Happy Birthday David Price

David Price turns 34 today (I thought he was older).

Price was only with the Blue Jays for three months, but it was a pretty exciting three months.

We traded for him on July 30th, 2015. At the time we were 52-51, tied for second place 6 games behind the Yankees. After the trade, we went 41-18 and finished first place in the AL East. That led to a very exciting ALDS series with the Rangers and an almost as exciting ALCS with the Royals (unfortunately, without the right outcome).

Price would go 9-1, in 11 starts for the Jays (kind of amazing that would get 10 decisions in 11 starts), with a 2.30 ERA. He had a rough time in the playoffs.

We finished 6 games up on the Yankees. I don’t think one guy can cause a 12 game swing over 59 games, but it did seem that adding Price (and Troy Tulowitzki) brought a new energy to the team.

When he wasn’t pitching, he was a lot of fun to have around. He was head cheerleader, he loved Rogers Centre popcorn and he seemed to enjoy every moment. We were told how great he was with his teammates in the clubhouse.

After the season he signed as a free agent with the Red Sox, getting $217 million for 7 years. Almost four years through the contract, Price has a 46-24 record with a 3.85 ERA in 102 games, 97 starts. I wouldn’t suggest he’s been worth every penny, but he’s been pretty good, if a bit hot and cold. He’s also missed some time with injuries. At the moment he is on the IL.

Happy Birthday Price. I hope it is a good on.

Ex-Jays prospect Darin Mastroianni turns 34 today.

Darin appeared on our top 40 propects lists a few times. In 2011 he was #10 on the list. Before that he was 22nd and 26th on our lists.

We would end up losing him on waivers to the Twins before the 2012 season. He played for the Twins for parts of two seasons and 3 weeks, hitting .214/.286/.286 with 3 homers and 25 steals (caught 4 times) in 121 games.

In April 2014 we claimed him back off waivers. He would play just 14 games for us, hitting .156/.156/.250. From there he went to the Phillies, Nationals, back to the Twins (getting in another 7 MLB games) and Rangers.

His best season, in the majors was 2012. Playing in 77 games, he hit .252/.328/.350 with 21 steals. He was very good defensively in the outfield. He was often used as a pinch runner/defensive replacement that season.

I had hopes for Darin. In the minors he could take a walk, get on base and he was an excellent base stealer (he stole 70 bases splitting time between Dunedin and New Hampshire in 2009), but with no power, pitchers at higher levels threw him strikes and made him hit his way on base.

Happy birthday Darin.

Jayson Nix turns 37 today.

Nix had an 8 year MLB career, playing for 8 MLB teams.

He played 46 games for us in 2011, hitting .169/.256/.309 with 4 home runs. From there he went to to the Yankees and played two seasons there, filling in for the sometimes injured, sometime suspended Alex Rodriguez. He hit a little better there, .239/.307/.340 in 161 games over the two seasons. He would play one more season in the majors (for 3 teams).

In his seven seasons he hit .212/.282/.345 in 466 games.

Happy birthday Jayson.