Blue Jays Claim Cousins, Wade, and Collective Yawn From Fans

Aug 9, 2012; Flushing, NY,USA; Miami Marlins center fielder Scott Cousins (6) grounds into a double play during the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mets won 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-US PRESSWIREQuick, what is a quick way to create excitement from a fan base while sitting home in October? Easy, make personnel moves in order to get a jump on next season.

What is a quick way to rile up the angry mob? Claim two players off of waivers that have no hope of breaking camp with Toronto in March and having them take up two valuable spots on the 40-man roster, which now stands at 39 players.

Alas, that is exactly what the Blue Jays did, when on Wednesday they claimed outfielder Scott Cousins off of waivers from the Miami Marlins and Corey Wade off of waivers from the New York Yankees.

Cousins has played part of three major league seasons with the Marlins, posting a lifetime batting average of .183 with a pair of home runs and 9 RBI in 188 career plate appearances. At 27-years-old, he is a .279 career hitter in the minors, which is where he would likely continue his career if Toronto keeps him around long-enough. Given the quantity of left-handed outfield bats expected to start 2013 in Buffalo, Cousins is barely a blip on the radar.

Corey Wade is a bit of an intriguing pick-up. The right-handed reliever has had success at the major league level, posting a 2.27 ERA in 2008 for the Dodgers and a 2.04 ERA for the Yankees in 40 games in 2011. However, he’s followed both of those years with horrible seasons and ultimately spent the second half of 2009, all of 2010, and the first half of 2011 in the minors. Wade has posted solid strike-out numbers and excellent control in his last two seasons with the Yankees. However, he will have a hard time fitting into a Blue Jays bullpen that will be one of the team’s strongest features in 2013, with Casey Janssen, the return of Sergio Santos, Brad Lincoln, Aaron Loup, Steve Delabar, and Darren Oliver (if he doesn’t retire).

In other words, these moves are just throwing the dice on depth for now and nothing more. Until then, they are nothing but blog fodder.