Simply put, the Jays need a series win if they hope to avoid the ignominy of finishing last in a division that includes...well, the Devil Rays. Tampa comes in following some uneven play in Fenway Park; like the Jays against the Orioles, an excellent pitching performances was accompanied by two mound meltdowns. Scott Kazmir's Toronto debut on Sunday, though, should be interesting to watch.

Today's Scout features an extraordinary collection of not-ready-for-prime-time promise, a strong-armed outfielder starting to get a clue at the plate, two old friends in deep funks and a pitcher who might not only be an easy mark tonight, but an injury risk.

On to the Advance Scout!

It seems fair to say that the 2004 Toronto Blue Jays season will be one of those events that most everyone associated with will try to forget as quickly as possible. But thankfully, in this equitable society of ours, every dark cloud has a silver lining: the June amateur draft order goes in reverse order of the previous year’s standings.

Accordingly, like a celebrity dead pool, the chief thrill for some of us at this stage lies in wondering how low in the standings (and therefore, how high in the 2005 draft order) the Blue Jays will finish.

The Fisher Cats took a 2-0 series lead with a 5-4 victory over the Altoona Curve last night.

Tied to a wheel fingers got to feel
I spin on a whim I slide to the right
I felt you like electric light

Sorry, I can't think of anything witty, topical or otherwise interesting to say about this late-season matchup of two also-rans. Miguel Batista starts for Toronto, and seriously needs to regain his command; August and September have been brutal for him. He'll pitch to Gregg Zaun, not Guillermo Quiroz, but Russ Adams and Gabe Gross get the nod against Orioles righty Rodrigo Lopez. And that's pretty much about it.

Our buddy Jim from Toronto Baseball Guys has another block of nice seats for the game on October 1st against the New York Yankees. Last time we had a ton of fun heckling Box fave Esteban Loiaza; who will it be this time?

Write your own headlines; Toronto stories to start with. You'll get the idea. Jump in! one rule: no nicknames, those are too easy. Proper names -- first or last -- only.

In a couple of relatively quiet transactions in the offseason two Japanese relievers were brought over to the majors. Each of them has been outstanding and merits a closer look. Additionally, I take a look at several other Japanese relievers, from Kazuhiro Sasaki to Masao Kida.

With the threat of a serious downpour looming in Altoona last night the game was delayed for three hours. Many rounds of sunflower seed spitting contests later, very little precipitation had fallen and the game finally began. Altoona could have used some serious rain right after the 5th inning but the weather held out.

Fisher Cats took game 1 of the best of 5 series in the Eastern League Championship Series.

I am just an imbecile
I will only complicate you
Trust in me and fall as well

What a great hockey game at the ACC last night, huh? Well, now that hockey season's officially over, it's time to turn our attention to the fresh new baseball season ahead of us. The Blue Jays host the Baltimore Orioles tonight, in a contest between two teams with high expectations for 2004. The Blue Jays will start lefty Ted Lilly, acquired in an off-season deal with Oakland for promising outfielder Bobby Kielty: who will get the better of that deal? The Orioles, who start young lefty Matt Riley, signed slugging free agents like Rafael Palmeiro and Javy Lopez this past off-season and intend to be taken seriously in the AL East this year. Could one or both of these teams topple the Yankees or Red Sox? Key acquisitions for the two clubs: Baltimore is counting on recently re-signed Sidney Ponson to anchor their rotation, while the Jays hope veteran relievers like Kerry Ligtenberg and Terry Adams can help the bullpen maintain the many leads sure to be handed to them by Toronto's high-powered offence. If everything breaks right, these two teams could be playing some very meaningful games come September 15th!

Theoretically, there are 6 teams in the NL Wildcard race. What are each team's chances of winning the wildcard? In addressing the question, I'm going to ignore the fact that the Astros and Marlins are currently "hot" - momentum can chage on a dime. What I want to do is estimate, mathematically, the expected win total for each contender at the end of the season, given the schedule they have to play. Here is how the standings look at this moment:

Who killed that bird out on you window sill?
Are you the reason that he broke his back?
Did I see you laugh about that?

In today's roundup thread I asked:

Does anyone know of a list of players that are likely to be arbitration eligible this year? If there isn't one online, perhaps the Batter's Box should make one.

Since I cannot find such a list anywhere I've decided to work on making one. But I need your help.

Now he's running for the love of speed
When the child goes bad it's no cause for celebration
Like Jimmy Dean he don't talk back to me