Jays vs. Phillies - Reed Johnson memorial game

First day back and they hit me with this?

Reed Johnson's nine years in the Blue Jay organization ended this morning. The club released him. One minute he was there in his civvies saying goodbye, and then he was gone. He will receive a $546,000 (U.S.) cheque as a parting gift - one-sixth of his planned $3.275 million salary.

The winner in the left-field battle, Shannon Stewart, wasn't doing any crowing. He referred to Johnson as a "close" friend and seemed shocked that he'd been cut. Even GM J.P. Ricciardi seemed rattled by the decision.

"Today wasn't a fun day for me, telling that to somebody I personally like and professionally like," Ricciardi said.

But Johnson will find work quickly, most likely as a fourth outfielder on a National League club like the Padres. Here's wishing him all the best. He was one of the good ones and will be missed.

As I write, we've finished two innings in sunny Dunedin. It's 1-0 Phillies after a solo home run given up to Chase Utley by A.J. Burnett (Surely, not a curveball. Surely not!).

NOTE: Ricciardi let it slip this morning that Rule 5 pick-up Randy Wells has made this team. It's getting awfully crowded in that bullpen. Ricciardi wouldn't list off the people the final roll call, but right now it must stack up like this on Opening Day:

- Accardo
- Downs
- League
- Tallet
- Frasor
- Wolfe
- Wells

This is working under the (safe) assumption that B.J. Ryan starts the year on a rehabilitation assignment and that Armando Benitez needs a little more time in the gym before he makes a major league roster.

TOP OF THE FOURTH: Geoff Jenkins singles into left field. With a Phillie heading home, new part-time left-fielder Shannon Stewart comes up firing. His throw is about thirty feet short of the mark and twenty feet wide. This is what we have to look forward to.

TOP OF THE FIFTH: Oh, the humanity. Bases loaded and one out for the Phillies. Chris Snelling pops one into shallow left. More like deep short. Another brutal throw by Stewart and Shane Victorino slides in safe. 5-0 Philadelphia. Burnett threw 31 pitches that inning. We won't see him for his planned sixth frame, I will wager the house. (Okay, he comes out for the sixth. Who needs me to copy the keys?)

TOP OF THE SIXTH: You want some defence? John McDonald replaces David Eckstein at short and makes a simply stunning play on a Pedro Feliz grounder. Great running get, greater throw to first. Burnett stands for a long time with his hands on his hips silently admiring the best defensive shortstop in baseball (oh yeah, I said it).

After his 88th pitch - an RBI double - Burnett is pulled in favour of Brandon League. He gave up 6 runs, 8 hits, 1 HR in five and a third.

GAME OVER: Phillies romp 15-7. Afterward, Burnett revealed that he'd thrown his first curveball of the spring. That was the one Utley took over the wall in the first.

"I don't care who you are. That's funny," Burnett grinned afterward. Hey, at least he's not kicking over garbage cans after a Grapefruit League game.

Cathal Kelly

RAINY DAY AT LEGENDS: CANCELLED

Drove over the causeway from Clearwater to Tampa just in time to see the sun rise over the bay. Beautiful. Got to Legends Field a little too early and they wouldn't let me into the VIP parking lot. Was directed to a lot across the street in the shadow of Buccaneer Stadium but it wasn't open yet. Hung around for 15 minutes until the guys at the other end of the lot had finished their coffee and came over to take down the barriers. That'll teach me for being such an eager Canadian beaver. Was the first Toronto writer there, so I got my choice of press box seats. Unfortunately the four positions that they assign to visiting media are all obstructed view. Hey, Yankees, when I said I wanted to sit behind the post, I meant the New York Post. In any case, I took the best seat of the four. The only thing I can't see from this seat is first base and right field. But I have a great view of Babe Ruth in a framed photo on the post.

Andy Pettiitte was being hidden from the Jays and Dustin McGowan was being hidden from the Yankees today, but Pettitte couldn't make his scheduled start across the street at the minor league complex due to back spasms. It was his second spasm of the year. Unsure whether a needle is the answer. Maybe not. In fact, it also seems that the Bombers are hiding Kei Igawa in case he needs to replace Pettitte in the opening series. They claim it's his aversion to rain. He was replaced by Albaladejo, who apparently is a mudder.

LINEUPS:

Jays: David Eckstein ss, Alex Rios rf, Vernon Wells cf, Scott Rolen 3b, Frank Tholomas dh, Aaron Hill 2b, Shannon Stewart lf, Marco Scutaro 1b, Rod Barajas c, Randy Wells p.

Yankees: Johnny Damon cf, Derek Jeter ss, Bobby Abreu rf, Alex Rodriguez 3b, Jason Giambi 1b, Jorge Posada c, Hideki Matsui dh, Shelley Duncan lf, Chris Woodward 2b, Jonathan Albaladejo p.

The Yankees didn't even bother hitting on the field due to forecasts of rain. The Jays hit during off-and-on showers, but only the mound was covered as gametime approached.

The Jays exploded for six runs in the first on five hits and a couple of errors. Poor Jonagthan Albalajedo must have been wondering what all the fuss was about at the big-league level as Derek Jeter let a ball go through his legs for an error and Shelley Duncan dropped a semi-linedrive waist high for another error. The highlights of the inning were a triple by Scutaro, a double by Hill and an INFIELD HIT BY FRANK THOMAS. The ball hit the bag at third and caromed towards foul territory. A-Rod dove for it and came up missing the Big Hurt by a step. Unfortunately it was wiped out.

Randy Wells made his eighth appearance without allowing a run. This one won't count in the stats, but it will score points with the front office. Wells was thrilled to be able to face A-Rod, getting him to ground out to Rolen.

Marcum and Burnett are going to stay in Florida when the Jays fly north on Frioiday morning and join the team in New York. This blof would have been there sooner, but I am technologically challenged and hit the send button when my blog was in draft mode. 

   

JAYS WIN 5-3

The Jays hung on to win 5-3. Litsch went six innings, at one point retiring 16 straight Tigers. After the game he talked about pounding the stirke zone and throwing a lot of two-seam fastballs, a pitch that is going to help him compete over a full major-league season. Kevin Ahrens got his first ML at-bat and flied deep to right. Tomorrow is in Tampa against the Yankees, with both teams hiding their starters. The Jays will throw Randy Wells against lefty Kei Igawa. A decision on Fasano must be made soon. There is no room at the 'Cuse and he deserves the opportunity to look for a better opportunity, with the Jays catching situation being more crowded than it ever has been.

JAYS OUTBURST

The Jays exploded for five runs against Willis in the fourth inning. They had not scored five runs in total in nine of 10 games coming in. The duelling outfielders, Johnson and Stewart stroked back-to-back doubles in the inning, driving in a run each. To open the innimg, McDonald and Luna were running on a full count to Fasano with nobody out. He checked his swing and stumbled part way across the plate. He was out on appeal on the checked swing, but the Jays had a double steal as Pudge was unable to throw. Then, non-roster seconds baseman Klosterman went down to slice a low fastball into centre field for a two-run single. Then came the doubles. Earlier in the game Fasano was hit for the fifth time this sping. Following a walk in the fifth, Fasano was 0-for-9 with five HP and a walk, meaning his slugging percentage was .000 and his on-base mark was .400.

I talked to a proud David Corrente before the game about his Olympic qualifying experience in Taiwan. The Wallaceburg native and Chatham resident credited part of the Canadian success to caring more about the name on the front of the uniform than the names on the back. Assistant GM Tony LaCava talked glowingly about Corrente and his attitude and predicted a long career for him in baseball. The 24-year-old catcher played for Dunedin and Syracuse last year. He will be going to the Olympics in August in Beijing.

MARCHANT MADNESS AT THE TIGERS

Driving over from Clearwater to Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, the traffic was so light  I credited it to the Good Friday influence until I found out it's not a holiday in the States and that all the schools were open and everyone was at work. In fact, I got to Lakeland so quickly that I was thinking about what I was going to write in today's column and zipped right past the exit, turning around at the Polk City exit some 10 miles down the road. Otherwise it would have been under an hour. The highlight of the drive was listening to my regular hip-hop station where they had some sort of a Good Friday promotion where a staffer carrying something heavy tried to walk through the town of Clearwater on the Gulf to Bay route as a tribute to Jesus' stations of the cross on the original good Friday. During the definitely politically incorrect show the host received a call from the staffer who said he couldn't go on that he had fallen three times and he was done. He said he was calling from a Burger King. The host called him out, saying "Jesus didn't have no Burger King." That promotion went about as well as the infamous Thanksgiving turkey drop on WKRP in Cincinnati.

Before the game, the Jays sent Lance Carter to minor league camp for reassignment. Making the trip to play the Tigers was a handful of the system's top prospects including No. 1 from last June, Kevin Ahrens and young shortstops Justin Jackson, selected 48th overall, and Jonathan Diaz, 12th round of 2006.

LINEUPS:

Jays: Reed Johnson cf, Shannon Stewart lf, Alex Rios rf, Rod Barajas 1b; Matt Watson dh, John McDonald ss, Hector Luna 3b, Sal Fasano c, Ryan Klosterman 2b, Jesse Litsch p.

Tigers: Curtis Granderson cf, Ivan Rodriguez c, Gary Sheffield dh, Magglio Ordonez rf, Miguel Cabrera 3b, Carlos Guillen 1b, Jaque Jones lf, Ryan Raburn 2b, Brandon Inge ss, Dontrelle Willis p.          

YANKS TAKE CHARGE

The Yankees have taken charge of this contest here in the fifth inning. They proved extremely able against Kane, scoring four times in three innings. Then in the fifth, Jeremy Accardo, who before the game said he was working on a few things, struggled in his one inning, allowing five hits and two runs on a long bomb to right by Wislon Betemit, the guy who was acquired from the Dodgers last year just as insurance at third base if A-Rod had decided to leave. Accardo will now likely open the season as the closer, with the setback to Ryan. Meanwhile, in the fifth inning, the Jays loaded the bases on a Zaun single that was actually a wind-blown sky high pop up on the left field foul line, followed by walks to Rios and Wells. But Rolen grounded out to end the threat. Still no sign of the hotshot prospect Cecil, as Jason Frasor came in to pitch the sixth.

AS WE WERE SAYING

The Star blog was rudely interrupted this morning by a balky Wi-fi network at Knology Park that only seems to affect the Star's laptop among all media. The Star wireless has worked flawlessly at the Star condo when poaching the neighbour's wireless signal and at every spring training park in Florida, but not at Knology. Conspiracy? It seems a little Knology is a dangerous thing...at least for the Star.

Todays's lineups:

Yankees: Johnny Damon lf, Melky Cabrera cf, Robinson Cano 2b, Hideki Matsui dh, Shelley Duncan rf, Wilson Betemit 1b, Cody Ransom ss, Jose Molina c, Nick Green 3b. Ian Kennedy p

Jays: Davvid Eckstein ss, Alex Rios rf, Vernon Wells cf, Scott Rolen 3b, Frank Thomas dh, Mattt Stairs lf, Lyle Overbay 1b, Aaron Hill 2b, Gregg Zaun c, Kane Davis p.

This morning's most important news surrounded B.J. Ryan whose name was not on the pitching list for any of the next three days. Ryan is taking it easy after his soreness in Bradenton on Monday. It's the proper course of action and everyone including B.J. seems to be on board with the slower is better philosophy.

Also, Roberto Alomar is the newest member of the Jays' Wall of Excellence at the Rogers Centre. He will be inducted on Opening Day against the Red Sox.

The reason Kane Davis was pitching today vs. the Bombers is that once again, the Jays are hiding their starting pitcher from AL East foes. He will be followed by lefty Brett Cecil, which will be interesting because Cecil is listed as one of the Jays top prospects, selected 38th overall in the June 2007 draft. Meanwhile, Doc was over at the minor league complex facing a crew of Rays prospects in a Triple-A game against Durham. Brad Arnsberg went with him. We'll check on how he did later.

Two things we already knew about David Eckstein were revealed early in the game. He led off with a double into the right field corner and hustled for third, but was thrown out on a perfect relay. Then in the top of the second, on a ball to the alley, with Shelley Duncan running from first base, Eckstein got the throw from Wells as Duncan hit third bnase and was unable to thow the runner out at the plate. That is typical of where opponents will be able to take advantage of his below average major-league arm.

Sox players compromise

During the playing of the game, Kevin Youkilis addressed the media in the Sox interview room concerning the heated negotiations with MLB that ended in today's game being played and the trip to Japan remaining a go. Reading between the lines, it clearly was not as big a victory for the players and for their solidarity with the coaches as it first appeared.

It seemed at first that MLB had backed down completely and was caving to the Sox players demands. The main issue was that the players were guaranteed a minimum $40,000 for the Asian vacation, with that total going up if the tour earned more money. The coaches and support staff were guaranteed nothing. The Sox wanted their coaches and staff to earn the same. Here's what Youkilis had to say.

"We've come to a good negotiation. We want to thank a lot of our players. They did a lot of good, not just for our coaches, but for all of baseball. It's not one party to blame. It was bad communication. It's just communications. It needs to be addressed in the future."

In the morning, the Sox players had threatened to shut down today's Jays game (Jays beat the Sox 4-3) and not board the plane to Japan if the coaches did not receive equal compensation for the eight day incredible journey to Japan, that continues in L.A., Oakland and Toronto. When they emerged into the dugout at 12:51 p.m. after setting a 12:30 deadline and it was announced the game would be played, it looked like they had won.

In listening closely to Youkilis, it seems like, in actual fact, there was a tremendous amount of concession on the part of the Sox players and that without some heavy financial guarantees from the Red Sox ownership, MLB was, indeed, not close to satisfying the request for coaches' compensation and the trip could have been off.

When pressed on whether the manager and coaches would receive the same amount as the players, Youkilis said that it was not the same pool and he wasn't sure. When asked whether the A's coaches were going to receive the same amount, he said that was up to the A's. He also indicated that it was a tough negotiation and that many players were even reluctant to walk down the tunnel and actually play today's game. That sounds like some Sox guys didn't think they had won on the issue of compensation.

Youkilis insinuated that not only did the Players Association not give the Sox team its full support but it warned them of the repercussions of not going, advice that smacked of a threatening overtone. Youkilis, who is a very sincere young man, also was not sure what the total for coaches would end up being and if it would approach the $40,000 they were seeking. "It's way better than what they were going to receive," is all he would say.

So if the A's coaches aren't guaranteed anything, then you can be sure it's because the major contributors to the settlement are the Red Sox and not MLB. It's not all bad. It's likely that this will lead to the A's coaches getting paid and that Larry Lucchino and John Henry have just bought time to convince MLB to do the right thing. But the fact is the Sox players did not win this one outright. It was a compromise. Which was probably best for baseball, as long as they don't drop the ball.   

But in the long run, it was good for baseball and shows how far behind the NFL major-league baseball is in terms of avoiding controversy when it comes to overseas growing of the game. 

GAME ON!! - EARLY ACTION

When finally this epic Grapefruit League struggle got going, the Sox made three lineup changes. In addition to Dice-K leaving for minor-league camp, followed by a swarm of Japanese media, former Jay Kevin Cash took over behind the plate from Varitek and Jacoby Ellsbury gave Manny the rest of the day off. It's assumed Ramirez was heavily involved in the last-minute negotiations (that's an attempt at humour). How far has Shannon Stewart's stock fallen? When he came to the plate as the second batter, the scoreboard listed him as Ray Olmedo. In the second inning, Rolen and Overbay started it off with hard groundball singles to centre. Zaun bounced into a double play to end the frame, dropping his average to .174. In the bottom of the second, Tallet struck out the side on 10 pitches. The Red Sox look like they have a plane to catch. Oh, wait a second. They do. After two no-hit innings from Tallet, Shawn Camp came in and allowed a sliced line drive single to Crisp, a rip to right by Pedroia and a belt-high fastball bombed into the palm trees in left centre by Youkilis, who had already had a busy day.

Sox go beyond deadline

The clock ticked past the player-imposed deadline of 12:30 p.m. for cancelling the game against the Jays yesterday and still no sign of a decision from MLB or the Sox players on whether to give the manager, coaches the extra $40,000 for the upcoming three-country, two continent road trip.

Here are some solutions:

1-The Red Sox management could pony up the cash and negotiate with MLB at a later date.

2-The concerned millionaire players could pony up the cash for their coaches and negotiate with the Red Sox and MLB later.

3-Some corporate sponsor like Nike, ESPN or someone else could pony up the cash and negotiate with MLB and the Red Sox later.

Any of those would be a P.R. coup for the pony boys. How about the fact that the Red Sox are probably making over $160,000 in gate receipts and more in concessions for this game. By cancelling, they would give back money to fans that could have been used to pay most of the coaches.

BULLETIN: Power to the people! Right on! At exactly 12:51 p.m. the Red Sox players streamed into the dugout, bats in hand ready to rumble with the Jays. However by this time, Dice-K had fled to the minor-league complex to get his innings in and David Aardsma was the new starter. The game is now slated to start at 1:10 p.m., a 35 minute delay. You can't call it a falling rain delay, so it must be a rising sun delay.