I'll take Zaun plus the points

What a day ... and camp hasn't officially started yet. First there was the news of the e-mail Q&A in the Post this morning with Gregg Zaun giving his side of how on earth he ended up in the Mitchell Report. Seems he lost a basketball bet with Jason Grimsley and ended up paying him off with a $500 cheque that he did not take the time to put Grimsley's name on. Zaun say that someone else put Kirk Radomski's name on the Pay To line and a photocopy of it ended up in the Report. Yikes. That's as good an explanation as any for an industry that really doesn't want to dig too deep and likely takes Zaun off of Commissioner Selig's radar screen. At first, this morning, Zaun said he was done with talking about the Mitchell Report and would not do any interviews. Then later in the day he changed his mind and spoke about it. He seems quite discombobulated by the whole thing.

The key Zaun phrase from his Post Q&A was "I have never violated MLB drug policy or failed any drug tests." Vague enough? The key Zaun phrase from his later group de-briefing was "Maybe people come away and think that maybe there’s a possibility this could have happened. That’s the way I remember it happening." At least he broke his silence, but there are still questions and he has now, officially closed that door on any more answers.

Later on in the afternoon, GM J.P. Ricciardi stiffened when he heard about Sal Fasano's version of him signing with the Jays this year only because JP assured him he would be the backup catcher. Now, with Rod Barajas on the scene and Curtis Thigpen and Robinson Diaz at Triple-A, Fasano may be wanting his release. J.P. said he would talk to Fasano one-on-one and straighten it out. It may be the end for Fasano as a Jay, which is probably best for him, anyway.

Guys that showed up today included the Vegas connection of Frank Thomas and Reed Johnson, as well as A.J. Burnett and pitching coach Brad Arnsberg. Ricciardi said that Diaz has had some sort of problems with his papers (that used to be called "visa problems") and will not be here on time. He wasn't sure about Gustavo Chacin's arrival. He may be later if he's behind the wheel. Tomorrow is the first official day of Jays baseball for 2008. What a week it's been. My son Patrick's 15th birthday on Monday, the Clemens train wreck on Wednesday, Valentine's Day on Thursday, the Opening of Camp on Saturday and Family Day on Monday coming. You know, it's funny. I've never been home for Family Day.

Richard Griffin