The affiliates managed just two wins on the night. What else is new?

In this morning's typically excellent and detailed Newberg Report -- the best baseball e-newsletter on the Internets -- friend of Batter's Box Jamey Newberg checks in on the Halladay Question. Here's what he had to say -- warning, it's quite long -- so give it a read and respond.

(Keep in mind, Jamey is a registered Bauxite, so he may well see what you write!)

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There are issues involved with the hypothetical marriage between the Rangers and Roy Halladay that weren't factors when Texas traded Mark Teixeira two years ago, but there are a few things instructive about the 2007 trade that, in part, helped put the Rangers in the position that they're now in, able to compete with anyone in terms of loading up an impact package of young players to close a huge deal ...

There was lots of free baseball on the farm yesterday, but given how things are currently going I’m not sure how much people really wanted more ball. Of the seven games, four went into extra innings and there was a total of thirteen free innings. It didn’t make much difference to the bottom line and the affiliates only won two of the seven games in an unremarkable day on the farm.

Auburn were no hit through eight and two thirds.  It should have been a complete no-hitter except for an error by Mahoning Valley in the ninth.  But then two singles ruined the moment and the no hitter was gone.  New Hampshire were no hit until the sixth inning and they finished with two hits in eleven innings.  The GCL Jays didn't score until the ninth inning.  Dunedin and Lansing were rained out.  Las Vegas were the exception, they scored twelve runs.  Travis Snider got back in the groove with three hits including a home run and a double.

Jordan Bastian from bluejays.com reports that former closer B.J. Ryan has been released.  His replacement, Scott Downs, has been activated from the disabled list after suffering a toe injury trying to run out of the batter's box in Philadelphia.

Luis Perez stated his case for a promotion with a strong start for New Hampshire and Dunedin made just enough contact at the plate to earn the only two wins in the system on Tuesday.  The rest of the affiliates didn't fare as well thanks to a come from ahead loss, two extra-inning setbacks and a no-hitter.

Yesterday Gerry asked "3. Finally, as much as I love Halladay and the value he has delivered to the team, what are the prospects for a 32 year old pitcher with 2000 innings and a lot of heavy workload in his arm?  While Doc has delivered tremendous value to the Jays, will he continue to deliver it trhough age 37?  I don't know the answer to this question but I am sure the Jays have analysed it and have an opinion.  Someone here could look at comparables and see how they held up through age 37."

I had a quick and dirty look using the Play Index at Baseball Reference.

When you log on to ESPN.com and the top story listed is Blue Jays GM: We'll listen to Halladay offers, well, naturally that grabs your attention. Go read the story yourself -- not actively shopping, blah blah, have to consider our options, etc. etc. You've seen this story before -- just insert the names "Santana" and "Twins" where you see "Halladay" and "Jays" and it should ring more than one bell.

So, a whole bevy of questions for loyal Bauxites ... is this an early white flag? Should the team even consider trading the good Doctor? What if it's the Yankees or Red Sox who make the best offer? And -- get creative, kids -- what realistic package would you like to see coming Toronto's way if this were to actually happen?

P.S. We can all agree (can't we?) that the best answer to "who should the Jays trade Roy Halladay for?" Is "Nobody. Ever."

Adam Lind is one of five players vying for the last spot on the All Star Team (barring injury replacement). You can vote for him up a million times a day by going to http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2009/fv/ballot.html.

Well, uh, a couple of days ago. Still, better late than never. We'll take a look at the two sides.

All 6 games on the evening were decided by 3 or fewer runs, while 4 were decided by a single score. The affiliates went 3-3 on the night, and guess what? Shaun Marcum is back!

When things aren't going so well for the Jays, I usually immerse myself in the minor leagues and think about what might one day be.  Sunday was a decent enough day for that as the affiliates went 4-2 and featured a few notable performances from promising youngsters.

Joe Inglett had five hits and six RBI's on July 4th to lead Vegas to a big win.  New Hampshire won 2-1 behind Kenny Rodriguez first AA start of 2009.  Dunedin, Auburn and the GCL Jays also were winners, Lansing the only losers on Saturday.  Among the prospects David Cooper, Moises Sierra and Trystan Magnuson are all hot right now.

A tweet from Bastian - Scott Richmond to the DL with biceps inflammation. Brett Cecil will fill in tomorrow, Brad Mills is coming back to start against Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

The affiliates went 3-for-4 on the night, which wasn't too bad considering how they've performed on Friday nights in previous weeks. Both New Hampshire (!) and Dunedin had nice offensive outbursts.