Earlier today, it was reported that Tomokazu Ohka is now a member of the Blue Jays. He'll have to slug it out with Casey Janssen, John Thomson, Josh Towers, Sean Marcum, and perhaps others for the final two spots in the rotation.
From mybaseballbias.com :
According to Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com, the Blue Jays have signed Ohka to a one year deal possibly worth $750-$1M, pending a physical. Also, Rosenthal reports that Ohka turned down a two year deal with the National and the Pirates so he can become a free agent after the 2007 season.*
The 30 year old Ohka has been around the block so to speak, pitching for five teams since 1999 (Boston, Montreal, Milwaukee twice, Washington and now Toronto). He's compiled a 48-58 record and a 4.04 ERA over that time and should add depth to the Blue Jays rotation.
Most of my friends in Toronto only know about Ohka because his name was mentioned on The Simpsons. Now they'll be able to see him in person. Whether they'll be impressed by what they see, though, remains to be seen.
Update: Apparently Jeff Blair from The Globe and Mail reported different figures than Rosenthal's:
Ohka, who was 4-5 in 18 starts for the Milwaukee Brewers this past season, agreed on a one-year contract worth $1.5 million (all figures U.S.) with incentives that could push its value up to $3 million.