O(h)K(a), Blue Jays!

First things first - I've got to shoutout another one of my faithful international readers (if you're counting, this is number two...of two), Karan Raina, repping the great city of New York. He's been waiting for his Sports And The City shoutout. He and a few of my other buddies went down to the NHL All-Star festivities in Dallas earlier this week. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, and missed a chance to schmooze with the Magnificent One Mario Lemieux (pictured), Evgeni Malkin, Carlton the Bear and Gary Bettman. Karan and the boys had a private box for the Skills Competition and seats 10 rows behind the glass for the All-Star game. Ridiculous.

The boys also ran into a Mr. John Ferguson Jr., who guaranteed a Leafs' playoff birth. Ferguson clearly must have been drunk. I'd have a drinking problem if I were him.

Now let's get down to blogging business. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome the newest member of the Toronto Blue Jays to our great, and insanely cold, city.

Tomo Ohka, welcome to the T Dot.

JP Ricciardi and the Jays announced Wednesday that Ohka has signed a one year deal with the club, at $1.5 million. The deal could be worth as much as $3 million, with incentives based on the number of starts Ohka makes.

But I don't care about the money.

I think this is a really good signing by JP, even though it was met with no fanfare. There was no big press conference, no pictures; nothing. Only a press release.

Talk about a hit to Ohka's pride eh? I guess in baseball terms, he pretty much is a nobody. But at the end of the day, he's less of a nobody than that weasel Josh Towers, and that's why I'm excited. The more arms JP adds to the starting rotation, the more likely it is that Josh Towers will spend the season in Triple A, where he belongs. It's all about addition by subtraction, my friends. No Josh Towers improves this baseball club.

However, if you look a little deeper into the Ohka signing, it could work out extremely well, especially considering Ohka's salary.

In losing Ted Lilly, the Jays lost about 180 innings. JP's main focus is to eat up those innings, hence the signings of John Thomson and Ohka. These guys are penciled in as the fourth and fifth starters - basically the back end of the rotation. It's Doc Halladay, AJ Burnett, Gustavo Chacin, Ohka, and Thomson. Ohka could even be spotted in the three spot, because Chacin is just a five inning wonder. He throws the most pitches, it's ridiculous. Through 5 innings he'll be up around 100 pitches. It's tough on the bullpen.

Anyways, the point that I'm taking so long to make is that Ohka's numbers are astonishingly similar to Ted Lilly's - yes the same Ted Lilly whom JP offered $10 million a season to stay in Toronto.

Both guys are going to be 31 in the 2007 season, and here are their career stats:

Ted Lilly

Career Starts: 160

Innings Pitched: 936

ERA: 4.60

Overall Record: 59-58

Tomo Ohka

Career Starts: 162
Innings Pitched: 943

ERA: 4.04

Overall Record: 48-58

Ohka has pitched more innings, albeit only by a few, but his ERA is significantly lower than Lilly's. They've both lost 58 games, and Lilly's got more wins because he's played on a Jays team that has had a great offense. Ohka spent a couple of seasons with Montreal, and some time with Washington and Milwaukee - not exactly offensive juggernauts. He's just never been blessed enough to play on a team that actually gives him some run support - until now. This guy could easily win 15 games like Lilly did last year.

Ohka's agent even said that when Ohka and Milwaukee went to arbitration last year, he compared Ohka's stats to Lilly's in the actual hearing.

Of course, with any investment, there is some risk. Ohka spent significant time on the DL last season. He needs to stay healthy in order to payoff. A brilliant statement, I know. But Lilly spent his fair share of time on the DL in the last two years as well. With any pitcher there is significant risk. It's the nature of the beast.

But wouldn't you rather invest $3 million, rather than $10 million, on an arm that might give you the same results? I would. Props out to JP Ricciardi.

Remember, I believe in JP.

"O(h)K(a) Blue Jays, Let's Play Ball!"

Sing it. Loud and proud.

I'm looking forward to baseball season - can you tell?

-------------------

Random Musings:

- Huge shoutout to ALL-STAR STARTER Chris Bosh. He's most deserving of that title and it's good to see that people are starting to recognize him. Maybe playing basketball in Toronto isn't so bad, eh? The Raptors really needed Bosh to repair the tarnished image of basketball in Canada that Vince Carter left behind. Rob Babcock didn't help much either. But alas, the past is the past. Bosh and Colangelo have righted the ship.

- The Leafs dominated Montreal once again, and have points in every game against the Habs this season. If only the Leafs could play Montreal all the time. Pavel Kubina had 2 goals and 1 assist, and it looks like he's finally healthy and confident. It took way too long for this guy to get going. I credit Kaberle. As soon as Kubina started playing wit Kabby, he's been much better.

- Back to the NBA All-Star starting line-up. How the HELL did Steve Nash not get voted in? That's absurd. He's going to win his third straight MVP, and solidify his legacy as one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. Kid Canada, baby.

- Great point by Toronto Star writer Dave Perkins about pessimism being in the eye of the beholder. Both the Leafs and Raptors are around .500 (winning percentages). The Leafs and their fans are up in arms at their state, while the Raptors are beaming about not being so pathetic anymore. Perkins is dead-on in saying that both teams are in similar situations as to their performance, but that for the Leafs the glass is half empty, while for the Raps it's half full. So true.

- Rumour has it the Colorado Rockies might trade Todd Helton to the Boston Red Sox. That is horrendous news for Jays fans, if it's true. Woe is I - such is life in the American League East.

I think that's it.

Goodnight, Toronto...

Another Collapse

The Toronto Maple Leafs are officially out of the top 8 in the Eastern Conference, following another third period collapse and another loss to the Boston Bruins. 3-1 final, and the losing streak is now at 6 games, with no end in sight. Nursing a lead has become pretty much all mental right now, as the Leafs just don't have the confidence to pull through and get a win. They played a pretty solid road game and were up 1-0 going into the third. Ripe for the picking, I guess.

I'm frustrated as a fan, so it must be really frustrating for the players themselves. I'm not sure what it is about Boston, but the Leafs just can't generate offense against them. The Leafs have only managed four goals in the last four games against the Bruins, who have now pulled to within one point of the Leafs, with four games in hand.

Aubin did get the call for the Leafs, but it didn't really matter. The Leafs didn't play well in front of him in the third period, and although the second goal - the backbreaker - was Aubin's fault, as he let up a HUGE rebound that Primeau drilled into the back of the net, I can't blame him for his one and only mistake, because the guys in front of him made even more. Props to Aubin for coming in and giving the Leafs a chance to win tonight.

What can I say? The Leafs are in a serious funk and are going the wrong way in the Eastern Conference. The offense has totally come to a standstill - the well has runneth dry. The defense has just been atrocious, especially in the third period. When a team continuously blows leads the way the Leafs are, you know it's all in their heads. There's no confidence left in this team right now, and I'm not sure how they're going to turn it around. They've got just got to come out Saturday night and try to keep things simple, and hope for some bounces to go their way. What else can they do right now? Aubin, had he won, I think would have gotten the start on Saturday, but now I think Maurice will go back to Raycroft in the motor city.

Brutal night for my boys Poni and Sundin. They were on the ice for all three Boston goals in the third period, and both ended up -3 on the night. Unacceptable. Sundin can't be beaten in a battle by a guy like Brad Boyes, and he needs to take this team by the throat right now and get them a win by any means necessary. And you know Poni is struggling when he fans on a shot on a 2 on 1. Brutality is there.

The sun will rise tomorrow. Hopefully the Leafs can figure this out before it seriously gets too late.

-----------------------------------------------

Baseball's winter meetings have come to an end, and the Jays left Disneyworld with Matt Stairs. That's it. Just Matt Stairs. No Ted Lilly, no Gil Meche. No pitching at all. I was expecting some major fireworks. I knew it was a stretch for JP to think that we could get both Lilly and Meche, but I truly believed he would come home with at least one of them. Once again, it shows how much I know.

In stark contrast to last year's winter meetings, the Jays went to the meetings this time around as major players. Last year, JP flew under the radar and it was huge news for the Jays to land both BJ Ryan and AJ Burnett. No one was expecting it. This time around, the Jays were just like all the other big boys at the party, ready and willing to overpay for mediocrity.

Baseball truly is an amazing sport, where mediocrity is rewarded and the salaries just keep getting crazier and crazier. After all, baseball is a game in which a batter is considered successful if he fails 7 out of 10 times.

Ted Lilly, with a career record of 59 wins and 58 losses, will now make $10 million a year to pitch for the Chicago Cubs. Poor Lilly? Hardly. Gil Meche, 28 years old with a similar unspectacular career win-loss record, is now a 5 year, $55 million dollar man, after signing a deal with the pathetic Kansas City Royals.

Both Lilly and Meche said there were interested in going to teams that were ready to compete and challenge for the playoffs. Granted, the Cubs have spent about a billion dollars this off-season in attempts to improve, but Meche picking the Royals over the Jays is a joke, and Meche's credibility just hit the floor. Even JP said it might have been a blessing in disguise to lose the Meche sweepstakes, because if this guy wants to pitch in Kansas City, you have to question his attitude and motivation.

Richard Griffin, the great Toronto Star columnist, said earlier in the week that the Jays should forget about both Lilly and Meche, and put the money towards a contract extension for Vernon Wells.

With the winter meetings over, the discussion will undoubtedly shift to Wells. The $100 million dollar question - will Vernon Wells resign a multi-year deal with the Jays? With the way salaries are being handed out this off-season, I don't think it's going to happen. Why would Wells not test the market? That's what free agency is all about. He knows he's about to hit the jackpot, and can have at least 10 teams bidding for his services, so why would he sign long term with Toronto? It just doesn't make sense. The Jays will try to get his name on a contract, it's the right and only thing they can do, but I just don't see it happening.

This means JP has to explore trading Vernon Wells. Now that he missed out on Lilly and Meche, he's got to trade Vernon Wells for some quality pitching. Now I want Wells to stay just as much as anyone else, as I'm sure JP does, but the reality is that he will test the market as a free agent. I would if I were him. You would too. Remember, Carlos Delgado walked away at the end of his contract and the Jays got nothing in return. Delgado had a no-trade clause, so trading him was impossible. Wells has no such clause, so the Jays have to move him if he won't sign long term. JP said he'll know where Wells stands in a week or two. Getting nothing in return for a sensational, 5-tool player like Wells, who is only 28, is simply not an option. Wells will get Soriano-type money on the free agent market, money I don't think Ted Rogers will be willing to pay.

JP said the Jays will now look at Plans B and C for pitching, both via free agency and trades. Guys like Jeff Suppan, Mark Redman and Jeff Weaver are still out there on the market, but JP said he's going to explore the trading front first.

As for in-house possibilities, the Jays still have the disease known as Josh Towers under contract, and it looks like he will get a chance to be the 5th starter in the rotation. Shaun Marcum is another possibility. Dustin McGowan might be a prospect JP thinks about trading, while Casey Janssen, who showed some potential last season, is still on the map as well.

Like I said, it's all about Vernon Wells now, and it should be an interesting couple of weeks ahead, as the Jays look to finalize their 2007 roster. If Wells does get traded, I hope the Jays get some quality pitching, and maybe an outfielder, in return. JP's got to do what he's got to do. If Wells won't sign an extension, it's clear he's pretty much as good as gone, and it has to be done. In a perfect world, the Jays can sign Wells long term and add another starter to fill the third spot in the rotation. But as the winter meetings proved, things hardly ever go as planned.

Remember folks, in JP we trust.

And a big Sports And The City welcome to Matt Stairs, the newest Blue Jay. He's a solid bat off the bench, and you can't go wrong with some home-grown Canadian content.

I'd like to thank Bengie Molina for his one year of service in Toronto, after he signed a 3 year deal with the San Francisco Giants. Molina had a great season with the Jays, and it was fun watching his pudgy ass round the bases.

One of the most exciting moments of the 2006 season for me was watching Molina hit a triple in Tampa Bay. He was chugging like no tomorrow and was going so slow. I stood up and was like Kramer at the racetrack, using the newspaper as a whip and cheering on his horse - "COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!" Bengie slid in safely with a triple, the entire Jays bench went bananas and Bengie had the biggest smile on his face. The Jays bench even asked the umpire for the ball, and it was rolled into the dugout by the umpire! That ball is definitely going onto the mantle, because I don't think Molina will ever hit another triple.

That's it for now. Here's hoping Vernon Wells can somehow stay a Blue Jay.

Blue Jays baseball - You Gotta Believe.

Goodnight, Toronto...

Don't Worry, It's On Ted...

Frank Thomas, the newest member of the Toronto Blue Jays. That one certainly came out of left field. Most definitely took me by surprise. It's been about 24 hours since the rumour broke that Thomas and the Jays are close to a deal. Reports out of Florida say that pending a Thomas physical, the deal is all but done and will be announced Friday.

In that case, let me be the first to welcome The Big Hurt to the great city of Toronto. A great place for him to play out the rest of what has been a solid career. Looks like J.P. Ricciardi has surprised Toronto, and the baseball world, once again.

When I first heard the news I was, first of all, very surprised. It was just so unexpected. Once I picked up my jaw off the floor I was able to say, "Yeah, one of the Jays' biggest holes is at designated hitter."

I don't care how old Thomas is - 38 by the way. I don't care that last year was his first injury free season in the last three years. Right now, all I care about is his 37 home runs and 100+ rbi's. Honestly, none of the past matters. Not to me. Not right now, anyway. I'm looking at this signing with pure, 100% optimism. JP just added another big bat to an already potent line-up.

Now most of the comments I've heard in regards to this signing have been negative. The majority of Torontonian's who follow the Jays with a passion are ripping JP for this deal. I've heard all the regular ones:

"He's too old. He's too injury prone. What is JP thinking? Why didn't we get Zito? What about Lilly? Why didn't we keep Delgado a few years ago?"

And my favourite one of all: "How could we give him $10 million!?!?"

I just don't get why people are so fixated on the salary. Really, who cares? Is the money coming out of our pockets? No. Not at all. This is Ted Rogers' money, and if he wants to spend it on putting a solid team together, who are we to argue and complain about the salary. Bob McCown is dead on - the Jays can pay him $20 million for all I care. It doesn't matter.

Now I know I'll get some people saying his salary will be reflected in Jays ticket prices, or concession prices. Something. Anything. But the truth is, even if the Jays raise tickets by $1, is that going to stop you from heading out to the Rogers Centre to watch a game? Give me a break. You know that by going to a game, you're going to spend a certain amount of coin, even if the team is crap. You know how much a ticket goes for, on average, and you know you're going to be paying too much for food. Ticket prices are always going up, and the Jays haven't been to the playoffs since my bloody youth. I'm 24. I'll pay a few extra bucks the one or two times I go watch a game if it means we make the playoffs.

Now I know it's dangerous to manage a team using the Leafs "pick up a veteran 5 years removed from his best season" mentality. It's definitely a gamble. A gamble worth $20 million. But seriously, come up with a better excuse as to why you think Thomas should not be a Blue Jay. Don't mention the money, and we can have a decent discussion on the topic. It's going on Ted's tab, so lets not go crazy over the amount, ok?

Now there are viable viewpoints out there, as to why this is not a good signing. I've heard someone say that the Jays lineup is already strong enough, why add another bat? Now my take on the situation is this: everyone knows pitching is, and always will be, at a premium. It's tough to put together a solid starting rotation. Even the Yankees and Red Sox, who have the deepest pockets in baseball, can't put together a great rotation on the regular. It's simply difficult to do. In light of that, Boston this week payed some Japanese ballclub $51 million just to NEGOTIATE a contract with a Japanese import pitcher, who's clearly the next best thing since sliced bread. That is an absoloutely ridiculous amount of money, and it clearly highlights the problems in baseball's economic system.

The thing that pisses me off is, first of all, that we are stuck in the AL East with the Yankees and Red Sox. I read an SI piece about how it's incredible that the Red Sox call the Yanks the "Evil Empire" when they conduct business the same way as the boys from NYC. They're both "Evil Empires" and how in hell are the Jays supposed to compete with these guys? It's infuriating. That's one thing I like about JP Ricciardi. He's trying. He's doing all he can. Last year we "overpaid" BJ Ryan and AJ Burnett, but once again, WHO CARES? JP's not creating the market. The market is being set by teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, who pay anyone anything.

The $51 million paid by Boston to the Japanese team WILL NOT COUNT AGAINST THEIR PAYROLL and therefore the Rex Sox will not be taxed for it under baseball's luxury tax system. They just paid an amount that would probably equal the payrolls of both the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates, to negotiate with a player. And teams like the Royals, Pirates, and Jays, won't see a penny out of that, even though revenue sharing exists. It's absurd. I could go on, but that's my point - baseball spending is out of control, and unless the fans want to watch the team sit around and do NOTHING, we have to pay free agents like Frank Thomas the money the market defines for them. If JP could get Thomas for $5 million, I'm sure he would.

Back to my point - pitching is at a premium. All pitchers get overpaid. Wait and see the amount of money thrown at Ted Lilly, who's nothing more than a 3rd or 4th starter, with a career record hovering around .500. The Jays can't afford to match the Yanks and Red Sox when they offer pitchers ridiculous amounts of money. We just can't do it. Now we've got 2 really good pitchers, and a decent third starter. We'd love to get Lilly back, but the odds are not in our favour. If the pitching is too expensive, we might as well try and assemble the most powerful lineup that we can. The Jays already boasted an incredible offense, and with the hole at DH thanks to the departure of Shea Hillenbrand, who better to fill it than The Big Hurt? Wells, Rios, Glaus, Overbay, Thomas. It's the Toronto BOMB Jays!

We can't afford the best pitchers. We've already got the best in Doc Halladay, and if AJ Burnett can pitch how he did in the final two months of the season, Toronto will have a formidable one-two punch in the rotation. So I applaude JP for going out and signing another big bat. Why the hell not?

JP's still got lots of work to do though. Frank Catalanatto, Justin Speier, Bengie Molina, Ted Lilly and Gregg Zaun are all free agents. Supposedly JP has been talking to Rod Barajas' agent. I wouldn't mind him as our new catcher. I'm good with any of those three - Zaun, Molina or Barajas. My gut tells me Zaun will be back. I was hoping The Cat would be back in the fold but with the signing of Thomas, I doubt it. I think Reed Johnson is ready to play everyday, anyway, so I thank The Cat for his service, and wish him well. I'm really hoping there's someway we can get Speier and Lilly back, although retaining both of them seems difficult. Brandon League was lights out last season, and if Speier does end up with another team, League is going to have to step into the set-up role and take care of business.

There's also the business of assessing the middle infield. Have the Blue Jays given up on Russ Adams? I know a lot of people have. I think I'm one of them, although I don't mind giving him one last shot to become an everyday second basemen.

I love the off-season, for all these reasons and more. I also heard the Jays are interested in Mark Mulder. He'll definitely come cheaper than Ted Lilly, and of what I remember of him from his days in Oakland, I'd love to see him in a Jays uniform.

Will JP resign Vernon long term? I think it's pretty clear the Jays won't be trading him in the off-season. I think that's wise. He's under contract for next year, we might as well keep him. He's amazing. Every night before I turn in, I pray to God that Vernon will sign an extension. But I'm not going to hold my breath.

Frank Thomas, welcome to Toronto. People might be hating, but I'm happy your here.

If you're out there and reading, leave a comment and tell me what you think about the newest member of the Blue Jays family.

Oh, and thanks, Mr. Rogers.

Goodnight, Toronto...