Monday Bantering: Blue Jays Rumors

There are a couple of Blue Jays rumors out there.

Susan Slusser, at SFGate.com, has a little bit that I hadn't heard before:

According to two sources, the A's are getting calls about their left-handed hitters, including Jaso, who was recently cleared for all activity after missing the end of the season with a concussion for the second year in a row. Toronto has some interest in Jaso as a potential backup for Russell Martin, and the A's have inquired about Blue Jays left-hander Sean Nolin, sources said.

I don't see the point in going after John Jaso, but, I guess, if Navarro is traded, the team would like a better backup than Josh Thole. A lefty bat on the bench would be a useful thing. If he comes for Nolin, I'm ok with it. I'd rather have the other lefty batters she mentions as possibly available. I'd love to have Josh Reddick. Brandon Moss would be interesting too.

And, over in the Star, Richard Griffin tells us that the Jays are still in the hunt for Melky Cabrera.

Cabrera is good - you need to have seen him every day to realize what a solid player he is - and a four- or five-year deal would not be a stretch for the Jays if he stays healthy. The guy is tough and likes to play every day, even if banged up a little. But from the outside, you would see just 88 games in 2013 with various injuries that suggested a body breaking down a year after testing positive for PEDs. In fact, those injuries were related to a life-threatening tumour halfway up his spine, discovered in August and successfully removed, allowing for a healthy 2014 until September.

Five years will be longer than i'd like to go for Melky but I guess with the Red Sox signing Hanley Ramirez and still being in on Pablo Sandoval, the Jays might have to do something to keep up with the Jones.

I'm sure Alex has a number of balls in the air at the moment. If I'm him, I'm trying to figure if i'd like to improve defense out in left. If he brings Melky back for 5 years, at some point you'd be wanting to move him to DH (maybe 2015?). If Melky's locked up for 5 years, what will the Jays be doing with other guys that they might want to be DHing some like Encarnacion and Bautista. Are they planing to extend both of them?

And, not so much a rumor, but Dirk Hayhurst discusses Jerry Howarth's view of R.A. Dickey. I like this paragraph (but go over and read the whole thing, big words and all)::

Look, it takes all kinds to win folks, and unless a player is going out of his way to make his team look like a joke-like, say, painting homophobic slurs in his eye black- you find a way to assimilate his persona. Besides, if RA really is a man unto himself out there, he's certainly not the only one. There are plenty of times you could say that Melky was that way, or EE, or even Joey Bats in their careers. Furthermore, you think that's the reason the team isn't winning, that RA has that much power over the team, you're nuts. Asking him to pitch better is one thing. Asking him to be more involved... that's something else.

I agree with Dirk, expecting all players to have the same personalities is silly. R.A. is different than the average ball player. Dickey is introspective, likely introverted, he had a childhood that you wouldn't wish on anyone, he reads, he writes, he likely feels like he doesn't fit in (you think Dirk maybe can empathize with him?).

I really don't care if a player makes friends with members of the media or not. I don't care if they are outgoing or if they are quiet around their teammates. Any workplace will have people of differing personalities

Mike Wilner, interviewed on the Fan 590 yesterday and, among the things he said "it was a terrible clubhouse last year towards the end of the year" and people "told me it was the most dysfunctional clubhouse ever".  "I don't that a guy like Russell Martin can exert his influence all that much". He seemed to think that Colby and Lind leaving will improve things and, of course, he thinks a few more wins would make it all better.

I'm pretty sure that any team that had been in first, early in the season, and then dropped out of contention, would have a less than fun clubhouse. It really isn't a part of the game that interests me.