And...

It has been over a week since I have posted, yet again.

I have been having trouble finding the motivation to write, while not actually watching many Jays games on TV.

Combine that with my recent injury due to retardation, and it was hard to get motivated at all to post something.

So, now that I am doped up on oxycodine, I will throw some random baseball insights out there from the past week or so.

• The Jays signed 1st rounder Chad Jenkins, leaving their other top picks unsigned with less than a week to go. All 3 Jakes remain unsigned as well as James Paxton. Hurry the fuck up.
• John Smoltz was DFA'd and is now a free agent. He could make a solid bullpen acquisition for a National League team down the stretch.
• Ex-Jay Justin Speier was released this week, and he could really help a bullpen the rest of the way as well. Get on this Milwaukee.
• Speaking of the Brewers, they DFA'd Bill Hall and optioned JJ Hardy this week. The Hall move was a long time coming, as he has been kinda shitty the last couple years. Hardy was a surprise, but it is perfect, as it will allow Milwaukee to keep JJ from becoming a free agent for another season. Smart.

The biggest news since the trade deadline was that of the decision to let Alex Rios get claimed off waivers by the White Sox. The Jays get nothing but salary relief for their talented, but lazy, CF playing RF. The White Sox got a good player on a decent contract and the Jays get a chance to sign a guy in the off-season who fits into the offense better.

My thinking is that this is a really smart move by both teams. For the Jays, it will allow them to play Adam Lind in LF and Travis Snider in RF. Both are not bad on defense and are too young to be full-time DH guys. I still think Adam Lind should learn 1B for when Overbay departs as a free agent after 2010. It allows the Jays to go out and sign a power hitter to DH or to allow Randy Ruiz to do the job if he continues to show power at the major league level.

I would love to see the Jays sign Chone Figgins in the offseason to play 3B and lead off. He would immediately change the look of the team in a very good way.

The two other holes to fill will be SS and catcher. For SS, I purpose either trading for a good player such as JJ Hardy or signing a Bobby Crosby or Khalil Greene type and batting them 9th. THey both have some power and play decent defense. They would be decent number 9 hitters and would be cheaper than re-signing Scutaro.

As for catcher, that is really a crap shoot. Barajas is a free agent as are 2009 back-ups Raul Chavez and Mike Barrett. I would love to re-sign Chavez to back up again in 2010. Whoever catches will most likely be the number 8 hitter, so it really isn't that big of a deal if they are not great hitters. BUT, they should at least be able to OBP over .300, which Barajas seems incapable of. I would not mind signing Jason Varitek for a year while Arencibia learns to be more patient. Varitek has some power, so he is always dangerous, and is a great receiver. Gregg Zaun would be welcome back as well, as he is a high OBP guy with some pop.