Today in Bluebird Banter History

Two Years Ago Today, we had a pretty busy day on the site.

First: The big trade with the Marlins was finally official and we finally knew all the moving parts. Just as a reminder:To Toronto Blue Jays:

SP Mark Buehrle, SP Josh Johnson, SS Jose Reyes, IF/OF Emilio Bonifacio, C John Buck + an undisclosed amount of cash considerations

To Miami Marlins:
SS Yunel Escobar, SS Adeiny Hechavarria, SP Henderson Alvarez, C Jeff Mathis, P Justin Nicolino, OF Jake Marisnick, P Anthony DeSclafani

Who figured that, two years later, Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle would be the last ones standing?

I wish we could take a look into an alternate universe, where the Jays didn't make that trade, to see what might have been.

Later in the day: The Blue Jays made it official that they had signed Melky Cabrera to a 2-year, $16 million contract.

What an interesting two years it has been. The first season, Melky was terrible. slow, no power, hitting a weak .279/.322/.360 in just 88 games. It's fair t say we weren't very happy with him, but then, after the season, we found out he had a tumor in his back that caused his problems.

The second year, last season, he was much better, hitting.301/.351/.458 and playing a much better (if still slightly below average) left field, before missing the last month of the year with a broken finger.

If he had the seasons reversed, he wouldn't be in for such a big payday this off-season.

And still later in the day, after midnight in the east, we found out that John Gibbons was hired as manager. (Minor Leaguer had a busy day, he also posted that Marty Brown was named manager of the Buffalo Bisons,he had a post on reissued Blue Jays jersey numbers and he looked at the big trade by the numbers) (6 posts in one day, he was trying to make the rest of us look bad).

That was one interesting day.

Other things happened on this day in BBB history too:

Three Years Ago Today:

The Jays gave us a look at our new jerseys.

The reviews were great. In our poll 81% of voters said the new jerseys were 'great', 9% said 'at least they are better than the black', 5% said 'bring back the powder blues' and 4% said 'hate them'.

Five Years Ago Today:

I used something that the Drunks wrote (I'm sad I won't be saying the Drunks anymore) as a springboard to complain about how the Jays PR department  deals with blogs. I finished with:

We aren't the enemy. We want the best for the team, we aren't going to spend every post trying to get the GM fired because we think we should have the job. We aren't going to roast them, unless, you know, we feel they need roasting.

Five years later....I don't care anymore. On my understanding days I think that the overworked and doesn't have time to deal with blogs, but on most days I don't think about the PR department, they aren't going to change, there isn't any value in worrying about things you can't effect.

Six Years Ago Today:

Hugo wrote about J.P. Ricciardi stating that the Jays wouldn't be signing any free agents. Hugo didn't understand why:

The Jays are down significantly in payroll from last season, with no one due a big raise through arbitration. They need a starter and a dh, at the very least, quite badly but they don't have extra major-leaguers to trade and they don't want to give away their few prize prospects. It would seem that free agency is the perfect way for them to augment the roster, and yet JP is ruling it out? Furcal won't even cost draft picks (and Bradley is only a Type B), so they're especially good deals as they will truly only cost money.

Seven Years Ago Today:

Achengy reported that the Blue Jays had traded prospects Kristian Bell and Graham Godfrey to the A's for Marco Scutaro. If only all trades went that well.

Eight Years Ago Today:

Slitheringslider wrote about the Jays signing free agent Frank Thomas to a two-year contract worth $18 million, with an option for a third year at $12 million. Thomas was released a month into his second season with the team. In total he hit .266/.369/.465 with 29 home runs and 106 RBI as a Blue Jay, but he was hitting just .167/.306/.333 after 16 games in 2008 and he didn't react too well to the Jays decision to bench him. The A's picked him up, but he didn't hit much for them either and he retired after the season.