Nope, no A.J. Burnett and no B.J. Ryan. And no potential trades and no potential signings. And no budgetary postulations and no second-guessing.

Instead, this thread contains a photograph of Shea Hillenbrand holding on a runner at first base:

What’s new since November 28th? B.J. Ryan is confirmed, at a total of $8M in 2006 ($6M signing bonus + $2M salary). Reed Johnson was reportedly re-signed for $1.425M – but even though it was the ever-reliable Jeff Blair that conveyed this, it’s odd that it has not been confirmed anywhere else. A.J. Burnett is on board, and it looks like his contract will call for $7M in 2006 and $12M each of the 4 seasons thereafter. And my initial estimate of $1M for Orlando Hudson in his first year of arbitration eligibility looks absolutely laughable.

As the AJ signing thread is getting long here is a place to focus discussion for non-AJ moves, whether they are Jays-related rumours or trades and transactions involving other teams.

Today JP wakes up with Burnett off his mind and finding a bat is likely his only focus. It may be too much to expect any move today, but JP is prone to striking quickly.

The Blue Jays made it official today announcing at the Winter Meetings that JP Ricciardi has signed an extension through 2010.

Jeff Blair reports that the Blue Jays signed A.J. Burnett to a 5 year, $55 million contract.

In case you missed it yesterday in all the Burnett drama the Jays traded Chad Gaudin to the Oakland A's for a player to be named later.

We're over 200 comments in Friday's thread as AJ Fever has body temperatures over 40 degrees C. It's time for a new start.

The big news of the day out of Dallas today concerns next year's World Baseball Championship. Many of the game's great players, Bonds, Pujols, A-Rod, Delgado, have indicated that they will go. The games will be played at interesting venues, such as Hiram Bithorn in Puerto Rico and Cracker Jack stadium at Disney World. Why do I keep thinking about the Anaheim Mighty Ducks? What do you think, Bauxites?

Two days and our roundup thread is getting long in the tooth. Babies grow up so fast these days.

Jeff Blair reports in today's Globe and Mail that the Jays have signed Reed Johnson to a one year, $1.425 million contract.

Baseball deceives us, constantly, and in countless ways. This is its essential nature.

There is, of course, the eternal, teasing illusion that we can actually understand this game, that we can know the correct decisions to make and anticipate how events will unfold.

Time for a new thread.

Be sure to go and vote for Tom Cheek today for the Ford C. Frick Award. It's your last chance.

October 30, 2010

Following are works of fiction. These, or something like them, might appear in a newspaper in a little under five years.

TORONTO - B.J.'s not a Blue Jay anymore.

In a move that has shocked baseball fans around the majors, B.J. Ryan, the closer for the Toronto Blue Jays, announced on Friday his decision to retire from baseball.

John Sickels provides insight on the minors through his fine minorleagueball.com website. Today, he turns his attention to how the pre-season Jay top 20 prospects fared in 2005.

For comparison, here is what the BB minor league crew had to say about Jay prospects 10-1, 20-11, and 30-21. It is important to bear in mind that John Sickels is reviewing the pre-season top 20 whereas the BB crew was deciding on a post-season top 30; the comparative rankings are less interesting than our respective comments.

Last time on the increasingly intermittent Photo of the Week we featured first-time Gold Glover Orlando Hudson; today we present you the mighty Vernon Wells: