So instead of promising fans the team would surpass last year's performance – 86 wins and fourth place in the AL East – the trio pledged a competitive squad on the field and plenty of good times at the Rogers Centre.

"You're going to see in the next few years baseball that is very, very exciting," Beeston said, while raving about the talent in the team's minor-league pipeline.
* * *
Right now the team's payroll sits at about $80 million (all figures U.S.), down from about $100 million last season, and last night some fans attending the meeting at the Westin Harbour Castle wondered why the team didn't sign a free agent with some of the money they saved when pitcher A.J. Burnett ($13.2 million in 2008) opted out of his contract.

Beeston's response was a common one: It's the economy.

Going into last night, the four major sports teams are working on a collective winning percentage of .457. Only one other North American city with professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey teams is faring worse — Washington. The compilation includes the 2008 Blue Jays and Argonauts seasons and adds the current records of the Raptors and Maple Leafs in the 2008-09 NBA and NHL campaigns through Tuesday.
* * *
All four clubs fired head coaches in a seven-month span last year — Paul Maurice by the Maple Leafs on May 7, John Gibbons by the Blue Jays on June 20, Rich Stubler by the Argos on Sept. 9 and Sam Mitchell by the Raptors on Dec. 3. The Argos actually dumped two coaches, parting ways with Don Matthews after the CFL season.

After serving up four runs in two-thirds of an inning, Ryan began preparing for the short trip to Tampa, Fla., where he will join the back end of Team USA's bullpen for the World Baseball Classic. He could be gone for up to three weeks. And walking more batters (three) than he retired (two) on Saturday was not the last impression he wanted leave with manager Cito Gaston.

"You would have liked to have left here on a better note than that," Ryan said. "But in terms of where I think I need to be and where I am, it's closer than it looks."

Roger Clemens won two of his seven Cy Young Awards in the two years he was with the Toronto Blue Jays, but he didn't win many friends or allies.
* * *
But Gaston, who was rehired by the Blue Jays last June, after an 11-year absence, believes there's some truth to the idea that Clemens wielded influence with somebody, which led to the manager's dismissal.

"I wouldn't doubt that," Gaston said. "He's an ass**** himself, a complete ass****. I'd say that loud, right in his face. It's all about him, nobody else but him."

Gaston said that during the 1997 season he learned that Clemens was trying to undercut his authority - at one point, complaining behind the manager's back that he thought Gaston left pitcher Pat Hentgen in a game too long.

Gaston said it was a good thing Clemens didn't voice his complaint face-to-face.

"He wouldn't do that, otherwise there would have been a good ass-whippin' that day," Gaston said. "It might have been me, but he still would have known I was there."
* * *
"When he's on the mound, he's 100 per cent," Gaston said. "When he's pitching, everybody's in the dugout pulling for him. When he's not pitching, he's not in the dugout all the time. ... I just didn't feel like he supported his teammates as much as he wanted support."

Attendance figures released for the month of April – which the Jays ended tied atop the AL East – show Toronto as baseball's third biggest loser in average attendance compared to 2008.

With 10 home games in the first month of the season, crowds at the Rogers Centre are down on average to 20,396 from 26,864 in 2008.

Washington, Detroit and Atlanta, join the Jays as the so-called biggest losers, according to baseball's monthly attendance report. The two Florida teams – the Marlins and Rays – show the biggest gains, followed by Oakland, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati.
* * *
The club has also adopted what it says is a more accurate account of ticket sales – reporting only tickets sold and excluding freebies and promotional tickets.

The club has also adopted what it says is a more accurate account of ticket sales – reporting only tickets sold and excluding freebies and promotional tickets.

Tim Williams wears an authentic American League umpire's uniform, stations himself behind home plate at Rogers Centre and rings up batters with zeal.

He does it from the first row of the stands, though, and that has started to turn heads.

Williams and a friend were the two "fake umpires" noticed by broadcast crews for New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians during recent Blue Jays home games.

Three clips of Williams and Farrell in action were later posted on YouTube. One had more than 12,000 viewings; however as of last night, the clips had been deleted at the request of Major League Baseball's copyright czars.

For now, the Blue Jays have no plans to place Roy Halladay on the disabled list. An MRI exam performed on their ace on Saturday confirmed that he suffered a mild right groin strain during his abbreviated start one night earlier.

That being the case, Halladay is considered day-to-day and could be available to pitch as early as June 20, when Toronto will need a starter for the second tilt of a three-game Interleague series on the road against the Nationals. Right-hander Scott Richmond will take Halladay's turn on Wednesday in Philadelphia to give the pitcher a few extra days to rest.
* * *
The Jays will use the next week to monitor Halladay, who leads the Majors in wins (10) and innings (103) and has a 2.53 ERA in 14 outings.

The Jays announced that starter Roy Halladay and closer Scott Downs will both be placed on the disabled list Thursday. The team will put Halladay on the DL retroactive to June 13, so he'll be eligible to return June 28.
* * *
The loss of Halladay is a significant blow to a Toronto team that's gone 8-17 since a 27-14 start. Halladay leads the American League with 10 wins and 103 innings pitched, and he ranks fifth in strikeouts (88) and ERA (2.53).
* * *
The Blue Jays have already lost pitchers Jesse Litsch, Ricky Romero and Ryan to the disabled list this season, while Casey Janssen has made two trips to the DL. In addition, pitchers Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan are both recovering from arm surgery.

Does Halladay have a no-trade clause? Is there any chance that he would be traded if the Jays are well out of the playoff race by the trade deadline? Preferably to a team that plays its home games in the 215 area code?

Come on, Phils, bid high!

Right now, the team most aggressively searching for a front-line starting pitcher is the Philadelphia Phillies, who no doubt would covet Halladay for their particular park for his ability to generate ground balls and missed swings -- he has a ground ball/fly ball ratio of 1.30, to go along 98 strikeouts in 116 innings this season. The question about the Phillies -- as it is with most teams these days, when the value of young players has never been higher -- is whether they would be willing to give up what the Jays would require in trade.

Halladay is 10-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts. He'll be paid $14.25 million this year and his contract, which has a no trade clause, expires after the 2010 season, when he's set to earn $15.75 million.

"Really at this point, I just want to focus on my job here," Halladay said.
The 17th overall pick in 1995, Halladay has spent his entire career with the Blue Jays, amassing a career mark of 141-68 with a 3.47 ERA. He won the Cy Young Award in 2003 and finished second to Cleveland's Cliff Lee last season.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi on Tuesday said he's willing to listen to offers for Halladay.

Besides, the GM's track record at trading established players for prospects stinks. Really it does. Here are the facts, on the 17 deals by Ricciardi when he has had to trade an established position player or pitcher in large part because of salary considerations:

In those 17 deals, he has sent out 20 players and received 20 players in return. Eight of the 20 men he sent away from the Jays are still in the majors – Cesar Izturis, Felipe Lopez, Orlando Hudson, Miguel Batista, Scott Schoenweis, Eric Hinske, Troy Glaus and David Eckstein. Here's the clinching stat. Over eight years, just three of the 20 players he received in return are still in the organization – Scott Rolen, Jeremy Accardo and Brian Wolfe. Given that, why would Rogers allow an in-season trade with Halladay?
* * *
The 17 trades were, in chronological order, were sending away 1-Billy Koch, 2-Alex Gonzalez, 3-Paul Quantrill, 4-Brad Fullmer, 5-Pedro Borbon (maybe a little sketchy), 6-Dan Plesac (and yes I would question that Cliff Politte was a good move), 7-Raul Mondesi, 8-Felipe Lopez, 9-Shannon Stewart (and you can't use the commutativbe theory for Ted Lilly because Bobby Kielty does not qualify as an established player for purposes of this study), 10-Orlando Hudson and Miggy Batista, 11-Corey Koskie, 12-Shea Hillenbrand, 13-Scott Schoenweis, 14-Terry Adams (also sketchy), 15-Eric Hinske, 16-Troy Glaus, 17-Dave Eckstein.

No! Go back to sleep until after Halladay is traded to the Phils!

To be fair to the Jays fans - nobody expected them to do well this year - so of course advance sales were down a fair bit as even management was not hyping this team as a playoff contender as they have in the past. In fact they were pretty much the consensus # 4 pick in the AL East.