Our Blue Jays have made a handle of minor moves on the 40 man roster. Add to the roster are lefty pitchers Ricky Romero and Robert Ray and right hander Luis Perez. Romero and Ray are on our top prospects list at #9 and #12 respectively. Perez pitched in A ball for us last year, going 5 and 12 with a 3.60 ERA.

To make room recent pick ups lefty pitcher Les Walrond and infielder Angel Sanchez were dropped. Walrond was picked off waivers from the Phillies earlier this month and apparently is headed to Japan to play over there. Sanchez was taken off waivers from the Royals early this month.

In other news Mike Mussina has announced his retirement. Nice for him to be able to retire after his first 20 win season. He finishes with 270 career wins, good for a tie for 33rd spot all time. He isn't a lock for the Hall of Fame but you'd have to think he has a good shot at it. I'll admit I'm not big fan, as a general rule I'm not a big fan of any Yankee, but that deep bend over from his waste at the start of every windup was kind of interesting.

Phillies Chase Utley is to have hip surgery and may miss a large portion of next season. Utley has been hurting since May but still played in 159 games and hit .292 with 33 home runs.

And in the category of stories that I would think should come out of the Bizzaro universe, apparently Manny Ramirez would like to be a Blue Jay but we don't have interest in him. I know, money is the ruling issue, but don't you think signing Manny would be worth his weight in season tickets? And wouldn't it be a good signal to the rest of the team that 'hey we are interested in winning'? As much as we really could use a starting pitcher, a short stop and a catcher......wouldn't you gladly take Manny and live with what we have at the other spots?

Take the money we aren't paying AJ, trade off BJ and add that money in and whatever beyond that amount that Manny would cost you'd have to guess that would be more than made up in ticket sales. If I was JP, I'd have to think I was going into this season with a win or be fired in the back of my mind, so why doesn't he show a bit of urgency?

And in news, that no one but me will be interested in, son of  former Jay John Mayberry, John Mayberry, Jr (inventive name) was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Phillies For outfielder Greg Golson. Mayberry, 24, hit .264 with 20 homers between Double A and Triple A. John Sr. is number 41 on our list of top 50 Jays.

John Claiborn Mayberry|1B|1978-1982

Runs Created as a Jay: 295

John Mayberry was born February 18, 1949 in Detroit, Michigan. He was a gifted athlete in high school playing baseball, football and basketball. He was drafted in the 1st round (6th pick overall) in the 1967 amateur draft. The number 1 pick that year was by the Yankees, Ron Blomberg, so the Astros could have done a lot worse. The only players in the players picked in the first round that were clearly better than John were Ted Simmons and Bobby Grich.

John was a big, left-handed slugging first baseman. He is listed at 6'3" 230 pounds, but I would guess by the time he played with the Jays he was likely heavier than that. He made the majors as a September call-up in 1968 as a 19 year old, though he only got 9 at bats that month and no hits. The next season he was also a September call-up getting only 4 at bats and still no hits. After 2 more seasons as part-timer he was traded to the Royals where he became a full time first baseman there for 6 seasons.

His first 4 seasons as a Royal he was amazing, including 2 years as an All-Star and a 2nd place finish in the 1975 AL MVP. He received MVP votes in 3 other seasons with the Royals. His best season he had 34 home runs, 119 walks, and 106 RBI. He hit .291/.416/.547. His last 2 years with the Royals his stats fell to earth with a thump. In 1976 he hit .232 and 1977 he hit .230. Ummmm there may have been a reason for his sudden drop.

To understand what happened, well you have to understand a little about baseball and the world in general, in the late ‘70s and early ‘80's. Over the last roughly 15 years baseball's (and other sports') biggest problem/scandal has been performance enhancing drugs. Back then the scandal was non-performance enhancing drugs.

To be fair baseball wasn't the only place where the drugs were a problem. Cocaine was the drug of choice for the financially well off throughout society. For a time it was close to socially acceptable as alcohol. Time Magazine had a cover story saying it was the in thing, without any suggestion that there could be a downside.

In the 1977 AL Playoffs the Royals were up 2 games to 1. The 4th game started early on a Sunday and manager Whitey Herzog allowed his players to skip batting practice the night before to let them get a good night's sleep. As Whitey tells it:

"Mayberry dragged in real late, but I put him on first base anyway, which was my big mistake". Mayberry had a bad game, dropping pop-ups and striking out. Herzog asked him what was wrong. "The man couldn't even talk and I knew what was wrong....It must have been a hell of a party". Herzog insisted the Royals get rid of him and they did, selling him to the Jays.

A few years later Whitey would make the same sort of trade as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. Keith Hernandez was a terrific first baseman, but Whitey publically didn't like his work ethic. Privately, Hernandez, it came out later he had the same sort of drug problem and Whitey didn't want him influencing the younger players on his team. So he traded Hernandez to the Mets, for far less than what he seemed to be worth. He might have been right to have worries; two of the Met's young superstars damaged their careers' and their lives' through drug use, though it would be a leap to assign blame.

At the time it was hard to believe that the Royals would give up Mayberry for next to nothing. But as time went on the drug problem in baseball became better known and in a lot of cases managers and teams had turned a blind eye to it.

Anyway, the second year Blue Jay team that Mayberry joined was a terrible team. They finished with a 59 and 102 record. Mayberry's improved in his seasons with the Jays, though he never again was as good as he was his first years with the Royals.

In 1979 John played in 137 games, hit .274/.372/.461 with 21 homers and 74 RBI. And in 1980 he hit .248/.349/.473 with 30 home runs, 6th most in the AL and 82 RBI. So he was a very productive player for the Jays, if not quite a superstar.

In the strike season of 1981 Mayberry played in 94 of Toronto's 106 games. He hit .248/.360/.452 with 17 home runs, 7th in the AL. Every full season he had with the Jays his OPS+ was over 100, with scores of 108, 124, 119 and 128 so he was really a strong offensive player for the Jays.

In 1982 he played 17 games mostly as a DH, as Willie Upshaw took over as a first baseman for the Jays, hitting .273/.405/.455, but on May 5th he was traded to the Yankees for Dave Revering, Tom Dodd and Jeff Reynolds. None of the 3 of them played much for the Jays, though Dodd was traded back the Yankees after the '82 season along with Dale Murray for Dave Collins, Fred McGriff, Mike Morgan and cash. That must have been the best trade in Jay's history and one of the better trades in baseball history.

I was pretty young when he played for the Jays but my memory of him was a smiling, happy, big man. I'm sure he it wouldn't have easy to happy, when he was traded the Royals were one of the best teams in the AL and he was traded to what was the worst team in the league. When he was left the Jays he held the team career records for homers and RBI. And although he was a slow base runner he was pretty good defensively at first base.

I haven't been able to find much information about him since he retired. He has a son, John, Jr. who is an outfielder in Texas Ranger's farm system. Mayberry was ranked as the 49th best first baseman in ever in Bill James' Historical Baseball Abstract. I'd imagine he has dropped a few spots since that book was published.

John Mayberry's place among Jay's batting leaders:

8th On-base % (>2000 PA) .352
12th Slugging % (>2000 PA) .450
10th OPS (>2000 PA) .802
30th Games 549
32nd At Bats 1803
36th Runs 215
36th Hits 461
28th Total Bases 811
15th Home Runs 92
24th RBI 272
18th Walks 257
26th Runs Created 295

The All-Star right-hander agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal on Tuesday to remain with the Cubs, including a $14 million player option for the 2012 season. He gets a $4 million signing bonus.

Yet again there is a Thursday night game. Actually all the rest of the season there are Thursday games, except for the last week of the season. So we might as well plan for them.

On this side of the border there is another football game being played this Sunday. My Calgary Stampeders are playing the dirty, rotten, clutching, grabbing, far outclassed, Montreal Alouettes. So this week the tie-breaker is picking the winner of the Grey Cup (Stampeders, if you need a hint) and total points scored. Now I'm almost sure that you won't be banned if you pick the wrong team in this game, but you might not want to chance it. 

Anyway, as always, if you can, get your picks in before the Thursday game. If not you can't you can still send me your picks, you will just miss out on the one game.

Well another week goes by and yet again I don't win.....sigh. Winners this week were Jets, Denver, Oakland, Giants, Houston, Tennessee, Green Bay (pounded da Bears), Cincinnati (in a tie game), New Orleans, Detroit (!), Tampa Bay, San Francisco, Arizona, San Diego, Dallas and Cleveland.

This week's winner: No Bunting, for the second week in a row, with a big 13 of 16, showing that bunting is a bad idea even in football. Loser this week, a new player, Tommy02 with 6 of 16, who just happens to be my middle boy. So skill in picking football teams runs in the family. Hugo had a bad week too getting 7 but I'm sure he's just happy his Jets won. Me, I got 9.

So congratulations again, No Bunting. There is a Thursday game again this week, so we'll have the pool up early Wednesday. And since my Stampeders are in the Grey Cup this weekend (!!!!) the tie-breaker will be picking the number of points they will win by.

Quantum Physics......

No sorry, the AL MVP voting was announced today and Dustin Pedroia wins, which is fine, he is as deserving as anyone. Five voters put Cliff Lee on their ballots which is still fine. Now here is what I don't get, one voter listed Mike Mussina on the ballot but no one voted for  Roy Halladay.

How can Mike Mussina be a candidate for MVP and Doc not be? Is it time to take the vote away from the baseball writers and give it to....I don't know....some trained baboons or something? Fortunately the nice man, Mark Feinsand from the New York Daily News, who voted for Mussina (and no other pitchers) wrote why: 

8. Mike Mussina, Yankees: The only pitcher on my ballot, Mussina benefited from playing for the team I cover. It's only natural to appreciate a player's season if you get the chance to witness the entire thing in person, and nothing was more enjoyable for me this year than watching Mussina's renaissance.

Mussina's 20-9 record made him the oldest first-time 20-game winner, as he trailed only Cy Young winner Cliff Lee in victories. His 3.37 ERA ranked sixth in the AL and he finished in the top 10 in winning percentage (.690) and WHIP (1.22), as Mussina put together a season no one could have envisioned. The Yankees missed the playoffs, but without Mussina, they would have been out of the race a lot earlier than they were. If this was in fact the final season for Mussina, he went out on the highest of high notes.

On a separate note, 18 of the 28 voters put Alex Rodriguez on their ballot. Really? In my estimation, A-Rod was probably the fifth-most valuable player on the Yankees behind Mussina, Mariano Rivera, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu. I know he had great overall stats, but if you watched the Yankees on a regular basis, you know he was far from their MVP, let alone the league's MVP.

Hmmmm he gets the vote because he is the oldest first time 20 game winner. Being an answer on a Trivial Pursuit card is a reason to vote for someone? Oh and he had a 20-9 record, compared to Doc's 20-11 record. His ERA was 3.37 and Doc's was 2.78. His whip 1.22, Doc's 1.05. And he 'put together a season what no one could have envisioned', while Doc was just great like always. But the award isn't called 'Surprising Season Award. 

Other stat comparisons....Doc completed 9 games, Moose 0. Doc pitched 246 innings, Moose 200. Doc struck out 206, Mussina 150.

And this guy is an expert.......

 Reed Cameron Johnson|LF,RF,CF|2003-2007

Runs Created as a Jay: 294

Reed Johnson was born December 8, 1976 in Riverside, CA. He was drafted by the Jays in the 17th round of the 1999 amateur draft out of Cal State Fullerton where he was named an Academic All-American and played baseball and soccer. When you are drafted in the 17th round you have to work harder to make it to the majors and Reed definitely works as hard as any major leaguer. His high socks, great defense, hustle and willingness to take one for the team made him a fan favorite in Toronto.

Reed made the Jays coming out of spring training in 2003 and started the season as part of a platoon in RF with Frank Catalanotto. On July 16th Shannon Stewart was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Bobby Kielty and the platoon was moved to LF with Kielty playing RF. That first season Reed hit .294/.353/.427 scoring 79 runs and driving in 52. He hit 10 home runs, only walked 20 times but his on base percentage was helped by being hit by pitch 20 times, second in the league in that category. Reed made turning into a pitch an art form. Twice as a Jay he has tied the major league record by being hit by pitch 3 times in a game. He also had a 20 game hit streak this season. He was named AL Rookie of the Month for September.

In 2004 Reed continued in the LF platoon with Cat and filled in at CF and RF when needed. In 141 games he hit in every spot in the order during the season. He didn't have as good a season offensively batting .270/.320/.380, scoring 68 runs, driving in 61 with 10 home runs.

In 2005 Johnson was still in the platoon, he played a little less, coming into more games as a defensive replacement, but when he started it was more often at the top of the order, batting mostly in the 1 or 2 hole. He hit .269/.332/.412 with 8 home runs, 55 runs, 58 RBI and was hit by pitch 16 times.

Johnson had his career season, with the Jays, in 2006. He was everything you could want in a leadoff man hitting .319/.390/.479 scoring 86 runs and driving in 49 with 12 homers. He also led the AL with being hit by pitch 21 times. After starting the season in his usual platoon he became a full timer in July.

Early in the 2007 season he hurt his back and had surgery on a herniated disk. He came back to the team in early July, but clearly wasn't 100% for the rest of the season. He finished with his worse stats for a season hitting only .236/.305/.320 with career lows of 31 runs, 14 RBI and 2 home runs.

In the off-season before the 2008 season, the Jays signed David Eckstein, a similar type of player as Reed, to play shortstop and lead off. With Matt Stairs expected to play in LF, Reed looked to be back in a platoon role. Then inexplicably, at least to me, the Jays signed Shannon Stewart and in spring training, released Johnson. I still have no idea why you would release Johnson, who was a year removed from a career season to play Shannon Stewart who was several years removed from his last decent season. Add into the equation that Johnson could play all 3 outfield spots very well, while Stewart could only LF and very poorly at that.

Stewart, of course, played awful for the Jays and was released during the season, while Johnson hit .303/.358/.420 in 109 games with the Cubs. Thanks JP.

I know I like him far more than I really should, Reed isn't a perfect leadoff man, he'd be better if he would take some more walks, maybe cut down on his strikeouts and he doesn't steal a lot of bases. But his hustle, defense, a good arm in the outfield and his willingness to take one for the team makes him a great fourth outfielder type. Reed is married and has, likely, the worst little patch of facial hair in the major leagues.

Reed Johnson's ranking among Jay batting leaders:

11th Batting Average (>2000 PA) .281
10th On-Base % (>2000 PA) .342
27th Games with 610
27th At Bats with 2083
25th Runs 319
25th Hits 585
26th Total Bases 853
27th Doubles 114
31st RBI 234
41th Walks 119
23rd Strike Outs 384
27th Runs Created 292
2nd Hit By Pitch 80

Since there isn't much Jay news to talk about this morning I thought we'd put up a poll, though the Yankee's offer to CC Sabathia does seem to open the discussion about another step up in player salaries, at a time when you'd have to guess that revenues are going to be down. I'd imagine Detriot Tiger revenues will be way down this year with the layoffs in the car industry. Yankees and the Mets are, likely, the only teams that will have a big revenue boost.

The huge contract offered to CC, 6 years and $140 million, will drive the price up for Burnett and in turn all the rest of the better free agent pitchers. I hope the Jays can afford someone.

Anyway, the movie poll has 'Major League' as the winner. Really? You guys think that was the best baseball movie ever? Oooookay fine. This week back to the best Jays polls, this time it is starting pitchers. We've had a number of good starters.

Sad news......Fire Joe Morgan is shutting down. Since Joe Morgan has long been one of my least favorite baseball commentators, so I have enjoyed a site that is dedicated to making fun of him. But then, he is  easy to make fun of.  Very occasionally they would make fun of someone else and it was always great to read.

It looks like Kerry Wood's days with the Cubs are at an end. The Cubs traded for reliever Kevin Gregg from the Florida Marlins giving the Marlins pitcher Jose Ceda in return. Gregg had a 3.41 ERA and 29 saves this season with the Marlins. Kerry Wood is a free agent and is looking for a long term contract, but the Cubs decided they didn't want to give him one.

And in closer to home news, A.J. Burnett has filed for free agency...yeah, I know, we've known this was coming for awhile, but now it is official.  Randy Johnson also filed today, tomorrow is the final day for players to file. Randy might be an interesting player for the Jays to go after. He'd likely only want a one year contract and being just 5 wins short of 300, he could be a good draw for the Jays. 

The Jays who filed are AJ, John Parrish, Brad Wilkerson and Gregg Zaun. I don't think the Jays have interest in bring any of them back.

And in fun news, the town of Batman, Turkey is suing Warner Brothers and Dark Knight director Chistopher Nolan for using the name Batman without their premission. If it works out for them they plan on suing Thanksgiving for using turkeys without their premission. Yeah yeah, I know it has nothing to do with football but aren't you glad you know this?