Jays Update: 19-May-10

Here are some news and notes for the Jays organization:

• Robert MacLeod of the Globe and Mail examines the fan backlash of Lyle Overbay’s play in this piece;
• Speculations of Jose Bautista becoming trade bait are being thrown around now, with almost all teams needing someone with his skill set and performance this season. It will be interesting to see whether Alex pulls the trigger on a trade soon. When you combine Jose to the 3 starters that are going to push for playing time very soon (Marc Rzepczynski, Jesse Litsch, and Brian Tallet), as well as with the strong pen with 2 impending free agents (Scott Downs and Jason Frasor), there is no doubt that Alex’s ears are burning each time he goes to bed because it’s been glued to a phone all day and night. It should be long before moves are made, I’m just not sure what he’ll be after and whether he’ll feel some pressure to add instead of subtract due to the team’s performance.
• My favorite trade partners: Milwaukee (Casey McGehee), Seattle (Cliff Lee), Pittsburgh (Jose Tabata and/or Ryan Doumit), Chicago Cubs (Aramis Ramirez), Kansas City (Alex Gordon) and Arizona (Mark Reynolds).
• Edwin Encarnacion is quickly proving his wrist is heatlhy, Aaron Hill is starting to see the ball again, and Brett Wallace is about 2 weeks away from being in the lineup. I have 2 words for opposing pitchers: look out!!
• Jordan Bastien, who has my job….for now, lol, gives us a quick glance at Alex Anthopolous’s take on the upcoming draft. I, for one, will be sitting in front of the TV anxiously waiting to see who the first player ever drafted by the new GM will be!
• Apparently, Shaun Marcum is sharing his wealth of experience with Brandon Morrow. It seems that this staff is really getting along well and someone like Morrow, who was bounced between the pen and rotation in Seattle, will benefit a great deal from someone like Shaun who shows more finesse than Brandon does. Remember that winning is contagious, so if Shaun can rub off some magic on Brandon and make him an effective #3 in the rotation, the Jays will have a wicked top 3 that includes a power lefty (Ricky Romero), finesse righty (Shaun Marcum), and power righty (Brandon Morrow). The last 2 are both lefties, but the probable addition of Jesse Litsch as a #3 to #5  should give the Jays their only finesse righty, which is great to keep opposing hitters from getting comfortable at the plate against this rotation.
• Injury updates: Dustin McGowan still isn’t throwing, Scott Richmond is throwing bullpen sessions, and Jesse Litsch is due back around June 3rd.
• Adeiny Hechavarria stole his 1st base of the season yesterday and is now hitting .280 through his first 25 ABs.
• Adam Loewen hit his 5th HR of the season and stole his 7th base of the year in AA. Impressive for the former pitcher.