One Year Ago Today: The Jays traded to get Trystan Magnuson back from the A's (and you thought the trade for Esmile Rogers was no big deal). Trystan pitched for Dunedin and New Hampshire for us this past season, doing well as a Fisher Cat (1.95 ERA, 5 saves, 26 hits 7 walks, 24 k in 32 innings), not quite as good in Dunedin (5.40, 25 hits, 3 walks, 26 k, in 18 innings), though small samples.

Two Years Ago Today: We said goodbye to Hall of Fame Manager Sparky Lyle Anderson. Sparky really was one of a kind.

Three Years Ago: The topic was playing hurt. Vernon Wells was the cautionary tale back then. We could do the same thing this year, with Colby Rasmus and Kelly Johnson being the examples. Part of the problem, back then, was there was no one on the bench that could really fill in for Vernon. He played 158 games, and then, after the season, had surgery on his wrist. The last line was:

I'm hoping that next season, when Alex Anthopoulos puts together his roster, there is a fourth outfield that can actually play all 3 outfield spots.

I'm still waiting for Alex to put together a decent bench so that we can give players needed days off.

Four Years Ago: Hugo reviewed how our top 10 prospects fared that season. There are some good players on that list, as well as some misses. I wonder what Scott Campbell is doing these days?

Also four years ago, A.J. Burnett opted out of his Blue Jay contract. And, with 4 years of hindsight, we can say thank you AJ!. So glad you opted out. We also picked up a couple of guys off waivers. Then, as now, we were closer to the top of the waiver wire, so players we pick up on the waiver wire, we are more likely to be able to waive them through to the minors.

Five Years Ago: Hugo looked into who the Jays might use at shortstop the next season. His first suggestion was the one they picked, it didn't turn out all that well. Funny that Hugo called Omar Vizquel 'ancient' 4 years before he becomes a Blue Jay.

And, not on Bluebird Banter, because we weren't around yet, but on this day in 2002 Eric Hinske was announced as AL Rookie of the Year.