I know I may be overreacting to the loss of B.J. Ryan to Tommy John Surgery, but you have to admit that the loss of the Jays closer kills Toronto's chances to compete in the always competitive AL East.

Ryan was the best closer in the league last year and showed dominance against the Red Sox and Yankees, two teams with a lot of left handed hitters and was all but unbeatable for much of the year.  And with the Blue Jays rotation and bullpen thin already, Toronto needed Ryan healthy in order to keep the pen together.

Now it's all gone to hell.

Jason Frasor is the temporary closer, though Jeremy Accardo may soon challenge him for the job.  The Jays have little in the farm system to deal and what was once their most valuable trade commodity, Vernon Wells, is locked up for the long haul.

So what do the Jays do?

They have Alex Rios, a excellent young outfielder that can play centerfield that could net prospects as well as free up a place for Adam Lind full time once Reed Johnson comes back, but such a move would leave the Jays shorthanded in the short term.  The rotation is a mess, largely because the Jays were outbid for their few free agent targets and have tried to rebuild a rotation mainly out of retreads and has beens.

The reality is that this team may have to blow itself up and compete for next year, as the pitching trade market is shallow and expensive. 

Aside from Rios, would could net a decent young pitcher and a average position player, the Jays could also move Troy Glaus, who is drawing interest around the league from teams needing another bat in the lineup.  Glaus can still capably handle third base and still has plenty of power, despite his nagging injuries.  The main sticking point is that Glaus has three years left on his deal AND a full no trade clause.  Hence, the Jays would have to hammer out a compromise with Glaus just to get him to waive the no trade. 

If they really want a Kings Ransom's worth of prospects, they could consider listening to offers for Roy Halladay, much as the Astros did when they were listening for offers for Roy Oswalt last year.  Offering up Halladay would generate a lot of buzz around baseball and would prompt many clubs to dip into their systems for the necessary pieces to make a offer.

Or, if the Jays are really willing to continue to compete, they could simply announce that they are willing to be partners in a salary dump, much as the Yankees did when they traded for Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle last season and the result was that they got impact players in exchange for some average prospects.  Some teams willing to shed large contracts, such as the Giants with Armando Benitez, the Mariners with Jeff Weaver, the Rockies for some combination of Josh Fogg and Byung Hyun Kim, or the Nationals with Chad Cordero (a stretch, but not a large one) could make a deal for meager prospects in exchange for having the salary relief.  However, the result would be damaging in the long run as the Jays payroll would skyrocket and the impact on the bottom line might not be much.  Plus, team's may not be eager to deal with GM J.P. Riccardi, in light of the recent story that he deliberately lied about Ryan's injury in Spring Training to keep the injury a secret.

Whatever the result, the Blue Jays are a lesser team now that their closer has gone down.  And instead of competing for the division with the Red Sox or the Yankees, the Jays may instead find themselves competing to stay out of the gutter with the Orioles and Devil Rays.

With news that Mike Hampton will miss another season, what effect does this have on the Braves?

At the moment, not much.

The Braves are rolling with their current rotation and the bullpen appears sharp.  Hampton was just going to add to the mix, he wasn't dependant for it to work.

However, the Braves may only have been counting on Hampton to come back really to justify the boatload of money their paying to him.  As of right now, he's a very expensive workout partner.

Long term, if the Bravos need another starter, they could acquire Byung Hyung Kim from the Rockies or even bring back John Thomson if they feel like he's got another two months left in his arm, though it's likely Oscar Villareal could get a look as well.

Don't cry for the Bravos' title chances.

Just cry for their balance sheet when they see Mike Hampton's name on the payroll.