Jays Journal » Brian Fuentes

Jays Notes: Manny Ramirez, Carlos Villanueva, Jon Rauch and Other Notes

Mat Germain — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 20:26:37 +0000

As we head ever-so-close to Spring Training, 2011 edition, we hear more Jays chatter and are about to embark in what should be a very entertaining arbitration eligibility year. Here are the notes for today:

What does it mean when a team is “said to be still considering Manny Ramirez“, as has been reportedby Jon Heyman on Twitter? Does that mean they’ll just answer his agent’s calls, or that if his price comes down low enough they’ll willingly make an offer to him? Either way, it doesn’t sound like the Jays are “chasing” Man Ram. It’s more likely that they’re waiting to see how his market plays out before they close the book on him altogether. (more…)

Blue Jays Interested in Jon Rauch?

Jared Macdonald — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:59:24 +0000

In addition to the rumors surrounding the Blue Jays and free agent reliever Brian Fuentes, it was reported by SI.com’s Jon Heyman yesterday that the Jays are apparently interested in mammoth free agent right-hander Jon Rauch.

(more…)

Jays Jots: Roberto Alomar, Carlos Delgado, J.P. Arencibia, Brian Fuentes

Jared Macdonald — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 10:31:13 +0000

Here a few links to get you started on this Saturday morning, with more exciting things to come here on Jays Journal later on in the day:

Blue Jays MLB.com reporter Gregor Chisholm offers some updates on Jesse Litsch, Brad Mills, and Adam Lind
Roberto Alomar and Blue Jays CEO Paul Beeston were both recently on the Fan 590 with Bob McCown (more…)

Reasons to Bring Brian Fuentes to Toronto

Mat Germain — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:00:46 +0000

I know that the Octavio Dotel signing is not yet official, but for the purpose of this post I will assume that it will go through without any major issue. His signing would result in a pen that looks something like this:

image courtesy of prorumors.com

RHP Octavio Dotel, age 37, closer-setup – excellent vs RHB and horrific vs LHB (.301/.412/.582) in 2010
LHP David Purcey, age 28, closer-setup – excelled against both RHB and LHB in 2010
RHP Jason Frasor, age 33, closer-setup, good vs RHP and mediocre vs LHB (.361 OBP in 2010)
RHP Casey Janssen, age 29, reliever – excelled against RHB, struggled against LHB (.283/.382/.416) in 2010
RHP Shawn Camp, age 35, reliever – excelled against RHB, struggled against LHB (.299/.364/.467) in 2010
RHP Carlos Villanueva, age 27, reliever-spot starter-long relief – good vs RHB, ok vs LHB (.232/.333/.434) but not great in 2010
RHP Jesse Litsch reliever or AAA starter (as things look today), I say reliever…for now simply because I think the Jays still want to see if Stewart can start as he gets more experience in AA or AAA – struggled against both LHB and RHB as he returned from injury in 2010 (more…)

Closer Candidates Worth Considering If Octavio Dotel Deal Falls Through

Jared Macdonald — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 04:03:22 +0000

With names like Chad Qualls, Miguel Batista, Scot Shields, and Trevor Hoffman still looking for a job on the free agent market, the list of available closer candidates for the 2011 Blue Jays is very slim. The thin free-agent market makes you almost hope that the rumors are true about the Jays being close to a deal with former Pittsburgh Pirates closer Octavio Dotel.

If this tweet by Jon Heyman, from about one hour ago, is true, and the Pirates, Rays, or another club come in and “steal” Dotel away from the Blue Jays, here are two names that fly under the radar that the Jays could consider as their stop-gap closer for 2011. (more…)