It's time, surely, to change the subject?
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Well, unless you've been living under a rock, or couldn't access the site because tears of sadness crashed it, you now know that the Blue Jays didn't win the posting auction for Yu Darvish, as the Rangers bid $51.7 million, to beat the Jays by somewhere between $1 and $51.7 million dollars. Which, let's face it, kind of sucks. We can blame the team, although really it's not their fault. They bid a number they were comfortable with, and though it will probably never be known, it's likely that it was the second place bid. Others in the media blew things way out of proportion, based on who knows what, and as a result there have been some 600 posts about this in the last four days on Battersbox. Not much we can do about it now, although if there is one positive to take away I think its that Jays fans are waiting, after all these years, to be excited.
Why don't we take this time to commiserate about our favourite moments of the Yuletide extravaganza. For me it was that I wrote an 800 word article about how awesome it was that the Jays signed Darvish to publish when the news became official. Now, not so much.
Hey, we can always trade 3 good prospects away for Gio Gonzalez...
Go 2014 Blue Jays!
Yu need to forget the other distractions today and Yu need to consider Baseball America's top ten, released today. The top ten isn't very surprising, except for Asher Wojciechowski who sneaks in at number ten.
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Yeah, my bad puns are no better than anyone else's. The newest info - an announcement tonight at roughly 8/9 PM EST from Japan. Hopefully they will not just say 'we accepted the deal' but actually say who won it.
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Okay, Bauxites! Time to reveal the answers and announce the winners of last week's episode of "Name That Future Major Leaguer".
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For your consideration this morning, Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) has tweeted (in two parts):
If the Jays are, in fact, the winning bidders for Darvish -- as many execs believe -- they will continue to develop into a very dangerous team.The Jays would have a full season of Lawrie, plus Bautista, plus Santos, plus Romero. And they have nice core of prospects on the way.
Any thoughts on this, Bauxites?
Japan's newest bachelor, Yu Darvish, is about to get busy. The bachelor has a number of suitors and Darvish will get to see which one likes him the best, monetarily speaking. The bidding deadline for Darvish is 5pm today, Wednesday.
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Just for a laugh...does anyone want to comment on The Book of AA? For example: "We don't comment on any specific player, mainly free agents." ... And, "If it makes sense then we will do it." I know these are weak examples. So hopefully more creative Bauxites will have a go at it.
So. then, let's have that "go at it" ... what other rules and commandments would go in The Book of AA? Keep each one to a line or two. Stay serious! And feel free to disagree with each other, in a friendly-like way. Ready? Go! ...
Canada's first baseball Hall of Famer, Ferguson Jenkins, turns 69 years old today. The Chatham, Ontario native used pinpoint control and effectively changed speeds to win 284 big league games. Fergie is, I think we can all agree, the greatest (or at least most successful) native Canuck to ever play the game.
So today's two-part QOTD acknowledges the recipients of the unofficial Ferguson Jenkins Award ...
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Who is the second-greatest Canadian in MLB history? (Or, if you can make the argument, who surpasses Fergie as #1?)
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Who is the greatest active Canadian in the major leagues?
Ready? Set? Go, eh?
See how many future major leaguers you can spot in these photos from my minor league archives. These are not the greatest quality of photos but the winner who figures out who is who will get a highly coveted, limited edition photo of Pedro Florimon Jr. Runner-up prizes are a photo of Eric Fryer and one of my cats because it's Christmas!
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The Jays have announced that they acquired outfielder Ben Francisco from the Phillies for minor league LOOGY Frank Gailey. This trade has quite a few questions surrounding it.
Ben Francisco on JaysVision prior to the Canada Day game between the Phillies and Blue Jays at the Dome.
Ben Francisco on JaysVision prior to the Canada Day game between the Phillies and Blue Jays at the Dome.
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Today's POTD pays tribute to Roberto Alomar and to the first retired number in Blue Jays history - #12.
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Today's POTD takes a look at Albert Pujols in his last season with the St. Louis Cardinals. The 31 year-old first baseman signed a 10-year deal worth $254-million with the Los Angeles Angels.
This photo was a clue Albert Pujols would split for greener pastures after 2011. Get it? :D
This photo was a clue Albert Pujols would split for greener pastures after 2011. Get it? :D
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A truly outstanding contemporary sports jounralist, Jonah Keri (who, head's up baseball fans of Canada, apparently is making his next project a book about the Montreal Expos), recently tweeted the following:
If you have a Hall of Fame ballot, these pieces on Tim Raines (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tim-raines-case-for-the-hall-of-fame/) & Jack Morris (http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/jack-morris-babblefest-2009/) are worth reading.
The links point to two separate stories written by Friend of Batter's Box Tom Tango, and they are worth the read for anyone who has an opinion about Raines' and/or Morris' HOF candidacy. (Spoiler alert: Tangotiger gives one yea and one nay ....)