Blue Jays mail bag

It’s been fun being back in the mailbag saddle for the past month surrounding the winter meetings in Las Vegas, but with the holiday season coming up and a lot of shoveling to be done in early January, my mailbag will once again be on hiatus for a month. The beginning of February leading into spring training marks the return, but there will be plenty of blogging material in the meantime. Happy Holidays to all baseball fans. And if there’s going to be coal in GM J.P. Ricciardi’s stocking on Christmas morning for, in Santa's opinion, being bad in 2008, we hopes it’s Cole Hamels.

Q: Hi Richard,

With Ricciardi confirming that the Jays will be reducing payroll by not utilizing A.J. Burnett's salary from last year, what will the reaction of Roy Halladay be? For the first time ever, Doc actually said some “close to negative” remarks about how the Jays were underperforming last year, and I can only bet that he is one teed off pitcher after hearing Ricciardi's comments about reducing budget. Barring a miracle of the Jays competing in the East in '09, any chance that Halladay requests a trade? I don't see him being that type of person, but after a while, surely enough is enough.

Zaki Ameen, Mississauga

A: One thing that is always overlooked about the Jays’ ’09 payroll that should lessen the fan anguish (but never does) is that even though it will be reduced in total dollars from last year, the 25-man opening payroll will be the second-most expensive Jays’ roster in the 33-year club history. However, the gloom in looking ahead stems from key injuries to young pitchers, leading to the “woe-is-us” mentality.

As far as not spending the Burnett savings, who can blame Rogers management for their attitude toward handing over more money to Ricciardi? When was the last big-ticket item he brought in that was a really good long-term investment? Frank Thomas? Corey Koskie? Burnett? Maybe B.J. Ryan.

As for Halladay, he is a man of few words when it comes to public criticism of anyone or anything. But the Jays should be pro-active for once and as per Wednesday’s column in the Star, if they are not going to actually trade him to a contender this winter, they should take care of their most loyal employee with a creative new contract proposal.

Q: Richard, love your Jays coverage and I usually agree with your honest take on things, but in your latest, a plea that it's "Time for Blue Jays to trade Roy Halladay", there's one thing that makes me disagree with you here: J.P. is still the GM. Do you really trust him to trade Halladay and get something decent in return?

Darren M., Ajax, Ont.

A: Ricciardi’s trade record is not impressive. His best two trades may have been using his former employer, the A’s – his first deal ever, sending closer Billy Koch for ’02 rookie-of-the-year Eric Hinske and Justin Miller and then on November 18, ’03, sending Bobby Kielty to Oakland for Ted Lilly. Unfortunately Billy Beane’s A’s can’t afford Halladay. But wouldn’t the Angels or Dodgers or Braves or Mets or Red Sox love having Doc as their ace? If J.P. could just get a couple or three of these teams to come up with competing offers for Halladay, he might be able to make a pretty good deal.

Q: Hi Richard,

With the Yankees signing C.C. Sabathia and Burnett, both of whom are A-level free agents that declined arbitration, the Brewers and Jays are both supposed to receive New York's first round draft pick in addition to a sandwich pick between the first two rounds. Clearly there's a conflict here. I presume that one team gets New York's first rounder and the other gets New York's second rounder, but how does baseball decide which team gets what pick?

Alex Hirbod, Toronto

A: The Brewers get the Yankees’ first round pick and the Jays get their second. The reason is that the Elias Sports Bureau places Sabathia as a higher ranked “Type A” free agent than Burnett, therefore the team that loses the higher ranked player receives the higher ranked draft pick. It becomes more complicated if the Yankees sign another A player like Mark Teixeira.

The Yankees attitude clearly is, “We don’t need no stinkin’ draft picks.” They just wait until other teams develop the best players in the draft, lets them get some major league experience and then they buy them. Hank and Hal Steinbrenner are becoming like the early overbearing “Boss” incarnation of their father. They are buying the stairway to heaven. That strategy seldom works.

Q: Hello Richard,

The Halladay trade talk triggered me to go through some teams in the league and see what kind of package the Jays may be able to get for Roy. I basically took two players from each team to get a deal started. I'm going to post my favorites that I came up with and I'd like your opinion on each.

Atl - Jair Jurrgens & Yunel Escobar
Arz - Max Scherzer & Stephen Drew
Cubs - Jeff Samardzija & Felix Pie
LAA - Nick Adenhart & Brandon Wood
Cin - Homer Bailey & Jay Bruce
LAD - Clayton Kershaw & Blake Dewitt

These teams, with the exception of the Reds, IMO all have a shot at the playoffs next year. Any of these deals realistic enough to be pulled off? My personal favourite would be the deals with the Angels for Adenhart and Wood.

Mitchell DesRoches, Kensington, PEI

A: This is clearly the best time of the year for Hot Stove fever. If you realistically leave Arizona and Cincinnati out of the list that you composed, that leaves Braves, Cubs, Angels and Dodgers. I agree with you about the Angels deal being the best of the four. I love Brandon Wood as a future. Second on my list would be the Braves proposal you outline because I love Jurrgens. Then third is the Dodgers and fourth the Cubs – unless you’re planning on lending former Notre Dame wide receiver Samardzija to the Argos. That quick list you put together just shows that if Ricciardi acts aggressively and gets two or three contenders interested in one player (Halladay) then he can work some magic. The worst that can happen is they say no and he keeps the best pitcher in the AL.

Q: Hi Richard,

Forget signing a (Matt) Clement. The real pitcher I want to see them sign isn't even going to pitch next year. Mad Dog himself, Greg Maddux. Could you imagine him teaching the likes of (Brett) Cecil, (Dave) Purcey et al down in his hometown, Vegas? That would have more of an impact than any tier 3 signing or three this year. (ya ya I know it probably won't happen, but we can dream can't we? Plus it would make our changing of AAA affiliates be sooooo much more palatable)

T.Y., Toronto

A: I was at the Maddux going-away press conference and it sure didn’t seem like he was going to be coming near any ballpark in this, the first year after his retirement. Dude just wants to play golf, go hunting, hang with his kids, plus have his wife continue to let him sleep in and make him lunch. A man of simple pleasures. And by the time Maddux is ready to come back to a ballpark, the Jays will likely have left Vegas as a Triple-A affiliate for somewhere closer to home and more conducive to nurturing young players.

Q: Hey RG,
I keep reading your thoughts regarding (Vernon) Wells and his unmovable contract. What about trading him to a team that doesn't necessarily care about payroll (i.e. the Yankees). With the loss of (Bobby) Abreu, Godzilla (Hideki Matsui) aging and Melky (Cabrera) taking a step backwards, couldn't the Bronx bombers use Wells? In return, the Jays rid themselves of a hefty contract and maybe get (Phil) Hughes, (Robinson) Cano in return.

Q: Hey RG,
Since Texas is losing (Milton) Bradley's contract, do you think they would make a move if offered Wells? I think Michael Young would be chirping into the ear of any upper-suit to get his boy in a Rangers uniform, Wells would be back home and the Jays would be unloading a big contract and maybe getting Matt Harrison in return. It's a win-win-win situation. What do you think?

Q: Hey RG,
What do you think about swapping Wells for (Jermaine) Dye and a prospect or two? The Jays would unload the lengthier and economically unkind contract and would only have to take on Dye's $11.5 million salary in 2009. This would leave the Jays open for some spending in 2010!

Keith McBain, Toronto

A: Hey, Keith,

It seems you have a problem with Vernon Wells. It would be a tough trade to complete for even an accomplished GM. Don’t forget, Vernon has a no-trade clause for the duration and an opt-out clause after the 2011 season, which would leave three years of $21 million on the table. The $23 million for 2010 plus three years at $21 mil’ for his less-than-superstar numbers seems daunting for any team to take on under these economic conditions, no matter whether Michael Young is his good friend and he lives in the Arlington area. I would love to be able to get Hughes and Cano for Wells and then move Aaron Hill over to shortstop. As for Dye, he wouldn’t be a very good fit for ’09 if the Jays are just going to write the season off and wait for 2010. But keep on thinking.

Q: Hey Richard, with all the talk of Milwaukee needing a closer and the Jays needing a SS, a trade of BJ Ryan for J.J. Hardy just makes sense to me. The Brewers have a stud shortstop prospect in Alcides Escobar and he should be able to step in for Hardy next season. J.P. needs to stop trying to be "creative" and just make the club better the obvious way, by trading what we have for what we need.

Ryan L., Keswick, Ont.

A: I have written about the potential of that Hardy for Ryan move with the Brewers. That could be the basis for an expanded trade, involving younger players. There is a feeling that Escobar is ready to step in at short in Milwaukee. The only problem is that the Brewers would still have to believe that they are contenders in ’09 for them to even consider obtaining a veteran closer like B.J. with two years and $20 million left on his contract. The Brew Crew has lost Sabathia and Ben Sheets from last year’s rotation, so they need to replace a lot before they consider Ryan. Last year, when they were on the cusp, they took a $10-million flyer on Eric Gagne, so you know that Ryan is not out of their price range if they believe they can win. Hardy, at 26, is a nice shortstop, with a solid offensive history. His 24 homers last year would have led the Jays.

Q: Hey Richard, I continue to hear the Jays are interested In (Rafael) Furcal, which hasn't been a secret since mid-summer. Obviously the leadoff position is important to any team's success, and our lack of a leadoff hitter can be used as a reason we haven't taken the next step. I also think speed on the base paths is important and something we've lacked for a while. Now I know his OBS is horrible and he doesn't hit all that well but you can't ignore that Willy Taveras is available and stole 69 bases last year. His average was exceptionally low last year so we would essentially be buying him on the cheap. His contract is affordable. Finding a position for him would be the tricky part, nonetheless do you see value in adding him to the team. Finally instead of adding Furcal, which clearly is not happening, what about going after Felipe Lopez?

Marc Oliver, Guelph, Ont.

A: As you now probably know, the Furcal sweepstakes are down to the Braves and Dodgers, with the Braves thinking if they lose him that they’ve been screwed. On Tuesday night they thought they had a deal for three years plus a vesting option, but by Wednesday morning the Dodgers were back in the hunt after disappearing from the radar for about 10 days.

The Braves were thinking of moving Furcal to second base, which he would balk at and actually doesn’t seem to make much sense. Furcal has one of the strongest infield arms in baseball and to have him play second base is like using a flame-thrower on an anthill. Too much weapon for too little problem.

As for Taveras, the Jays in recent years have had no interest in Juan Pierre, Scott Podsednik or Corey Patterson. They don’t want a guy like Taveras. Speed on the bases might excite the fans too much. At the winter meetings, Cito Gaston just laughed when asked if the Jays would be stealing more bases in ’09. A guy like that would be good on a major-league bench with an occasional spot start.

To me, the perfect major-league bench would have a specialist in a) power; b) speed; c) infield defence; d) batting average; e) a defensive catcher. Of course that would mean cutting back to 11 pitchers – which is what they should be carrying anyway. But that’s just me.

Q: Hey Richard, long time listener, first time cal- uh, you know what I mean.

First of all, I'm nervous about 2009. I mean, really nervous. We have holes in our rotation, in the infield, at DH, as well as two up-and-comers who may or may not be able to replicate their 2008 success. With the AL East as competitive as ever, and the Orioles looking like they’re on the verge of something big, these surely are some dark days ahead for Jays Nation.

Now we get to the question: Ken Rosenthal at foxsports.com was saying in order to even think about acquiring Jake Peavy, the Cubs first need to clear some salary, to create what he calls "payroll flexibility." Ken suggests this would come in trading away RHP Jason Marquis. Reading over Marquis' 2008 stats, he seems like a pretty decent third or fourth starter, just what the Jays need to begin to fill out the rotation. Is Marquis a good fit for the Jays system? Is this who the Jays should be going after? And if not Marquis, then who?

Colin Rabyniuk, Newmarket

A: What concerns me the most for 2009 is that the Jays on their 40-man roster list just 15 position players – and they will carry 13 on Opening Day. I could make those cuts right now – Russ Adams and Buck Coats. Six weeks of spring training to make those moves?

As for the starting nine for the Jays, the average age on opening day is over 29-years-old, even with the 21-year-old Travis Snider in tow. On the bench, Joe Inglett is 30, Johnny Mac is 34, Jose Bautista is 28 and the new backup catcher will be a veteran. The only players younger than 25 on the Opening Day roster could be Snider and Jesse Litsch (24). On the entire 40-man roster, there are only five players under 25 as of April 1, 2009. The Yankees had 11 under 25 players on their 40-man roster before adding C.C. and A.J.

Marquis? Watching him pitch over the years in the Natoinal League, I don't think he's a guy that can come in and help the Jays a lot in 2009.

Q: Richard, Merry Xmas to you. I have a solution for the Jays financial problem! We should choose one of the positions, DH probably, and sell it to the public. For example, the Jays can put a price tag on DH as $10M (US$ only) and if someone can give the Jays 10M, then he could be the DH for Jays in 09. To make it okay to the union, we can pay the guy major league minimum and put him in A ball for 24 hours and then call him up. The Jays also have opening for the 4th and 5th starting pitcher. So we are looking at 30M potential income! And if this business model works, maybe all position should be sold. Plus, we probably will get the number 1 pick the year after. Yeah!

Davy P., San Jose

A: The concept is good, but the pesky players union always steps in when there’s fun to be had. A better variation of the same theme is to sell monthly packages on e-bay for the positions of: Jays president, Jays’ bench coach and Jays’ first-base coach. The president gig could earn the club the most money and might even come up with some good ideas. As for first-base coach, there won’t be much base stealing so just pat a guy on the butt every now and then, take his shin guard and make sure he doesn’t get picked off. Simple.

NOTE: The mail bag is taking a month off and will return in February. Click here to submit a question for Richard now and we'll throw it into the mix when the feature returns.

A.J., Hazel and Clement -- Mother, Jugs and Plead

The fact is the Yankees had been tampering with A.J. Burnett since August when general partner Hank Steinbrenner started talking about how good the Jays' No. 2 starter would look in pinstripes while he was still employed in Toronto.

The Jays' intent was clear from that moment on, as GM J.P. Ricciardi just smiled back then when asked if the club would officially pursue tampering charges against the Bombers. There was never any chance that the Jays would re-sign A.J. and there was never any chance that he would decline to opt out.

Agent Darek Braunecker was proud of the fact that the opt-out was the first ever given a starting pitcher in major-league history. To not opt-out would be like buying a pack of "mulligans" at one of those charity golf tournaments and leaving them in the bag. No matter how well you're doing you always want to see if you can do better.

====

The Matt Clement career story was always going to eventually be coming to a skydome near you. It was once fate. Now it's fait accompli. This was the initial guy from the hard-throwing Marlins staff of 2001-02 that the Jays wanted before they wanted signing A.J. Burnett. In fact, Clement is the reason that pitching coach Brad Arnsberg was promoted to the Jays' major-league staff back on October 4, 2004.

The Jays plan back then - when they had plans - was to put a full-court press on then free-agent Clement and the key was going to be his friend and mentor, Arnsberg. Unfortunately, Clement had been pitching with the Cubs before declaring as a free agent and was smitten with the tradition and atmosphere of Wrigley Field after coming over from the clinically depressed Marlins in south Florida. Because of that love affair with baseball, he chose another team with a dyed-in-the-wool history, the Red Sox and Fenway Park.

I remember that summer of 2005 at the All-Star Game - on the Monday before - as Clement on interview day talked about the emotional moment when he had agreed to his Red Sox deal and had to make his first phone call, even before the signing was announced, to his friend Arnsberg and explain why he wasn't coming to T-O. Now, he is. Unfortunately, he's closer to being on his shield than carrying it. 

====

It was nice to see former Sportsnet anchor Hazel Mae continuing to do well. An old friend, she and I had a late-evening drink in the Bellagio lobby early in the week to catch up on her progress and see how she was doing. She has moved forward again, gaining career success, first with New England Sports Network and now with the fledgling MLB Network as a reporter and anchor starting on air in January. 

As we chatted next to a bank of unoccupied one-armed bandit slot machines just apart from the main lobby hubbub, a Fellini's row of cowboy-looking dudes and other assorted gamblers wandered by just staring at us as they continued to walk. It was disconcerting, but I imagine they were asking themselves, "Who's the chick with that good-looking Toronto baseball columnist?" Or maybe not.

In any case, Hazel on the Tuesday morning in Vegas was part of a panel on stage in the media room with the speech-challenged Harold Reynolds and others from the MLB Network. When it was her turn to speak, she gave gracious props to the Blue Jays organization for their support and to Toronto for giving her her start. Nice. She hasn't gotten dumb in her time away from Sportsnet.

With MLB Network studios located in gritty Secaucus, New Jersey, she immediately made sure that she would be finding an apartment in mid-town Manhattan. Smart. By the way, once again MLB is ignoring Canada. The 24-hour MLB Network for the  moment will not be available to Canadian viewers.

Richard Griffin  

     

Tap-in Putz for Mets

Yesterday, on the third day of what had been a formerly quiet Winter Meetings in Vegas, the Mets and their GM Omar Minaya addressed the team's laughable bullpen problems from '08 in a huge way. Not only did Minaya sign the best free agent closer out there, Angels righthander Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez, but he followed that up last night with a gi-normous 12-player, three-team deal that brought him J.J. Putz from the Mariners, along with fellow reliever Sean Green and outfielder Jeremy Reed. In return, the Mets gave up seven players -- Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Jason Vargas and three minor leaguers to the M's and righthander Joe Smith to the Indians. The Tribe sent Franklin Gutierrez to the M's and received a minor-league second baseman, Luis Valbuena from Seattle.

The sleeper in the deal for the Mets is Green, who has a great arm and can work the middle innings. Putz, who is not happy with his new role according to his agent, will set up K-Rod. The Mets have 14 players under contract for '09 for a total of  $113.5 million. The most amazing thing about the breakdown of payroll is that they have three established closers on the hook, including Putz, K-Rod and the injured Billy Wagner, still guaranteed his contract. The closer's position is costing the Mets $27.8 million.

====

It seems likely now that A.J. Burnett will sign with the Yankees, as the report of a fifth year guaranteed by the Braves seemed premature. The five-years and $85 million that the Yanks are reported to be dangling makes the Jays' initial offer of four years and $54 million that was never actually presented formally, but was real, seem ridiculous. The Jays, in effect, ended up getting Burnett for three years and $31 million as he left $24 million and two years on the table to opt out. How about a three-game series vs. the Yankees next year with the daily match-ups of Halladay vs. Sabathia, Litsch vs. Burnett and Purcey vs. Wang.

====

Today marks the final day of our Vegas vacation highlighted by the Rule 5 draft, after which all the GMs will scuttle from the palatial Bellagio hotel like kitchen roaches when the light goes on. The annoying rodeo folks that have been in town all week for what seems like some sort of World Series of cow rasslin' or whatever the heck it is have been dominating all the lobby TVs at Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon and in the Big Elvis room, blocking out any chance of seeing the Leafs play -- as if. 

The week's been crazy. With all these Stetsons meandering around the lobby on heads belonging to all manner of shapes and sizes most of them not even resembling real Cowboys, it is reminiscent of an open casting call for Brokeback Mountain II. Well, at least I don't have to endure any more of it. I'm flying out today.

====

The other morning I drove away fropm the Strip for breakfast just to get a break from the neon suntan and dancing waters outside my hotel room stained-glass window. 

Las Vegas Blvd. always seems traffic-jammed and there's eternal helter-skelter police and ambulance activity. In fact in four days I've listened to more sirens than Ulysses on the Odyssey. In any case, I took my valet parking ticket downstairs that morning hoping dearly that the guy in the faded T-shirt and jeans I had handed my keys to a while back had in fact been a hotel empoyee and not just some dude looking for a drive. The valet parking is free at Bill's so they don't ask for room number or any other form of ID which worried me. But my white Dodge Avenger showed up screeching down the ramp in one piece.

I tipped the guy and wheeled out of the parking lot heading south on I-15 towards Los Angeles at 6:10 in the morning. I was excited. It was the same road that the late Hunter S. Thompson took when approaching the city in his awesomely full of crap book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

I knew where I was going because I had read some in-room literature amid the flashy ads for expensive restaurants and gentlemen's clubs that spoke of a town called Primm, Nevada. Their claim to fame they bragged is that they had Bonnie and Clyde's getaway car as a tourist attraction.

As I hurtled down the highway listenting to XM radio's main hip-hop station, T-I kept telling me "You can have whatever you like." What I would have liked at that point was not Patron on ice, but a jug of coffee and some crisp bacon. Instead, I got some cold desert breeze and a straight line highway through the desert, seemingly headed for nowhere in particular. 

At 90 m.p.h. I was being passed by everyone, so the trip to Primm was a proper 20 minutes. There was one exit off the highway and it turned out that the entire town consisted of three casinos, one gas station, a monrail, a rollercoaster and a strip of outlet stores. Nobody actually seemed to live in Prim, but the rooms at the casinos were $29.99 per night. Brooks and Dunne and Boys2Men were appearing in December and the Naughty Girls were there nightly. I couldn't find Clyde's ride, but I did stumble across Al Capone's 1931 Lincoln.

I must have just missed Giants' receiver Plaxico Burress because the entire passenger side above the running board was riddled with bullet holes. Inside Buffalo Bill's Casino I bought the Vegas paper, had a leisurely meal and drove back to the Strip, stopping at the south end of the boulevard only to whack a bucket of golf balls with a demo driver at the Callaway golf centre. Then it was back to reality and daily chats with J.P. at the Bellagio ballrooms. Ain't that America.   

Richard Griffin

Elliott edged out for Hall of Fame

Kingston native and Canadian amateur baseball icon Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun was edged out for the Spink Award this morning in an announcement by the BBWAA at its annual meeting.

The '08 Spink Award with its induction into the Baseball Hall-of-Fame at Cooperstown was captured by Nick Peters, who covered the San Francisco Giants in the Bay Area for 47 years, starting in 1961 and retiring in 2007. 

Peters drew 210 of the 440 ballots cast. Elliott was second with 123, followed by Dave Van Dyck with 107. Van Dyck is a longtime baseball beat reporter for the Chicago Tribune. It was Elliott's first year on the ballot and in the history of the award only two first-time nominees have won the Spink Award for outstanding coverage of baseball. Elliott will be eligible again in 2009. 

Richard Griffin 

Blue Jays mail bag

The Jays are not yet in last place in ‘09, but they can see it from here.

Fact is, never in GM J.P. Ricciardi’s previous seven seasons has there been seen such despair from loyal fans as to the prospects of the Jays being able to compete. At least in his first year, 2002, fans cut him some slack because he was a man on a mission from Ted Rogers to get this organization back to being competitive while trimming the fat left by Gord Ash. Right or wrong, that was the perception fans had and even when the team won just 67 games in ’04, that was blamed on the injury bug and competing in a division with the Red Sox and Yankees. But last year when the Rays won the AL on a budget of $43.7 million - less than half the Jays’ payroll - it was time to quit whining and put up or shut up. Ricciardi has 117 days to make things right (by the way…Ted Rogers rest in peace).

On to the mail bag:

Q: Hello Richard!

With Jays pretty much writing off the '09 season, what do we really have to look forward to next year? The emergence of top prospects? The continued development of Brandon League and Dustin McGowan? Some home runs?

Ray Young, Toronto

A: There are still 117 days remaining until opening day. The Jays have time to do what they need to do, which is add a starting pitcher, add a bat, either at first base, DH or the outfield, add a veteran backup catcher and say 117 Hail Marys. Here’s the best-case scenario. The Jays get 20 wins from Halladay, 16 wins from Litsch, they find a veteran starter to win 14, Cecil develops into a 12-game winner and McGowan bounces back to win a dozen. That’s 74 wins from five starters. Add another five from other starters and 20 victories from the bullpen and you have a 99-win season and a playoff contender. Then the alarm clock goes off and you roll out of bed and go to work. Everything has to fall right for the Jays and Travis Snider and Adam Lind must be offensive studs.

Jays inquire about sweet Furcal

Shortstop Rafael Furcal's agent Paul Kinzer is using his well-publicized meeting with Jays' GM J.P. Ricciardi to sweeten the pot with his other suitors, the Dodgers, A's and Royals.

It's a common manouever by agents to bring in more teams and exaggerate their interest in order to add negotiating power.

As far as the Jays go, Ricciardi said yesterday that the only player he was allowed to spend Burnett's money on was Burnett. Furcal has already reportedly turned down an offer from the A's for four years and $35 million. That means it's likely that $40 million for four years is what it would take.

That would mean the Jays would have to trade current salary, for instance the $7 million per year of Lyle Overbay and then dump a guy that's become eligible for arbitration. That takes care of '09, but what about the next few years when Wells, Rios and Hill all jump into the sub-stratosphere money-wise and Rogers isn't sure where they'll be with the economy? It ain't gonna happen.    

Richard Griffin

OY CANADA!

So far it's been a bad day for Canada, the country, in Las Vegas on Day 2 of the winter meetings.

First came the results of the Frick Award, as Canadian broadcasting standard-bearers Tom Cheek, Jacques Doucet and Dave Van Horne finished up the track behind Tony Kubek. Then came the official report on bat safety by baseball's Safety and Health Advisory Committee staged at the podium in the press room with power-point presentation and all. It came down hard on the breakability and danger of Maple bats without actually banning them. There will be random grain-testing at stadium batracks throughout the summer. Maple, of course, is mostly Canadian.

Then came the appearance of, in the hallways, Jays' GM J.P. Ricciardi, outside the same press room, reiterating the dilemma the Jays face in losing payroll and still trying to compete. Tomorrow is another day for Canada, hopefully a more successful one, with the announcement of the Spink Award for excellence in baseball journalism. The Sun's Bob Elliott is among the three finalists for inclusion at Cooperstown. He would become the first Canadian to be so honoured. 

In other Canadian news, there was a report last week that tourism in Las Vegas was down overall, but that Canadians were not part of that decline. In fact there were more Canadians than ever traveling to Sin City. Need proof? Consider these facts, from the posted Caesar's Palace Sports Book odds of winning the World Series and the Stanley Cup. In baseball, the original odds were set on October 24. Since then, the Blue Jays odds have dropped from 25-1 to 20-1 to win it all. Yikes! What are these people smoking?

As for Canadian NHL bettors it's interesting to note that since odds were first posted here on June 5, the Habs have gone from 10-1 to 5-1, the Flames from 22-1 to 15-1, the Canucks from 30-1 to 10-1, the Leafs from 40-1 to 30-1 and the Oilers from 50-1 to 12-1. It seems most of our country's hockey realists reside in Ottawa where the Senators odds of drinking from Lord Stanley's mug have gone from 12-1 to 25-1. Of the 15 teams that have lower odds now than when first posted, five are Canadian-based. 

I picked this information up in the nice little Sports Book off the main part of the casino at my personal headquarters hotel, Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon (hard by the venerable Flamingo with a clear view of the Bellagio Fountains).

By the way, I appreciate all the advice I have received from readers on future bookings in Vegas, but I happen to love the intimacy of Bill's Gamblin' Hall. Why, three times per day, Elvis performs live in Bill's Lounge. There is a top notch after hours bar with live music until five in the morning. There is a stained glass window in my shower and the water pressure could blow a tick off an elephant. Margaritas go for 99 cents and you can get a hot dog and a beer for four and a quarter at any hour of the day or night. In addition, there is free valet parking and when I asked the guy how long ahead I should call down to get my car out, he said "thirty seconds." Sweet.

More from Vegas later tonight.

Richard Griffin

Cheek Loses Out to Kubek in Frick Award

Former Jays TV analyst and Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek has been named the 2008 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence in baseball.

He was chosen from among 10 candidates that included three others with strong Canadian broadcasting ties -- Jays' original radio voice, the late Tom Cheek; former Expos radio and TV voice, Dave Van Horne, now with the Marlins and longtime French-language voice of the Expos, Jacques Doucet.

That means 40-percent of the final ballot had strong Canadian connections. That's fabulous. A large part of the support for Cheek and Doucet came from online voting by the fans. That must continue if Cheek is to have another chance. Fans cannot give up the quest because of this setback. It was Kubek's fifth appearance on the ballot. Cheek should be a winner for everything he has done with the Jays, including the amazing streak of consecutive games broadcast that ended with his dad's death and then with his own illness.

However, time is his enemy. He needs to win in the next two years or the voters -- a distinguished panel comprised of all the living Frick Award winners, plus five respected baseball historians, will begin to forget his accomplishments and his impact on Canadian baseball as they slip into the mists of time and move on. It's a struggle. Canadian baseball and its fan base are forever misunderstood and underappreciated. Just check out this one sentence from the release partly explaining Kubek's win: "...introducing one of North America's largest cities to the game of baseball." That is ridiculous and gratuitous considering the long history of pro baseball in Toronto and in Canada. Good luck next year Tom and, fans, keep up the strong online support.

Richard Griffin

.  

Trading Places: A.J. and Pavano discuss futures

Ed Price of the Newark Star-Ledger yesterday reported that Jays' righthander A.J. Burnett had called upon former Marlins' teammate Carl Pavano to ask him his advice on the possibility of A.J. signing with the Yankees. You've got to be kidding. That's like A-Rod calling Guy Ritchie for advice on whether Madonna is worth the effort.

Pavano was run out of town for his prolonged injuries and other bonehead behaviour involving an auto accident while he was rehabbing. More likely in Price's reported scenario of Pavano and A.J. conversating re their futures, would have been the flip side of who was the actual councillor and who the councillee.

More likely it could have been Pavano the one asking Burnett for his counsel on landing with the Jays as a free agent. That scenario could happen only if GM J.P. Ricciardi can clear the deck of enough current Jays salary. Think about it. How could Burnett not know what the pressure of playing in New York for the Yankees, with teammates that don't put up with crap, in a brand new ballpark with 53,000 fans per night in the seats is like? However, in the wake of the reported mind-numbing tete-a-tete between the two badly misunderstood pitching talents, Burnett and Pavano, as was always suspected when this year's free-agency crop unfolded, the much-maligned former Yankee Pavano and the Jays do, in fact, have a mutual interest that comes down to more than the fact that both are underachievers in their respective fields.

The one thing standing in the way of any deal for the former Expo with the "not quite as electric" stuff as Burnett is the fact that to sign him, GM J.P. Ricciardi is going to have to clear payroll -- likely Lyle Overbay's total of $14 million for the next two seasons. 

The times have changed. Pavano would surely help the Jays behind Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch, but unless the Jays are able to add talent instead of just moving sideways -- i.e. dumping Overbay and signing Pavano -- they won't be going anywhere. 

===

Condolences to Ted Rogers' family as the communications icon is laid to rest today in Toronto. Despite GM J.P. Ricciardi's assertion yesterday that "I don't think the passing has really done anything..." in terms of a change to the direction of the Jays, I think he is wrong. Ted Rogers may not have been a knowledgeable baseball fan, as an owner, but both Ricciardi and outgoing president Paul Godfrey were always able to approach him with a reasonable request for more money, explaining in layman's terms what so-and-so's acquisition could mean to the Jays' winning effort and they knew they would get a fair hearing. With Mr. Rogers gone, that will likely not be the same scenario. Money will only get tighter.

===

The Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, despite the need for a closer, said he was not interested in pursuing B.J. Ryan. Ricciardi, despite the need for mid-rotation starting pitching, said he had not spoken to the Mets about Ryan, even though they are also seeking a closer. But his reluctance to trade B.J. makes sense if as reported in today's column in the Star the Jays are contemplating Scott Downs in the rotation and if they move Jason Frasor because of his arbitration-eligible status and seven-figure salary. Then they can't afford, at least on the field, to trade Ryan. That would, in effect, hand the closer's role to Brandon League and the setup role to Jesse Carlson. That's a Jays' high-wire act with no net.

Richard Griffin  

Hall-Of-Fame Adds One

The baseball Hall-of-Fame at Cooperstown is still the toughest of all sports halls in which to gain entry -- and is proud of it. This morning in the first official business of these winter meetings, hall president Jeff Idelson presided over a press conference announcing that former Indians and Yankees second baseman Joe Gordon is the only inductee from among a list of 10 pre-WWII candidates (beginning their careers before 1943). The post-WWII group of 10 was shut out completely. The more familiar names to fans are those on the post-war ballot. The finish in order of closest to the Hall: Ron Santo, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, the late Gil Hodges, Joe Torre, Maury Wills, Luis Tiant, Vada Pinson, Al Oliver and Dick Allen. The voting for this group was conducted among the 64 living hall-of-famers, with 100-percent return of ballots.

The Gordon induction by the Veterans Committee was well-received since it had been the habit lately for the committee (six combined media and front office members and six veteran hall-of-famers who were contemporaries of most of the candidates) to exclude everyone. But Gordon was an extraordinary offensive force as a second baseman in his era, with seven seasons of 20-plus homers and four seasons of 100 RBIs. He played in six World Series. Veteran writer Claire Smith, who was on the voting committee, told a touching story about Gordon that she had heard from the late Larry Doby, regarding Doby's historic '47 season as the first African-American player in the AL. According to Smith, Doby related how on the day of his first game with the Indians, which came mid-season after Jackie Robinson had already broken the NL colour barrier, he was not sure how he would be accepted by teammates, whether he would be able to participate in all the normal team rituals of a major-leaguer. As they emerged onto the field, Gordon walked over and said, "Do you want to throw, kid?" That was the first moment he felt he belonged. Doby is also a Hall-of-Famer.

The ballots for the regular wing of the Hall-of-Fame have been sent out and must be returned by eligible members of the BBWAA by December 31. Rickey Henderson is the leading candidate.  

Richard Griffin