News

Josh Towers, the embattled Toronto Blue Jays pitcher who was banished to the bullpen after losing his last start to the New York Yankees, has reportedly cleared waivers with the American League club and is the focus of trade talk.

It was reported in the Denver Post yesterday that the Colorado Rockies, desperate for pitching help as they try to mount a challenge in the National League West over the final six weeks of the regular season, are interested in either Towers or Steve Trachsel of the Baltimore Orioles.

Ken Rosenthal, the baseball analyst with Fox Sports, also reported that both players have cleared waivers and that the feeling was Towers could be moved in the next few days.

Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi, whose team played the first of a three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels at home last night, said he could not discuss the matter.

"We're not going to comment on that," Ricciardi said. "It's not fair to the player. This is the time of year where a lot of guys go through waivers. If we commented on every guy it just wouldn't be good business on our part."

However, it's no secret that the Blue Jays have been disappointed by the performance of Towers, who has been afforded ample opportunity to regain the form that led to 13 wins in 2005.

This season, with 15 starts under his belt, Towers is 5-9 with a 5.36 ERA.

In his last start on Aug. 7 against the Yankees — the infamous beanball game with Alex Rodriguez — Towers was shelled for nine hits over five innings. He allowed five runs in a 9-5 loss.

With A.J. Burnett activated from the injured list and rookie Jesse Litsch continuing to perform well, the Jays had to make room in the rotation and Towers was shunted to the bullpen.

Towers, who is slated to earn $2.9-million (U.S.) in the final year of his contract, has not pitched in a game since.

Ricciardi was asked what role he saw Towers filling over the remaining weeks of the season.

"I think he's being paid well and one thing about Towers, he's a professional when he competes," Ricciardi said. "And whichever role we put him in he'll do a good job for us. We feel comfortable with that."

Ricciardi rolled his eyes when the discussion turned to Troy Glaus, the veteran third baseman who was kept out of the starting lineup last night for the second consecutive game.

Glaus has battled bone spurs in his left foot for most of the season, but Ricciardi told the Canadian Press that the latest setback could be a new problem related to his ankle.

Ricciardi said Glaus, who led the Jays in home runs a year ago, was being checked out by doctors.

"He's a little sore," Ricciardi said. "Obviously you don't want to see a player like that hurt. It's a very big bat in your lineup. But it just falls in line with the rest of the year with injuries, so we've got to deal with it."

The Jays went into last night's game fifth in the race for the American League wild-card spot, 7 1/2-games off the pace. With the next nine games at home, Ricciardi remains optimistic.

"We've just got to leapfrog some teams," he said. "We've already leapfrogged Minnesota. We'll see. We've still got six weeks left to go — 45 games I think. It would be nice to play our best baseball at some point."