A feel-good article from the always-reliable Spencer Fordin at mlb.com sums up much of the optimism surrounding the club, at least at the upper echelons. Ted Rogers' high spirits in particular are to be welcomed; I haven't heard him this pumped about the team in ages. The fact that his enthusiasm for the team is primarily financial bothers me not at all: it's good to root for a team that makes its owner money while also making him happy. What a sea change -- not just from the last bad days of the Ash regime, but particularly from the Interbrew interregnum. We've had cause in the past to be critical of Ted Rogers and doubtless we will again in future. But let's never forget that compared to the Belgian brewers, and even on its own merits, the Rogers ownership period has been a dream.

In today's installment, Leigh Sprague examines the trades made by Pat Gillick between 1977 and 1987. Our thanks again to Leigh for making this available as a Pinch Hit. This is a monumental piece of work.

Step right up, step right up! Batter's Box would like to invite you to participate in the fantastic Last Annual Batter's Box Yankees September Third Baseman Prediction Contest... otherwise known as the LABBYSTBPC.

From Brad of the BBFL's Chatsworth Halos:

My Dad was a fan of the old PCL Los Angeles Angels when he was growing up, stayed a fan when they became an AL team at Dodger Stadium and the Colisseum, and raised me in Anaheim in the 60's and 70's as an Angels fan. It is still a strong bond between father and son as we both move on in years.

The first great Angel was Leon "Daddy Wags" Wagner. I read he passed away recently and felt a twinge of sadness for a piece of Halo history leaving us. Today, I read Bill Plaschke's article in the LA Times about how such a vibrant player ended up and the sadness became much more than a twinge.

A reminder for those of us for whom baseball is more than a game that our heroes live on long after they are unable to play, and we should do what we can to thank them before it is too late.

(Note: To read the article, you need to register. It's quick and free, and the article is worth it)

As mentioned in a few different threads, the Blue Jays 2004 schedule has been released. You can view it on the official Blue Jays site. April looks really nice, with the first 6 of 9 games being against the Tigers. The Jays have a pretty good shoot of ending April on top of the AL East.

Scott Miller at CBS Sportsline argues that Toronto has had the 2nd best winter in the AL East, behind only the Red Sox. The Yankees are ranked 3rd, but the rankings were released before the news that Aaron Boone may miss the entire 2004 season. Thanks to Batter's Box reader Scott for the Boone link.

When analyzing Peter Bavasi’s time as GM of the Blue Jays, it is wise to remember that Pat Gillick was really pulling most of the baseball strings behind the scenes. Nevertheless, Bavasi got the final say, so here is his catalogue. For good or ill.

Batter’s Box is very pleased to present a monumental piece of work by Leigh Sprague, the Blue Jays All-Time Annotated Trade Catalgoue. We will be posting the catalogue in five parts over the coming week, and eventually the Catalogue will be posted as a single document. We’d like to thank Leigh for allowing us to host this truly monumental piece of work. Links to the five parts can be found below. But first, I'll let Leigh introduce his Catalogue...

Reader BirdWatcher contributes a piece today on his favourite player, legendary Red Sox slugger Jim Rice. Thanks, Herman. Enjoy, everyone!

Here's Part II of the Jays' minor league pitching register. Enjoy!

Hi. Here, finally, is the second part of what I loftily call the Blue Jays Minor League Register. Here is info on every Blue Jays pitching prospect I could think of, and had data for.

As before, I've divided this into two parts to keep Da Box's server from imploding.

Links to Part I: Hitters A-K, Hitters L-Z.

It's not often we post articles from outside North America, but here is one you may be interested in. The Sydney Morning Herald examines the trials and tribulations of the Syracuse Skychiefs' Australian infielder Glenn Williams.

What if Aaron Gleeman wrote a fine piece on the Splendid Splinter, and I decided to link to it here because I thought it was marvelous?

No need to wonder anymore. Anyway, I love it when people write about their favourite players. I heartily recommend you all (yes, each and every one of you - lurkers, posters, authors, hangers-on) go out and write a little piece on your favourite player, and send it to me. We are happy to post Pinch Hits and this sort of stuff makes great reading. Speaking of Pinch Hits, we have a massive and entertaining research project coming next week, about which I am very excited.

I thought I'd see what various Canadian papers are saying about the Roy Halladay deal. The response in Canada has been across a wide spectrum of emotions; from jubilance to Griffin.

At least according to Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail.

Great deal, if the details reported in Blair's article are accurate. The Globe article reports that Halladay will earn $6 million in 2004, $10.5 million in 2005, and $12.75 million a year in 2006 and 2007. If Halladay can avoid the scalpel of Dr. Frank Jobe, the Jays will do very well for themselves.

Thanks go out to peteski and JackFoley for pointing out the TSN.ca version of the story.