I'm mining Springsteen's Nebraska again (the great song Highway Patrolman) but in MLB it is DH prices that keep on dropping. 

Fresh off the Rays 2 year, $16 million dollar signing of Pat Burrell, the A's have apparently reached agreement with Jason Giambi for a 1 year deal worth $5.25 million.  There is an option for 2010 with a $1.25 million buyout, so Giambi will be guaranteed about $6.5 million.

I don't count myself a Giambi fan, but this is quite an affordable deal.  Giambi hit .247/.373/.502 last year for a nifty 128 OPS+, with 32 home runs in only 458 at-bats.  And yet he's taking over an $18 million dollar paycut from last season, where he made $23.5 million. I know he hasn't exactly been a picture of health from year to year, but still.

With the baseball market in this situation, you've got to think we can acquire someone with a little stick, no?   With yet another suitor off the market, the economy not getting any better, and the days ticking by, the likes of Abreu and Dunn could be getting a little lonely right about now.

Rincewind:  What should be done about the DH spot?

Hugo:  The Jays should get the best bat they can afford over the next two seasons, in my view.  For the past two seasons, their starting pitching, defense, and bullpen have been lights-out, and the hitting has killed them.  2008 taught them that the offense wouldn’t improve with the same players just because the year ended in a different number, so let’s stop thinking that.  

The problem is that the Jays can’t afford to give up too much in a trade due to the thinness of the team in the high minors, so it has to be through free agency or a creative trade.  With Halladay under control, Marcum, McGowan, and Janssen hopefully at full strength, Snider, Cecil, Arencibia, and Lind on the Rise, and Rios, Hill, and Wells still at or near their primes, 2010 could be a big year for the Jays if they have a big bat to complement the lineup. 

I like Bradley.  I really like Blalock.  I’m intrigued by the idea of Butler.  I wonder if, given the price the Yankees paid for Swisher, the Jays could get Thome or Dye cheaply.  But let’s bring in somebody, and make Moonraker our contingency plan. 

Rincewind:  The nice part about having a hole at DH, is that it should be an easy hole to fill. Of course, JP couldn’t fill it all last season, but that says a lot about JP’s ability as a GM. There must be 60 players the Jays could pick up cheap that would be better than what we have. I’d prefer a right handed bat, since we didn’t have anyone that could hit a lefty at all last year.

I love the idea of Blalock because he could fill in at first or third at times and we didn’t have much to back up those spots. But then we don’t have much to back up the outfield spots either and Bradley could do that. I’m not sure about Butler, I think I’d just as soon have Moonraker up as have him be a DH for us. Butler doesn’t get on base that well, though he is young and will likely improve.

I do wonder how much money Giambi will be looking for this year but he’s pretty limited as just a DH. He does have the power and ability to take a walk that the team could use.

Hugo:  JP said signing Bonds was selling his soul, so I don’t see him taking on Giambi, though you never know.  Giambi is one of my least favourite players ever since he whined about Ichiro winning MVP in 2001 – he was hardly in a position to complain seeing as he spent the year cheating -- but I have to admit it could help the team.  He has been a little uneven in his production though, and his health issues seem much more chronic than Bradley’s.  Blalock or Bradley would be very nice.  The good thing about Butler would be his low cost and the number of years he’ll be under team control, but you’re right, he’s hardly a sure upgrade for this season based on what he did last year, though he does offer depth.  I’m not sure the Royals are going to part with him, anyway.  With any of these guys, you’re taking on a risk, but that’s okay because the Jays have Snider waiting in the wings.  

My gut tells me that J.P. waits out the winter meetings and signs the best bat left over in January, when the player’s leverage is gone.  But we’ll see, it's hard to say how the economy will affect the market when all is said and done, and what that will mean for the Jays.  And of course according to Richard Griffin, Russ Adams should be our DH, so, yeah.

So no, we don't think we're Oppenheimer and Einstein, haha.  It's just one of my favourite pictures.

Part 1: Good and Bad of 2008
Part 2: Jays Priorities for the Offseason
Part 3: Should the Jays Rebuild?
Part 4: Who Should Lead Off For the Jays?
Part 5: How Should the Jays Fill Out Their Rotation
Part 6: Part 6: Can the Jays Complete with Barajas catching and Scutaro at Short?
Part 7: Should the Jays Trade From Their Bullpen?

Later today MLB will announce that Evan Longoria is the AL Rookie of the Year....till then:

Over on umpbump.com they contend that  the Jays need is to aim for 2010, that with the injuries to Marcum and McGowan and the loss of AJ they don't stand a chance.  Their feeling is that the Jays should write off 2009 and look to trade Halladay. It is not a world view I agree with. But over the couple of weeks we'll be making that case.

Sportsnet.ca claims JP has a plan B if/when AJ doesn't sign with us. AJ's ERA was only slightly better than league average, so I think he can be replaced. Having to replace Marcum as well worries me more. The story also says that JP has talked to Rafael Furcal (yay) and Jason Giambi's agents. It is good to hear that JP is at least kicking some tires.

Si.com Rumors says the Cardinals trade for Holliday deal is dead. How long till we hear Halladay for Holliday again? They also say that Pat Burrell hasn't received an offer from the Phillies yet. I wouldn't be against the Jays looking at him as a possible DH, if he could be had for a reasonable amount of money.

And in non-Major League news: a few days ago we received an email from a group that wants to purchase a independent minor league baseball team as a group, fan effort. For a subscription fee fans like you and me can have the right to vote on 'all major decisions of the team'. Obviously not 'in-game' decisions but....well sort of like a real life fantasy team. Their website can explain this far better than I can.

Seven strong innings for Jesse goes for naught today, 7 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned and 8 strikeouts. And it should have been better, Robinson was clearly out at the plate on Jesse's wild pitch in the 7th. But the plate umpire had a rough night. The strike zone was all over the place, I was sure that a Jay was going to be thrown out before it ended. The pitch to Giambi before his homer was a better pitch than many that were called strikes tonight. Tallet pitched the last two scoreless innings.

Offensively we got 9 hits but struck out 14 times. Many of them looking and many of those had a Jay grumbling afterwards. On one check swing the third base umpire ruled not a swing while the plate umpire called it a swing. And course, that was an out. Rios, Lind and Snider each had 2 hits. Inglett, Overbay and Zaun were 0 fers, Zaun with 4 strikeouts.

No Jay of the Day today. Hinskes go to Inglett (-.185 WPA), Overbay (-.168), Zaun (-.157) and Scoot (-.121).

In other Jay's news, they have decided to shut down Purcey for the rest of the season just to stop running up the inning count on him. Last season he only threw 62 innings because of an arm injury, this year he is up to 182 inning in the Majors and Triple A comblined. A little late to worry but a good move.

Tomorrow AJ (18-10, 4.18) goes against Phil Hughes (0-4, 7.96). What are the odds we lower his ERA by a couple of runs?

Last start David Purcey throws a great complete game, giving up 1 run and striking out 11 and we lost. Today, he goes 3 innings, gives up 5 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts and we win. I just want to make sure I know how things work around here. Purcey good, we lose, Purcey awful, we win. Cool.

As terrible as Purcey was, once again, our pen was great. 6 innings of 2 hit, shutout ball. Tallet did give up a sac fly when he came in the 4th with no one out and a runner on. And he gave up two hits in his second inning of work but neither scored. Then Cy pitched 2 perfect innings to pick up the win. Very nice to see Cy used as more than a LOOGY. Snakeface pitched a great 8th picking up his 21th hold; he is having what must be one of the top 2 or 3 seasons by any Jay setup man. And then BJ got his 26th save, with two strikeouts and a popup. After his last very shaky save, boy it was nice to see him throw so well.

Offensively, in our first four innings we got 8 hits but only 1 run. And not only did we get 8 hits but our outs were very hard hit balls. We were very unlucky not to have 4 or 5 runs by the end of the 4th. I really felt this was going to be another one of those maddening games where we club the ball all day and yet don't score enough to win.

But the 5th changed that, after a walk to Scoot, Bautista hit his first homer for us. After the amount of complaining (yes from me too) after we picked him up for Diaz, it is good to see him hitting. After his 4 for 5 today he is 7 for 12 is our last 3 games. Then Rios homered. Back to back, when was the last time we did that. But that was the end of our scoring in the 5th and we were still a run down. And I  thought we missed our chance.

Then in the 6th Rolen walked and Overbay hit his 12th homer of the year. Put me in the group that thinks a first baseman has to hit 20 plus, but today he had enough to give us a lead.  And that was all we needed, though an insurance run in the 8th didn't hurt.

The Fangraph, once again a thing of beauty. If I could frame it and put it up over the fireplace.....well, the wife would stop me but still:

Jays of the Day, a whole mess of them, a team effort: Lyle (.239 WPA), Rios (.198), Cy (.155), Bautista (.151) and Snakeface (.124).  Honorable mention Tallet (two good innings), and Lind (3 for 4). Suckage Jays: Purcey (-.299) , Barajas (-.133, 0 for 5 and at the wrong moments) and Mac (-.122, 0 for 4).

And the obligatory Cito rant, you've missed them haven't you?  In the 7th Wells and Lind singled. Cito replaced Lind with Wilk as a pinch runner, mostly to get Wilks glove into left. Now Cito apparently has already forgotten the game against the Yankees when Giradi replaced Giambi with Cody Ranson as a defensive replacement while the Yankees were in front. When the Jays came back it was Giambi's spot in the order that came to back with 2 outs in the 9th and the winning run on. Ransom was in that spot and he struck out to end the game.

So in this case, Cito forgetting history was almost doomed to repeat it. Fortunately we weren't behind when Wilk came to bat with the bases loaded and two out, but those extra insurance runs wouldn't have hurt. My big question is why didn't Cito pinch hit for Wilk when the Twins brought in a lefty? We have extra players because it is September. Why not pinch hit? Yeah Wilk is better defensively than anyone on our bench but not massively better. But, ok, he lets Wilk strike out swinging like a rusty gate, as we used to say. As it turned out it didn't matter but.......

Anyway, a great night offensively for us, 17 hits, 3 homers. Maybe we can do it again tomorrow for AJ against Nick Blackburn (9-8, 3.75). As Hugo said, in the game thread, if we were still in the race, this would be the kind of game that would have the fans going wild. As it is, it was a nice win.

Lots of good things out of this game, the last game the Jays will play at the House that Ruth Built. First of all, we beat a lefty, and we hit him often and hard. In 6.1 innings we got 10 hits and 6 runs off Pettitte. Three runs in the first inning. And we got Doc his 17th win. Three more to get to 20 and he should have 5 or 6 more starts.

And our big, slugging DH went 2 for 4 before jetting off to Arizona. He also got to take part in my favourite baseball strategy....he was made to bunt in the first inning. Scoot walked to lead off and then Eck bunted him to second. The classic one run strategy in the first inning. Fortunately the Jays beat it for 3 runs with singles from Rios and Wells and a double from Barajas. That right, Rios hit with RISP, but managed not to drive in the run as Leyva held Scoot up at third when Nady made a good throw from left.

That was Nady's good defensive play in the inning, he levelled things three batters later by making a terrible play on Barajas fly over his head, he turned the wrong way chasing it and turned a ball that could have been an out into a two run double.

That was all the runs Doc would need but we scored 3 more, one on a solo homer by Rolen that was very nice to see. I was worried that Rolen would be a singles hitter for the rest of the season but his homer wasn't a cheap one.

Offensively almost every Jay had a hand in our win. All the starts had at least one hit except for Lind who went 0 for 4 as the only lefty in the lineup vs. Pettitte. Even Mac got a single, to the opposite field, which I was glad to see. I know Cito said he hits better when he pulls the ball but, it seemed to me, he was trying to pull outside pitches for the past couple of weeks and it wasn't working. Sometimes you have to go the other way just to show you can.

Pitching, Doc was, as usual, very good. 7 Innings and only 2 runs allowed. He threw 103 pitches and I was very surprised when Cito pulled him after the 7th. I wasn't sure why he felt the need to use Downs for the 8th when we were up by 4 but we have the day off tomorrow. Downs pitched a scoreless inning in spite of hitting ARod and Giambi in back to back at bats. Now if you aren't going to allow them to score, there likely aren't two players I'd rather see plunked in the league. League came in to pitch a 1,2,3 9th. He has been great this year, he has a 2.08 ERA and Cito likes using him.

As you know by now, Eck was traded after the game. I don't know why Cito didn't like using him. Watching him throw the ball from short is great fun I know, but really he wasn't that bad and he's hitting .277, nothing to complain about on this team. I will bet, but I'm not going to do the work to prove this, that he was likely the lightest, shortest DH used in the majors today. I'm glad for him that he gets to go to a team that will let him play and have a good shot at the playoffs. I wasn't thrilled that we signed him but he's a very likeable player. Good luck to him. I was hoping the team might free Zaun as well but no such luck for him.

I'm not going to post the fangraph, it isn't that interesting today, but it is here for anyone that is interested. Our Jay of the Day is Doc (.180 WPA) with honorable mention to Big Rod (.098) and to Eck to take to Phoenix. We don't have a Suckage Jay today. Real team effort win.

That was the Jay's 100th win at Yankee Stadium, a nice round number to end at. Doc is 4-1, 2.50 against the Yankees this year, first pitcher to win 4 against them in a season since 1996. As mentioned, tomorrow is an off day and then the Twins come to town. Twins have a shot at the AL Central or the Wild Card still so we get to play spoiler once more.

Today's title comes from a beautiful song written by Steve Earle called Goodbye, a lament to lost love, Emmylou Harris has a nice version of it on her great CD Wrecking Ball. Hugo is enjoying a weekend away and I'm away tomorrow so an off day couldn't come at a better time. Enjoy your Labour Day.

The Yankees have signed Richie Sexson. I guess  signing a Mariner cast off is admitting you aren't an elite team any longer. But, he has hit lefties well (.334 with 5 home runs in 61 at bats this year) and can share time with Jason Giambi. I think I'd rather have Giambi out there full time, but then they don't pay me to be GM there.

And in other news, the A's traded Joe Blanton to the Phillies for three prospects: second baseman Adrian Cardenas, left-handed pitcher Josh Outman (was a great name for a pitcher) and outfielder Matt Spencer. It seems funny to me that the A's only 6 games out of first in the West and 4.5 out of the Wild Card spot would be sellers. Would have to figure the Wild Card leaders, the Rays, will fall back some, so you would think they would be in a good spot. But then, Blanton was 5-12 this year with a 4.96 ERA. He eats innings though.

Outman and Cardenas are very well thought of as prospects. Spencer has power but I wouldn't expect him to be a star in the majors. I think Beane will win this one in the long run.

The trade is interesting for the Jay's because the Phillies were one of the possible trade partners for them to unload AJ. But then it might make AJ more attractive with one less pitcher on the market. It might make the Mets eager to make a move to improve their pitching if they have anything we'd want.

The Jays Start a three game series against the Ray's tomorrow night with AJ (10-8, 4.96 ERA) going up against James Shields (7-6, 3.83). AJ is coming off an amazing start before the break. If he can do that again it would help his trade value. Doc will go up against Kazmir on Saturday in a battle of All-Stars and Litsch faces Garza on Sunday.

If we are going to catch up to the Rays this season, a series win, if not sweep, is needed here. The Rays came into the break with a 7 game losing streak, maybe we can keep their streak going.