If both teams were healthy and productive, this would be a real doozy of a four-game series. But with Delgado, Halladay and Chavez all out of commission, plus various and sundry other Jays, it'll boil down to a battle of patchwork lineups.

Of course, Chavez's Gold Glove defence will be missed. But he was also one-fourth of a formidable middle of the order that has essentially generated all of Oakland's (modest) run production this season. If the Jays starters can handle Dye, Durazo and Hatteberg, they'll be successful, period.

As for pitching, the A's have had a typically strong starting rotation supported by excellent defence. Still, the Athletics' bullpen has been slumping badly, their starters have been less consistent than normal and Mark Mulder's turn in the rotation thankfully won't come up this weekend.

This week's Scout involves walk-off blasts, a pop-off at Network Associates Coliseum, a costly ninth-inning cross-up, and any number of other hyphenated words to kick-start the four-game series.

On to the Advance Scout!

Here's my monthly Blue Jays report card for May. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

As always, players are graded from A+ ("like unto a god") to F ("make him go away") using my time-honoured method of thinking for a few seconds and then guessing.

With all the injuries and the last minute scratch of Roy Halladay, yesterday's victory over Seattle must be viewed as a character win. A key 2-run shot from Vernon Wells and excellent hitting and fielding from Reed Johnson paved the way to a one-run victory. Jason Frasor has some rough moments in the 8th, but found his command in the 9th to close the game out.

If Ted Lilly doesn't walk a lot of Mariners hitters he should be able to limit their run scoring opportunities. Like Gil Meche, Joel Pineiro is a young righthander who's had a rough go of it this season so far.

Paint my love a morning sky, it’s all cold.
Dawn is breaking everywhere, light a candle, curse the glare

Chalk up 3 more wins as the three highest levels teams followed the parent club in winning and low A Charleston had the night off.

What's the point of previewing a draft if you don't have a mock draft to go with it?

The sample sizes are a little bigger, the flashes in the pan have started to fade, and we’re getting a clearer picture of the Blue Jays’ top prospects. Only one or two players are having truly breakout seasons, but a lot of blue-chip prospects are rounding into shape. Here’s your May 2004 Farm Report.

Given the following season-to-date statistics, which outfielder would you choose?

Name	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	GPA
Player A	189	.322	.377	.466	.843	.286
Player B	244	.335	.381	.409	.790	.273

As an armchair manager you'd probably be well-off with either of these players, but in this case I'm forcing you to make a decision.

If batting statistics aren't enough for you, I'm happy to report that in their time spent in right field, both players have been almost equivalent fielders. Player A has a lower fielding percentage but higher zone rating; both men's range factor is essentially equal.

Have you made up your mind yet? Click the link below to find out which player you now call your own.

Reader and regular Thomas Ayers takes a look around the minors and picks out ten Ken Phelps All-Stars, guys who are trapped inthe minors when they belong in the Show. Part 2 will be here later this week; for now, here are the first five. Thanks Thomas!

We had a fun conversation yesterday about video games. I thought I'd continue it by discussing five old school baseball video games. Feel free to discuss any game, past or present, baseball or non-baseball.

The final pre-draft NCAA adjusted hitting and pitching statistics for 2004 (which will be current to May 30) will be released today, tomorrow, or Thursday, depending on how many delays I encounter. Today, however, I thought that I would take up an idea of Aaron Gleeman's and look at some of this year's surprise performers. They are the guys who came out of nowhere to put up big numbers in 2004 - the "Nowhere Men". All of these guys finished in my Top 100 hitters or Top 100 pitchers, which I posted on Friday.

The Memorial Day fireworks went off in Syracuse and Charleston yesterday as the SkyChiefs and Alley Cats enjoyed offensive explosions. New Hampshire and Dunedin battled hard, with the Blue Jays emerging victorious and the Fisher Cats… well, they’ll get ‘em next time!

News filtered down today that promising starting pitcher Justin Miller is going on the disabled list with a right hamstring injury. And now, staff ace Roy Halladay has been scratched from tonight's start due to soreness. Let's hope he can go tomorrow, or barring that, that Doc doesn't need a trip to the DL himself.

Justin Speier and Chris Woodward have begun their rehab assignments in Dundedin, so perhaps we've seen the worst as far as injuries go.

Jesse Harper was designated for assignment, but chances are good he'll clear waivers. Could this be a prelude to putting David Bush onto the 40-man roster and bringing him up to help out the hobbled pitching staff?

Or you're gonna get hurt yourself
Someone's gonna tell you lies
Cut you down to size

Three of the Jays minor league teams fail to win a game for the second straight day. Jesse Harper pitched well again for Dunedin. Francisco Rosario blew up good with a sore arm and Josh Banks has been promoted to AA. Chris Woodward and Justin Speier have been added to the Dunedin roster.