Blair: Wilkerson, Mench Have Some Jays History

Jeff Blair, today at 4:22 PM EDT

Alas, the big Filene's Basement store in downtown Boston is closed for renovations but like any good New Englander, J.P. Ricciardi knows where to find a bargain. So perhaps Kevin Mench and Brad Wilkerson are this year's Frank Catalanotto or Gregg Zaun, guys picked up in the bargain bin who went on to be productive players for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Globesports.com first reported the Blue Jays interest in Wilkerson Thursday, and it was a no-brainer: two of general manager Ricciardi's assistants, Alex Anthopoulos and Tony LaCava, know Wilkerson from his days as a high draft pick with the Montreal Expos and Blue Jays managers as far back as Buck Martinez have been high on what was Wilkerson's patient, left-handed bat. I spoke to a scout Thursday night who'd seen Wilkerson play for the Seattle Mariners this year and who knew Wilkerson, and he said: "I think the guy still has the patience, which is what his game is built around. He just really needed a change of scenery."
Wilkerson cleared unconditional release waivers Friday afternoon.

(Expos fans will remember Wilkerson as a kind of bon vivant who absolutely adored the city, and who broke down in tears when the Expos players stood on the field after the final game in franchise history. My guess is that some place on Crescent Street tonight, a couple of glasses will be raised once the news flickers over the ticker.)
Our Rob McLeod is in Cleveland with the locals, so he'll have all the details of the deal. But Ricciardi has tried to trade for Wilkerson at least once, and did not pursue him as a free agent only because he was represented by Scott Boras.
Mench also has some weird Blue Jays history. Once considered a bona fide power threat who spent much of his time with the Texas Rangers figuring in some enticing trade rumours. Urban legend is that when the Blue Jays approached the Rangers about a Vernon Wells for Mark Teixeira deal, the Rangers said thanks but no thanks - but, hey, what about Mench for Wells? It was also Mench who lined a ball off Roy Halladay's leg, fracturing it ... but, well, let's not go there on a night when Doc is pitching, OK?
Look, these additions don't mean that they get to play over the 10th inning of Thursday's game, when Alex Rios was stranded after a lead-off triple. But neither Gustavo Chacin or Sergio Santos, who were booted off the 40-man roster to make room for the pair, were going to be of much use during this 10-game road trip. The simple fact is this: if everything had gone according to Hoyle this year, which means guys hitting and Frank Thomas still in the Blue Jays lineup, the team would have signed Wilkerson in a similar situation and let Adam Lind finish out the year in Triple-A. The team came out of spring training looking for a left-handed bat that worked cheap. Mench is the right-handed equivalent - and if you're interested, despite what he says, I don't believe for a second that Ricciardi will avoid trading for a more significant bat if the team continues not to hit. Halladay and Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum are going nowhere and A.J. Burnett's a whole different issue. But Jesse Litsch, David Purcey and some miscellaneous relievers could be had, and I have to think that Lind and maybe even Lyle Overbay (who has a contract and is only now making consistent contact,) are names that Ricciardi would consider to cobble something together.

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Blair: Free Stubby Clapp!!!!!!!

Jeff Blair, today at 12:43 PM EDT

It's not just the name, or the fact that he's a good guy. The reason that the Canadian Olympic men's baseball team won't be the same without Stubby Clapp is because there is an art to handling the pressure of international sports that can only come with experience in dealing with international amateur umpires or officials or players. Ask anybody whose played at that level: it's one thing to be a pro in North America and another to find yourself in the Far East where the wrong look or reaction is open to cross-cultural interpretation. It demands a whole different level of sensibility and, yeah, maturity. It's a different kind of frenzy. Not to go all Grange on you, but as a partial and at times interested observer of the Toronto Raptors, I always thought Jose Garbajosa brought a certain educated edge to the game that the Raptors have failed to replicate in his absence. Frankly, had they had Garbajosa last year I think they would have beaten the Nets in their playoff series.

Shi Davidi of Canadian Press does a nice job summarizing the Ballad of Stubby Clapp  and, you know, I can kind of see the Houston Astros point of view. You want to coach? Coach. You want to play? Don't retire. Work visas for foreign players and coaches aren't thrown around carelessly by Major League organizations and as Davidi points out, the Astros have been relatively supportive of the Canadian Olympic program.

But it's just not going to be the same without Clapp. One of the keys to the Canadian men's team and, by extension, the team that represents  Canada at the World Baseball Classic is that there is a fierce loyalty to Baseball Canada on the part of Canadian Major Leaguers because it is through Baseball Canada that many of them were noticed. I remember watching Russell Martin agonize over his decision to not join Canada for the first WBC because he knew he needed to stay in the Los Angeles Dodgers camp and impress a new regime. I remember talking to him in Vero Beach the day he'd essentially made up his mind and the disappointment was palpable. Thursday, Toronto Blue Jays Canadian-born assistant general manager Alex Anthopoulos - an up-and-comer in the game - relayed a conversation  he'd had with Blue Jays minor leaguer A.J. Wideman about Clapp's influence in the clubhouse. "Best teammate he's had," said Anthopoulos, pretty much echoing what Matt Stairs or Justin Morneau would tell you.

(As an aside, scuttlebutt among some of the Canadian Major Leaguers is that Larry Walker, who is currently a roving coach with the St,. Louis Cardinals, is a candidate to join the team as a coach, although a few players say they wouldn't put it past Walker to ... nah, let's hold that thought.)

There's a way out of this that could keep both sides happy: let Clapp join the Olympic team as a coach, only when the competition actually begins. That way, the Canadian team would have access to his innate strengths, while the Astros can take comfort knowing he's actually coaching. Clapp will meet with the Astros this weekend to press his case.    

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Blair: Wilkerson in Jays Sights

Jeff Blair, 08/05/08 at 7:18 PM EDT

There's more than one way to hit a left-hander. But that alone doesn't explain why the Toronto Blue Jays are said to have zeroed in on signing outfielder Brad Wilkerson, a left-handed batter who is statistically better against lefties than righties who was designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners on May 1 after hitting just .232 with five runs batted in.

Wilkerson, who will turn 31 on June 1, has been pursued by the Blue Jays at various times earlier in his career after he was drafted by the Montreal Expos. A left-handed hitter who can play the outfield and first base, Wilkerson, who is well-known to Blue Jays assistant general managers Tony LaCava and Alex Anthopoulos from their time in the Expos organization, has hit left-handers better than right-handers throughout his career, batting .265 against lefties and posting a .363 on-base percentage.

The Blue Jays will open a four-game series Friday against the Cleveland Indians, and general manager J.P. Ricciardi made clear Thursday that the team would likely add another bat before Friday night's game.

Ricciardi has explored trade possibilities for a right-handed hitter, but does not want to part with any of his clubs pitching depth.

The Blue Jays placed shortstops John McDonald (sprained right ankle) and David Eckstein (strained right hip flexor) on the 15-day disabled list and recalled infielder Joe Inglett from Triple-A Syracuse for Thursday's final game of a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, leaving them a man short.

Wilkerson was on the teams radar screen even before the minor league player most likely to be called up for interleague games - catcher Robinzon Diaz - was lost for three weeks with a high ankle sprain.

Ricciardi would only say that he had "some irons in the fire," and added that he was looking for "something longer term," - in other words, a player that would be able to stay with the team in a bench role. It's important to remember that before the injury crisis hit and before Frank Thomas was released, the Blue Jays said publicly that they were looking to add another left-handed bat.

"We're facing three lefties in Cleveland, so we'd like a right-handed type bat - by that I mean a guy who can hit lefties," said manager John Gibbons.

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Blair: Gibbons is King of Coaches

Jeff Blair, 07/05/08 at 8:07 PM EDT

Well la-de-frickin'-dah! John Gibbons has outlasted Paul Maurice. Yet if the Toronto Blue Jays manager feels that his job is in any less jeopardy because of the clubs recent five-game winning streak, he didn't show it Wednesday. Asked why his office in the Blue Jays new clubhouse is still void of any pictures on the wall, Gibbons chuckled and said: "Premature."

Gibbons isn't resting any easier, apparently. Told that he was still the longest Toronto coach in terms of tenure, he scratched his head and said: "I've been here longer than (Sam) Mitchell?" Gibbons then said: "We're still in the cellar. We need to climb back into this thing. You're only as good as your last game."

Gibbons has never met Maurice or Mitchell - nor, for that matter, has he met Pinball Clemons which likely makes him the only person in Canada who has yet to do so.

(As for Maurice, here's an idea: he's a smart guy. Why not hire him to replace Chuck Swirsky on the FAN-590s mid-afternoon shift?)

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Blair: Diaz adds to injury woes

Jeff Blair, 07/05/08 at 6:18 PM EDT

Robinzon Diaz was the odds-on choice to be brought up from Triple-A Syracuse in time for inter-league play. Not any more. General manager J.P. Ricciardi said Wednesday that Diaz sustained a high ankle sprain in a collision at home plate and is out for as much as three weeks.

“What are you going to do?” Ricciardi asked, shrugging.

It was a day for taking stock of injuries. Shortstop David Eckstein (strained hip flexor) had an MRI that came back negative and John McDonald (sprained right ankle) was off crutches, but Ricciardi said the organization would wait until Thursday to decide which – if either – shortstop would go on the 15-day disabled list. Journeyman Jorge Velandia was had his contract selected from Syracuse and Adam Lind, whose playing time had been curtailed, was optioned back to the Triple-A team.

Diaz's injury is a blow, because manager John Gibbons likes the idea of having three catchers in inter-league play. More to the point, with three left-handers scheduled to go for the Cleveland Indians this weekend Diaz's right-handed bat would have spelled off lefty-swinging Matt Stairs. The Blue Jays are now officially scouring the trade market for a right-handed hitter, according to sources.

THE LINEUPS

Tampa Bay Rays

Akinori Iwamura, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
B.J. Upton, CF
Carlos Pena, 1B
Evan Longoria, 3B
Eric (The Man) Hinske, DH
Dioner Navarro, C
Gabe Gross, RF
Jason Bartlett, SS

P: Matt Garza

Toronto Blue Jays

Alex Rios, RF
Shannon Stewart, LF
Scott Rolen, 3B
Matt Stairs, DH
Vernon Wells, CF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Aaron Hill, 2B
Rod Barajas, C
Marco Scutaro, SS

P: Shaun Marcum

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