Thanks to Gerry McDonald for this timely pinch-hit about the plethora of pitching prospects in the Blue Jays' minor-league system. All those talented arms need a place to go, but there are only so many rotation spots in the full-season leagues. Gerry gives an intelligent, well-reasoned explanation of which pitchers should start where and why. Thanks, Gerry!

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While General Managers are putting together their rosters in the winter and early spring, their minor-league farm directors are doing the same. Team rosters at the upper levels of the minor leagues have a mix of prospects and veterans. At the lower levels, teams include prospects and fillers. Syracuse's 2003 roster had veterans like Doug Linton, Bruce Aven and Gary Burnham filling out the lineups, with Jason Arnold, Jason Werth and Gabe Gross representing the prospects.

About the Batter's Box 2003 Least Valuable Player Awards
2003 BBLVPAs : Mismanagers of the Year
2003 BBLVPAs : The Batter's Box Schadenfreude Awards
2003 BBLVPAs : Allan Travers Awards
2003 BBLVPAs : Rookie Hype of the Year Awards

In the interest of clearing a backlog of articles I have to write, I am going to make this discussion of the BBLVPAs centerpiece awards, the Least Valuable Players, a short one. But that should not detract from the prestige of the award, or from the skills of the winners, which were considerable. There was heavy competition this year, as large numbers of players in both leagues found new and exciting ways to lose games for their teams. So without further ado, our 2003 Batter's Box Least Valuable Players are...

Strong stuff from Peter Gammons, who considers "the perception of mistrust with the Commissioner's Office" the game's biggest problem, and calls for change.

This past October we saw how good baseball can be, but it needs someone or something to blast it forward into the 21st century.

You'll be disappointed if you wanted more rumours about trades and free agents; this column is a "state of the game" lament, including the steroid issue and the spectre of collusion, directed at Bud and his credibility. Gammons calls it "a resounding embarrassment to baseball" that Wisconsin legislators and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel are calling for audits of the local team's books.

The Hanlan's Point Chapter of SABR (that's the Toronto chapter) will have its next meeting on Sunday, January 18 at 1:00pm, at the Duke of Richmond Pub (20 Queen St. West, near the Eaton Centre). The featured guest will be Anthony Kalamut of Seneca College speaking on "Southside Anthony's Hall of Fame". Also on the programme are "The Lighter Side of Jay Buckley's Baseball Tours", a preview of the 2004 "Spring Training for Fans" Lineup, a trivia contest, and more.

To RSVP, please contact Maxwell Kates by telephone at (416) 515-9578, or by e-mail at BUS79@sympatico.ca.

If you're not already a member of SABR, it's OK... guests are welcome. But if you love baseball, join SABR.

As is often the case, this is already being discussed in the Hijack Central thread. Citing "a source close to Escobar," Geoff Baker reports in today's Star that it's a done deal, pending a routine medical examination. Kelvim will be an Angel for $18.75 million over three years. It sounds like the Red Sox were the underbidders at $15 million for three, while the Jays wouldn't budge from their $10 million, two year proposal.

There were rumours about an Escobar trade to Anaheim at least as far back as the 2002 deadline, and he continued to impress his (alleged) new team in 2003, taking a shutout into the ninth on August 3, and pitching five scoreless relief innings in May. The Angels hit just .136 off him this year; no wonder they think he's worth the money. I certainly don't.

it's official -- the Anaheim Angels have signed Kelvim Escobar to a three-year, $18.75 million contract (lefty broke the news first). The decision will have a number of effects. First, the Jays will now take the $5 million they had offered Escobar and put it towards the team's remaining purchases: another starter (preferably a solid #2), bullpen help and/or veteran infield depth. Second, Escobar was a Type-A free agent, which means the Jays get a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of the 2004 draft as well as the Angels' 2nd-round pick next June. Finally, Escobar will be pitching for neither the Yankees nor the Red Sox the next three years, which has to be considered a bonus for the Blue Jays -- they would not have liked to lose a talented starter to their divisional rivals. The news is unsurprising and will surely foster controversy: should the Jays have tried harder to bring Escobar back? Should they have tried to match the Angels' offer? Or are they better off without the enigmatic, frustrating right-hander? Adios, Kelvim.

We've run a thread like this before, but I thought I'd throw the floor open for the input of our many new readers.

It's a simple pair of questions: If you were a hitter on the Blue Jays, what would you select to be your at-bat music? And if you were on the Jays' pitching staff, to what song would you like to enter the game?

I think if I were an ace reliever, I'd definitely choose "Money City Maniacs" by Sloan to get the crowd going in a close game. As a hitter, my imagined tune changes from week to week; now I'm thinking "Can't Explain" by The Who. I have to say, though, that I saw Willie Harris stride to the plate to "Still Fly" by the Big Tymers at a White Sox game -- and it was pretty cool.

It's up to you...except that Murray Eldon's presence, of course, is non-negotiable.

I've kicked the habit
Shed my skin
This is the new stuff
I go dancing in

By popular demand, here's a new Hijack Central, for breaking news, rumours, OT discussions and other Bauxite miscellany.

Most baseball fans like to look at minor league pitching stats and dream about what a player might become. We look at the teenager who blows away A ball hitters and wonder if he might be the next Dwight Gooden. At the same time, we haven't seen most of these pitchers pitch regularly (if at all) and we must rely on scouts for anecdotal information. The one thing we do have is a confusing tangle of numbers. But what, if anything, do they indicate about a pitcher's likelihood of making it in the majors?

The following performance ratings are based on the pitcher's performance relative to minor league level and age, and are adjusted for league and for whether the pitcher was a starter or a reliever in the minors. Major league stats are NOT included in the evaluation.

I've kicked the habit
Shed my skin
This is the new stuff
I go dancing in

By popular demand, here's a new Hijack Central, for breaking news, rumours, OT discussions and other Bauxite miscellany.

Thanks to Ryan01, who broke the news of the Jays' 40-man roster additions on the Hijack Central thread. The additions were expected, but there were some notable absences. And there are still two spaces left -- the club has room for more acquisitions later this off-season. Added to the 40-man today were Gabe Gross, John-Ford Griffin, Dustin McGowan, Jesse Harper, DJ Hanson and Jorge Sequea. Here's the complete roster:

Mike Green had a great idea over in another thread, I'm taking the liberty of opening a new thread, and pasting his comment here to get us started. Mike Moffatt, don't forget to put your team in here.

Here's part II of my bandwidth-choking thread on Blue Jays minor league hitters. Have fun!

Here, for your enlightenment, enjoyment, or whatever, is info on every Blue Jays hitting prospect I could think of since the dawn of recorded time. Needless to say, this project grew to be rather larger than expected! (Eventually, I'll do the pitchers too, but not right away.)

I've divided the list into two parts - A-K and L-Z - as I don't want to choke a single thread. Hopefully the formatting will work out - I tested it in another thread, and on two browsers, before posting it here. Scream if there are any problems!

Each player has a Buzz Factor listed, which is a non-scientific estimate of the amount of hype the player generated, from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest).

Hope you find some of this useful, and enjoy!

Yes, I'm hurting for good headlines today. The Globe & Mail's Jeff Blair chimes in on the Jays' recent flurry of pitching acquisitions with an interesting article and chat with JP Ricciardi. It's quite good, but for a brain cramp that led him to call Adam Peterson a southpaw, and includes this insight from JP: "We were four wins from 90 [last season] with what was, let's face it, a Band-Aid staff." He's right about that, and if a legitimate #2 can be added (names tossed around here have included Kelvim Escobar, Ben Sheets and, if you really stretch the definition, Miguel Batista), the Jays could catch fire. But the article spends more time talking about the help on the way from the minors. JP makes the interesting assumption that while David Bush will open the season at Syracuse, Dustin McGowan should start at Double-A and quickly move up. It's a good reminder that McGowan's just 21 and needn't be rushed. I have a feeling that there's at least one big trade in store for the Jays this winter, and that it will send some prize minor-leaguers out the door. But if such a trade brings back that #2 guy, it's more than worth it. That's why you collect prospects, after all.