After the weekend debacle against the struggling Devil Rays, Toronto welcomes the not-so-struggling crew from Seattle, which is making the trek out east for a three-game set. Note that Thursday afternoon is a 12:30 pm matinee.

The Mariners' offseason spending spree, as many predicted, was not sufficient to vault the club into contention in the tough AL West (although few would have predicted the total regression of Adrian Beltre). The M's are pretty good defensively and have an outstanding bullpen, but their starters have been shaky and the lineup isn't deep. It's an opportunity for the Jays to get on track, so long as they take the right approach at the plate.

This week's Scout features a peach-fuzz middle infield, a much-ballyhooed but fading ace and a few guys that just seem to have Toronto's number.

On to the Advance Scout!

People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.
--- Rogers Hornsby

Updated since originally posted!

Yesterday, it was John Gibbons doing the shouting; today's photograph features a very angry Gregg Zaun:

...and his manager sees fit to bench him for the second game of the day. Some people are hard to please! Four wins for the Blue Jay farm in six scheduled matches and the continuation of a suspended game. Encouraging efforts from two players on rehab.

Back from the break and there's more questions than answers.

I shot new material for Photo of the Day this weekend, which means I have a lot of photographs of people being angry at John Hirschbeck. Here's John Gibbons, expressing how I think all of us felt about Sunday's game:

All managers are losers, they are the most expendable pieces of furniture on the face of the Earth.
--- Ted Williams

The Jays front office might have had a sinking feeling yesterday, the big club lost in a controversial way, while it was a 1-6 day on the farm, with the only win coming in the last game of the day. There were few survivors from the disasters that befell the minor league affiliates yesterday. Syracuse led 5-4 after six innings and lost; Dunedin led 6-0, and 6-4 heading into the ninth and lost. New Hampshire led 2-1 going into the seventh when New Britain scored two and then the heavens opened to end the game. Lansing lost two games and managed to have a walk and three singles in an inning without scoring. Pulaski lost the first game on a late home run but salvaged the nightcap. Auburn were saved from a possible loss by fog and David Bush does not look ready to face major league hitters.

Did John Hirschbeck’s umpiring lose the last two games for the Blue Jays? No, it didn’t. However, blown calls that Hirschbeck made cost us a run in two consecutive games that the Jays subsequently lost by one run and there is no argument around that.

This isn't a real Game Thread, just a belated look back at the bullpen as it was 2 weeks ago. We will catch up on Friday. We won't talk about what happened this afternoon.

Well, we haven't revisited an all-letter team in our Hall of Names stroll through the alphabet since June 21, when we looked at an All-K team. We have generally accepted that the best team so far has been the All-R squad, with perhaps a challange from the various iterations of the All-M team(s).

Now, meet the Killer B's. No, not just Bagwell and Biggio -- though hey, those two just might wind up making this team, what say? -- but an all-time team made up entirely of players whose last or family name begins with the letter "B."

If only every position were as deep as C for the B's ...

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

The bullpen couldn't hold a 3 run lead with four outs remaining, and the home side lost three of four to Tampa Bay. But before we all forget it, Reed Johnson made as brilliant a play as you will ever see in the ninth inning. It saved three runs, and gave the team a chance in the bottom of the inning.

Managing is getting paid for home runs someone else hits.
---Casey Stengel

Headline in today's Sunday Star: "Palmeiro balls belong together". I'm all in favour of the separation of church and state, but that's as far as I go. The farm affiliates went 3-2 on Saturday, with one postponement and one suspended game due to rain.

No shortage of chances today - The bullpen stopped Tampa over the final 5, and the Jays mounted threats in the sixth, seventh, and eighth. Without ever quite getting it done.

Tomorrow, Pete Walker tries to salvage a split of the Tampa Bay series.