Halladay, Wells named Blue Jays pitcher, player of year by Toronto BBWAA chapter
Shi Davidi Canadian Press
Friday, November 18, 2005
TORONTO (CP) - Ace right-hander Roy Halladay, who went 12-4 in 19 starts before suffering a broken left leg, was named Blue Jays pitcher of the year for the third time by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Friday.
Centre-fielder Vernon Wells, already a Gold Glove winter, won player of the year honours for a second time, left-hander Gustavo Chacin was a unanimous pick for rookie of the year and right-hander Josh Towers, who is finalizing a $5.2-million US, two-year deal, took most improved player honours in a near unanimous vote.
Halladay edged Towers 29-25 for pitcher of the year honours, with Chacin a hair back at 23.
The big right-hander was on his way to another Cy Young calibre campaign until a comebacker off the bat of Texas' Kevin Mench fractured his leg July 8. He gamely tried to return in August but shut down his season when the break had yet to heal.
Halladay still ended up third on the team with 141 2-3 innings and sported a sparkling earned-run average of 2.41.
Wells beat out infielder-DH Shea Hillenbrand 29-24 for the player of the year prize.
After a terrible start to the season, Wells recovered to bat .269 with 28 and 97 RBIs, both team-highs. He also made his pitchers' lives easier with his outstanding defence.
Hillenbrand, acquired from Arizona last winter, batted .291 with 18 homers and 82 RBIs while winning over teammates with his gritty play.
Chacin was the obvious pick for rookie of the year after going 13-9 with a 3.72 ERA and throwing 203 innings. The soft-spoken Venezuelan was the team's most reliable starter in July after Halladay went down, pitching deep into games to ease bullpen's load.
Shortstop Russ Adams finished second with 27 points to Chacin's 42, with infielder Aaron Hill third at 15.
Towers also stepped up in Halladay's absence, maturing from an all-or-nothing pitcher into a hurler who could eat up innings on days he wasn't at his best. He finished up 13-12 with a 3.71 ERA and could have easily had four or five more wins with some better luck.
Towers picked up 39 points to easily win the award, finishing well ahead off reliever Jason Frasor at 11 and right-fielder Alex Rios at eight.
Fourteen members of the chapter voted on the awards, picking a top three in each category. Points were awarded on a 3-2-1 basis.
TORONTO --The Toronto Blue Jays filled out their 40-man roster Friday by adding right-handed pitcher Josh Banks and infielder Ryan Roberts.
The 23-year-old Banks had an 8-12 record with Double-A New Hampshire in the Eastern League this year. He ranked fifth in the league in strikeouts (145) and innings pitched (162 1-3).
Banks was selected by the Blue Jays in the second round of the 2003 first-year player draft.
Roberts, 25, began the season with Class-A Dunedin in the Florida State League before being promoted to New Hampshire on May 23. He batted .272 with 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 44 RBI in 92 games for the Fisher Cats.
Roberts also played in the Arizona State League this fall, hitting .260 with five doubles, five home runs and 15 RBI in 27 games in the Peoria Saguaros.
Roberts was selected by the Jays in the 18th round of the 2003 draft
Fri, November 18, 2005 Blue Jays acting fast on Burnett?
By MIKE GANTER, TORONTO SUN
The Blue Jays appear to be making a pre-emptive strike in a bid to land free-agent pitcher A.J. Burnett.
Sources told The Toronto Sun yesterday that the Jays have offered a five-year, $50-million US contract to the 28-year-old right-hander.
Burnett's agent, Darek Braunecker, would neither confirm nor deny that the Jays made an offer.
"What I will say is we have in hand two significant offers, but are still in the process of gathering information from all the interested parties," Braunecker said, adding that at no point in the negotiation process would he get into details of any offer he has received with the media.
"That will be up to the team involved -- whether or not they want to reveal that information," he said.
Braunecker said the number of interested teams in his client is down to nine teams including the Jays.
Originally, he had hoped to have all his information gathering completed by the American Thanksgiving (next Thursday) but has pushed that back to some point the following week.
"I don't think that (first deadline) is going to be possible any more," he said.
"We have talked with a few teams in the past few days. But with their schedules and our schedule, it's just not possible."
The five-year term of the offer is long for pitching contracts by today's standards, but it might be what it takes to get Burnett in a Jays uniform.
Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi is on record as saying he would like to get any free-agent deals done as soon as possible to allow him to concentrate on trades during the winter meetings from Dec. 5-8 in Dallas.
With the Florida Marlins last year, Burnett was 12-12 with a 3.44 ERA in 32 starts. He finished seventh in the National League in strikeouts with 198 in 209 innings.
Jays pitching coach Brad Arnsberg worked with Burnett when the two were in the Florida organization and they developed a strong bond that continued even after the latter was fired.
Other teams that are believed to be among the nine still in the hunt for Burnett are Baltimore, Texas, Seattle, Washington, Boston and St. Louis.
i think AJ would be a hell of a signing. $50 million for 5 years isn't bad. i believe clement signed with boston last year in a 3 year $25 million deal and AJ is a much better pitcher than clement IMO.
AJ is the guy to get this offseason, if they settle for anyone other him, i wouldn't be happy.
kimchi_chigae wrote:i think AJ would be a hell of a signing. $50 million for 5 years isn't bad. i believe clement signed with boston last year in a 3 year $25 million deal and AJ is a much better pitcher than clement IMO.
AJ is the guy to get this offseason, if they settle for anyone other him, i wouldn't be happy.
I agree that landing Burnett would be huge, but 50/5 could be a tad too much. Though I wouldn't be disappointed if we did reel him in.
Which batters do you think the Jays will try and target?
I was reading something on Rotoworld that said there was a rumor that would send either Batista and Rios or Rios and League for Kevin Mench. I don't like either of the trades and am hoping that it's a rumor.
kimchi_chigae wrote:i think AJ would be a hell of a signing. $50 million for 5 years isn't bad. i believe clement signed with boston last year in a 3 year $25 million deal and AJ is a much better pitcher than clement IMO.
AJ is the guy to get this offseason, if they settle for anyone other him, i wouldn't be happy.
I agree that landing Burnett would be huge, but 50/5 could be a tad too much. Though I wouldn't be disappointed if we did reel him in.
Which batters do you think the Jays will try and target?
I was reading something on Rotoworld that said there was a rumor that would send either Batista and Rios or Rios and League for Kevin Mench. I don't like either of the trades and am hoping that it's a rumor.
Don't have the links to either rumour but I have heard both Morneau and Huff being mentioned as far as hitters go. Morneau seems like a stretch since I don't see the Twins being too eager to give up a promising youngster but Huff I could see being a nice fit.
Again both are rumours but I've always liked both those guys and would love to see either one wearing a Blue Jays uniform.
"My cat's breath smells like cat food." - R. Wiggum
kimchi_chigae wrote:i think AJ would be a hell of a signing. $50 million for 5 years isn't bad. i believe clement signed with boston last year in a 3 year $25 million deal and AJ is a much better pitcher than clement IMO.
AJ is the guy to get this offseason, if they settle for anyone other him, i wouldn't be happy.
I agree that landing Burnett would be huge, but 50/5 could be a tad too much. Though I wouldn't be disappointed if we did reel him in.
Which batters do you think the Jays will try and target?
I was reading something on Rotoworld that said there was a rumor that would send either Batista and Rios or Rios and League for Kevin Mench. I don't like either of the trades and am hoping that it's a rumor.
Don't have the links to either rumour but I have heard both Morneau and Huff being mentioned as far as hitters go. Morneau seems like a stretch since I don't see the Twins being too eager to give up a promising youngster but Huff I could see being a nice fit.
Again both are rumours but I've always liked both those guys and would love to see either one wearing a Blue Jays uniform.
I've read that the Jays are interested in Giles and Durazo, but not so much Aubrey Huff. They also seem to be looking at the possibility of both Burnett and Ryan.
This is something I saw on MLB.com:
Ricciardi also remains in close contact with the agent for outfielder Brian Giles. Ricciardi did close the door on Aubrey Huff, whom indications are was available from Tampa Bay for a pitcher such as Ted Lilly, telling the Toronto Star, "We're going to take a pass on Huff."
TORONTO (CP) - A Toronto Blue Jays split squad will play the Canadian team for the World Baseball Classic in an exhibition game March 3.
That contest was part of the 33-game spring schedule announced by the Blue Jays on Tuesday.
Canada will train at the Blue Jays' facility in Dunedin, Fla., before the inaugural best-on-best tournament.
The Canadians will play in a group with the United States, Mexico and South Africa based at Phoenix for the first round.
The United States will play an exhibition game against a San Francisco Giants' split squad on March 5 at Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Blue Jays open their spring schedule March 2 at Knology Park against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They'll wrap up camp with a pair of games against their triple-A affiliate Syracuse March 31 and April 1.
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by kimchi_chigae » Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:12 pm 
