Tom and Alex

The Toronto Blue Jays are not likely to qualify for the post-season for a good, I don't know, year or two. In order to pass the time, let's vote Tom Cheek onto the final ballot for the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award, and send him on his way to Cooperstown. Lord knows he deserves it.

At the time of writing, Cheek trails Jacques Doucet by 20 votes (337-317).

Four-thousand, three-hundred and six games. (I wrote it out for dramatic effect.) In a row. In a row!1 More importantly, Cheek was voice to the calls of your life; to the "the sound of summer." It takes less than a minute. I don't ask you for much; please vote.

Make Us Proud, Alex

I'll be at my cubicle Monday, but my heart and mind will be in Indianapolis, with Alex Anthopoulos at his first Winter Meetings as general manager of our Blue Jays.

Some interesting nuggets from The Star's Richard Griffin: if you want to see Anthopoulos, you'll have to go to his room, not the other way around. And meetings are lined up with "several clubs." To be a fly. Hopefully Dick figured out which floor AA is staying on.

There is some bad news: The Cito arrives on Tuesday. I've completed my 180. I used to love Cito Gaston. Now, the thought of him being involved in decisions that will greatly alter this franchise makes me ill. Where did we go wrong, Cito?

UPDATE: As of 11:00 am, Tom Cheek is in the lead 387-359. Let's keep it going ...

The Prime Minister of Defence. (And Some Raptors & Leafs Shit.)

Welcome back, Johnny Mac.

At two-years and $3.5 million, the PMoD becomes baseball's most expensive pinch-runner, because Lord knows the Cito won't use him as he should: as a defensive substitution. (We need a Cito countdown.)

Now, I'm going to go on bit of a tangent here, but when I googled "John McDonald" yesterday, the first result returned was from Bleacher Report. What the fuck, Google? Is this the level you have stooped to? How much is Bleacher Report paying you? Bleacher Report? Bleacher fucking Report? Fuck Bleacher Report. Jesus.

(Full disclosure: I actually have a Bleacher Report account. It's the worst of my many humiliations. It was set up to feed all my blog posts to their site. Think TwitterFeed. Fuck off, don't ask me why I did it. I've asked, repeatedly, for the lovely guys who work there to delete my account, but they're being pricks. It might have something to do with the fact that whenever I write "Bleacher Report," it's preceded or followed by the words "fuck" or "fucking.")

Anyway, many Blue Jays supporters don't know what to make of the McDonald signing. Will Johnny Mac start at shortstop? Does Mac even matter, with Mike McCoy and his .405 Pacific Coast League OBP waiting in the wings?

Well, I'm here to tell you that Johnny Mac does matter, damn it, and that his signing is a bloody significant one. Because it might be the biggest one Alex Anthopoulos and the Blue Jays make this winter. And if that doesn't send a shiver down your spine, or have you reaching for the bottle of Redbreast, you're a more stronger-willed man than I.

Here's to building, folks. I mean: Building!!!1

Some Raptors and Leafs shit:

• I'm not even going to begin to wonder how the fuck it's possible for the Toronto Raptors to lose 116-81 to the Charlotte Bobcats. Back-to-back? Fuck a back-to-back. I don't care if a team has played 12 nights in a row, there is no excuse for losing 116-81 to the Goddamn Bobcats.

• On a happier note, does anyone yet own an Amir Johnson jersey? One of us really ought to. He's been an absolute fucking treat off the bench for Jay Triano.

• The Toronto Maple Leafs won last night. Seriously. Ron Wilson's boys are playing .750 hockey in their past four games. You know that that means: it's only a matter of time before that 11 point gap between the Northeast Division leading Boston Bruins is down to eight. (Another Leafs win, and another overtime loss.) Playoffs!!!1

UPDATE: I'm dealing with a severe migraine. It's been made even worse thanks to the news that the Blue Jays have signed Alex Gonzalez. I know, not that Alex Gonzalez, but old wounds, man. They still hurt.

So long, Marco Scutaro. I'll always remember the good times: 2009, when you hit .282 out of the lead-off spot; when you walked 90 times, posting a .379 OBP; when you stole second base after taking a free pass. All while playing sublime defence. You won't soon be forgotten. If you end up in Boston, I'll hate you. Especially if you're playing behind Roy Halladay. (Excuse me while I throw up in my fucking mouth.) But your memory, Marco, will live on. In the form of two draft picks. So, thank you. And Godspeed.

Anyway, my sports columnist man crush Jeff Blair breaks it down in a way that, if you weren't drinking last night, you certainly will be tonight:

"[The McDonald and Gonzalez signings] is about managing a 25-man roster; about ensuring, frankly, that 4-1 losses do not become 8-1 losses and drain a young starting rotation and bullpen."

Something to look forward to. Right?

Blair isn't the only writer at The Globe who was on fire today. From Michael Grange, about last night's Raptors debacle:

"In fact I’m thinking of introducing a new term to the local basketball lexicon: When an opposing player pulls a rebound off the defensive glass and dribbles the length of the floor for an uncontested fast-break layup; having to neither think of passing or even changing direction, it should be called A Raptor. As of now Gerald Wallace leads the NBA in Raptors though I think it’s a safe bet that Rajon Rondo will challenge for the lead by the time the Celtics are finished with Toronto on Friday. Embarrassing."

Toronto: where "Embarrassing" happens.

A long, cold, harsh winter ...

Cito Gaston isn't going anywhere. So saith Jeff Blair in yesterday's discussion about the playoffs (and the Blue Jays). And according to Blair's colleague Robert MacLeod, pitching guru and father of the staff Brad Arnsberg is soon to be relieved of his duties.

You tell me: how the hell am I supposed to believe in Alex Anthopoulos if he agrees to keep Cito around, while allowing Arnsberg - in whom I trust - to leave? I'd really rather not get started on the wrong foot with Toronto's new general manager.

It's all happening backwards.

A new president should hire a new GM, and the new GM should bring in the manager of his choice. The interim president shouldn't be appointing a new interim-but-maybe-not-interim GM, even if it is an in-house promotion. Said new GM shouldn't be agreeing to keep the current manager, in whose honour there's recently been a reported clubhouse mutiny.

It all certainly bodes well.

And this, from the Blair discussion ...

eyebleaf: "Jeff, on a scale of 1-10, what are the chances Doc is a Blue Jay on opening day?

Blair: "One."

It's going to get worse, before it gets better.