12:45 PM Central

It’s been a very busy morning down here as the Meetings have wrapped up, for me anyway.  There was the hour taking calls on Hoagie’s show (lotta fun, as always – great to get back into the byplay with listeners, if only for a little bit), then the Rule 5 draft, and then talking to J.P. and Jon Lalonde and putting all the audio together.  That’s my way of saying I’m sorry for not posting something earlier today, but until they make me a full-time bloggist, the audio has to come first.

Also, I gotta pack and check out in the next 45 minutes, so this might not be the longest post.  Might be, though, you never know what’s going to happen when the fingers start going.

The Jays started the day off by releasing Ryan Houston to make the room they needed to take Randy Wells in the Rule 5 draft.  Houston is a big guy, throws hard, but has had control issues, and it took him four years of A-ball to make the jump to AA.  He’ll likely land somewhere, and if he ever finds the plate on a consistent basis, could still make it, but he’s already 28.

Wells is a converted catcher that the Jays think can help in the bullpen this year.  His numbers at AAA weren’t great this season, but Lalonde told me that they were skewed by a couple of bad starts, and that he pitched very well out of the bullpen.  And hey, a career 1.35 WHIP as a pro when you’ve only been pitching for four years is pretty good.  But don’t start planning any parade routes.  He won’t be one of the top five pitchers in the Jays’ pen this year, if he even makes the team.

The Jays didn’t lose anyone in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft, but Dustin Majewski went to San Diego and Kurt Isenberg to Texas in the second round of the AAA phase.  Let there be no rending of garments here – every team in the big leagues passed on both of them in the first round, and again, this is the AAA phase.

At the end of the morning, J.P. Ricciardi summed up the week’s events by saying he was surprised there hadn’t been more action, with a lot of trades people had speculated on failing to materialize.  He also said, though, that he felt the Jays had been more active than a lot of us had thought, and he meant more than just Buck Coats.  It seems there may have been quite a bit of groundwork laid for future moves, and we should find out what, if anything, is going to happen before the New Year.

Remember, the Troy Glaus trade announcement came on December 26th or 27th, so it’s not like the Jays take much time off for Christmas.

I’ll leave here thinking that Rios for Lincecum is a very real possibility, and that the Jays are likely to sign Paul LoDuca when I’m on vacation next week.

Also, I’ll leave here thinking the L.A. Dodgers are insane.  $36.2 million over two years for a guy who has hit .237 over the last season and a half and doesn’t walk?  Also, not so much the best defensive CF in the game anymore.  Whoever slipped Ned Colletti the happy juice before he signed Juan Pierre last year must have pulled the same trick again.  Yeesh.

Now I gotta get back to the room, pack up, check out, hit the mall to pick up some presents for my girlies and expense them to the FAN, and catch the evening flight with all the Jays’ brass (save for J.P. and probably Tony LaCava) and a ton of writers so I can see my family tonight!  Maybe I’ll get home in time to light the candles, keep a good thought!

Comments are always welcome, and e-mail is wilner590@hotmail.com

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