Jays Jots 11/17: John Buck, Cito Gaston, Shawn Hill

(5:33pm EST) The Florida Marlins have announced that they have agreed to a three year agreement with John Buck. Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the three year deal is worth a whopping $18M pending a physical. As much as I valued Buck’s contributions to the Jays in 2010, that really seems like a drastic overpay by the Marlins. Then again who really cares, the Jays get a sandwich pick in the deep 2011 draft!

In regards to the Manager of the Year balloting, former Jays bench boss Cito Gaston received one first place vote and finished in 5th place overall for his contributions to the Jays in 2010. Now retired and an advisor with the Jays, Gaston finished the balloting with a total of five points. Full information about the vote can be found on the official Blue Jays website.

In other Jays news, the team released starting pitcher Shawn Hill today, according to a team press release. This is somewhat of a surprise, as Hill posted a tidy 2.61 ERA in four September starts with the Jays after rehabbing from another Tommy John surgery. It seems as Anthopoulos valued Hill’s spot on the 40 man roster more (similar to the reasoning to let Taylor Buchholz be claimed off waivers earlier in the week), as it surely would not have cost a lot to bring Hill back. This could be another preemptive move on Anthopoulos’ part in preparation for acquiring other Major League ready pieces this offseason.

Also, the Jays found a replacement for their departed MLB.com reporter Jordan Bastian, as now Gregor Chisholm will be taking over the reins. What’s great about Chisholm is he is a Canadian from Saint John, New Brunswick reporting on the only Canadian team in Major League Baseball. You can follow him on twitter as @gregorMLB or check out his blog, North of the Border.

-JM