Only one club lost Thursday and it was the baby, baby Jays in the Gulf Coast League. Regardless, there were a lot of positives on the night.

Gary Cathcart won the Bobby Mattick award in 2007 based on managing the Lansing Lugnuts to a franchise-record 78 wins.  This year things haven't been going as well for Cathcart in New Hampshire, the Fisher Cats are last in the Northern Division.  As I entered the coaches room in Erie last week I said to Cathcart that I assumed 2008 wasn't living up to his expectations.  Cathcart replied that my comment was the understatement of the year, as he went on to add that the team pitching and defence have been very disappointing this season.  Cathcart then answered some questions for Batters Box.

Milwaukee decided to use pitching and base running along with the long ball to beat the Jays last night, leaving Greg Zaun a deeply deeply unhappy man.

Auburn won their second game behind a strong start from Josh Wells and two hits from the Jays number one pick, David Cooper.  Dunedin also won thanks to a big game from Cory Patton who was a single short of the cycle.  New Hampshire were trounced.  Syracuse and Lansing had the day off.  The Gulf Coast Jays start their season Thursday.

The Hardball Times' John Brattain is ready for the Ricciardi era to end.

He's obviously not the first one to suggest this, but he just jumped to the other side of the fence now.

Brian Jeroloman was a sixth round selection by the Jays in 2006.  Jeroloman is now in AA and looks to have a very good chance to reach the major leagues in a couple of years.  Jeroloman is recognized as an above average defender but the jury is out on his ability to hit major league pitching.  Jeroloman has maintained his hitting stats on his way to AA which is a positive sign and JP Ricciardi oftens mentions Jeroloman as one of the prospects on the way in the minor leagues.  Recently Brian sat down with Batters Box for an interview while the the Fisher Cats were in Erie.

Three wins against one loss.  Ricky Romero was fantastic for six innings, and JP Arencibia made a good first impression, but New Hampshire had to sweat out a win.  Kenny Rodriguez pitched well to get a win for Dunedin and Auburn took advantage of Batavia errors to win.  Syracuse delievered the only loss but Curtis Thigpen got his groove back.

Ice... cold... beer!

They're 5-5 in their last 10, which is woefully inadequate when you're chasing a team that never loses. They're now 8.5 games off the NL Central pace, and as if that weren't bad enough they get to deal with a couple of AL East teams this week. Fortunately, they get to begin that stretch by throwing their more longball-prone pitchers at a banjo-hitting last-place team that ranks 28th in the majors in longballs, has averaged 2.5 runs a game over the last week, and gleefully insists on tormenting its fans by burying a free power fix in AAA.

A slow night in the minors with just two teams in action.

It's been a bad 24 hours for people involved in running 100 million dollar teams, as the Mets have fired Willie Randolph overnight and the Mariners let GM Bill Bavasi go yesterday afternoon.

A team that never strikes out, a team that always makes contact, a team that lays down lots of bunts and steals lots of bases and executes many a hit-and-run. I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers people SCREAMING for this to happen back in 04/05. Here you are, boneheads. Enjoy.
- King Ryan, 11 June 2008

Former Blue Jay closer Aquilino Lopez (14 saves as a 2003 rookie) has been optioned to AAA Toledo to transition into a starting pitcher for the struggling Tigers

Lopez has no starts in his 134 career big league appearances and has averaged barely 1.1 IP for those appearances. His most-similar player, historically, is another former Blue Jay closer, Darren Hall, who had 17 saves as a '94 rookie, and who made zero starts in 130 career appearances -- averaging less than one inning per appearance.

Well, Lansing can rest their regulars for, oh, the next two or so months as they clinched the First Half Division Title in the Midwest League.

The return of Ted the Tease! And GGZ!

I’m 0-6 over my last two minor league updates, as the three affiliates in action all lost, with two of them being held to one run. The only bright spot came with New Hampshire’s offence, as Travis Snider continued to look good while Scott Campbell demonstrated that even when he isn’t getting hits, he’s still contributing and getting on base. Meanwhile, the Florida State League All-Star Game took place and three Dunedin players were in action.