Kelly Johnson (hamstring) received a cortisone shot behind his right knee and is unavailable today.  He may see the disabled list of the hamstring continues to be a problem

Despite the moves, the Jays are still short-handed and available players are as follows: Rajai Davis & Jeff Mathis on the bench with Jesse Chavez, Chad Beck, Luis Perez and Francisco Cordero in the bullpen.

Ryota Igarashi, initially of the New York Mets, posted walk rates of 8.2, 7.7 and 4.0 percent in his three Triple-A seasons, the last coming with the Blue Jays affiliate in 2012.  The problem for Igarashi is that he completely loses the strike zone  at the major league level.  He has walked 14.2% of the batters he has faced in the Majors, contributing to a 1.71 WHIP.  Given his Minor League walk rates, I fail to see how Igarashi’s control becomes such an issue in the Major Leagues.

Igarashi features a low-90s fastball, a curve and a high-80s splitter and has been effective against right-handers in his career.  He has noticeably more issues with throwing strikes to lefties (55.5%) as opposed to righties at 60.2%.  Igarashi’s success against left-handed batters has been limited by his inability to pitch inside to them.  With erratic command of the curve, hitters are able to sit on a fastball and wait for a pitch to drive.

Against righties, however, Igarashi has no such problems.  He spreads the ball around the strike zone with ease and is able to generate swings and misses with his splitter.  Keeping this in mind, Igarashi won’t be a great reliever for the Jays, but deployed as a ROOGY, he could serve admirably, while allowing Frasor and Cordero to take longer appearances.

The Jays’ bullpen was supposed to be a strength of the club, but for much of the year it has been in flux.  Sergio Santos has been injured, roles have shifted and other than Janssen and Oliver, the relievers have been erratic.  Darren Oliver remains strong as a Jays LOOGY and having Ryota Igarashi as his piggyback right-handed complement may not be so bad after all.

UPDATE: Igarashi gave up two runs in one inning during Friday’s game and faced two batters, retiring neither, on Saturday.  That’s One inning plus two batters (ten faced), five hits, two walks, four runs (all earned) and two strikeouts.  Looking at the depleted bullpen and his hideous performance, he is a safe bet to head back o Vegas in time for Sunday’s game.  Oops.

With the announcement of expanded playoffs for the 2012 season and the movement of Houston to the American League in 2013, the baseball landscape has undergone its’ most drastic change since the 1994 strike.  Each league, starting next year will feature 15 teams in three divisions of five teams each.  The division winners will reach the playoffs, while the two best of the remaining teams will have a one game play-in.  Having such a format in a game like baseball, which prides itself on truly selecting the best playoff teams due to the long schedule, is simply absurd.  Baseball’s biggest advantage in playoffs over basketball and hockey is that mediocre teams (with very few exceptions) simply do not play in the postseason.  Hockey and particularly basketball have been plagued by sub-.500 playoff teams for a few years now, making the first and often second rounds of the playoffs lopsided, thereby decreasing entertainment value.  The baseball season is not a sprint.  It is a marathon, where depth and attrition breed success.  One or two stars cannot carry a team.  Yet, the league has largely abandoned this in favour of artificially replicating the excitement of tiebreaker games, that were played each year from 2007-2010 and the dramatic last day of the 2011 season, which was considered by many to be the greatest day of regular-season baseball in history.  Instead, the decision ultimately required the Houston Astros to switch to the American League in 2013 to balance the leagues into the new format.

Due to the series nature of baseball scheduling, interleague games must be played year-round to prevent teams from taking up to five days off at once at various points throughout the season.  This will result in 18 randomly distributed (most likely three three-game series each home and away) for 2013 with the possibility of an increase to 30 such games in future years.  This could mean 15 games a year where AL pitchers have to bat, despite not doing it otherwise and an imposition on National League teams to find designated hitters (expensive players with typically neutral to negative defensive value) to start in 15 games and potentially struggle mightily on defense in others.  The other option they have is to use a player off the bench, who is likely on the bench for a reason such as below-average power or hitting ability; creating a hole in the lineup.  The obvious solution would be to implement the designated hitter across all baseball.  I personally hate the DH, but it is a cash cow for the players as it has the highest average salary by position and allows many players who would have had to retire due to fading fielding skills to extend their careers – needless to say, the DH is here to stay.

If the DH becomes a universal fixture in baseball, differences between the two leagues will become non-existent.  Both leagues would play with the same rules (except for some absurd difference over how long an umpiring crew had to wait to suspend, or postpone a game in a rain delay – I have no idea why that was so).  The leagues are no longer autonomous whatsoever and are already symbolic ”conferences” for the most part, like the American and National Conferences in the National Football League.  Since the leagues have little meaning anymore, why not reorganize the “conferences” into an alignment that reflects geographic convenience instead of arcane tradition.  Major League Baseball would be split into the Eastern and Western Conferences as outlined below:

Eastern:

Toronto, NY Yankees, Baltimore, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington, Miami, Mets, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay

Western:

LA Dodgers, LA Angels, Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Texas, Minnesota, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Houston, Arizona, St. Louis, Chicago White Sox, Colorado

It could even be split into divisions if that is what people wanted:

West: Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, LA Dodgers, LA Angels, Arizona, Seattle

Midwest: Colorado, CWS, St. Louis, Houston, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Minnesota, Texas, Houston

East: NY Yankees, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington, NY Mets, Miami

Mideast: Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, CHC, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay

In either format the top four teams in each conference would make the playoffs.  The schedule would be balanced with 11 games against each divisional opponent, with the team winning the previous year’s head-to-head series gaining the extra home game.  That would account for 154 games.  Unless MLB wanted to cut back on games (unlikely), or extend to 168 games (very unlikely), the remaining eight games would be ”flex games” consisting of two four-game series against randomly drawn non-conference opponents.  This leaves 95.1% of the schedule balanced - not perfect, but a far cry better than what we have now.

While this method has some flaws, I strongly believe it would offer a more accurate picture of league talent on team-by-team level, while reducing the needs for cross-country treks.  It supports MLB’s initiative of “going green”, all while developing a competitive field where balance is finally restored.

Frasor, 34, came back to the Jays after a two-month stint with the White Sox.  Prior to that time, Frasor had been with the Jays since 2004 and appeared in 455 games, a franchise record.  Frasor closed for partial season in 2004 aand 2009, but mostly served as a reliable right-handed reliever in the seventh and/or eighth innings.  Frasor should settle nicely into the seventh inning for teh Jays behind Casey Janssen in the eighth and Sergio Santos in the ninth.

Oliver, 41, was signed for a year at $3.5 million with an undisclosed one-year option from the back-to-back American League champion Texas Rangers.  Oliver, active since 1993, has also pitched for the Angels and is possibly most known for being the winning pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in the game Mark McGwire hit homerun #70 in 1998.  Oliver will serve as the primary left-handed specialist (LOOGY), filling a role formerly held by Marc Rzepczynski, who was sent to the Cardinals in the Colby Rasmus deal.

Laffey spent time with the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees in 2011, logging 53.1 innings in relief with a 5.06 K/9 and 3.54 BB/9.  He hasn’t shown much velocity (87 MPH fastball for his career), or command (3.59 BB/9) and despite the Jays seemingly interested in trying him as a starter, according to Laffey, he projects more as a long man, or depth arm for AAA Las Vegas.

These additions should complete the Jays bullpen, consisting of the seven-man corps of: Santos, Janssen, Frasor, Oliver, Litsch,   Carlos Villanueva and one of Luis Perez, or Joel Carreno.

The offseason is far from over and the team could still use some improvements (see my last post), but a major piece of the Jays puzzle to contention has been filled.

I will be back in a few days, but for now: cheers!

A-Hume

10: Production from Kelly Johnson
When Aaron Hill put forth another putrid season with the Jays for four-and-a-half months in 2011, it was clear that the Jays needed to make a change.  Since hitting 36 homers in 2009, Hill has never been the same.  Keep in mind, the 36-homer,, if extrapolated over a full season would have put him 4.1 fWAR season came AFTER his concussion, indicating that the concussion seems to have little impact on his performance drop, contrary to what some have suggested.  Hill was packaged with John McDonald to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Kelly Johnson, who enjoyed a 128 wRC+, 5.9 WAR 2010, but was struggling in 2011 with an 87 wRC+ at the time of the swap.  He went on to post a 114 wRC+ in 33 games with the Jays and 0.8 WAR after playing 113 games with Arizona for 1.1 WAR.  Hill posted 104, 61, -0.8 with Toronto and 33, 134, 1.6 in the desert.  All the best to him.  Johnson ’s 114 wRC+, if extrapolated over a whole season would have had him seventh in the Majors at his position, right between Dan Uggla and Brandon Phillips – decent company.  Johnson is somewhat cost-controlled through his acceptance of arbitration and his solidification of a perennial weak point for the Jays could be a key factor in 2012 success.

9: Emergence of Colby Rasmus
Colby Rasmus came to the Jays at the trading deadline as part of a three-team deal with the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox.  While the Jays did give up pitching prospect Zach Stewart and lefty killer Marc Rzepczynski, who each proved their worth at times with their new clubs (The Cardinals won the World Series thanks in no small part to the duo of Octavio Dotel and Rzepczynski who proved to be stellar antidotes for the Milwaukee Brewers duo of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, respectively, along with neutralizing Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers in the World Series)  , if Rasmus blossoms into the star he was projected to be when he was drafted, the trade will end up going down as a heist.  Rasmus struggled mightily in Toronto with a .517 OPS, .225 wOBA, 34 wRC+ and -0.5 WAR over 34 games, although he did have a hot streak in August that was interrupted by a wrist injury.  He posted a .859 OPS,   .366 wOBA, 129 wRC+ at age 23-24, so there is a lot to like, especially at a premium defensive position.  A return to those numbers or beyond isn’t out of the question and could allow Anthony Gose to marinate properly in the minor leagues into a true five-tool player.

8: Stability in the ninth inning
The Jays bullpen blew 26 saves last year  (part of that was due to the gutting in the Rasmus deal) and the duo of Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco struggled with save opportunities at times.  Both left as free agents and AA wanted to find a dominating closer for the ninth inning.  The price of free agent closers has been ridiculous (Jonathan Papelbon signed for 4 years/$58 million with Philadelphia) so he decided it would be best to go the trade route.  He acquired right-hander Sergio Santos from the Chicago White Sox for pitching prospect  Nestor Molina who put up a 2.45 FIP in 108.1 IP and a 0.47 FIP in 22 innings at Single- and Double-A respectively as a 22-year-old.  Steep price it would seem, but as Kevin Goldstein put it: the numbers don’t match the stuff and the numbers tell a rosier story.
Santos, a converted shortstop and former Jay, recorded over 13 K/9 last year, closing some for Chicago.  His number one pitch is a wipeout slider, generating memories of B.J. Ryan, although Santos will throw from the right side.  If he can have a season somewhat close to Ryan’s 2006 in Toronto, Jays fans will be very happy and his club-friendly deal negotiated by Chicago could easily set him up for six years of reasonably priced service north of the border.

7: A full-time left fielder
When the Jays drafted Travis Snider in 2006 out of high school and brought him to the big leagues as a 20-year-old, the idea is that he would stick and go on to become one of the best young hitters in the league.  However, things have gone according to plan.  Snider has played parts of four seasons at the big league level, struggling in all of them to a degree.  During this time, Eric Thames (drafted in 2007 (39, 1191))  shot to the majors, taking over when Snider struggled in left this year, posting 12 HR, .313 OBP and a .333 wOBA in 95 games.  Now with two left fielders both performing poorly, although Snider is 23 and could be age-appropriately at Double-A, it is up to one of them to seize the job.  Snider is younger and has much greater potential, while Thames has the greater recent results.  This spring training will be a key time for the Blue Jays organization as they choose which player they want to travel forward with as their left fielder, while potentially trading the other.

6: Prospect Development
With the hiring of Alex Anthopoulos and trade of Roy Halladay in the winter of 2009, the Jays entered a temporary rebuild.  However, this was different.  AA did not want to just build a one year winner, but a team that could perennially contend.  He started on his vision by almost doubling the size of the scouting department and acquiring Kyle Drabek, catcher Travis D’Arnaud from the Philadelphia Phillies and through a series of trades ultimately outfielder Anthony Gose by way of the Houston Astros.  Drabek saw time in the Majors this season, struggled with his control and spent most of the year in Las Vegas, battling what seemed to be emotional problems with a newfound lack of success.  D’Arnaud and Gose were part of the Eastern League Champion New Hampshire Fisher Cats at the Double-A level.  Gose hit more home runs in 2011 (16) than in his three previous minor league seasons combined (9) thanks to some swing tweaks, but still stole 69/85 bases (81.2%) on the year.  He also flashed a plus, plus arm in centre field and decent range.  If Gose keeps on his upward development path, a Gose/Rasmus confrontation could be inevitable and interesting in a few years.  D’Arnaud was named Eastern League MVP and Keith Law called him, “the real deal”.  He tore some ligaments in his thumb playing in the World Cup of Baseball, but should be ready to go for Spring Training.  Of course, the focus is on a speedy recovery.

5: Brett Lawrie Avoiding the Sophomore Slump
Brett Lawrie arrived in the Majors on August 5, as the most hyped Jays prospect in recent memory by a long shot.  He had an RBI single in his first at-bat, homered the next day and hit a grand slam at home on August 10.  He also had a walk-off homerun for the first 1-0 extra inning walk-off win in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Red Sox on September 5.  Although he did not win Rookie of the Year, he led all American League rookies with 2.7 WAR (4th in MLB) despite only playing in 43 games totalling 171 plate appearances.   As with any data sample, one must be cautious of the small sample size here.  Expecting Lawrie to duplicate these numbers over a full season is clearly unrealistic, but if he can put together a 5.0 WAR season, he could become the Jays long awaited answer to a #5 hitter.

4: Brandon Morrow Gaining Efficiency
Brandon Morrow showed his electric potential this past year by leading the AL (2nd in MLB) in K/9 for qualified pitchers at 10.19.  Unfortunately, this also came with a 3.46 BB/9, which capped his average outing length to just less than six innings per start.  He allowed two earned runs or less in 14 starts, allowing one or zero in nine of them.  However, in eight of them he allowed five or more earned runs, capping out at nine in a game against Boston.  Eight of his starts lasted 5.0 IP or fewer, while he completed seven innings ten times.  By cutting his walks, he can maximize efficiency and hopefully gain some consistency, as he has the stuff to challenge Romero for the role of team ace.

3: Ricky Romero Becoming Elite
Ricky Romero won a career-high 15 games, while finishing sixth in the AL with a 2.92 ERA, a number that has improved for him every season in the Majors.  Unfortunately, this masks a less attractive 4.20 FIP and 3.80 xFIP.  He needs to cut his walks (3.20 BB/9), increase his strikeouts (7.12 K/9) and elevate his strikeout to walk ratio to at least 3.00 as opposed to the 2.23 where it sits now.  He seems to have figured out a solid gameplan against the Rays, but needs to find ways to be more efficient against the highly patient Red Sox and Yankees, who seem content to allow Romero to work himself into jams.  Due to his best weapon being a changeup, left-handed hitters gave him much trouble to a FIP/xFIP line of 5.47/4.87  compared to 3.7/3.42 line against righties.  Improvement of command, especially of his curveball and slider would help to straighten out his split.  Beating the Red Sox and Yankees more frequently will be key for the Jays to climb in the East and Romero will have to be a big part of that, an answer to the big lefties: CC Sabathia and Jon Lester.

2: Health
Jays used the DL 21 times for 19 players and lost 706 man-games.  Jesse Carlson missed the entire season after a labrum tear, so discounting that, the Jays deal usage was 18 for 20 and 544 man-games.  Still staggering.  Bautista struggled with injuries in the second half and Adam Lind’s back broke a six-week hot streak and he wasn’t the same after that.  Keeping the middle of our lineup healthy and our pitchers on the mound (Romero and Morrow each 30+ starts) will be key to our success in 2012, especially against aging New York and Boston rosters.

1: Fan Support
Paul Beeston made it simple: when more fans come, more money will be spent.  If the fans are truly serious about wanting a winner, they need to come out support the good, exciting young team we have now and allow Alex Anthopoulos to gain permission to chase the final pieces.

Christmas Dream: Prince Fielder
We all saw Prince work in Milwaukee and putting him behind Bautista would make the best 3-4 combo in all of baseball.

Merry Christmas Blue Jays fans!  See you in April!

Cheers,
A-Hume

Kyle Drabek was considered by many to be the best pitching prospect in the Phillies’ organization.  He comes from strong pedigree, being the son of 1990 NL Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek and while hdoesn’t project to be quite as talented as his father, he is a valuable pitcher in his own right.  Many scouts predict that he will be a #2 starter on a contending team if he can stay healthy (Tommy John surgery, missed 2008) and in view of his age, he could become even more.

Drabek is healthy now and pitching in Double-A for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Jays’ affiliate.  However on the Fourth of July 2010, Drabek had a performance that had to make fans wonder, “Will he be in New Hampshire very long?”  Drabek threw the first nine-inning no-hitter in Fisher Cats history (a seven-inning no-hitter was accomplished by a Fisher Cat several years ago), blanking the New Britain Rock Cats 5-0 while striking out three and walking two.  He recorded another 13 outs on the ground and only allowed three line drives.  A few more groundballs would have been nice, but overall the outing was extremely solid for Drabek, easily the best of his career.

However, the dominance did not end there.  Five days later he went into Binghamton and shutout the Mets over six innings, fanning five and walking one.  This extended Drabek’s scoreless streak to 19 1/3 IP.  His record improved to 9-8 while his ERA fell to 3.03.

The only thing keeping Drabek in AA right now is Las Vegas’ nature as a severe hitter’s park.  a few more starts like this though, and Drabek will force the Jays’ hand, with an eye on a rotation spot in mid-2011. 

American League

C: Mauer – Severe power outage at home (0 HR at Target Field) is insignificant when compared to Mauer’s unparalellled ability to reach base and move runners along.

1B: Cabrera – Would love to give spot to Canadian Morneau, but 11 more RBI in five FEWER PAs for Cabrera hard to ignore.

2B: Cano – AL batting leader gets spot.  Closest challenger (Pedroia) is now injured and Cano was already head and shoulders above the competition.  Might as well add hips now too.  30/100 not unreasonable at this pace.  OPS just under 1.000 (.977) doesn’t hurt either, especially from a notoriously thin position.

SS: Gonzalez – Leads shortstops in SLG, OPS, HR and RBI all with a BABIP that is average to slightly unlucky.  Jeter would be closest competition but Jeter can’t hold a candle to Gonzalez with the glove.

3B: Beltre – Fenway has revived the ailing slugger.  Leads 3B in OPS and is one point behind Cano for the batting lead.  Defense is solid as ever too.

OF: Hamilton – .340/19/59.  More than one RBI per game in June.  That is all.

OF: Crawford – Low K-rate and .378 OBP led to 28 swipes

OF: Rios – Crawford with a bit less speed, more power.  Cannon arm too.

SP: Jered Weaver – Leads AL in Ks while showing no peripherals to indicate major correction looming.  Should start on his own mound.

SU: Valverde - SMALL ERA for the BIG Potato (under 1.00).

CP: Rivera – Sandman has been awoken at 40 and removed any doubt as to who the best closer in the AL is.

National League

C: Olivo – .926 OPS stellar from catching position

1B: Votto – Most valuable of 1B in terms of team offense,  Leads in WAR/wOBA.  Won’t make the team though, because Pujols is the popular pick in arguably his worst year.  That makes perfect sense.

2B: Prado – NL batting and hits leader deserves to start.  This one should be easy since Chase Utley just had surgery.

SS: Ramirez – Leads NL SS in HR, RBI, SB, OBP, SLG, OPS, ISO and WAR.  Closest competition (Tulowitzki) hurt, too.

3B: Rolen – Better OPS than Wright, K rate of 17% (Wright 30%).  Still the best defensive 3B in the NL if not the game.  Wright aided by absurd .402 BABIP while Rolen is at the average (.300).  I sense a correction coming.

OF:  Holliday – Most valuable OF in NL by WAR.  11 HR, 39 RBI not typical Holliday, but strong considering the funk that Pujols has been in.  A hidden defensive gem, he has also nearly won the Cardinals a game with his defense alone.

OF: Ethier – .940 OPS tops among AL OFs as is .402 wOBA.  His only knock is horrendous defense, as he ranks near the bottom of the NL in UZR.

OF: Hart – 18 HR, 60 RBI both near the top among NL OFs.  BABIP about average (.308) although 17.8 % HR/FB will correct.  Although he has not run much this year (4/7 SB) he has stolen 20+ in the past and his speed is surprising for his size.

SP: Johnson J. – Most valuable starter in NL (3.9 WAR tied with Roy Halladay) while 1.82 ERA is also the best mark.  0.96 WHIP is stellar for a SP, while 9.08 K/9 and 2.13 BB/9 build a ratio befitting of a true ace.  Despite a 3.10 xFIP which would predict correction from one of the lowest HR/FB rates in the NL, All-Stars are picked based on past and present, not projections.  In short, this is your guy.

SU: Broxton – 12.98 K/9 is nasty and 2.08 ERA shows bad luck, considering 1.32 FIP and 2.01 xFIP.  .386 BABIP is unsustainably high, so Broxton should get better.  Scary.

CP: Wagner – 14.04 K/9 even better than Broxton.  At 39, he has resurrected himself as the most dominant closer in the NL after some injury-plagued time with the Mets.  50.3% FB rate is a concern, but xFIP shows a 2.50 mark, still very respectable.  Of course, if the .168 opponents’ average (8th among NL RPs) holds up, the fly balls really won’t matter.

Brian Tallet, on the other hand, is awful.  Horrendously awful.  His entrance music from 2009, “Gimmie Shelter” by the Rolling Stones, was the most appropriate entrance music I have ever heard.  Tallet needs shelter; shelter from constantly getting shelled.  He won’t overpower anybody and his spotty command jsut provides the ultimate catalyst for disaster.  Granted, he has shaved a full BB/9 off his numbers from last year, but when his K:BB is 2:1 (6 K/9, 3 BB/9), he finds himself working out of the stretch and playing with fire for the majority of most of his short (5.89 IP per) starts.  The Blue Jays are a team that is in a transitional phase, 1 A.D. (After Doc).  They are not expected to contend right away, but they do have a glut of young talented arms that could become integral parts of the Jays’ mound future. 

This brings us back to Cecil, a Maryland product selected 38th overall in 2007 (one pick after Brett Wallace, whom we acquired in the Halladay trade).  Projected as a #2 starter on a contending team, he features a four pitch repertoire: low 90s fastball, mid 80s slider, high 70s-low 80s curve and a low 80s change.  He has consistently struck out approximately a batter per innning in the minor leagues, while keeping his walk rate in the 3 BB/9 range.  He mixes his pitches well, and kept the hitters guessing all night (8 K).  The four runs allowed in six and two-thirds did not do him justice as two came on a pair of the few mistakes he made all night, a pair of homers.  Outside of these blips, he was dominant against the team with the best record in the Majors.

Tallet is a valuable veteran on a young team, but Cecil is a promising young star.  If Cecil pitches well the next two times out, and Tallet struggles in his return, Gaston and the gang will be forced to think.

That said - Carpe Diem Brett.  Seize the day.

The guaranteed portion of the deal runs through his age 29 season.  The options are exercisable as three seperate options each covering one year.  The scale of $1 million in 2010 and three years of $5M each make this friendly for a budget conscious team.  The options are worth $7M, $7.5M and $8M and can be bought out at any time for no more than $2M.  The options would bring him through his age-32 season (he would be 33 at the end, July birthday).  At this point he would be entering his decline and the Jays would have had him through his entire prime.  If they were to part with him at this point, they would not be losing much.  They could also sign him for a contract of similar, or lesser value.

Since Lind’s entire value comes from his bat as a DH (he is a terrible defender), he will need to produce to make this deal worthwhile.  While he may not get up to 35 homers again, a .290/25/90 line makes this contract acceptable in my opinion and he should easily eclipse those numbers for at least the guaranteed portion.  Combine this deal with Hill, Snider and the Halladay prospects and there is a lot to like for this team’s future.

Thank you Alex, for such an incredible piece of negotiation and management.  Moves like this could bring a winner to Toronto in relatively short order.

Keep up the good work.

Cuban stats are nearly impossible to find and I will post them if they become available.  I will also update when the deal is official.  Hat tip to NY Post.

UPDATE: A source just confirmed El Nuevo Herald that Adeinys Echeverria signed with Toronto for $10 millions and four years.  Thank you to Jorge Ebro, a Cuban baseball expert for the latest.

UPDATE (04/13/10): Blue Jays formally announce signing, term as previously mentioned beginning in 2010.  First name officially revealed as “Adeiny”.