Blue Jays approach Royals
General manger J.P. Ricciardi said Thursday that the Toronto Blue Jays have contacted the Kansas City Royals, who have made veteran left-hander Mark Redman, their All-Star representative, available.
The Blue Jays are looking to bolster their starting pitching by Monday's non-waiver trade deadline. Ricciardi said before the first game of a four-game series against the Oakland Athletics that right-hander Dustin McGowan will be up with the major league team "soon."
That could be as early as tomorrow, when he would replace Casey Janssen in the starting rotation. The Blue Jays continue to monitor other starting pitchers that are on the trading block: Jon Lieber and Cory Lidle of the Philadelphia
Phillies, Rodrigo Lopez of the Baltimore Orioles and Tony Armas, Jr., of the Washington Nationals. Ricciardi has also told the Florida Marlins that he wants to be part of any trade discussion involving Dontrelle Willis. (*)right-fielder Alex Rios was scheduled to re-join the Blue Jays in time for Friday's game, but that schedule could be altered as a result of the postponement of Thursday's game between the Triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs and Ottawa Lynx. Rios was scheduled to get five bats in the game and play right field.
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Updated Friday July 28 at 9:23 p.m.
Jays have eye on Lidle, sources say
Sources with both teams confirm that the Toronto Blue Jays are one of a half-dozen teams interested in Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Cory Lidle (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=117756.)
The Phillies will move Lidle, who is eligible for free agency, before Monday's non-waiver trade deadline and expect to receive no more than a mid-level prospect in return. The Blue Jays, who as of now expect Gustavo Chacin back in the rotation by Aug. 9, would like a veteran arm to allow them to demote Casey Janssen to Triple-A Syracuse.
Tony Armas, Jr., of the Washington Nationals and Rodrigo Lopez of the Baltimore Orioles are other pitchers in which that the Blue Jays have a degree of interest.
The Blue Jays had Vernon Wells back in the starting lineup Wednesday night for their series finale with the Seattle Mariners. Wells missed the first two games of the series with back spasms. Manager John Gibbons listed Wells as the starting centre-fielder, although going into batting practice he reserved the right to make a last-minute move of Wells to the DH spot.
Meanwhile, the club announced that Chacin and Ty Taubenheim were both sent out to Syracuse on injury rehabilitation options. Chacin (left elbow strain) will start Sunday and Taubenheim will pitch out of the bullpen.
Chacin's elbow responded fine to a simulated game on Tuesday, but the Blue Jays will carefully watch Sunday's outing. "He's not going to be out of the woods until after a couple of starts," a club source said.
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Updated Thursday July 27 at 5:27 p.m.
Lugo's price still too high
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays asking price for shortstop Julio Lugo remains too high. They want one of the Toronto Blue Jays premier young bullpen arms — Shaun Marcum, Brandon League or, down at Triple-A Syracuse, Dustin McGowan.
The Blue Jays are thinking more along the lines of David Purcey, the 16th choice in the first round of the 2004 draft, and sources say they have given the Devil Rays a list of pitchers from which to choose.
That should come as no surprise, since the Blue Jays face issues with their middle relief next year. Both Justin Speier and Scott Schoeneweis will be allowed to leave as free agents and the Blue Jays would rather not spend much time this winter scouring for middle relievers. Purcey, a left-hander, is expendable because he's stagnated a bit.
Lugo is eligible for free agency and the Devil Rays have no interest in retaining him. The Blue Jays, for their part, would only view him as a short-term proposition and let him go this winter in return for compensatory draft picks. The addition of Lugo would give the Blue Jays a deep lineup from top to bottom and also mean that manager John Gibbons won't have to walk a late-inning line strategically — something he has to do with nifty-fielding/light-hitting John McDonald, his current shortstop.
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