The Tigers in the playoffs? The Red Sox in third place? The Royals losing 100 games? (Okay, ignore the last one.) It appears there is a new order in this league, or at least two isolated events that allow me to come up with some sort of introduction to this, the last day of the season.

Here in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the #1 sports story of the past week has been the (repeat after me, Niner and Eagle fans) Terrell Owens controversy. It's bumped politics and warfare off the front page; it's dominated the radio talk shows. The Rangers and Mavericks and Stars (Oh My) are just rumors; the local 24-hour Sports Radio station, KTCK, just about turned its format over to "All T.O, All the Time."

So yes, I have tired head about T.O. But as should surprise absolutely nobody at Batter's Box, in my head, this became a prime Hall of Names opportunity. We've done a few initial teams in the past -- All-G.M., for instance, and All-M.D., among others.

So you can see what's coming, right? It's time to Cowboy up and meet the All-T.O. team, which (with a nod to the wide receiver's acclaimed "hot dog" status), we will dub ...

Alas, this will be the only October baseball played by the Fighting Jays. And after three pulsating games in Detroit, the meaningfulness of the games played by the Jays couldn't take any more dramatic of a turn than to check into the Bronx for three days against a team coasting towards yet another division title. That doesn't mean there's nothing to play for; two games out of three will bring the Jays back to 86 wins, just where they were three years and several million dollars ago. If that sounds familiar, you're either Mike Denyszyn, or your memory is scary-good.

As Mike D also said last year, "please feel free to offer comments and criticism about how to make [the Advance Scout] better". We hope you enjoyed reading these just as much as we enjoyed scrambling between classes to find out just how well Delmon Young hit lefties in Triple-A (answer: not very). The final Scout for 2006 features Tom Cheek's #1 Fan, a new infielder, and several other men making a fair bit of coin.

On to the Advance Scout!

Yeah, so it was all my fault. 2006, I mean. Seriously. It's why I've been so quiet lately.

Before we get to that, though, I have to say that sometimes it sucks to be Kenny Rogers: his third baseman and his own throwing ability picked a fine time to leave him, and very quickly the Jays were up 2-0 in the first. The good guys went on to score another pile of runs, and the Tigers made it interesting by mounting a late comeback against the Jays' pen, but B.J. Ryan did the job he's paid the big dollars to do.

So now let's talk about how this season was my fault.

Dick Scott is the Blue Jays Director of Minor League Operations and has made several visits to Da Box in the past.  Dick sat down with Batters Box last week to talk about the Jays minor league system and to specifically talk about twenty of the Jays players.  Finally Dick told Da Box why the Jays are shutting down their Pulaski team for 2007. 

I didn't get any photographs of A.J. Burnett until late in the season, so you're going to see him a little more often as the Jays' season and my season of Photo of the Day wind down.  Here he is, about to pitch the ball:

Not all prospects worth following can be found on our top 30 list. Some are rising, and others, once noteworthy, have to work to get it back. We have chosen five of each.

Okay, I promise: no Gilmore Girls references today. Instead, here's a photograph of Jeremy Accardo discussing strategy with Bengie Molina:

Jays lose, and Curt Schilling beats Tampa. Back in third place...

Monday, we took a look at Prospects #30-#21 in the Blue Jay farm system. Yesterday, it was #20-#11. Now, we get to the part you've all been waiting for.

The top 10 classic rock songs of all time are...Never mind. There was not much debate among the minor league crew about the best of the best in the Jay system, with one exception. Who is the better Romero, Ricky or Davis? We enlisted ouija boards, oracles and Jordan Furlong to assist us in resolving this difficult question. We are pleased to advise that with their assistance, no wars were fought and no bones were broken as we came to a decision.

Shaun Marcum, Casey Janssen, Dustin McGowan and Brandon League, mainstays from last year's top 10 list, are no longer eligible due to major league service time.

No, they're not in the same picture together.

I was in a Coffee Time searching for some appropriate Gilmore Girls season premiere junk food (don't worry, I time-slipped it and watched it after the Jays game), and what did they have on the shelf? A wonderful, wonderful doughnut. Unlike the other doughnuts in the store that had professional-looking plaques, this one had its name written in black marker on a piece of masking tape at the front of the shelf: BLUE JAYS. Needless to say, I bought it and photographed it for your entertainment. Oh yeah, and then I ate it while watching Gilmore Girls.

But today's real picture is of Troy Glaus, by request. See if you can figure out which picture is which:

Do the second-place (second-place!) Jays feel like helping the Twins? With 156 down and 6 to go, they can. Minnesota sits just 1 game behind Detroit and two of three by Toronto in this series could lead to Aaron Gleeman boasting about three division championships in four years.

But we're talking about the Tigers here. Tied for the best record in the majors with the Yankees, they clinched a playoff spot after beating the Royals on the weekend. This, of course, is the first time they've been in the playoffs since the Collapse of '87. They can -- nay, will -- clinch the division itself this weekend when they host Kansas City, since the season series is "DET 14, KC 1". Until then, however, the Jays face their youngest starter, their oldest starter, and a starter...for whom we have a picture.

On to the Advance Scout!

Jays stroll into second

Yesterday, we looked at prospects #30-#21. We move on today to players who are more familiar.

Marcum had a spectacular game last night; I don't have a picture of him.  But I do have a picture of the guy who called that great game -- Jason Phillips: