Blue Jays Pursuing Gavin Floyd
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [March 12 at 2:12pm CST]
The Blue Jays continue pursuing White Sox right-hander Gavin Floyd, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report. Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos has interest in upgrading the club's rotation before Opening Day, the FOX reporters add.

The Blue Jays and White Sox have had dialogue about Floyd since Spring Training began, according to Rosenthal and Morosi. The 29-year-old will earn $7MM in 2012 and his contract includes a $9.5MM club option for 2013. Henderson Alvarez and Dustin McGowan currently profile as the club's fourth and fifth starters. Alvarez has just ten big league appearances and though McGowan is looking sharp this spring, he has struggled to stay healthy in recent years, appearing in just five big league games since 2008.

The Blue Jays' pitching staff includes two relievers who were traded to Toronto after finishing the 2011 season with the White Sox: closer Sergio Santos and right-hander Jason Frasor. Anthopoulos and GM Kenny Williams have completed three trades since last summer, as MLBTR's Transaction Tracker shows.

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“Be Who You Are and Say What You Feel Because Those Who Mind Don't Matter and Those Who Matter Don't Mind.” ~ Dr. Suess


Nice Guys Finish Last

Thank you,and have a nice day !

This may end up being a 100 loss team.

I really hate that KW wasn't replaced along with Ozzie as he is the wrong person for the job when selling off players for prospects. I wouldn't be shocked if nothing came out of KW off season moves.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

One thing that came out of it was losing $25 million in payroll. And come on, dolphin. No way this team is losing 100 games. I'm not going to sit here and tell you they're going to contend with Detroit, but they'll almost certainly be better than last season.

And as far as Detroit goes, people look at things in strange ways. Did Prince Fielder really improve them from last year? The quick thoughtless answer is, "Of course, don't be ridiculous!" But anyone who says that better go look at the year Victor Martinez had in 2011. Is Fielder really going to do a whole lot better than that? He'll hit more homeruns, sure. He'll probably be a little better however you want to measure it. But does his extra production come in critical places? That's what makes baseball so interesting. It's a funny game.

I listen to idiots on the radio blast a guy like Juan Pierre because "he doesn't get on". A top leadoff man gets on 36% of the time. In 550 PA, that's 198 times on base. A guy at 32% "doesn't get on enough". But he actually gets on 176 times in the same 550 PA. How significant are those extra 22 times on base? How many of them make the slightest difference in the outcome of a game?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Dolphin, the biggest mistake the Sox made was keeping Ozzie for 2011. I love Ozzie and wished he was still around, but it was time to make a change after the 2010 season. I think this team surprises everybody and is near 90 wins.

BTW, he got the heave ho yesterday arguing a foul ball call

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What kind of goof gets tossed from a Spring Training game? It's like a clown college with Guillen running your team.

I have no doubt about this. The local writers were pissed that Ozzie got bounced out of Chicago. A guy like him makes their jobs so easy. He writes the story for them. It's just like Ditka. A lot of the beat guys thought Ditka was a jerkoff and disliked him personally, but they were angry to see him go. Their job just got more difficult.

And that being the case, these guys were all set up to start ripping Ventura and his "inexperienced" coaches right from the start. And you saw that a little at the beginning. But nobody is saying a bad word now. Because there's nothing bad to say. They're running a professional operation rather than a golf camp/nightclub for millionaire ballplayers. Whether that makes a difference on the field remains to be seen. But I certainly find it refreshing.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

At least they are trying something different. The old way hasn't worked since 2006 (and even then the first like 10 days of the season they were like 3-7 or something). I think the last time they were near first place by Memorial Day was 2008. It is refreshing to at least seem them trying to get off to a better start.

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Yeah, Frank. Reading between the lines, I get the impression that Ozzie thought Spring Training was a hassle. His philosophy seemed to be that each player was responsible for getting himself ready and as a manager he was going to drive around on a golf cart cracking jokes with reporters, cut out early to make a tee time with his kids, and show up the next morning hungover.

That was all well and good when they were coming out of the box on fire, but as you said, when was the last time that happened? 2006?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don