Time to shuffle the deck!!

Less than 24 hours after being swept away by the Red Sox, the Blue Jays have made a flurry of roster moves. Optioned to AAA-Las Vegas were promising young sluggar Travis Snider, and rotation fill ins, LHP Brett Cecil and RHP Ricky Ray.


Snider was hitting .242 with 3 HR and 12 RBI in 99 AB's over 32 games, primarily in the outfield. With interleague play beginning tonight in Atlanta, and covering most of June, Snider was set to lose a lot of playing time in NL parks as regular DH Adam Lind will be shifted to LF to keep his bat in the heart of the Jays' lineup. The timing could not be better for the Jays as Snider had been scuffling of late hitting at just a .216/.237/.243 clip in May. The move will allow Snider to play everyday in AAA and refine his game after being exposed by major league pitching. One of the biggest things Snider has to work on, like most hitters is his plate patience and pitch recognition as he was often the victim of nasty breaking pitches, swinging at balls nowhere near the plate. It will also allow Snider to play every day again after spending the first month and a half of the season riding the pine vs. lefties.

If all goes well in the minors I wouldn't be surprised to see the young outfielder resurface sometime in late June as the Jays last visit to a National League park is a three game set at Nationals Park in Washington from June 19th-21st. In the meantime, I'd expect 1B Kevin Millar to receive the majority of at bats when the DH is required, although Jose Bautista might garner the extra start or two as well.

Cecil had been very impressive in his short stint with the Jays until his start Wednesday night at Fenway when he served up 5 (yes FIVE!!) home runs to the Red Sox. His ERA over his first three starts was a flashy 1.80 but skyrocketed to 4.38 after allowing 8 ER over just 4.2 innings @ the Red Sox. Cecil also surrendered 2 home runs in his previous start vs. the White Sox so the Jays brass probably felt it was best for the organization's top pitching prospect to go back down to AAA to continue to develop.

Ray, called up to plug a hole in the rotation in early May experienced some success in his 4 starts in the bigs, the best being his 8 shutout innings against the White Sox in which he allowed just 3 hits. His other 3 starts were not as pretty however as he allowed at least 3 ER in each of them. Ray likely would have been sent down earlier if the Jays had any better rotation options but now with some pitchers coming off the DL, Ray head to Las Vegas where he will get his first taste of AAA action after being called up straight from AA earlier in the month.

To replace these players on the roster, Toronto recalled IF Joe Inglett, LHP Ricky Romero and RHP Casey Janssen.

Inglett performed admirably for the Jays last season filling in for the injured Aaron Hill but with both him and SS Marco Scutaro playing so well, Inglett will have a tough time finding AB's. He hit .297/.355/.407 in 344 AB in 2008, his first full season with the Jays.

Romero, the 6th overall pick in the 2005 draft, pitched very well in his first 3 Major League starts after making the team out of spring training. After posting a 2-0 record and 1.71 ERA over his first 21 IP, Romero hit the disabled list with a strained oblique, suffered while sneezing. Luckily for the Jays, their rotation fill ins have performed quite well in Romero's absence and it will be interesting to see if he can pick up where he left off when he returns to the hill Tuesday night in Baltimore.

Janssen missed all of the 2008 season after after undergoing shoulder surgery in spring training last year. He made his big league debut back in 2006, appearing in 19 games (17 of which were starts) and compiling a 6-10 record with a 5.07 ERA. It wasn't until he was moved to the bullpen for the 2007 season that Janssen really thrived. Upon earning a late inning set up role, he posted a 2.35 ERA over 72.2 IP and racked up 6 saves and 24 holds.

Janssen was lights out during his minor league rehab stint posting a microscopic 0.76 ERA over 23.2 IP between Class A-Dunedin and AA-New Hampshire. He will bring a nice veteran presence to the Jays rotation, something much needed with only ace Roy Halladay having made more than 15 career starts. Although it appears to be Richmond's turn in the order, it has been reported by both Rotoworld.com and on the the Blue Jay's website that Janssen is set to follow the Doc in the 2nd of a 3 game set in Atlanta this weekend.

The Jays rotation now appears to be set up as follows: RHP Roy Halladay, RHP Casey Janssen, LHP Brian Tallet, RHP Scott Richmond, LHP Ricky Romero.

"Wolverine" up to the task??

Brian Tallet has a chance to help the '09 Jays make a statement tonight when he faces off against the Yankees "other" prized free agent acquisition in hefty lefty C.C. Sabathia. The Jays put the boots to former teammate A.J. Burnett on Tuesday night before dropping last night's contest 8-2.


Tallet will have to be on his game tonight to give the Jays a fighting chance against Sabathia, one of the top pitchers in the league over the last 5 years. In 5 starts this season, Tallet has surrendered 15 ER in 29 IP but 10 of those runs came in a rout in Kansas City. In his other 4 starts (OAK, @CHW, CLE, @OAK) Tallet has posted a 1.80 ERA over 25 IP with a 2-0 record and an 18/9 K/BB ratio.

Just like last nights starter (Canadian Scott Richmond), Tallet will face his toughest opponent thus far when he faces the Yankees tonight. Richmond, previously 4-1, was absolutely rocked by the Yankees last night. He surrendered 5 ER on 7 hits and 2 walks while retiring just 5 hitters before exiting in the second inning. That left 7.1 innings for the Blue Jays bullpen, and forced Cito Gaston to use RHP Brian Wolfe (2 IP and 32 pitches), LHP Bill Murphy (2 IP and 42 pitches), RHP Brandon League (1 IP and 17 pitches), RHP Jason Frasor (1 IP and 14 pitches) and RHP Shawn Camp (1 IP and ONLY 7 pitches). Luckily for the Jays, all 5 relievers were fairly efficient with their pitch counts and Ace Roy Halladay pitched a complete gam the night before, leaving the bullpen fairly rested for tonight's series finale.

If all goes well for Tallet, the bullpen won't need to do much work. In each of his last two starts, Tallet has thrown 7 strong innings, and both were quality starts. But this is the Yankees, not the lowly A's or Indians, and they've got one of the best pitchers in baseball on the hill. C.C. Sabathia, by far the biggest free agent (both in size and notoriety) during the offseason, is just 2-3 through his first 7 starts but has posted respectable numbers with a 3.94 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, pretty close to his career numbers. His K's are down a bit and his ERA a bit high, but in 10 career starts vs. the Jays (all while pitching for the Indians), Sabathia is 7-3 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, while Jays hitters have hit just .215 against him.

No matter the superhero nickname, it appears as if Tallet is truly overmatched tonight, but if there's one thing we've learned thus far.. it's too never count these Jays out.

Tonight's Prediction: Yankees 6 - Jays 3

Note: Jays 2B Aaron Hill, who left Wednesday's game after fouling a ball off his left shin, is expected to play Thursday.