Eveland Kills 2 Birds With 1 Stone

If there was any chance that Alex Anthopolous could get Dana Eveland traded to the DBacks this season, possibly along with a reliever, for a substantial return, it was killed yesterday after a lousy outing by the big guy. He killed both his chances of remaining in the rotation much longer and his trade value with 1 game, although one could argue that his last few outings haven’t been impressive enough to get much in trade anyhow. The Jays have now lost 3 in a row despite the fact that they are a much better team than the DBacks. That’s what frustrates most fans, the fact that they should be putting on a massive winning streak instead of losing tight games to this team.

The great part of a losing streak is that there are always a few good stories in there. Edwin Encarnacion has been on a tear of late and is producing the same power at 3B that Jose Bautista had shown at the position before Edwin took over. With Aaron Hill and Adam Lind slumping as they are, it’s a good thing the Jays have been able to get runs elsewhere because they could be getting embarrassed instead of simply beat! There has to be something the Jays can do to help Arron and Adam out. I was thinking that change in the lineup, where Hill would hit 5th and Adam would hit 6th, only for a few games, may get them back on track. Edwin Encarnacion could hit 3rd and Gonzalez could hit 2nd. If it works, great! If not, well, you’re in the same place you were before, so what’s the harm? Edwin now has 6 HRs in his last 9 games, so the Jays should ride the hot streak while they can instead of hitting Edwin 8th in the lineup.

The Jays need to pull a win out today before they skid for too long. Thankfully, they have newly crowned Ace Shaun Marcum heading to the mound to get them out of this mini-funk before it drags on too long. If it does end up dragging on, it will surely make Alex Anthopolous’s job a lot easier in providing reason to deal some of the heightened value players in the lineup such as Alex Gonzalez and Jose Bautista.