Last week, the Blue Jays claimed Dirk Hayhurst from the Padres off waivers. Hayhurst spent most of this season in AAA Portland and struck out 98 in 84 innings, though he didn't impress in a short stint with the Friars. Dirk could challenge for a bullpen spot (perhaps replacing Jason Frasor) this season.

I find the signing more notable, though, and am incredibly excited to see Dirk come to the Jays, on another score (and it's not even his awesome name, Dirk Von Hayhurst.) I have been enjoying Dirk's writing on his "non-prospect" blog diary in Baseball America for quite some time (check out the August 16 post from that link), and so I am thrilled to see him signed by the Jays. Dirk is a truly gifted writer and an extremely self-aware and thoughtful person. His writing is honest and powerful. You can find his most recent post here, about visiting kids in the hospital. His story about a minor-league off-day is hilarious, and here is another typically self-reflective post, about distributing balls to fans. I also really liked this one, about his offseason job in an electronics store. His self-deprecating post about his hitting is another funny one.

Anyway, those are just a couple of examples, if you're like me you won't stop until you've read every one of his entries. He really should think about collecting them into a book and shopping it around. So Dirk, welcome to the Jays, I really look forward to more of your writing, and to more of your pitching! We would love to have you guest post on Bluebird Banter sometime!