Knuckle Curve » blue jays

J.P. Ricciardi: Roy Halladay Trade Deadline

Stephen Kersey — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:52:01 +0000

J.P. Ricciardi, the general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays, recently said that he will set a deadline for other teams to piece together a trade for star pitcher Roy Halladay. The date? July 28th — or a day prior to Halladay’s start on July 29th.

As of late, Halladay has been the hottest name in the trade rumor mill. Arguably the best pitcher in baseball, Halladay started for the American League in this year’s All-Star game.

On the season, Halladay has an 11-3 record to go along with a 2.73 ERA. The 6-foot-6 22-year-old is coming off of a season in which he won 20 games for the second time in his career.

What would it take to trade for Halladay? The Blue Jays aren’t going to trade him without getting a number of high-quality prospects. Many baseball experts believe that Ricciardi is looking for at least three prospects for the 32-year-old right-hander.

Halladay has pitched for the Blue Jays since 1998.

Roy Halladay Trade? (Image: Zuma Press)

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Frank Thomas Signs with the Athletics

Stephen Kersey — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:07:31 +0000

After clearing waivers, Frank Thomas signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics. We reported soon after Thomas was released by the Toronto Blue Jays that the Athletics had interest in the Big Hurt and the pairing became official on Thursday.

Thomas and the A’s wasted no time, as Thomas was in the lineup for the A’s on Thursday. Oakland responded positively, beating the Minnesota Twins 11-2. Thomas batted cleanup and had two walks and a run scored.

While Thomas is batting just .159 on the season, the A’s are confident that the 39-year-old will be able to turn it around. Last season, Thomas struggled in the first half of the season but shined after the All-Star game. In 252 at bats after the All-Star game, Thomas hit .306 with 12 homers and 52 RBIs.

Thomas seemed happy with his first showing as a new member of the A’s. Said Thomas to the Associated Press: “I didn’t feel out of place. It really felt like I just left. I’m happy to be back. I’m happy to shake the rust off today because they pitched me tough. I’m sure their game plan was not to give in because they knew I missed a whole week, so they threw some sliders and breaking balls and ran the ball in on me. I’m just happy we got a big win.”

Thomas played for the Blue Jays in 2006 and had 39 homers and 114 RBIs, while batting .270.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons from Frank Thomas’ previous stint with the A’s.

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Frank Thomas Cut – Big Hurt Destinations?

Stephen Kersey — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:18:58 +0000

Frank Thomas wasn’t pleased with a decrease in at bats and the Toronto Blue Jays were tired of waiting for his bat to come around. The two sides seemingly got what they wanted when the Blue Jays cut Thomas.

On the season, Thomas was batting .167 with three homers and 11 RBI for Toronto. The 39-year-old Thomas had started slowly the last few years before turning it up as the season went along. Toronto didn’t want to see if history would repeat itself and instead let him go.

The Blue Jays will likely rotate a number of players at DH now, most notably Matt Stairs. Stairs struggles in the field but he’s capable of swinging a big bat.

Watch as Frank Thomas hits his 500th career homer:

Where will Thomas end up? Despite his age and his slow start to the season, many teams will be interested. A return to the Oakland A’s is a possibility. The Seattle Mariners could use an upgrade at DH. The Texas Rangers were interested in Thomas a few years ago and could again make a run.

Thomas will end up somewhere, the questions is whether or not he’ll get a fulltime gig as a team’s DH. If he doesn’t, Thomas would likely retire before accepting a limited role.

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Young Pitchers and 958 Days of Rest

Geoff Young — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:58:43 +0000

So, what are we watching today? I’ll be out at the Padres/Astros game this afternoon, but here are Thursday’s top matchups:

Royals at Tigers, 10:05 a.m. PT — First off, Kansas City has taken the first two games of this series, which I’m sure nobody expect. Second, two talented yet enigmatic pitchers square off in this one. Zack Greinke appeared to get his career back on track in 2007 and looks to continue progressing this year, while Jeremy Bonderman tries to solve his first-inning woes and become the front-line pitcher folks have been anticipating.
Blue Jays at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT — Two more young arms — Dustin McGowan and Philip Hughes — hook up in New York this evening.
Pirates at Braves, 4:10 p.m. PT — Mike Hampton’s last big-league appearance came on August 19, 2005. He gets the start in this one. Working on 958 days of rest, he may be a tad rusty.

Play ball!

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Let’s Play Fourteen

Geoff Young — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:06:25 +0000

Fourteen games are on tap for Opening Day 2008. Sure, the Red Sox and A’s played some games in Japan, but nobody on this side of the pond watched, and the Nationals opened their new ballpark in the made-for-ESPN Sunday night game, but today is when the season really begins.

Ordinarily in this space I would tell you which games are most worth watching, but on Opening Day, they’re all worth watching. The first games (Blue Jays at Yankees, Royals at Tigers) start at 10:05 a.m. PT, while the last (Astros at Padres; of course, I’ll be there!) gets going at 7:05 p.m. PT.

I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am that baseball is back. Enjoy the games!

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