They represent a more significant upgrade over a guy like Luis Perez, but they’ll be a lot harder to obtain from their respective clubs. Check out the poll at the bottom of the post as well to have your say in terms of what kind of reliever you think the Jays should go after this offseason.

(more…)

A 1979 2nd round draft pick by the Jays, Eichhorn was easily one of the most interesting players to watch on the mound.

After making his Major League debut in 1982, Eichhorn was sidelined by a brutal shoulder injury that robbed him of all velocity on his fastball and forced him back to the Minors. It was there, in the Florida Instructional League in 1984, where he started to work on his now trademark submarine/sidearm delivery, where he would release the ball at either belt height or below.

(more…)

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…)

“We’re getting a little more intrigued by it. We’re not ready to commit to it right now, but we would like to have a scenario where at least we can continue to find out about Adam at first. The upside for us long term in finding out about Adam, there’s huge value to that.”

Even though he is inclined to having Adam Lind as the Jays’ Opening Day first baseman, Anthopoulos still hinted towards signing a DH/1B option to complement Lind when he said:

“Just for the roster construction going forward. So, to find someone that can be a little bit more of a hybrid role — whether they’re DH and play some first — that’s the ideal scenario for us.”

“To go sign a bona fide first baseman that you’re going to have to promise everyday at-bats … we can sit here the following year and say: ‘You know what, we still haven’t truly found out about Adam Lind because we had an established first baseman that needed to play the position.’”

The concept of bringing in a possible veteran to platoon with and mentor Lind at first, but DH when needed as well, makes total sense. That being said though, the current state of the 1B/DH free agent market is not exactly overwhelming.

Below is a look at the remaining left-handed hitting 1B/DH options that are available on the free agent market. Add your comments in the section below, and I’ll have a post on the remaining right-handed hitting options tomorrow. (more…)

Update 11/05/10 12:34am EST: According to John Lott of the National Post, Anthopoulos will be discussing both the Olivo and Gregg moves in a media conference call Friday at 11:15 a.m. In case you miss it, I’ll try to have a summary of it on here later in the day!

JAYS ACQUIRE Miguel Olivo FROM ROCKIES

In somewhat of a shocking move to kickoff the 2010 offseason, the Jays have acquired catcher Miguel Olivo from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. I’m assuming the Jays are likely offering cash here, or if they offer a PTBNL it would hopefully be one of the players they were going to non-tender anyway (Tallet??). Olivo isn’t exactly enthused with the move though.

Olivo, 32, had virtually the best season of his career in 2010 with the Rockies posting a .269/.315/.449 line with 14 HR and 58 RBI in 112 games. He did, however, fade drastically in the second half of the season, hitting just .193 with 3 HR and 16 RBI. Initially I tend to discount National League stats because playing DBacks and Pirates doesn’t exactly relate the same to playing the Red Sox and Evil Empire, but Olivo has had success in the AL as well, as recent as last year with the Royals. He had a .249/.292/.490 line last year, hitting 23 HR and 65 RBI in 114 games. (more…)