Breaking News: Blue Jays Trade For Edwin Jackson Then Trade Him To Cardinals (3 UPDATES)

"The Blue Jays acquired starter Edwin Jackson and third baseman Mark Teahen from the White Sox for reliever Jason Frasor and starter Zach Stewart, tweets Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune. The deal also includes a cash exchange of more than $1MM (MLBTradeRumors)."

Man, it seems like Jackson gets traded every year (5th time in his career). Unless the Blue Jays can resign Jackson this deal makes no sense to me. The Blue Jays are 11 games out of the playoffs right now and basically have no shot at making it. Although they didn't give up very much it seems odd, unless like I said they resign him. If they do (and I think they will) then I think this is a very nice trade for the Blue Jays that have a young nucleus to build around.

I also like this deal for the White Sox. They have been riding a 6 man rotation and there is really no need for that. Most likely they weren't going to resign Jackson in the offseason, so getting something for him is huge. Plus, Frasor is a very good reliever and that is something the White Sox have been needing all season. I know the White Sox's bullpen is ranked 3rd in the AL in ERA, but anyone who watches them know they have been needing some help out there.


***UPDATE***

"Jackson could ultimately end up in St. Louis for Rasmus, according to a Cardinals official familiar with the deal. He could take the rotation spot of Kyle McClellan in St. Louis as a result, though the details are still being ironed out (Sportsline)."

Ahh, that makes a little more sense. We'll let you know if this becomes official.

***UPDATE 2***

A trade of Rasmus to the Blue Jays for Jackson, Dotel, and Rzepczynski is imminent, reports Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

***UPDATE 3***

The Cardinals will send Rasmus, Trever Miller, Brian Tallet, and P.J. Walters to the Blue Jays for Jackson, Rzepczynski, Dotel, and Corey Patterson, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.

6 Sox, 4 Jays

Fucking Tim Wakefield and his career 198 wins took care of the Blue Jays last night by going 7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 K's and more importantly saved the bullpen who had pitched a ton the night before due to Lesters bad back.

Ellsbury and Youk touched up Toronto ace Ricky Romero by going 3-for-5, with a homer, 2 doubles, and 3 RBI. Jacoby also stole his AL leading, 28th stolen base of the season. Youkilis went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, and 2 doubles.

Papelbon came in in the 9th and let up a run because he's a doofus. Good game, good win.

Blue Jays @ Red Sox Preview

Red Sox almost blew that game last night, and the offense still needs to kick it back into high gear. That could be tough tonight with the underrated Ricky Romero on the hill for the Jays. Romero is only 7-7 on the season, but deserves much better with a 2.75 ERA. What Boston does have going for them is that Romero hasn't been very good against the Sox in his career (7.71 ERA over his last five games against the Red Sox) and Youk should be back in the lineup tonight.

The Wake gets the start for the Sox and he has had a tough go of it lately letting up 5 runs in each of the last two games he has pitched in. On top of that he has lost three straight in this series while compiling an 8.59 ERA.

I wish I could say I like the Sox chances tonight, but I think Romero is due for a big game against the Sox and the Jays just seem to have the Wake's number.

Jays win 6-3
Player of the Game: Travis Snider
Game starts at 7:10pm

3 Sox, 2 Jays

Jon Lester was cruising and it looked if he was going to have another great outing until he complained about his back and got pulled in the 5th. Gordon Edes tweeted that Lester has a strained latissumus dorsi and is looking like he may miss some time. That just sucks because the Sox can't really afford another pitcher going down. With Clay Buchholz out for a long period of time, Dice K getting Tommy John and John Lackey being the worst player of all time, Lester going down could be devastating. I guess he will be replaced with Felix Doubront or Michael Bowden.

The Sox got ahead early thanks to Jason Queeritek and JD Drew. In the 2nd inning, Varitek hit a double to bring home David Ortiz and Drew singled afterwards to bring home the Queer. In the 3rd, Dustin Pedroia hits one over the Monster for his eighth home run of the year and what turns out to be the difference maker.

The bullpen was great, for the exception of the 2 run bomb let up by Papelbon to HGH Bautista.

But the play of the game has to be in the 9th, when Darnell McDonald "threw out" Edwin Encarnacion to end the game. The play was even better because it ended the game and because if they called the play correctly the score would have been tied.

Blue Jays @ Red Sox Preview

Jon Lester is on the hill and he will do his best to make us forget that Lackey is on this team. Lester is coming off one of his best starts to the season going 7 innings against the Phillies allowing no runs, 2 hits with 5 Ks. If that wasn't good enough he is also 6-1 with a 3.47 ERA in his last eight starts versus the Blue Jays, allowing two or fewer runs in six of those outings.

Going against him is Brett Cecil who is having a tough year (1-3 7.24 ERA), but his lone win did come against the Sox on April 15, when he allowed three runs and two hits.

Boston is most likely going to be without Youk, and with Crawford already out the Sox are a bit shorthanded. Still, I expect them to blow the doors off this team. You could see them starting rolling last game, and if it wasn't for Lackey being the worst player ever the Sox would've won. With Lester out there tonight, I don't see them losing.

Sox win 7-3
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm

9 Blue Jays, 7 Red Sox

That is John Lackey's wife.... she's hot. He on the other hand is the worst thing that has ever happened to the Red Sox. He went 2.1 innings let up 7 er and 9 hits in another game that makes me want to jab scissors through my eyes. I fucking hate him so fucking much.

Positives we scored 7 runs.

Negatives: John Lackey and this stupid hangover.

You know what it's not even worth writing posts when John Lackey pitches because it is depressing and stupid.

14 Red Sox, 1 Blue Jays

Fuck, the Red Sox are really good.

It going to be a bad day for any team when you have the Red Sox offense clicking and Jon Lester pitching well on the mound.

David Ortiz, Youk, Pedroia, and A Gon all homered in yet another route of the Blue Jays for their 9th straight win. Lester pitched masterfully, which we haven't seen in a little bit. He walked just one batter and struck out eight while earning his second win in three starts against the Blue Jays this season.

Life has been great, if the Bruins can just pull it out all we be well in Boston.

Red Sox @ Blue Jays Preview

So the Red Sox blew another chance to be .500, and now they have Lackey on the hill. Great, this should be fun.

Lackey started the year terrible letting up a total of 15 runs in two games (Yanks, Rangers), but then had 3 good games. On a close look those three teams were shit (Oak, Seattle, LAA), and then he turned around and got lit up by the Angles. So, what do I think of Lackey? I think he fucking blows, and I am sick of his stupid face. I defended the signing of him, and I feel sick to my stomach that I did. DP was right, this guy is shit and is turning into my Red Sox Troy Murphy, except he actually plays (which might make him worse).

The Jays are going with Jesse Litsch tonight. He has had a decent comeback after being out all last year (3-2 4.04 ERA). Litsch is coming off his best start of the year, allowing 1 run, 4 hits, while strikingout 9 in 6 1/3 innings of a 7-4 victory over the Tigers.

The good news for the Sox is that their offense does seem to be rolling. The Jays are not a great an offense team, so the Sox should win this game, but Lackey does have a way of making even bad teams look great.

Sox win 9-7
Player of the Game: Gonzalez
Game starts at 7:07pm

Red Sox 6 Blue Jays 7

The Red Sox once again blew the chance to be .500. This game was really odd. It started with Ellsbury getting picked off at 2nd base in the top of the 1st. Then in the bottom of the inning Lester had control problems walking 3 batter including walking a guy home. The Sox had a chance to get out of the inning, but couldn't turn a double play, and Gonzalez dropped an seemingly easy ball to catch. All of this put the Sox down 3-0 early, and Lester was furious punching the wall in the dugout.

Lester had a right to be pissed. Yes, he had control problems, but he was really getting squeezed by the umpire. It looked for awhile that Lester was going to boil over, and even had to be held back by Pedroia, but he was able to calm himself down. Even after the first Lester wasn't himself letting up 5 runs over 5 1/3 innings walking a season high 5 batters, letting up 7 hits and strikingout 5.

It was really too bad, because the Red Sox offense came to play last night. Gonzalez had 2 HRs and 3 RBIs, which puts him tied for the lead in the AL for RBIs (with Konerko and Beltre). Ortiz also went deep, and has looked great at the plate.

The problem once again for the Sox was mistakes. They just aren't playing good baseball. Crawford got thrown out at the plate in the 4th inning. It seemed to me that he went a little wide with his turn, but I really question why he was even sent in the first place, because it really wasn't even that close. We already went over their mistakes in the first inning, but the worst came near the end of the game. Tek/Albers let Rajai Davis steal 2nd and 3rd, which is just pointing out a glaring problem with this team. The Sox flat out can't throw anyone out, and on top of that Salty was being criticized during the game for bad glove placement. I don't know much about what a catcher should be doing with a pitcher, but Gregg Zaun was ripping him all game for how he was handling the pitchers all game.

There are some thing to be excited about with this team. Crawford is getting going, Ellsbury looks like he is going to be good all year, Gonzalez is as good as advertised, Ortiz is hitting and usually get even better as it gets warmer. On top of that Beckett seems to be back to form, but its the little mistakes like getting picked off for no reason, fielding errors, base running errors, not turning double plays, and so on are going that are killing this team.

With the loss the Sox are 4 1/2 games back of the Yankees in the AL East.

Red Sox @ Blue Jays Preview

Here we are again. The Red Sox within one game of being .500. Can they do it?

I can't believe that's what I'll be rejoicing about, but hey it could be worse. Carl Crawford was once again the Hero last night, and things seemed to be lined up well for the Sox to be back at .500 with Lester on the hill.

Lester has been awesome this year going 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA and 46 Ks in 46 1/3 innings and only 15 walks. He has been pretty damn good in his career against the Blue Jays as well going 8-4 with a 3.30 ERA. Plus, he is catching the Jays at a great time since they 2-9 in their last 11 games.

Going against Lester is youngster Kyle Drabek who started really hot, but has dropped his last 2 games. Overall his numbers are good for a rookie (2-2 4.50 ERA), but he really needs to stay away from the walks as he has 25 walks in 38 innings (28 Ks). That could be bad news against a very patient Red Sox lineup.

This will be the first time the Red Sox are going against Drabek, so I think their bats will be quiet in the first couple innings, but the 2nd time through the lineup they will figure him out and I don't see him lasting more then 5 innings.

Red Sox win 6-1
Player of the Game: Lester
Game starts at 7:07pm

9 Blue Jays, 3 Red Sox

I really wish the reverse happened in this picture and Nick Adenhart was morning John Lackey's death because he is the worst thing that ever happened to Boston sports and maybe even Boston in general.

Lackey pitched 6.2 innings, gave up his typical 9 earned runs in a 9-3 Red Sox loss. He has given up 17 earned runs in his passed 2 starts. Let that marinate in everyone's head for a while 17 earned runs in his passed 2 starts.

Let me sum up the game for you:

Everyone on the Blue Jays did well and John Lackey pitched.

Box Score At Your Own Risk

9 Red Sox, 1 Blue Jays

Ladies and Gentlemen I want to re introduce to you the best pitcher on the Boston Red Sox. Dice K aka Ace K tore up the Blue Jays and pitched 7 innings with 1 hit, 1 walk and 3 Ks. He was hitting his spots, not listening to Jason Varitek and only pitched 89 pitches in those 7 innings. To be honest I think Francona should have let him go the distance as he retired 16 batters in a row and was rolling. Dice K got ahead of 70% of the hitters he faced and it was overall another magical performance by Dice.

But some credit has to go to the offense and the offensive juggernaut known as Jed Lowrie who went 4-for-5, with a homer and 4 RBI. Jed is now hitting just a mere .516 this season. But he isn't the only one as Jacoby Ellsbury hit another homer and Youk hit his 2nd. Carl Crawford finally got a hit as he hit the wall for an RBI double. People were booing him all game for the slow start. It's good to see him make solid contact.

The Sox got 3 of 4 against Toronto and now are off to Oakland. Just 5 games away from .500.

Blue Jays @ Red Sox Preview

Some interesting moves by the Red Sox today. First off they sent Felix Doubront back to the minors, and brought back Hideki Okajima . Okajima has actually been pitching well in the minors (0 runs, 0 BBs, 5 Ks in 5 2/3 innings). Hopefully this means he can give the Sox something in the bullpen, but I'm not holding my breathe. I am a big Doubront fan, so I am kind of disappointed by this, but I guess they could send him down to stretch him out in case Dice-K and/or Lackey continue to falter.

Speaking of Dice-K he is on the hill today vs. Ricky Romero. I hate this matchup, it is the 3rd straight lefty the Sox are facing, and Dice-K has looked terrible. With the lefty on the hill the Sox once again mixed up their lineup moving JD Drew to the leadoff spot, because he has .450 average, and .560 OBP vs. Romero, so I guess I'm fine with it. Here is the rest of the lineup...

Drew, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Youkilis, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowrie, SS
Crawford, LF
Varitek, C
Ellsbury, CF

I wish I could say the Sox are going to continue their winning streak, but Dice-K has shown me nothing to give me confidence, and Romero has been awesome (21.1 innings, 1.66 ERA, 20 Ks, only 4 walks).

Blue Jays win 7-3
Player of the Game: Aaron Hill
Game starts at 11:05am

Sox Starting to Click

Winning becomes so easy when the starting pitcher does well. The pressure eases off the offense. The bullpen has less responsibility. All the hitters have to do is compile a few consecutive hits. It's really simple.

Josh Beckett looks pretty good. I'm still not sold on him yet, as he had brilliant starts in '09 and still finished with a decent but disappointing 3.86 ERA. So far, though, he's been excellent. His fastball is up to 95, and he's challenging hitters with it. The changeup is fooling batters, and the curveball is biting. He's getting strikeouts, and when hitters make contact, they get under or over the ball. That leads to pop ups and ground outs. It's once again fun to watch him pitch.

Lester had another Quality Start on Sunday. He was aided by some double plays, as he scattered 3 walks and 6 hits. He didn't give up the big hit though. It was his first win of the season, but his third straight Quality Start.

Buchholz has me worried. We all assumed that this 26 year old with 25 good starts under his belt was going to be a sure thing for 17-20 wins and an ERA under 3.00. We forgot who he was in '09 and '08. His confidence rises and falls with each start, and right now he's on a downswing.

The offense is still gradually getting better. I'm sick of seeing Crawford leading off games though. Lowrie is red hot and should be at leadoff until either he cools, or Crawford gets his average over .150.

It's funny/sad that taking 2 games from Toronto has become worthy of celebration.

Another tough lefty (how much do we miss Victor Martinez?) faces the Sox as Ricky Romero opposes Daisuke Matsuzaka at 11 AM today.

-The Commodore

Blue Jays @ Red Sox Preview

The Red Sox are 2-9 and have the highest ERA in baseball. Last year Clay Buchholz was unbelievable, but many thought he was "lucky", so far they seem to be right. In the 2 games he has pitched Buchholz has an ERA of 7.20 and a record of 0-2. Of the guys on the staff I am not as worried about him as I am Dice-K or Lackey, since his two losses are against the Yankees and Rangers. Saying that, Buchholz is giving up the long ball again, whichis something that used to hurt him early in his career.

The Blue Jays come to Fenway with a 6-6 record. Yet, I really like thier team. They have good hitters, and a very young and up incoming pitching staff, which isn't fully healthy yet as they wait for Morrow to return. Tonight they have Cecil on the hill, he isn't anything special but is very solid. Right now he has the same ERA as Buchholz, but he is one of those guys that can get you a solid 12 wins every year.

I see Boston winning tonight, and I think Buccholz is going to have a very strong game. The Red Sox have had a couple days to get away from the tragedy that is their season thus far, and that might be just what they need.

Red Sox win 6-3
Player of the Game: Pedroia
Game starts at 7:10pm

2011 MLB Preview: Toronto Blue Jays

2010 Record: 85-77

1. CF Rajai Davis
2. SS Yunel Escobar
3. 3B Jose Bautista
4. 1B Adam Lind
5. 2B Aaron Hill
6. LF Travis Snider
7. DH Edwin Encarnacion
8. RF Juan Rivera
9. C J.P. Arencibia

There are 4 players that will define this lineup, and they are all going to hit one after another. Jose Bautista will most likely not be able to put up the numbers he did last year, but if he can his 35+ HRs with 100+ RBIs that should be fine. The key is Lind and Hill having bounce back years. In 2009 these guys were unbelievable, and although they were somewhat able to keep their power numbers up their batting averages completely fell apart. If they get back to hitting around .280 with 25-30 HRs and 85-100 RBIs this could be a really dangerous offense. The last guy that I think is a key is Travis Snider. We have been waiting on him for a while now. He is still very young, but this should be the year they start seeing some results. I am not the biggest fan of his, but scouts really like him. If he can hit around 20 HRs and 70-75 RBIs, I really like this offense.

Pitching:

1. Ricky Romero
2. Brandon Morrow
3. Brett Cecil
4. Jesse Litsch
5. Kyle Drabek

Romero is a guaranteed 15 wins type of pitcher, although I never think he will be an "ace", he is a great guy to have in the rotation. Morrow is my boy, he is the guy that could really make this team something special. He has strikeout potential that everyone dies for, the problem with him is staying healthy and limiting his walks. He is starting the year on the DL, but is only going to miss one game. I think this is the year he breaks out and makes a name for himself. Once again, I caution that I am a HUGE Morrow fan. Cecil is solid, and a good #3 or #4, but this rotation could hinge on Litsch getting back to his 2008 ways. He is coming off Tommy John, but all reports seem to indicate he looks good. If he can be a solid #4 and stay healthy that would be enormous for this team. I love Drabek, but he is a rookie, and will have an up and down season. Overall you have to love what this team is building with their rotation.

Overall:
They may be a year away from being a playoff team, but they aren't far off. With the Yankees and Rays seemingly taking a step back this offseason the Blue Jays could challenge them for the 2-3 spot in the AL East. I expect improvement, but if Lind, Hill, Snider, and Litsch have good seasons this could be a great team.

2011 Record: 91-71

Blue Jays Trading For Kevin Slowey?

"The Blue Jays like Kevin Slowey, according to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (on Twitter). Christensen hears that the Blue Jays have relievers to spare and had three scouts watching Slowey pitch in a 'B' game against the Pirates this morning (MLBTradeRumors)."

I like Kevin Slowey, he is a solid back of the rotation kind of guy. Last year, Slowey posted a 4.45 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 155 2/3 innings and he is still only 26 years old. With that being said I really don't see why the Blue Jays would be interesting in trading for him. They already have 4 guys (Jo-Jo Reyes, Jesse Litsch, Marc Rzepczynski and Kyle Drabek) fighting for 2 rotation spots. I have heard that Litsch has looked really good this spring, and it seems like it is Drabek's time to break into the majors, so I just don't understand taking away a strength (bullpen) to add another starter.

Blue Jays Pay Another Flash In The Pan Outfielder

The Blue Jays and Jose Bautista are close to agreeing to a five-year contract extension worth approximately $65MM, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the contract would also include a sixth year club option that could push the total value of the deal to $78MM MLBTraderumors.

This sounds all too familiar with the Blue Jays. Remember when they gave Vernon Wells a 7 year, 126 million dollar deal and then Alex Rios a 4 year 70 million dollar deal all before they could prove they were worth that contract? I feel the same way about slugger Jose Bautista who yea, had 54 homeruns and 124 RBIs at the breakout age of 29, but before this year he's been on 5 teams never had over 16 HRs and has consistently had a crappy batting average.

I like the Blue Jays and how they sprinkled in players who don't only hit home runs but I have a feeling this deal is going to come back and bite them in the ass.

Baseball News

Here is the latest from around the MLB...

- The Rangers (as noted before) are shopping around Michael Young, who has asked for a trade. The problem is finding a suitor this late in the offseason. The rumors that was going around the most was that he was going to head to the Rockies, but that changed today, as the Rangers were not happy about what they were going to get back in the deal (Eric Young Jr) and the Rockies don't see to want to give anything more. The Angels were also rumored, but all they have to offer is Scott Kamir and the Rangers are said to have no interest in him. Another team was the Astros, but they have also dropped out because of the price of his contract. So right now there isn't much news on where he WILL go, only where he WON'T go. One team that I think should get involved is the Blue Jays. That just makes a lot of sense to me.

- Speaking of the Blue Jays they are looking to unload Juan Rivera. He was really traded for only to get rid of Wells contract. No word yet on who might be interested. My guess is not many.

- CC Sabathia lost 30 pounds, which should help his surgically repaired right knee.

- The Red Sox signed Alfredo Aceves for about $650K, and is basically just some starting rotation depth and he will most likely be sitting in AAA most of the year.

Vladimir Guerrero Situation Getting Interesting

We have been waiting for Vladimir Guerrero to sign with the Orioles for some time now, as he was rumored to have been offered between $4.5 million and $5.5 million. Now Vlad is saying he has a deal on the table for $8 million, but won't say who it is, but we know it is not from the Orioles. So who could it be?

It is really a short list (Blue Jays, Angels, and Rangers), and I just don't see any of those teams offering that kind of money. My guess is that this is complete bullshit. We have heard all along that Vlad has been looking for a 2 year deal, and it is not pleased at all with the offers he has been getting. My guess is that he caves in the next week or so and signs a 1 year deal with the Orioles for about $5 million.