To me the perfect result tonight is a Jay win and Boston loss, forcing the Yankees to celebrate in the dugout or clubhouse and not on the field.  Plus the Jays would (again) move within a game of 2nd place.  Not what you'd want, but given the playoffs are now officially out of reach it is about the only goal left to shoot for.

Or, in the words of a dear departed friend: Play for yourself, play for your contract, this ship is sinking (sunk).

The Yankees are divisional rivals, and do have the highest payroll by far in the majors, but nothing is exactly black and white.  I had thought that their predominant advantage was size of market leading to much higher cable revenues, but that doesn't seem to be the major factor.  Much higher gate receipts and George's willingness to run an operating deficit seem to be key. The Yankees' substantially higher gate receipts are only partly explained by size of market. 

Their success this season in the face of significant injuries has been built not only on purchases.  The development of Cano, who is a helluva second baseman, and the arrival of Cabrera have played their part too.  The trade of Chacon for Wilson had very little to do with money, but rather the relative astuteness of the general managers involved.

I think you mean Mercenaries 6, Mercenaries 3. Or is everyone on the homeside just playing for love of the game (which would make them idiots)?

  Look at it this way: There are a lot of overweight people out there. But usually, you don't comment on it, because it's not a big deal. But every now and then, you see someone who's just so incredibly overweight that you want to shout out "Hey, Fatso! How'd you get so fat, Fatty-Fat-Fat?"  Because, damn, he's fat.

  That fat man is the Yankees.

  (Note that I don't actually encourage heckling the obese, unless they're Yankee fans)

You can expect the Angels GM to come asking about Vernon Wells in the offseason, as he has said that he is going to make some big changes this year. Another article directly mentions his trading desire for Vernon Wells. Perhaps the Wells to Anaheim theory might work out after all....especially because Wells called Anaheim a "beautiful place" a few weeks ago, coyly suggesting he likes it there. With Wells cheap contract, they could trade for Wells and a Manny Ramirez type. I know Wells is cheap for us next year, but wouldn't it be great if they offered the Jays a deal that knocked their socks off?

Their success this season in the face of significant injuries has been built not only on purchases.

This is true, but it's also irrelevant. If you subtract $50M worth of players off the Yankees, making them the highest salaried team by only $30M or so, they would not be in the playoff hunt. They've bought the East. Period.

Talking of big trades, anyone else hopeful the Yankees are really dumb this offseason and dump A-Rod for next to nothing?  Given articles like this one one has to think there are big issues that the Yankees will want to deal with should they be knocked out early.  In my dream world the Jays take A-Rod off their hands (Yankees covering some of the contract) and move him back to shortstop.  I'd be happy if A-Rod is just kept away from NY and Boston, but dang that would be nice.  To have a guy who is slumping when he gets just 5 hits in a weekend series.  A guy who is hitting like the guy who will get the MVP award this year but is viewed as underachieving.  And yes, he has that crazy escape clause but I doubt it will come into effect since I doubt anyone will be making more than $25 million next year.

 For the sake of being politically correct, Shea only wrote the part about the ship. It was Zaun who then wrote "Play for your contracts" sarcastically, looked at Shea and said "Isn't that what you meant to right?". Conclusion: Gregg Zaun is awesome.

If I have to hear one more commentator, announcer or writer talk about how clever the Yankees were to get Abreu, how well he fits into the lineup or how it really pushed the Yankees over the top without mentioning the money involved or the monetary advantage the Yanks have,  my head will explode.  Black and Tabler last night had a tone of "oh those cheeky Yankees have done it again! Oh that Bobby, what a coup!!"  It drives me bananas.

Jason Karstens made it two nights in a row for a rookie Yankee starter bobbing and weaving through the Jay lineup without getting seriously burned.

I believe you mean Jeff Karstens, but I'm sure the Yankees could find someone named Jason Karstens and get a win too the way this series is going. :)

With No Wang, no Johnson, and no Mussina, I don't think it was too much to expect at least one win out of the first 2 games.  So much for the theory that the Yankees have a bad farm system.  It would make perfect sense now for Sean Henn to finish the series for a sweep.  :(

I'm probably mistaken but I think the last time anyone wrapped up a division or wild card berth at the Rogers Centre was the Orioles clinching the Wild Card during the Robbie Alomar spitting debacle on the final weekend of the '96 season.  I also believe the Yankees clinched the Wild Card the year before as I vaguely recall Don Mattingly wearing a Wild Card Winner hat in the visitors locker room afterwards.  I don't ever want to see another Yankees team clinch here again in my lifetime.  I'll have plenty of puke bags nearby just in case.

One other thought, what's with the warning track at the RC?  Is it necessary to have those red/orange rocks sprinkled throughout the turf?  Johnny Damon seemed to lose a good chunk of skin on his arm after that B.S. catch against Adams.  I'd be pissed if that happened to one of our guys.

Jason Karstens? You mean this guy? He doesn't sound like much of a threat to go nine and nail down the win, or even to get the ball to the bullpen ...

(Thank you, Google.)

Say, wasn't it Johnny Damon who complained about the screens last year after running into one and getting hurt?

Hmmmm.... could the grounds crew be setting things up to get Damon?  :)

Jason Karstens? You mean this guy?

I say he looks like a pissed off version of Foghorn Leghorn. :)

The Sun's Bob Elliott has a piece on the 2007 Jays Schedule.  He complains about the fact there's no Yankees or Red Sox weekend series at home next season and how that will impact the Jays bottom line.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Columnists/Elliott/2006/09/20/1867485-sun.html

Personally, I'm not upset about this.  The fewer Yankees and Red Sox fans at the RC, the better.   

The article also mentions we'll see Colorado and Washington here in interleague play.  I think Jamie Campbell mentioned on the broadcast Monday that the Dodgers would be in town as well.  If that's the case, what about San Diego?  They should be here instead because we visited San Diego while the Dodgers came here in 2004.  I think the Padres along with the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros are the only teams yet to pay a visit to the RC.  With Colorado and Washington on the schedule, who's supposed to be our "designated rival"?  Colorado was supposed to be this year.  Maybe it's Washington again.  Bring back the Expos already!

 

I hope if Sean Henn IS smoking tonight in the RC, that he doesn't get out of town without a fine.

The Jays have also announced their Minor League award winners for 2006.  Two of them are already with the big club.

http://bluejays.scout.com/2/570696.html

It also appears the Jays will see a lot of the Dodgers in 2007.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/Toronto/2006/09/20/1867481-sun.html

At least Russell Martin won't mind the extra games against the Jays.

 

If you subtract $50M worth of players off the Yankees, making them the highest salaried team by only $30M or so, they would not be in the playoff hunt. They've bought the East. Period.

All right, I'll play.

We'll take away Matsui's 146 AB, Sheffield's 123 AB, and Johnson's 4.93 ERA.  Not only would they still be in the playoff hunt.  They would likely still be winners of the division by a very substantial margin

Actually, I've got to agree with Elliot about this. I don't like the Yankee and Red Sox fans in the RC from as a Jay fan. However, no weekend series from either team is ridiculous and will have some effect on attendance figure. There is no way a July weekend set with Tampa or Baltimore draws half of what one with New York or Boston does. Assuming the Jays should have at least one weekend set with each team, it's going to cost the team maybe 100,000 in attendance. (I made that number up, but assuming 50,000 more over 3 days when comparing Baltimore or a similar team to the BoSox or NY doesn't seem unreasonable, and may be on the cautious side.) I don't know what that translate into in revenue figures, but from a revenue viewpoint this schedule is about as bad as it could get.