Riffing Blue Jays and sniffing-glue daze...

A couple of new developments:

The Toronto Blue Jays finally made news today announcing the signing of Matt Stairs to a two-year/$3.25 million contract. As it is with shortstop John McDonald, the money is peanuts to Ted Rogers and certainly will not hamstring the club insofar as making other moves. I know this year that Matt Stairs was taking grounders at third base although he never actually played a game at the hot corner.

The Jays won a World Series with Ed Sprague’s defense in 1993 and I cannot see Stairs being any worse there. You dive, stop, grab and throw the ball and try not to decapitate the fans sitting on the first base side of the stadium. Perhaps the Blue Birds will try him over there during spring training and see what happens. If he can fill in at the infield and outfield corners as well as DH against tough RHP, he should be able to get 300 AB without costing guys like Adam Lind playing time.

One thing we have learned during the Troy Glaus era in Toronto is that he will need time off for his leg maladies. Steroid use makes tendons brittle and the extra muscle mass in hard on the joints causing double jeopardy. Since the Jays know the source of Glaus’s miseries, they are aware that they will not get better with rest or surgery; it is just something that has to be dealt with on an ongoing basis. Being able to plug Stairs in over there will keep the Jays from having the black holes (defined as hitting that sucks so hard that runs cannot possibly escape) in the lineup that they suffered from last season.

In other news, Buster Olney is reporting on ESPN that Scott Boras informed the Yankees “they would have to be prepared to make an extension offer that would take the third baseman's deal up to a total value of $350 million.”

Since the Yankees and Ranger were to pay A-Rod $81 million from 2008-10 that would leave the Yankees to come up with $269 million. Over seven years that would give him an annual salary a bit south of $38.5 million for Rodriguez’s age 35-41 seasons and about $33.6 million per if it’s an eight year extension. Assuming eight years, will A-Rod be worth that much at age 42? Barry Bonds batted .276/.480/.565 (170 OPS+) this year at 42--a level reached twice in Rodriguez’s career (2005 and 2007). The fact that A-Rod’s career OPS+ is 147 I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume he won’t be as productive as a 42 year old Barry Bonds; who is should be noted made $15,533,970 in 2007.

I’ll say this much: If anybody drinks the Boras Kool-Aid and gives Alex Rodriguez the money his agent is demanding is the dumbest piece of work since William Cox; the Philadelphia Phillies owner who lost ownership of his club less than a year after buying it for betting on the Phillies back in 1943.

While that owner shouldn’t be banned for life, he certainly deserves to be ridiculed and laughed at (for life).

Best Regards

John