To absolutely not one's surprise, AJ Burnett is opting out of his contract and will be a free agent. We should have a pool on how many years and how much money he gets out of some team. I'm not sure that whoever signs him will get enough innings from him to make the money worthwhile. But that might be sore grapes.
The Jays picked up Les Walrond on waivers from the Phillies. Wes, who will be 32 on Friday, has had three cups of coffee in the majors over the last 5 years and has a 7.07 ERA in 35 total major league innings. But the lefty did well as a starter last year in AAA, striking out 8.8 batters per 9 innings with a 3.61 ERA. Looks like he walks too many, but JP seems to be grabbing up as many left handed pitchers as he can find. He'll fill the hole left by Zaun in the 40 man roster.
Add in shortstop Angel Sanchez and right handed pitcher Kelvin Jimenez who the Jays claimed off waivers yesterday and JP seem to be collecting players that won't be helping the team win. Yeah, I know, not fair, all teams make these little moves this time of year. Hopefully we'll see some big moves this winter as well.
The people at Beyond the Boxscore have been running series of posts ranking players by position. The latest is a ranking of shortstops and, in a total surprise to me, Marco Scutaro rate as the 7th best SS in the Major Leagues. It is mostly due to his defensive rating which is best among all shortstops. Don't believe me. Here, look for yourself.
Oh, and other news, the United States has a new leader. Congratulations. The change over of government without a shot being fired is something that should be celebrated.