The Wednesdays

Anybody else as overwhelmingly foggy this morning as I am? Holy shit, I'm not sure I'm quite ready to resume real life after an epic extendo holiday weekend. I thought yesterday was bad when a hundred hacks at a batting cage made me want to take a two hour nap-- which I would have done if I hadn't been sucked in by Beau's flashy new copy of a cinematic masterpiece that this man-animal likes to call Battlefield Earth.

Anywho, last night's game was one that I can almost take losing. Almost.

I say that because at least the hitters were decent, and it was the bullpen who shit the bed-- like a normal team. I mean, obviously it was a bit of a hand-chop to the throat when it all went down, especially at the hands of one of the shittiest players on the shittiest team in baseball, but bullpens do explode from time to time. Especially ones with Shawn Camp in them. But let's forget about all that. Here's some stuff...

Jays and Dodgers Talking?
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that Matt Stairs would be a great fit for the Dodgers, who are looking for an upgrade over Mark Sweeney as a left-handed bench-warmer. The teams have talked, he says, but he reports that the Jays aren't ready to raise the white flag on the season just yet.

Grudzy?
Our friends at MLB Trade Rumors are saying that Mark Grudzielanek wants to play two more years and might be a possibility at the trade deadline for the Jays-- but unless Ricciardi was going really hard after him in 2003 and sees that he can finally get him, I'm not really sold on that.

So are the Cubs Looking at Burnett or What?
MLB Trade Rumors points out that, while Jason Stark said on Thursday that the Cubs haven't even considered trading for AJ Burnett, Peter Gammons says that they "keep looking" at our favourite mistake. Though he goes on to say that the Marcum injury makes it less likely that the Jays will move Burnett. Since, y'know, the Jays can't tank too much, because they've got to reach those attendance mandates.

O How the Shitty Have Fallen
Forgive my bout of schadenfreude here, but I must admit I kind of find it a little hilarious that ol' Shea Hillenbrand has joined the illustrious ranks of former major leaguers who've tried to work their way back to the big leagues by toiling in the independent Atlantic League. Hey, it almost worked for Edgardo Alfonzo, Pedro Borbón, Jr., José Offerman, Donovan Osborne, Bill Pulsipher, Armando Ríos, John Rocker, and Mark Whiten.

Two Things I Missed: Part I
Yeah, so lately I've been lazy. Here's something from at least a week ago that I had wanted to post, but didn't really bother. I know, I know, we suck Wilner's cock too much, but here's how he responded to a comment on his blog in the wake of Gibbons' firing and questions about his leadership, which I thought was pretty good:

John Gibbons could effectively lead the offense to reach its potential in 2006, but the team didn’t pitch well. The last two seasons, he was able to effectively lead the pitching staff, but the team didn’t hit. I’m not sure how that works into the entire argument. Are you saying that there’s something inherently lacking in Gibbons that prevents the team from having all facets working together at the same time? That I don’t believe. I don’t think there was any player who was confused as to where he stood with Gibby, nor was there any player who believed that he didn’t have his back. Can the (relative) disappearance of Alex Rios be blamed on Gibbons? If so, how do you explain the last two years? There seem to be more than a few contradictions to the leadership issue as it describes John Gibbons, which is why I dont put a lot of stock in it. If the Jays just hit .260 with RISP like they did the rest of the time over the first 74 games of the season, John Gibbons would be a great leader of men.

Two Things I Missed: Part II
As everybody in the universe already knows, Will Leitch's last week at Deadspin has just passed, and I figured that I might as well give a nod to the fine work he's done over there, and also to point out how he nailed his "what a load of bullshit" response to a piece by David Wharton in the L.A. Times that declares the coming end of the "wild times" of sports blogs as bloggers look to gain respectability and curb their profane rumour-mongering as their audiences grow.

Seriously. Fucking. Nailed it.