the strikezone, even missed high on a couple pitches. He located his pitches much better against the Mets and the Nationals, practically all strikes are in the bottom half of the strikezones and even misses are low. The most intriguing thing is seeing how many pitches were thrown down the the middle of the plate. The pitch pattern is a complete opposite in Burnett's gem against the Nationals, who throw a grand total of 2 pitches over the middle third of the plate for strikes (both at the knees).

  My conclusion is that we should simply listen to the Cy Young winner about his new found game plan because it looks like this new more aggressive, strikezone pounding Halladay is here to stay. This new pitching approach might conceivably give more for the hitters to hit, but Halladay ultimately feels it would benefit him. Personally, I am not entirely convinced that this method is better, a) because his control is so good that hitting the corners is not a problem for him, and b) the results have not prove the method to be more efficient or effective.

  But... Halladay and Brad Arnsberg probably know a thing or two more about pitching than I do. If they say it is better, then in some deeper understanding of the art of pitching, it is probably better. Eventhough I don't possess an arcane understanding of pitching, I will try to understand what I can using my plebian approach and make them prove me wrong.
  

According to Jeff Blair's blog today, Reed Johnson took some groundballs at 2B today. Brian Butterfield is envisioning Johnson to be a superutility type of player (see Chone Figgons) that can play both the infield and outfield. Despite what I think of Russ Adams' struggle at the plate, he is not putting up the results. Even if he is matching his expected BABIP, he would still likely underperform Reed Johnson, who is sporting a nifty .371/.462/.533 line.

John Gibbons is quoted saying,

"Butter (3rd base coach Brian Butterfield) thinks that Reed can be what he called a 'super utility guy,' a guy who can play any position. So, Reed just worked out at second base the other day. There's nothing more to it than that."

So obviously, there is more to it.

I am very very intrigued by this, it is certainly a better idea than suggesting trying Eric Hinske at second base. I command John Gibbons for at least giving something this creative a thought. I don't think anyone would question Reed Johnson's bat, if he is a second baseman, he would be one of the best offensive second baseman in the game, even though his ungodly pace is not sustainable. But defensively, 2B is a tough position to learn, especially making a transition from the outfield for someone who do not have any infield experience (Will need double checking, baseball cube doesn't offer any defensive stats for college and minorleagues, so I am not certain he has never played in the infield). However, he is a very reliable fielder (Catalanotto calls him the best left fielder in the game, which might not be that far off, but he is among the league leaders in Zone Rating, and Range Factor for LF), he is certainly quick enough, and have a strong enough arm to play second base.

I am not entirely sure what to make of this, I doubt the Jays are giving up on Russ Adams already, maybe a platoon? Or maybe, it is just me overanalyzing every bit of Blue Jays news coming across my way and making something of nothing. Let me know what you think of this.

Ramon Ortiz (5-5, 5.27) vs. A.J. Burnett (0-1, 5.06). 7:07 PM ET start.

Pretty Standard lineup tonight, Burnett will make his second start against the ex-Montreal Expos.

Today's Blue Jays lineup:

Rios
Catalanotto
Wells
Glaus
Overbay
Hillenbrand
Molina
Hill
Adams

Today's Nationals lineup:

Soriano
Vidro
Johnson
Ward
Zimmerman
Guillen
Anderson
Schneider
Byrd