John Sickels has graciously agreed to be Da Box's first interview of 2004. Most of you know that John publishes his annual Baseball Prospect Book. The 2004 issue will be mailed Feb 1 and can be ordered here.

Aaron returns from Sin City, older and wiser, with a brilliant blog entry. He made a few rookie mistakes, but he's still a prospect.

The bete noire of Batter's Box, Hall of Fame-bound Roger Clemens, has unretired. Despite the memorable send-offs at Fenway, Yankee Stadium and Pro Player for the legendary fireballer, Rocket Roger will be joining his friend and training partner, Andy Pettitte, in the revamped Astros rotation.

It says here that the effect of this move will be keenly felt in the NL Central and Wild Card races. What does the pena think?

Thanks to Leigh for the heads-up!

Not much activity today, so I thought I'd hilight some Jays-related articles you may have missed.

Here's a little diversion for those of you feeling uninspired about working on a Friday afternoon. This week, the Jays signed Terry Adams to be a part of the 2004 bullpen. The problem is, the guy's name doesn't work very well.

I wish that Joe Morgan had never become a broadcaster. I wish he'd never written a book called Baseball for Dummies. It's not that Morgan is a bad colour commentator - there are worse. It's merely that some of the stupid things he says and writes these days chisel away at his exemplary playing record.

"Joe Carter was the RBI machine of his generation". So said coliver in MED's Hall of Famers thread. Now I don't want to pick on coliver; this type of comment is frequently made about Joe. But is it right? Was Joe Carter a uniquely good RBI man? If so, despite the fashion among analysts to deride RBI at the expense of other metrics, it might be a good reason to revisit our opinions of Touch 'Em All Joe.

The Toronto Star reports that Halladay was named Blue Jay Pitcher of the Year, while slugger Carlos Delago was named Blue Jay Player of the Year. Seeing as Halladay won the AL Cy Young and Delgado finished 2nd in the AL MVP voting, these come as no surprise.

Easily the most significant long-term Blue Jay lost this offseason was Kelvim Escobar.

Genius from The Late Show With David Letterman last night: Top Ten Things I'd Like To Get Off My Chest Now That I'm in the Baseball Hall of Fame (As presented by Paul Moliter and Dennis Eckersley)

Yes, they were really there. Yes, Molly openly flirted with Eck. (Molitor presented 10-8-6-4-2 ... see especially 10 and 6) ... Molitor mentions the Blue Jays by extension in explaining what he did with his '93 World Series ring.

Let's start a "Top Things I Want to Get Off My Chest Now that I'm in the Baseball Hall of Fame" discussion on behalf of ... well, everyone. Here's the opening pitch:

"Since I retired, I've been working on it ... and now I actually can break a pane of glass with my fastball." -- Phil Niekro

John Sickels' latest Down on the Farm piece features the Jays' own Dustin McGowan and describes him as "one of the top pitching prospects in baseball."

At long last Baseball America reviewed the Jays 2003 minor leaguers, and how their top 10 prospects from 2002 fared in 2003. The Jays were the last team to be review by BA; it's one of the disadvantages of being last alphabetically in all of baseball.

Is he here to replace Lurch?

As first reported by R Billie and confirmed by Donkit R.K. in the hijack thread, the Blue Jays have signed righthander Terry Adams to a one year deal for $1.7M. According to his scouting report on ESPN.com, Terry is a severe ground ball pitcher who features a straight, low-90s fastball and a sharp slider, and must keep both offerings low in the strike zone.

[NOTE : This marks the debut (and a test) for a new feature at Batter's Box, in which ex-Blue Jays are remembered by the Bauxites. We'll put up new threads for the offseason's other ex-Jays over the next few days.]

I find myself strangely affected by the departure of Tom Wilson, who was claimd on waivers by the San Diego Padres today after the Jays signed Chris Gomez.

Thanks go out to Smirnoff, Glaswegian, and MatO for the heads up.

The Globe and Mail reports that the Jays have signed righty reliever Terry Adams to a 1-year 1.7 million dollar contract and shortstop Chris Gomez to a 1-year $750,000 contract. To make room for the two, Pete Walker has been desginated for assignment and Tom Wilson has been picked up on waivers by the Padres.