• Last-place Jays fire Gibbons, re-hire Gaston by Ken Rosenthal

• Blue Jays fire Gibbons, bring back Cito Gaston @ ESPN

• Blue Jays Fire John Gibbons @ MLB Trade Rumors (check out the discussion in the comments)

Will Gaston be suited up for this weekend's series in Pittsburgh?

The biggest story of the day was the release of Frank Thomas by the Blue Jays. Thomas was informed yesterday of reduced playing time due to his recent slump. However, Thomas has started the past two years in a similar weak fashion, but managed to turn it around and put up great numbers in 2006 and 2007. Something else was up and Frank was not pleased…

A key to understanding what lies in Thomas' contract, which included plate incentives: 304 more plate appearances would have guaranteed him a $10 million option for 2009, money that the Jays are now free to spend elsewhere next season.

Thomas was vocal about his displeasure at being benched, saying "My career is not going to end this way." Wisely avoiding distraction that could derail the Jays right now, GM J.P. Ricciardi met with Thomas this morning and the result was an unconditional release.

Some feel this now paves the way for the Jays to sign Barry Bonds, but I'm hoping this isn't the case. I think Matt Stairs can do a fine job as the new DH and this makes room to bring back Adam Lind from the minors, who needs playing time to develop into an everyday major leaguer (and who's sporting a hot .360 BA right now!)

Back to the diamond, there were some awesome games played today, with at least three players hitting two home runs:

• Hanley Ramirez sparkled defensively and led the Marlins to victory over the Nationals with his two homers.
• The Reds' Edwin Encarnacion made up for a fielding error with two homers, and Ken Griffey Jr. was the game hero, driving in the winning run in a dramatic 10th inning victory over the Brewers. 
• Chase Utley led the Phillies past the Mets with his two homers in a fantastic game that closed out this great day of Sunday baseball.
  

I also really enjoyed the Padres/D-backs game, but I missed the last 3 innings. Did Byrnes keep that 14-game hitting streak going, or is he shaving that mustache tonight?

(By the way, I love those old baby blue Jays uniforms like the one Frank is sporting above, but the award for best retro uniform is a tie between the Padres and Astros!)

Hitting 

While the Jays had one of the strongest hitting squads last season in all of baseball they still managed to limp in at next-to-last in the AL for cashing in runners from scoring position. This is about more than bad luck, as Campigotto would have us believe. Sure our mashers can hit, but the team needs to focus on the small ball game: smart base running, bunting, getting those butts across the plate. It's this approach that transformed the 2005 Chicago White Sox from a "gorilla ball" team to a World Series Champ'. The departures of catcher Bengie Molina and the dependable Frank Catalanotto should be easy to bear provided that the newly acquired DH Frank Thomas manages to stay healthy. I am looking forward to watching the Big Hurt as a Jay!

Pitching

Despite the big catch signings of A.J. and B.J. last year, pitching has remained a question mark for the Jays, with the only truly dependable starting pitcher being the work horse, Roy Halladay. However, if 1) A.J. and Gustavo Chacin can live up to expectations; 2) Josh Towers can shake his erraticism and emerge as a dependable starter; 3) new signings Tomo Okha, John Thompson and Victor Zambrano can lock up the back end of the rotation with some wins, the Jays could have a decent rotation capable of supporting a run at the post-season.

Relief pitching is probably an even larger issue for the Jays, with the departure of Justin Speir who anchored the bullpen with a 2.98 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 51 innings last year. Promising youngster Brandon League will get a long look, but if that doesn't work out the Jays will have to turn to an unproven staff consisting of Jason Frasor, Brian Tallet, Scott Downs and Davis Romero.

Defense

The biggest hole in the Jays defense is the middle infield. Russ Adams won't be seen at SS this year as he will spend some time at Triple-A trying out his hand at manning 3B. That's a couple of handfuls of errors that we will be happy to keep off the books. However, his replacements provide only a mediocre improvement.

New Jay Royce Clayton is a league average defender with a fairly weak bat, though he can come through with some clutch hits and might inspire the team to steal more bases. Despite the loud complaints from the peanut gallery when J.P's acquisition was announced last fall, Clayton has managed to stay in the majors and contribute in his own small way to his teams' efforts. He's not "the answer" for the Jays problems up the middle, but he could prove to be a good patch solution.

Platooning with Clayton will be John MacDonald, who has earned a reputation for flashy plays and the knickname of "The Prime Minister of Defense". However, he still possesses a meager .960 fielding percentage and isn't a consistently strong hitter.

Neither Clayton or MacDonald are the shortstops of the future for the Jays, and J.P. should probably consider a mid-season acquisition to get their defense Word Series-ready.

Aaron Hill will be back at 2B and should be able to provide league average defense.

Elsewhere around the diamond the Jays are strong, with solid corner defense with Glaus and Overbay, the dependable catching of Gregg Zaun, and an outfield stocked with Wells, Rios and Johnson.

The Final Word 

Personally, I think the Jays will do better than Campigotto's prediction: a second place finish with a 93-69 record. Boston is on the decline, and the Jays have enough power to overcome some of their shortcomings. The season's outcome will depend on the Jays' pitchers to get serious, stay healthy and generate a lot of fly balls for the sturdy outfield to handle. Meanwhile, the mashers need to keep mashing, but also need to be thinking more about manufacturing runs.

Lastly, the team's coaching staff needs to cultivate a positive winning attitude on and off the field in their players. The Jays had big hopes last season that were dashed by injuries, resulting in a debilitating frustration in the club house that eventually boiled over in embarressing exchanges between manager John Gibbons and Shea Hillenbrand, and Gibbons and Ted Lilly. These kinds of events very negatively influence a team's mental attitude. The guys need to harness a playing style that is both relaxed and confident in order to win.

The tools are there for the Jays to put to use in 2007. I've said it before and I'll say it again: winning is all about mojo. On that note, here are some musical suggestions for the guys' pre-game iPod sessions:

• "CAUTION (Do Not Stop On Tracks)" by The Grateful Dead
• "Come Together" by The Beatles
• "Keep Your Hand Off Of My Mojo" by Coot Grant and Kid Sox Wesley Wilson
• "Mojo Pin" by Jeff Buckley
• "I Got My Mojo Working" by Muddy Waters

• Mets
• Cubs 
• Yankees
• Indians
• Twins
• Rangers

He singles out the following players as impact batters:

• Beltran, Delgado, Alou, Wright, Green, Lo Duca, Valentine and Reyes
• Soriano, A. Ramirez, D. Lee
• Jeter, A. Rodriguez, Matsui, Giambi, Abreu
• Barfield, Dellucci, T. Nixon, Hafner, Sizemore
• Morneau, Mauer, Cuddyer, Hunter, Punto
• M. Young, Teixeira, Blalock, Sosa

It still feels weird to type Abreu's name in a Yankees list, and no one is certain if Sammy Sosa will even make the Rangers roster, but neither of these points cause me any surprise. The big ommission from this list? The Toronto Blue Jays!

The Jays had one of the most potent batting orders in all of baseball last season, and there's no reason to think that effort can't be duplicated in 2007.

Wells, Glaus, Overbay, Rios and Zaun make up the nucleus. Reed Johnson could also turn out a strong season at the plate. And let's not forget Frank Thomas! The team's weakness is up the middle: Royce Clayton and Aaron Hill. Even so, they don't take anything away from the strength of the rest of the order and they both have the capability to manage some clutch hits.

Seriously, how did Shea manage to overlook the Jays in this assessment?

A season that began with the biggest of dreams ended with the smallest of victories… The campaign did, however, end on a bit of a bright note and offer a sliver of hope for next year.

I did not realize that the Jays hadn't finished above third in the American League since 1993! This makes 2006's second place finish quite a victory indeed.

Great hitting at inopportune times. A defensive black hole at shortstop (Oh, how we missed O-dog!) An injury-riddled pitching staff. A frustrated–and apparently volatile–manager. A little bad luck on the side. These were the Achilles heels of the 2006 Blue Jays. Therefore, the obvious needs become: a proven shortstop who can defend, hit and bunt; a 4th outfielder with some pop (Catalanatto probably won't be returning); another front line starter (Barry Zito!); and perhaps a change of guard at the managerial level.

On a side note, how long to you have to be playing at the Major League level to earn the title of veteran? According to this article, Lyle Overbay–who played 2 games in 2001, 10 in 2002, and became a regular in 2003–is a veteran. I suppose that's 5 years total, but I think "veteran" implies "long service". Something like 8 years seems more appropriate.

Who might J.P. be targeting to man shortstop in 2007? Lugo for sure. As MLB Trade Rumors recently pointed out, there's not much else out there to choose from. Earlier this season I promoted the acquition of Counsell, but for 2007, I think we need to go a little younger, longer term. However, I don't think I'd scoff at the notion of Tejada swapping his Orioles wings for Blue Jays'. The other Adam–rookie Adam Lind–has shown some great promise in recent  weeks. I'm not sure I'd be willing to give him up via trade just yet, despite having a solid defender at 1B in Lyle Overbay.

I don't think the Jays will be re-signing Lilly this upcoming off-season. Gibbons needs to go too. Maybe the Cubs will trade us Dusty Baker for John Gibbons? Kidding!

As for my recent post about "do or die time" for the Jays? The title of this post says what I think. 

The Jays line-up is more powerful than any other in the league. Halladay, A.J., B.J.–frightening stuff. But a team that looks good on paper isn't guaranteed to perform. They still need that spark. I'm not certain that John Gibbons is the man to light that fire, but I'm still hoping the Jays will demonstrate the determination and concentration of a winning team this weekend in Minneapolis.

CBC Sports' review of the first half of the Jays' 2006 season.

My earlier Blue Jays prediction about Russ Adams and Aaron Hill isn't panning out. Adams has committed 10 errors in 36 games at shortstop, and despite driving in a run with a double on Wednesday night (and maintaining a .258 BA), he too has been sent down to the minors "to clear his head". John McDonald and Luis Figueroa (from Triple-A Syracuse) will split time at the position for now.