how is the entire season wasted when the season is only half over?

MW: Sorry – the entire season so far.

I was never in favour of the rolen/glaus trade and still am not. even though glaus is injured, his contract expires this year so you have 10 mil to redeploy. I still think rolen is overpaid at 10 mil. his hr and rbi for 2008 and 2009 COMBINED is still LOWER than glaus’s's’ 2008 total. how do you like that?

MW: I like it. I’m glad to hear you wouldn’t let a thing like an entirely wasted season by Troy Glaus change your opinion of the trade.

must say im disgusted that jed lowrie is in the top 10 in all star shortstop voting.

just goes to show how pathetic the all-star game really is.

jed lowrie is batting under .100

MW: Jed Lowrie is a Boston Red Sock, and he’s been on the DL almost all season.

MW: I said the Rios contract was a good gamble, and it hasn’t been a bust at all. Remember, there are five years left on it, and that’s a good thing. Wells contract seemed the right thing to do at the time, he hasn’t lived up to it to this point, without question but, again, there are five years left for him to live up to it. How did you feel about the Rolen-Glaus trade at this point last year, and how do you feel about it now?

MW: Huh? And it’s pretty cool how a AAA team can have a winning record in the major leagues. That’s a hell of a AAA team.

that statement makes no sense. you know very well that players will squeeze as much money as they can out of teams. name me a player that takes less money? if crawford wanted a long term deal he would have gotten one. if he wanted more money then all he had to do was wait till free agency, but he hedged his bets and took the money. it was a shrewd deal by the tbay gm.

JP didnt hedge his bets. you keep referring to the gm has to gamble? huh where did you get this idea. I do not want my gm “gambling” with 100 mil. I want him taking low risk high reward contracts. did you honestly think that rios would perform at a high level for 7 straight years after only 2 good ones? very few players can do this. why not offer him 4 years? what is the worst that can happen? he leaves? you then have 4 years to develop a replacement and then you save the money after 4 years.

the jays should not be signing any player to 7 year deals. I would not even sign players to 5 year deals. there is too much risk with very little benefit. look at all the 7 year deals signed. how many of them actually worked out for the team? not many. I honestly cannot even imagine that I have to watch rios/wells for another 5 years!

MW: You don’t.

MW: There’s no question that Jeter is a great, consistent player.

You know, when I see Ricky Romero with that effective changeup, I’m starting to think Johan Santana with less velocity. It would be terrific if he turned out to be as effective. I love this kid. He has poise out there and seems very confident and intense. He has become the perfect complement to Doc Halladay and has settled in nicely at the 2 spot in the rotation. Hopefully he holds up in the second half but I see no reason why he shouldn’t. He had that time on the DL so he is still pretty fresh. Also, this kid seems to really know how to use all the pitches in his repetoire whether its the fastball, curve or change up.

With regards to Alexis Rios, I think his biggest problem is that he just does not think the game well at all. He obviously has talent but you need to think the game. There are many players with less talent but are very successful because of their sound knowledge of the fundamentals and the ability to execute. He has made numerous baserunning errors, errors in the outfield (i.e throwing to the wrong base or overthrowing cutoff men). Also, as Cito mentions, he has no plan when he comes to the plate. Whether its reading a pitchers delivery, pitch recognition, sitting on a pitch, or using the whole field, the great hitters always have a plan. I honestly believe that until Rios learns to think the game the proper way, he may never realize his potential. He will get by on his pure skills, but I believe it takes more than pure skills to be successful in this game. This is not to bash him at all, just to pint out what I think his biggest issue is.

As for Vernon, I really don’t know what to say. I do hope Cito drops him in the order until he comes around. he has killed the team in the number 3 and 4 spots. Perhaps a change of scenary may help. Perhaps to Texas to play with his buddy Michael Young. of course, moving that salary is going to be tough for sure. We’ll see.

I think someone asked you this already, but I can’t remember. What do you think the odds are off Vernon Wells deferring the rest of his contract? What about 5m a year, like Griffey did for the Reds? Do you think Wells would be open to it?

And, this is serious, I hear often people call the sacrifice fly the most exciting play in baseball…haha is it sarcasm or do they mean it?

MW: If you know I have been asked the question already, you’re better off to back and look it up. And yes, I would think that it’s sarcasm.

MW: Sure, why not?