Today, John Beamer tells us in THT that most projection systems have Frank Thomas mashing in 2007 for 450-500 plate appearances. Meanwhile Rich Lederer in Baseball Analysts reviews the ground-ball and strikeout tendencies (Shouldn't Strikeout Tendency be the name of a Marxist faction?) of minor leaguers, and finds that Chi-Hung Cheng was in the right place last year before his injury. And the Todd Helton trade talks continue, with money as opposed to players seeming to be the major issue. "Helton for diddlysquat" doesn't quite have the ring of "Manny for nothing", does it?

And don't forget, it's only 3 weeks until pitchers and Molinas.

Jeff Weaver and Arthur Rhodes are about to sign with Seattle, so the M's should be in good shape to win the division -- Oh, wait, it's not 1999 any more ... Willie Randolph re-upped with the Mets at double the salary -- imagine if he'd actually won something! ...

Glendon Rusch has been released by the Cubbies, so he joins the still-available open market with other Names You Probably Know like Gabe Kapler, Phil Nevin, Eddie Guardado, Tony Armas, Jr. and hey, ex-Jay hotshot Steve Karsay ...

What else?

Today's News ... let's see ...

Antonio Alfonseca to the Phillies ... Mark Bellhorn to the Reds ... The legend and greatness of Fernando Tatis to the Dodgers ... The A's traded Kirk Saarloos and a PTBNL to the Reds for David Shafer and a (presumably different) PTBNL ... In The Biggest News of the Day (so far), two-time All-Star Darin Erstad, a Gold Glove at two positions and a silver slugger to boot, signed on with the White Sox ...

So it's not ALL about Tomo Ohka! What else?

Baseball America has confirmed that the Jays have added an affiliate in the Gulf Coast League.

According to Ken Rosenthal the Blue Jays have signed Tomo Ohka to a 1 year contract. Jeff Blair writes that the deal is for $1.5 million with incentives that could push the deal to $3.0 million.

ESPN.com reports that the deal is pending a physical set to take place later this week. Ohka is currently in Japan.

Thanks to Bauxite Jevant for pointing out the link.

The recent induction into the Hall of Fame of Dennis Eckersley and Bruce Sutter, and the rising vote totals for Goose Gossage, have me thinking about standards for greatness in a closer.

Time to get a new all-everything, what-is-there-to-talk-about? thread started up. There is apparently no huge breaking news in the world of the 90-foot baselines right now ... What, are you psyched about Trot Nixon heading to Cleveland? Cliff Floyd possibly landing in Wrigley? Chase Utley getting a gazillion dollars from the Phillies? Have a comment on the loss of one of the sport's good guys, Vern Ruhle?

What's going on out there?

Slick-fielding shortstop Ray Olmedo was claimed by the Jays from Cincinnati. To make room on the 40 man roster, Ryan Roberts was designated for assignment.

Commenting in the Sammy Sosa poll, Bauxite ayjackson explained his "other" vote as follows:

"With a year out of baseball, he was likely able to follow a rigorous program of PEDs - like we've never seen before.  He was probably employed as a guinea pig by the world's PED leaders.  He will have almost "bionic" eyesight and romp to All-star and HOF numbers.  However, these numbers will be taken with a grain of salt by the increasingly skeptical baseball fan and writer and no awards will await him at the end of his comeback."

Which got me to thinking.  It's Friday afternoon, and we are deep in the off-season, so what better time for a Box tradition- the collaborative outrageous story.  Bionic eyesight, guinea pig.  Houston, I think we have a start.  I'll carry on with it.

The Jays signed catcher Sal Fasano to a minor league deal.

The Jays have not yet come to agreement with their three remaining arbitration eligible players: Alex Rios, Reed Johnson and Scott Downs. Today they exchanged offers.

It's time once again for a Batter's Box Trivia Challenge; let's start with an easy one for GTO baseball fans ...

Only once in the last 50 years has a pitcher picked off at least three runners in the same game -- and he got four, though he took the loss, in extra innings, to a terrible Oakland team in 1977. Name this young lefty, who was in the midst of what would turn out to be his only double-digit wins campaign.

As always, the Bauxite who posts the correct answer first asks the next question. "Correctness" of the answer can be confirmed by any member of the Batter's Box roster or by any Bauxite who includes a link to a corroborating page ...

Fire away!

No, it's not just about Adam Lind ... today on ESPN.com, the always-excellent Alan Schwarz, a friend of Batter's Box, takes a look around the majors at five rookies who may make a major impact in 2007. That's five (Young, Gordon, Garza, Tulowitzki and Lincecum, FYI) other than Daisuke Matsuzaka, of course -- and there's also a sidebar about the fading promise of Joel Guzman.

So to put the question before you, Bauxites ... forget about "Rookie of the Year" predictions for the moment. What rookies, both in Toronto and elsewhere, will make the biggest impact on MLB in the upcoming season?

When a player proves he belongs in the big leagues at age 19, as Griffey Jr. did, the odds are pretty good of a Cooperstown ending to the story. Can one be a disappointing Hall of Famer, I wonder?

Jeff Blair reports that the Jays and Lyle Overbay have agreed on a 4 year, $24 million contract.