Blue Jays Birthday boy Aaron Loup

Happy Birthday Aaron Loup !!

Blue Jays claim Junior Lake

TORONTO - The Blue Jays have claimed outfielder Junior Lake on waivers from the Baltimore Orioles.

New Pitcher for Pirates

PITTSBURGH - Pirates sign Ryan Vogelsong to one-year contract for 2M.

Blue Jays Rotation...is this it ?

TORONTO - The Blue Jays have the following as starting pitcher options for 2016.

• Marcus Stroman
• Marco Estrada
• J.A. Happ
• R.A. Dickey
• Drew Hutchison
• Jesse Chavez

All things staying the same, it looks like Hutch or Chavez will compete for the 5th spot.

There are a couple of Minor league options in Brad Penny and Wade Leblanc that might be considered earlier than later.

I'm still hoping for a trade, but more than likely we'll see additional middle relief where in my opinion; the Jays need more than starters. 

Blue Jays Starter ?

BALTIMORE - Wei-Yin Chen is a free-agent starting pitcher that was an Oriole in 2015..

Reportedly, he is looking for something in the neighborhood of $100M over 5 years.

Too rich for the Blue Jays ?

Orioles have signed Korean outfielder Hyun-soo Kim

BALTIMORE - Reportedly, the Baltimore Orioles have signed Korean outfielder Hyun-soo Kim to a 2 year, 7M deal

Kim has played for Doosan Bears in the Korea Baseball Organization for the past nine seasons.

Last season he hit .326 with 28 home runs.

Cleveland Indians get a new first baseman

CLEVELAND - Mike Napoli will be playing for the Cleveland Indians for at least 1 year. 

A dollar figure has not been disclosed.

Napoli batted .224 with 18 home runs and 50 RBIs in 133 games for Boston and Texas in 2015.

Todd Frazier on his way to Chicago

CHICAGO - In a three team deal, Todd Frazier will be playing for the Chicago White Sox

Here's how the deal shakes out...

Reds to White Sox:

Todd Frazier , 3B

Dodgers to Reds:

Jose Peraza, 2B
Scott Schebler, OF
Brandon Dixon, 2B

White Sox to Dodgers:

Frankie Montas, RHP
Micah Johnson, 2B
Trayce Thompson, OF

Jonathan Papelbon saga continued...

Here's something 'interesting' about the current Jonathan Papelbon contract.

He can block deals to the following clubs: the Athletics, Blue Jays, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Indians, Marlins, Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rockies, Tigers, Twins, White Sox and Yankees. 

My guess is that list of teams not interested in him is even longer !

Former Blue Jay Jeff Francis retires

DENVER - Former Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Francis has decided to retire.

Canadian born Francis had his best season in 2007 with the Colorado Rockies going 17-7 in the regular season and 2-1 in the post season.

The Rockies went the World Series that year only to be beat out by the Boston Red Sox in 4 games.

Pete Rose denied access to Baseball Hall of Fame again

74 year old Pete Rose has likely made his final appeal to be considered for entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rose was thrown out of baseball for betting on the very games he was participating in.

He amassed a record 4256 hits in Major League baseball.

Pitching...the leftovers !!

So what's left for notable pitchers after the Winter Meetings..etc.

Here's a quick list and their 2015 numbers..

	Wins	Losses	ERA	IP	SO
Mike Leake	11	10	3.70	192.0	119
Wei-Yin Chen	11	8	3.34	191.1	153
Scott Kazmir	7	11	3.10	183.0	155
Yovani Gallardo	13	11	3.42	184.1	121
Henderson Alvarez	0	4	3.80	22.1	9

Johnny Cueto signs with Giants

SAN FRANCISCO - Johnny Cueto has agreed to a 6-year $130M contract with the San Francisco Giants. The Arizona Diamondbacks had previous offered Cueto a 6-year $120M contract which he rejected. Cueto will join other new free agent starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija who signed for a $90M 5 year contract.