Good bye Frank. It’s been nice knowing ya. As great a career as Thomas has had it was obvious he wasn’t a threat at the plate at the moment and for most of the season so far. There were multiple times when a key hit by Thomas would have hurt the other team and maybe got the Jays a few more “Ws” but he didn’t deliver.

An extra two wins in April counts big time in September. It’s better to bite it now than regret it latter. Had Frank been smashing the ball everything thing would have been fine. To me it looks like Gibbons sees that with the pitching he’s got he has a chance to win most games providing the guys on the team that are suppose to dive in runs do so.

With Scott Rolen getting ready to be added to the mix and Matty Stairs picking up the ABs at DH thus allowing Shannon Stewart and the soon to be called up Adam Lind to share time in left Toronto’s offense should be fine.  The key to winning is decent starting pitching which Toronto has, dominate closer ala BJ Ryan and power in the middle of the order.

Good starting pitching gives your team a chance and good closers close out the games where you’ve scored enough runs to win. If the Jays can score enough runs they should be in the hunt all year. The Big Hurt will probably get picked and come the middle of the summer he may be putting a hurt on some pitcher some where but at this particular moment he wasn’t helping the Jays wins too many ball games. So all in all I like move and I’m a little surprise they had the moxy to do it. That said I really think it shows they think they got the pitching to get them there.

I might be inclined to agree but either way I will say this… Good luck Frank and Go Jays Go!

It’s not a good sign when your closer gives it up twice in two tries. Jeremy Accardo blew his second save of the young season last night as the A’s came from behind and beat the Jays 6 – 3. Accardo plunked the first batter he faced and it was all down hill from there. He gave up 4 runs before he was yanked. He blew the save the day before as well. It’s been reported the Jays hope to have BJ Ryan ready in a week or so. The sooner the better.

There was good news however from a Canadian sports perspective as the Flames held off the Sharks and beat them 3 – 2 in the opening game of their playoff series. San Jose is favored to win but Calgary has always played them tough. Especially in the Shark Tank where the Flames won for the fourth straight time in the postseason. Hopefully they can make it 5 straight Thursday night.

As expected Sid the Kid and his fellow Penguins beat the Senators handily in their series opener. Marc-Andrea Fleury recorded his first career playoff shutout as Pittsburg won 4 – 0.  Gary Roberts acting like a kid himself but soon to be 42 set the stage early in the second shift of the game scoring the only goal the Pens would need. They did score three more with Roberts getting another one late in the game. This series could be over quick unless something happens and Ottawa has a major turn around.

Getting back to good news the Raptors got back to .500 for the season as they beat the Bucks 111 – 93. CB4 had a big game with a nice double double. He scored 32 and had 11 boards. Ex Raptor Charlie Villanueva led all players with a season high 38 points. Charlie V was traded for TJ Ford who had a decent game him self with 14 points in 22 minutes. That said I always liked Charlie and I still say he’d look great in a Raptors uniform. Nice to see ya Charlie.

The Leafs are done The Blue Jays are getting ready to start and the Raps are trying to figure out how to get in gear for their stretch drive. Math wise the Buds are still alive but in reality their season is done as they are 6 points out of a playoff spot with 5 games left.

There were a couple positives for the Leafs this year but a lot more negatives. It does look like they have a goalie they can count on going forward. They showcased a few young guys for the last bit of the year and if nothing else the experience will be beneficial next year. That said the team could look a lot different next fall. Who knows they may even have a different captain. Mats may decide he’s had enough. I for one hope that is not true.

The Jays season starts next week and both BJ Ryan and Scott Rolen will start it on the DL. Rolen broke his finger and has a screw in it now. The screw will be there for a couple of weeks and then they’ll take it out and see how it is. Ryan is just about ready but they are holding him back to make certain he’s OK long term. In the short term Jeremey Accardo will be closer to start the year. He should do fine but it’s too bad about Rolen.

The Raps are where they were at the start of the season. They are back to even playing .500 ball. A couple of weeks ago they were 6 games above .500. They are 2 and 8 in their last 10. Obviously they struggled when CB4 was down. Bosh has been back for a couple now but the team still hasn’t gotten back on track.

Players like AP and Calderon who have contributed big time all year aren’t quite getting it done right now. The season may be taking its tow a little on them. Jose just isn’t getting the double doubles the way he was and Parker has fallen off to low teens in points per game.  I think they really need another go to guy and as a team may be a little too soft.  They have twelve games left to get into playoff mode or it could be an early exit come play off time.

BJ Ryan the Jays’ closer threw off the mound today and could face some live hitters next week. He’s raring to go and chomping at the bit. That is a good thing!

Young Canadian lefty Adam Loewen also threw off the mound throwing to live hitters for the first time since last May. He’s got a spot locked in the Orioles rotation providing he stays healthy. He said he felt good and really comfortable. That is a good thing as well!

Captain Mats had a chat with Trader Cliff Fletcher the Leafs interim GM the other day. Fletcher then had a lengthy meeting with Sundin’s lawyers. The only thing they could be discussing was some aspect of parameters regarding what it would take for Mats to waive his no trade. That is also a good thing!

Mikka Kiprusoff recorded his 1st shutout of the season as the Calgary Flames shut down the slumping Wings 1 – 0. He was definitely the star of the game making 38 saves. With the win the Flames moved into a 5th place tie in their conference with Nashville and San Jose. That too is a very good thing!

I play in two separate on line computer simulated baseball leagues. Each league has ten players from across Canada. I have been playing in one for 17 years and in the other for 5 years. They both had drafts this evening. It was interesting juggling focus back and forth between the two.

In the one league I got the Jays new shortstop “Just in Time” Eckstein. He’ll back up my regular guy the Tigers new 1st baseman and former shortstop Carlos Guillen. Because of the change of position Guillen can now also back up my number one 1st baseman former Blue Jay and my all time fave player Carlos Delgado.

In the other league I got the Jays closer BJ Ryan with a late round pick. Ryan’s coming back from Tommy John surgery but he says he’s ready to go. The other players in my league stayed away from him for that reason but hopefully he is good to go otherwise I’m going to have to get another guy until he is ready. When Ryan is on he’s lights out.

I’m tempted to hope that BJ takes it slow for the Jays sake and is truly healthy before he lets it loose. In my computer league well that’s another storey as I’m truly hoping Ryan is really ready and can just let it fly. The way I figure it he certainly is worth the gamble on a late round pick. That said there’s nothing worse than a closer who gives it back whether it’s in real life or in some on line fantasy game.

Hopefully I don’t end up wanting to give the pick back. Hopefully BJ’s good to go. Go BJ Go! ...