Brandon League a Mariner? Yep, League's a Mariner

UPDATE #7: (2:27 pm) According to the Drunks, Chavez was ranked Toronto's #1 prospect by The Hardball Times.

Chavez, from Tumero, Venezuela, had a very successful year in Lansing this season putting up a .283 AVG, .346 OBP, .474 SLG. As an international free agent, he was signed to a $2 million contract in 2006.

UPDATE #6: Rumour has Johermyn Chavez pegged as "the prospect." I have no idea who he is. Which is bloody awesome!!1

Rumours are flying around Twitter late tonight (12:15 am) that It's true: Alex Anthopoulos and the Toronto Blue Jays have acquired Brandon Morrow from the Seattle Mariners for Brandon League, and a prospect. Who that prospect is, I (still, at 2:40 am) have zero fucking idea. Nobody does at this point. David Cameron, from the reputable USS Mariner, has speculated that it might be Brett Wallace, which doesn't make sense to me, otherwise he would have went Seattle's way in the three-team Roy Halladay trade and it's not.

But let's hold on a second here. I'm losing focus. What you need to do right now is pray for our good friend Lloyd the Barber from Ghostrunner on First. First Doc. Now League. They were right: life isn't fair. If you read GoF, and I assume you do, you know how highly we, the community, think of League.

Moving along: Brandon Morrow. Everyone and their mother is high on this kid. He strikes out a ton of batters, and walks plenty of them as well. I'm sure he'll get along great with The Manager. At the end of the day, as long as "the prospect" isn't Brett Wallace or Travis Snider, we're good. (Except for Drew. Sorry mate.)

In a perfect world, the prospect is Lyle Overbay. He was huge in 2006. Tremendous upside, and he's a Washington boy!1

Here's what the 2010 Blue Jays rotation looks like:

Ricky Romero

Shaun Marcum

Brett Cecil

Brandon Morrow

Marc Rzepczynski

A good left-right mix, with Scott Richmond as the long-man, and Brian Tallet back in the bullpen where he belongs.

Here's what we know for certain: Alex Anthopoulos is doing work. He's putting his stamp on this team.

Playoffs!!1

UPDATE: Here's David Cameron with some insight on Brandon Morrow ...

Plus fastball, inconsistent curve, minus minus command. Has potential, still needs a lot of work. A.J. Burnett upside. But in terms of development, he's basically a Triple-A starter. Very raw.

Burnett is dead to me, so fuck him. But there's nothing wrong with raw talent. It's a good thing this team's got one Roy Halladay, and Brad Arnsberg, to teach Morrow the ropes. Oh ...

UPDATE #2: My man @dlbrows posted the following link on Twitter, from The Mockingbird, about Brandon League and his 97 MPH sinker. You know, the pitch nobody else in baseball throws. If this rumoured trade is fact, League will be sorely missed around these parts, no matter how good Morrow is. To these eyes, he was always the closer of the future.

UPDATE #3: I hope "the prospect" is not R-Zep. It can't be R-Zep.

UPDATE #4: The Seattle Times's Geoff Baker believes in Brandon League.

UPDATE #5: (1:38 am) It's not Wallace. We knew this already. Because there was no way that was happening in the first place. But it's good to know know.

"Something, perhaps, from above ..."

The baseball Gods were most definitely in the house that dirty Yankee money built on Monday afternoon. How else to explain John McDonald's home run? And three missed calls by the umpires in favour of the Blue Jays?

It was the baseball Gods' way of making up for some their recent douchebaggery, in respect to Toronto's injured arms. Try as the healthy arms might to blow a 7-1 lead, and Brandon League, Jeremy Accardo, and Jason "The Sausage King" Frasor really gave it their all, the Jays weren't leaving New York without a win.

While it certainly doesn't even the score, the efforts from above were certainly appreciated. With Marc Rzepczynski taking the ball tomorrow (who?), hopefully there's more where that came from.

Keeping with the appreciation vibe, I'm very thankful for Scott Rolen. Now at 23 games, I hope his hitting streak can outlast Shawn Green's team record of 28. After only a year and a half in Toronto, Rolen is already well-deserving of having some Jays history attached to his name. He's that fucking good. (GBOAT!!1)

Also: Ricky Romero. Sweet, sweet Ricky Romero. Believe that he could win Rookie of the Year.

UPDATE: It's rare, but sometimes the "Monkey Army" at Drunk Jays Fans is actually good for something. Case in point: one of them pointed out that Shaun Marcum took the hill for the Dunedin Blue Jays Monday night. Three innings pitched, two hits allowed, and one strikeout. In typical fashion, he retired six via groundout, and two via flyout. North of fucking Steeles! I can definitely drink to that.

Quickly

The Summer of Tallet rolls on. His performance today might have been his best yet, considering how he fared in innings one and two.

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Tallet, who has allowed three runs or less in his last six starts. What a rudey.

And give it up for J.P. Riccardi, who traded Bubbie Buzachero to get him ...

Want to know one of the many reasons why I love Cito Gaston? For allowing Tallet to finish the seventh inning, elevated pitch count, and the go-ahead runner on second base, be damned. The lanky left-hander shut down the Red Sox and deserved the win. Cito and the offence made sure he got it. Nails ...

Speaking of nails, how about Brandon League? Check out some Pitch F/X goodness courtesy of Ghostrunner on First ...

Speaking of LtB, it's easy to see why he's got a man-crush for Rocco Baldelli. He homered and gave his all to chase down a fly ball in foul territory. Even with his injury-riddled history, Rocco's playing for today, and I have to respect that ...

Four-for-four, with two runs and two RsBI. HOLA ALEX! ...

It's fitting that RR Cool J will have the opportunity to provide the knockout punch in the series finale. Brooms out, yo ...

Playoffs!!1

Welcome Home, Cito

Holy shit, that did actually happen last night. I thought I might wake up this morning and realize the Blue Jays' three home runs, 22 hits, and 14-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds yesterday was all one awesome wet dream.

The Jays hitters did their part in the return of Cito Gaston to the home dugout here in Toronto by tearing the fucking seams off the baseball in the first two innings against Bronson Arroyo.

The atmosphere in Toronto was electric thanks to Gaston's return, and the Jays made sure not to spoil it. Actually, Arroyo made sure not to spoil it. He channelled his inner Josh Towers and made sure everything was right over the heart of the plate, ready to be knocked around like a cheap hooker. The Jays batted around in each of the first two innings and plated 11 runs in the process, along with three home runs, one each from Scott Rolen, Gregg Zaun and Alex Rios.

That's right. Three home runs. In one game. Hell, in two fucking innings. We're back, bitches.

The offensive explosion was long, long, long overdue. It sure looks like the release of Gary Denbo and the back-to-basics (read: pull the fucking ball) approach from Gaston and Gene Tenace has the hitters, to a man, way more relaxed.

Scutaro had four hits last night, Inglett two, Rios four, Wells two, Rolen two, Overbay three, Zaun two, and Lind two. It was like everyone was making up for lost time.

Just because it's so deliciously horrible, here's the line on Arroyo's work last night:

One inning pitched, 11 hits allowed, 10 earned runs allowed, one walk, one strikeout, and three home runs allowed. Yikes. That might even make Towers himself squirm.

The 11-1 lead after the second inning was enough even for A.J. Burnett to work with. He threw eight solid innings and is back at the .500 mark on the season at 7-7.

Speaking of that .500 mark, baseball is a funny game. Just about two weeks ago, I wrote about how disappointed I was that the Jays were at the .500 mark, unable to go on a run and establish themselves in the playoff race. Fast forward thirteen days and we've got a new (old?) manager and a new hitting coach, and .500 is the target come All-Star break in July. Sitting at 37-41 with 17 games to go before the midsummer classic, it's going to happen.

Cito is already doing the right things, such as making Adam Lind the everyday left-fielder, much to the delight of the team at The Southpaw, and recalling Brandon League. But it's not going to be easy. The Jays will be without Shaun Marcum until likely after the All-Star break (let's be thankful he doesn't need Tommy John surgery), and Aaron Hill has suffered another setback in trying to overcome a concussion.

I still believe in these guys, though. I still believe in this team. The reset button was pressed on the season last Friday night in Pittsburgh, and we're 2-2 so far, with 25 runs scored in the past three games.

Roy Halladay takes the mound tonight.

Remember, in Cito Gaston I trust.