Tuesday 26 February 2008

Morning Roundup


The Shannon Stewart flurry of speculation is starting to die down as we hit the 'wait and see' period. But, some points of interest:

It's kind of touching like the first time you held a girl's hand when Stew says this to the Star's Cathal Kelly:

"My best memories playing in the big leagues have been with Toronto," Stewart said. "In some kind of way, maybe it's meant for me to be here."

I'm sure it is, big guy. I'm sure it is. Hubris department:

Was Toronto's December offer better than the one you just signed?

"Yeah, it was," Stewart said with a rueful smile, declining to be specific. "The situation was just messed up."

Wrapping up here, he's got the right 'tude at least and says he'd be content as a bench player. Well played, my son. Here's a longer version of the same story at the Globe.

Blair
shatters the popular misconception that Halladay asked Gibby to install J-Mac as his personal shortstop. This little quote kind of sounds a bit hurtful:

"I didn't ask [Gibbons]," Halladay said. "We have better options now, which is the difference. David's a great player — he plays the game hard, and I'll take anybody who plays hard any time. … He's definitely a great addition. I have no problem with either of them out there."

First it was the dig on Glaus, now Rolls Royce Clayton, next thing he'll be telling momma jokes. Did Doc show up to spring training in a black leather motorcycle jacket and slicked back hair this spring? This directness to the point of being insulting to admittedly douchebag ex-teammates doesn't seem like him...

After taking a few days to mull it all over, Wilner writes, "I don’t think Shannon is here not to make the team, and he certainly isn’t going to Syracuse", which is a circuitious way of saying "I expect Stew to beat Sparky this spring." Isn't it? His thoughts on Sparky vs. Stew are worth a read, not just because Wilner is one of the sharper pencils in the drawer.

Breaking news from the Effing Sweet Dept.:

Bastian confirms in his new mailbag that the Jays will indeed be wearing retro power blues for the Home Opener against the Bosox on Apr. 4!!! (Sorry, Will, I know you're amongst the minority who dislike them...)

ELSEWHERE:

* I should probably do another Forgotten Heroes of Yester-year on Larry Walker. He recently commented on the Steriod Era with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, joking, "If I stuck a needle in me, then there was pancake batter in it, not steroids." Walker is a fringy HoF candidate who might get added consideration for doing some pretty special things cleanly when he hits the ballot in 2010. Note to self: consider naming first born Larry Walker Was.

* Yankees "phenom" Phil Hughes has joined the blogosphere! Like, OMG! There's really nothing to it; most posts are about one or two lines maximum and at least half of them seem to be reports on contests for Yankees stuff. Hrm, maybe we should start giving shit away here to boost our readership...? A free slow dance with yours truly?

Anyhoo, this one ranks a very, very distant third for player blogs behind Curt Schilling's 38 Pitches (quick summary: he lets his inner asshole shine through clear as day) and On the Road with Pat Neshek. Seriously, it's hard not to love a player who swaps baseball cards with fans over the interweb.

* The Bosox are finding that there's no trade market for Coco "Captain Correlli" Crisp. Kenny Lofton and Corey Patterson are still unsigned and they both have skill sets that you'd figure would be appealing to certain suitors. With all this musing about carrying a 6th OF (Scooter being the 5th), I think I'd definitely rather Patterson and his slick glove/blinding speed on by bench. I don't like Patterson that much, but as a specialist I think he'd really come in handly.

* Some of you might recall the name Maxim St. Pierre, a Quebecois catching prospect in the Tigers system. I thought he just sucked, but it turns out he was really a drunk. Anyway, he's trying to get back on track and since I've already wished the best to Elijah Dukes, I guess I have to do the same here.

-- Johnny Was

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