Tuesday Mid-Morning Quickie - Open Thread

Greetings. Time has not been my friend the past few days, so I will keep this short. Here are some thoughts about some stuff as well as some opinions on things:

• Blue Jays-Red Sox rivalry: Even though I am already starting to get tired of this whole John Farrell as Toronto's Public Enemy Number One thing, I do like seeing the Blue Jays (and their fans) actually building up a real rivalry. It will take some time to reach the Jays-Tigers hatred of the '80s, but it tickles me a little to see Farrell feeling uneasy already. When some reporter asked the question hundreds of fans have wanted to ask--whether the Jays' big moves have changed his mind about leaving for his "dream job"--Farrell replied, "if memory serves me correct, I was traded." And when asked whether he and his old boss will reconnect before Monday's game against the Red Sox, Adam Lind said "I won’t seek him out [...] I don’t think he’ll be looking for us." Building passion for the team and sport through rivalry is a good thing. Thank you, John and Adam. Now it's time for the media from each city to get at each other!
• Freedom of expression: On a related item, I think I have found by absolute favourite SB Nation FanPost ever down at Over The Monster. Of course it is not representative of the majority of Red Sox fans, but it's fun to pretend it is.
• Win-win situation: When Sportsnet announced that it will be broadcasting every single Blue Jays spring training game, I though that it was a great thing for us baseball-starved fans. But veteran baseball radio host Mike Wilner and recently-retired baseball player and best-selling author Dirk Hayhurst also benefit because they get to add a bunch of game-calling experience to their portfolios. I listened to parts of the Monday game at work and found that the Wilner-Hayhurst duo was surprisingly entertaining. The two of them arrived at the broadcast booth from two completely different backgrounds and experiences and really complemented each other very well, especially when they disagreed. I hope that they can sustain it throughout the long spring training schedule. I'd like to hear Hayhurst try some play-by-play calling, but perhaps that will come later on in the spring. You can listen to them for free online--you don't need an MLB Gameday Audio subscription to do so. Just sign up for a free MLB.com account first then login when you click "Listen" on BlueJays.com during the game.
• Happ-less: J.A. Happ is a major league starting pitcher. Maybe not a very good one, but he has done well enough since he became a regular in 2009 to not have to plan to bus around the International League and to rent a place in Buffalo. Sure, he's being paid major league money ($3.7 million), but I still feel for the guy. If you were him, would you rather be in Toronto being in the bullpen doing mop-up duty, but risk being pigeonholed into that role, or be the ace of the Bisons this year and stay as a starter to get better deals going forward?
• You have an option, sir: The most recent waiver acquisition, Lars Anderson, was added to Red Sox' 40-man roster on September 6, 2010 (according to Cot's Contracts), and according to Baseball-Reference.com, he was optioned in 2011 and 2012, so he still has one more option year left in 2013. That means the Blue Jays would not have to risk losing him on waivers by designating him for assignment in order to send him to the AAA Bisons. The Blue Jays can still pick up more players on waivers because several spots on the 40-man roster can be freed up by placing players (like Drew Hutchison, Dustin McGowan, and David Cooper) on the 60-day disabled list when the need comes along.
• April means baseball: The lone remaining Blue Jays and Canadian candidate for the MLB Fan Cave, April Whitzman, wrote about her experience last week in Arizona hanging out with the other candidates.
• Predictions: Blue Jays Way posted a summary of all the player predictions they've made in the past month. They are quite optimistic about the health of everyone outside of Josh Johnson.
• Visiting Tom: Bob Elliot took some time to visit Tom Cheek's grave to tell him about his Ford C. Frick Award.
• Birthday Parties!: Happy birthday to present and past Jays Jose Reyes, Josh Towers, Mark DeRosa, Scott Service, and Kelly Gruber!
• GIF of the Day: The GIF of the day goes to Matt from the House of the Bluebird, comparing Anthony Gose's catch on Sunday with Devon White's from the 1992 World Series.