Wednesday Grist

Evidently Ty Wigginton is aiming for a contract bigger than Casey Blake's three-year $17.5M job. So... I'm guessing that's going to put the Jays out of the running.

If they do end up doing anything in that regard, I imagine it's not likely to be until the market comes down a bit. Plus, if they keep waiting, they can cross their fingers for the scenario that DRays Bay suggests: "If one of the available DHs pushed for a short deal in order to test a hopefully resurgent market within a year or two, that just works into their hands even more." Mmm hmm.

Now, perhaps I'm being a little too hung up on Wigger here, but I am kind of crossing my fingers that he doesn't sign somewhere before winding up in exactly that scenario. I just like the versatility he'd bring, I guess. But at the price, given the Jays' current situation... yeah, fuck it.

In other news, Rocco Baldelli has found out that the illness he suffers is less serious, and more easily treatable than previously believed. I'm not sure what I think of the idea, but taking a flier on an oft-injured guy who hasn't been good for a few years-- and happens to also be an Italian Masshole? I wonder if that sounds like a recipe someone in the Jays' F.O. might like. . .

Incidentally, I was recently told that Italians are genetically predisposed to like Bruce Springsteen. Can this possibly be true? Because playing the "race" card like that seemed to me like a cheap way to get off the losing side of a The Clash Are Better Than Springsteen argument.

The always-excellent Mop Up Duty checks in with some (much needed?) realism, wondering how on earth it's come to pass that people actually believe Ricky Romero is a viable rotation option for the Jays. "If Jays fans or the front office expect anything below a 4.50 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP in 2009 I frankly think they’re kidding themselves," they say. "If he was a 6th round pick instead of 6th overall I doubt he’d even be mentioned for a roster spot."

And here's a well put-together reminder that Alan Ashby-- or, if you prefer, Buns-- was a first-hand witness to the Jays' inaugural season, a club with a roster that "might lead one to believe that the team’s executives decided to field a team of players that just happened to fall to them, like a collection of damaged drifters who all end up in the same run-down coastal outpost, drinking tequila shots at tables for one and nervously keeping an eye on the door."

Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch keeps pushing the idea of the Cardinals trading for BJ Ryan, but openly wonders whether the Cards have anything the Jays would want. Um... salary relief? Also: note to JP: Find something.

While we're making pointless notes to people we don't know, hey Jim Balsillie, could you maybe buy the Jays already. Please, please don't let it fall into the hands of those shitfucks at MLSE. I'm begging you. PCVS Pride, brother. Help your fellow alumni out.

Hey, the Cubs' single-A team, the Peoria Chiefs, have hired another former Gibbers lieutenant, Marty Pevey, as their manager.