It’s all going Wells
What a revelation for Vernon Wells.
After being booed for two seasons by the Blue Jays faithful, the club’s centre fielder now knows what he has to do to win the fans’ love back.
Which is … flirt with the American League batting title and rewrite the Major League record book for home runs and RBI.
Discovering the cure for most major diseases wouldn’t hurt either.
Who knew it could be that easy?
Prior to Monday night’s home opener, Wells was hitting .350 with four homers and seven RBI in six games, which put him on pace this season for 108 homers and 189 RBI.
And when he was introduced before his first at-bat at the Rogers Centre, he was cheered.
And when he smashed a homer to deep centre field, with Adam Lind on board, to give Toronto a 6-4 lead, he was cheered even louder.
So it’s simple, really.
Put together the greatest season ever by a major leaguer, and all is forgiven.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely Wells will continue his now-116 home run, 208 RBI pace.
Click here to read the full article – By STEVE BUFFERY of http://www.ottawasun.com
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Jays’ GM willing to give teams time to talk contract with Halladay before making trade
In an apparent departure from his predecessor, Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos will give teams interested in trading for ace right-hander Roy Halladay a window to discuss a contract extension with the pitcher.
The Blue Jays’ Web site reports Anthopoulos would allow teams to talk to Halladay about an extension if it means the interested team will improve its trade offer. Halladay is signed through next season.
Former GM J.P. Ricciardi opposed the idea of a contract window when he was shopping Halladay last summer.
Click here to read the full article – By of sportingnews.com
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Halladay: GM stood up for him
Roy Halladay wanted to set the record straight.
During those crazy days at the end of July when J.P. Ricciardi was testing the trade market for Halladay, it was presumed by many that the Blue Jays GM was unnecessarily embarrassing the franchise’s crown jewel.
Not true, says Halladay.
“J.P. always looked out for my best interests,” Halladay said yesterday. “That was lost in a lot of that. I think people blamed him for that. Knowing the situation, the team was in and my situation, he was looking out for my best interests.
“He took a lot of flak for that and he shouldn’t have. I’ll always appreciate that he did stand up and defend me. I always thought that he was in my corner. He is a tremendous man and somebody I enjoyed working with. He had a lot to do with my career.”
Click here to read the full article – By KEN FIDLIN of Slam.Canoe.ca
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Angry Jays turn on manager Gaston: Reports
Players speak off the record against manager Cito Gatson
The Toronto Blue Jays are about to end a disappointing season on a very sour note. Players are fed up with Cito Gaston and ready to make it known they do not want the manager to return next season, according to two published reports this morning.
“It’s nearly a mutiny right now,” one source said in a report published at Foxsports.com. “He has lost the entire team.”
According to a story by The Canadian Press, players have spoken about the situation over the past few weeks, but only if their names were not used. CP reports some players wanted to speak to senior team officials first – and to avoid the news leaking while the team was playing home.
The Blue Jays begin their final series of the season tonight in Baltimore.
One player told CP there was simply “constant negativity” coming from the manager’s office. Another noted that Gaston once said “there aren’t any good players in here.”
Gaston’s in-game decision making has also been a target of criticism this season, as it was during first tenure as Jays manager from 1989-97.
One player was asked by CP how many others felt the same way, he replied: “Just about everyone.”
Click here to read the full article – By Star Staff of TheStar.com
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Purcey passes Jays’ audition
The Blue Jays have been waiting a long time for David Purcey to realize his potential. The big lefty showed flashes of his ability on the mound last season and was trusted with a spot in the club’s rotation when this year began.
On Monday night, Purcey helped lead the Blue Jays to a 9-2 victory over the Orioles at Rogers Centre, but it was a win that was a long time coming for the pitcher. The win was Purcey’s first in more than a year for Toronto — a drought that Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston did not expect.
“I didn’t think so,” Gaston said. “He’s still a kid, too, I guess.”
At 27 years old and with enough Major League service time to no longer be considered a rookie, Purcey is hardly a kid anymore. He was supposed to be a fixture in Toronto’s staff this year — rather that someone who needed another four months of seasoning on the farm with Triple-A Las Vegas.
Click here to read the full article – By Jordan Bastian of MLB.com
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Snider leads Jays’ homer charge
The field was littered with equipment. A handful of helmets and bats were scattered in the grass down the first-base line at Yankee Stadium, and in the dirt behind home plate, the chest protector belonging to Blue Jays catcher Rod Barajas was abandoned.
A few minutes earlier, New York’s Shelley Duncan was gripping the straps of that chest guard, pulling Barajas out from the bottom of a dogpile during a heated altercation between the Jays and Yankees during the eighth inning of Toronto’s 10-4 victory on Tuesday night.
The late-inning eruption — ignited when Yankees catcher Jorge Posada took exception to a very wild pitch from reliever Jesse Carlson — overshadowed a game filled with positives for the Blue Jays. Toronto matched a season high with five home runs, including two from rookie Travis Snider, and ace Roy Halladay was effective in earning his 15th win of the year.
Click here to read the full article – By Jordan Bastian of MLB.com
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Hill, Lind a surprisingly productive pair
Simply put, there is just one other 1-2 punch offensively in the Majors that has more combined RBIs than Toronto’s Aaron Hill and Adam Lind.
That may come as a surprise to many fans because the Blue Jays aren’t in the pennant race, and Hill and Lind don’t have an aura of star power attached to their names that more experienced and established players enjoy. They both entered Monday’s finale against the Tigers with 97 RBIs.
Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria (103) and Carlos Pena (100) and Boston’s Jason Bay (101) and Victor Martinez (97) had more combined RBIs entering Monday’s game. And with Pena on the disabled list with a broken finger for the remainder of the year, it is likely the Toronto pair will have a chance to take over that lead. And the majority of Martinez’s RBIs came with the Indians before a July trade to the Red Sox.
Click here to read the full article – By Mike Scott of MLB.com
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Snider continues to make adjustments
The life of a rookie in the Major Leagues is about making adjustments — adjustments at the plate, in the outfield and on the mound. And sometimes being a rookie is about dressing up as a Toronto Argonauts cheerleader.
The Blue Jays have plenty of rookies going through this process. Outfielder Travis Snider is one of many. And those adjustments will extend beyond the end of this regular season. So while Snider’s attention on Tuesday will be focused on beating the Yankees in New York, his long-term view of how to improve at the big league level doesn’t stop in early October.
Click here to read the full article – By Mike Scott of MLB.com
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