Every morning I wake up, read my e-mail ("Should I pick up Mark Ellis?"; "What is wrong with Tejada?"; "Dude, u r an idiut"), then check if Mark Texeira has been sent down to AAA, where at least he won't have to beat out Ruben Sierra. Someone please explain to me why Sierra is playing over Texeira? Or Mench? Or Gizzi? Or Scott Lucas, who asks the same questions in his ESPN column?

So who's the best closer in the majors? According to the good readers of SLAM! Sports, it's John Smoltz, whom they chose in an online survey. What amuses me most about this poll is that 14% of the respondents took the time to click on "I don't care." Now, really. If you don't care, why are you reading the poll, let alone taking it?

Anyway, "best closer" is a nebulous term at best -- this year's top closer is often next year's setup guy, waiver claim or elbow surgery. "Best reliever" would be a more interesting choice, which for my money is a tossup between Octavio Dotel and Johan Santana. Anyway, Smoltz is a fine choice so far this year: 16 IP, 15 H, 4 BB, 20 K, 12 saves, just one BS. But a better choice would be this guy:

16 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 28 K, 10 Saves, 0 Blown Saves

Any guesses?

Moments after venting about too many lefty relievers and not enough Aquilino, I learned the Jays made a roster move. Jason Kershner has been sent to Syracuse, and according to the AP, Brian Bowles will be recalled tomorrow. The 6' 5" RH had one terrible AAA outing April 20, walking 4 in less than an inning, but his ERA is a stingy 1.06 and he's been much better since, notching his eighth save yesterday. I wonder if they will use Bowles in late-inning "hold" situations right away. Whatever Brian's role, this is not exactly a ringing endorsement for Jeff Tam, who's reduced to mopping up.

Four teams within 1.5 games of the lead, ten teams bunched within seven games. Percentage points (or a Yahoo tiebreaker; I didn't do the math) separate the Walrus from the Gorillas for the league lead, after my Sunday comeback from a 7-4 deficit to a 6-5 win over Snellville. Thanks to Carlos Delgado, Matt Morris and my bullpen; Wagner and Baez pulled out the SV category. I've already traded a couple, but I still find myself with three closers, so I'd listen to offers for Baez or Cliff Politte.

A few teams made big gains -- Mike H.'s Springfield Isotopes closed three games on the leaders with an 8-3 win, Jonny's K-Town Mashers moved up three positions in the standings with a 9-3 romp, and Jason's Garces_not_on_roids squad went from 18th place (15 games out) to 14th (11 games out) with a 9-2 win. A couple of teams went the other way, most notably Red Mosquitos -- I think Spicol was distracted by managing the all-time Jays -- who lost three games to the leaders and fell from 7th to 12th overall.

Alright, if you'd said to me, following the debacles against Texas and the generally painful season up till now, that the Blue Jays would sweep the defending World Series champion Anaheim Angels this past weekend -- and not really have to sweat very much doing it -- I would have had you straitjacketed and sent to the Island of Misfit Bloggers. But there it is, in the books: One Sweep. Great pitching, fine defence, timely and sometimes devastating hitting.

It's an off-day today, then they're flying to Arlington to begin a tough stretch of 16 road games out of 19, against the good (Angels, Yanks), the bad (Rays at home) and the middlin' (Rangers, ChiSox, Royals). So which Jays team will show up, the Keystone Kops of April or the juggernaut of early May? Has the pitching turned the corner with the new closer and the revamped rotation? Are the young guys emerging from their slump? Will Carlos Tosca take a page from the John Gibbons Interim Managerial Handbook and leave his Pitcher Hook in the batrack? The floor is yours.

The entire Jays lineup has apparently been replaced by replicants who make accurate pitches, get first strikes, and make accurate throws on defense. One would hope that this resurgence will continue with Lurch on the mound in the closer to the Angels series.

This Angels team we have seen so far is the Mr. Hyde to the World Series Champs' Dr. Jekyll.

Ultimate Series: The Concept
Recaps: Game 1 *Game 2 * Game 3 Below
Box Scores: Game 1 * Game 2 * Game 3

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The scene shifted south of the border to The House That Ruth Built, but the storyline stayed the same in Game 3 of the Ultimate Series between the1977-2002 All-Star New York Yankees and the all-time All-Star Toronto Blue Jays as the Bronx Bombers survived a bizarre ninth-inning Toronto rally for a 4-3 win and a 2-1 series lead.

Those unchanging storylines? Despite the presence of some of the finest relief pitchers in the modern era, both teams stayed with their starting pitching deep into the contest. Both first baseman continued to pound the ball all over the diamond. And the Yankees benched a Hall of Famer.

Since nobody put up an entry for Game 31, I wanted to mention something I saw in the seventh inning of yesterday's game.

A couple of brief articles on the Blue Jays' most promising farm club, the AA New Haven Ravens. This profile of the multi-talented outfield of Gabe Gross, Alexis Rios and John-Ford Griffin is both enjoyable and insightful, while this item from The Sporting News touches briefly on Ravens starter Jason Arnold. The odds are good that both Gross and Arnold will be in Toronto by next summer, and Griffin and Rios may well be on a flight north within the following year. Cause for optimism.

The Skipper isn't here, but the lineup's the same as the World Champs come to town.

Day two of the Cliff Politte closer era, and day one of our two-day reprieve -- we hope -- from maddening bullpen switches. It's Lackey vs. Lidle tonight; I like the Jays' chances for an easy win for a change.

Has a few interesting pieces.

Stephen Brunt breaks out an old journalistic staple claiming the Jays can always dream about next year, because this year is lost already. I don't think many of us here expected that much sucess this year, certainly only the most optimistic were speculating on contention for the Wild card. Brunt goes on to suggest that while there is 'reason for optimism' on the offence the team is 'doomed' until they can afford a decent pitching staff. He makes the reasonable point that Oakland have had a lot of luck to go along with their superior decision making in their run of success.

"Hudson stirs from dark place" is an odd headline, no matter how you look at it. It makes me visualize Andy Sirkis in a baggy and tattered Blue Jays uniform. But the rather sympathetic article by Richard Griffin in today's Star is just fine, examining the crisis of confidence that (for the moment) appears to be a leading cause of Orlando Hudson's struggles this spring.

The young second baseman seems to have psyched himself out despite (or in fact, because of) his excellent spring training. Ricciardi thinks Hudson's problem is that he's over-intensifying on the field, taking things too much to heart. Go figure. There are a lot of things that are easier and more enjoyable to do if you're not thinking furiously about every aspect of them while you're taking part, and I suppose baseball is one of them. Six hits in his last two games offer hope that Orlando may be snapping out of it at the plate, but I suspect his defence will be erratic all season.

Sidney Ponson in a Beach Boys song? (Make that Sir Sidney Ponson) ... That's right ... it's time ... for another ... edition ... of ... Elliptical ... Information! ...

Our Top Story This Week ...
Pitchers Sidney Ponson of Baltimore and Calvin Maduro of LA along with Detroit OF Gene Kingsale missed game time this week to return to their home country of Aruba where they were knighted (no kidding) by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Aruba governor Olindo Koolman. Please fill in your own punchlines, but for starters ...

In the Star today, Richard Griffin's "Pathetic pitching is Jays' problem" takes a shot at "Teflon-covered" Carlos Tosca, but is mostly fair:

Typical of the disappointment Ricciardi has suffered with his leaky pen, the three left-handed relievers, Doug Creek, Trever Miller and Jason Kershner, have combined to allow 47 runners in 23 1/3 innings. The right-handers have not been much more efficient. The bullpen's first-batter (in)efficiency is only 50 retired in 88 appearances. Yikes!

It's not as colourful as "Zombie-like cult of statistical seamheads", but there's a mention of "J.P.-worshipping fans" -- feel free to take that as personally as I do. I'll cop to respect and admiration for Ricciardi and gratitude that he signed on here for five years to fix the mess Ash made. I'll admit to hope, just like the skipper. I even like J.P.; he's honest and open (sometimes to a fault) about what he's doing with the team, and he's a high school coach. Funny, too -- Justin Miller may need shoulder surgery (they will know by the middle of next week) so the GM said, with a straight face, "That's what happens when bad-body guys try to work out."