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:

Consider this a tack-on to Magpie’s excellent work from last week regarding the how the Blue Jays were historical in terms of their actual record vs. their Pythagorean record. It’s been postulated that part of the reason for this was that they scored a lot of meaningless runs, running up the score in games that were already out of reach. Another popular theory is that Toronto’s long-sequence-low-power offence was more prone to producing very small or very large run totals in any given game. This idea may be fueled (wrongly, in my opinion) by J.P. Ricciardi’s remarks near the end of the season about needing more hitters who could put the ball in the seats.

How much money do the Jays have left for 2006 if they have indeed signed B.J. Ryan for 5 years and $47M? Here’s my guess at the 25-man roster they’d go with if the season started today, and how much I think it would cost. Naturally it’s inconceivable that there will be no more trades or signings, but this is useful for getting an idea of how many dollars can realistically be added. Numbers in bold are for contracts that have already been signed and publicized.

The Blue Jays signed BJ Ryan to a contract worth $9.4/year. Which isn't a huge surprise.

The Blue Jays signed BJ Ryan to a contract for 5 years. Which is a huge surprise.

Or is it?

Bill Madden of the New York Daily News is reporting that the Blue Jays have signed LH reliever B.J. Ryan to a five year, $47 million contract.

Originally, Sportsnet published a denial from J.P. Ricciardi that the deal had been done, however they are now confirming the signing, but not the money.

The Carlos Delgado trade has been finalized. The Jim Thome trade awaits medical concurrence and the Bud Selig seal of approval. Frank Thomas is a free agent and quite possibly headed for a new home. But, Jeff Bagwell remains in Houston.

So, on this frigid Friday, what is happening in the world of baseball?

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

So there I was, thinking my work was done. I could put the 2005 Blue Jays aside, polish off my piece on the 1920 Season (appearing December 1 at a Batter's Box near you!), and get cracking at last on the long-delayed Lobby of Numbers.

And then Mike Green, pondering the eternal mystery of the Blue Jays W-L record in relation to their runs scored and allowed, made a most excellent suggestion: