Jays Jots: Brian Stokes, Jose Bautista, Frank Francisco, Mitch Williams+Links

Former Blue Jays play-by-play broadcaster and one of the best in the game, Dan Shulman, has joined TSN as a regular contributor providing “analysis and reports across all platforms” for the Canadian network. It’s interesting that this piece of news was the only mention of baseball on the entire TSN.ca homepage, as the Blue Jays, in their second day of spring training, weren’t even mentioned once.

Speaking of spring training, two games will be televised on Sportsnet, two more on Sportsnet One (hopefully everybody has access to the channel this year…), and four on bluejays.com. Eight more games can be heard on Sportsnet Radio Fan 590. It’s still not the ideal scenario of televising all spring training games, but it’s an improvement over last year at least.

In actual Blue Jays news, according to The Washington Times, the club has voided their contract with right-handed reliever Brian Stokes, who was signed to a minor league contract back in December. The only detail provided about the move was that it was “due to the results of his physical.”

Onto the links!

Jose Bautista

Jays eye Uggla contract as benchmark for Bautista | Toronto Star
Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star feels that the market for Bautista right now is around the 5-year/$62 million contract that Dan Uggla recently received from the Atlanta Braves, and plays it safe by mentioning the contrast in those players’ histories. I’m not the biggest fan of the average annual salary in that deal (not like it really matters though), but the guaranteed five years in that deal would be alarming, to me at least.

Bautista hopes for long-term deal | FOXSports.com
Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com reports that he received a text message from Bautista, describing how he wants to stay in Toronto for years to come.

Toronto teammates hope Bautista signs long-term deal | The Globe and Mail
It seems that it isn’t just Bautista who is hopeful a long-term deal gets worked out between him and the Blue Jays, as Aaron Hill and John Farrell hope it happens, too.

Figuring him out | Montreal Gazette
An article outlining the reasons behind why the Jays need to proceed with caution about locking Bautista up to a long-term deal.

Team

New-look Jays no one-trick pony | Fox Sports Florida
Fox Sports Florida takes a look at a different Jays team reporting to spring training this year from last year, and some of the changes the Jays made during the offseason.

Farrell starts 1st spring training with Blue Jays | Washington Times
Another short, season preview-type article on the Jays by the Washington Times.

Other Players

Jays prospects to watch for in 2011 | National Post
Jeremy Sandler of the National Post takes a look at 10 prospects to keep an eye on in 2011. I don’t exactly agree with him when he mentions Brad Mills, Robert Ray, or Adam Loewen in this group, but the article is worth a read regardless. The picture of Brett Lawrie at the top of the article resembles Shaun Marcum a bit as well.

Let’s see what you got | Sportsnet.ca
Scott Carson of Sportsnet.ca takes a look at J.P. Arencibia and how this is his year to prove himself, especially after Mike Napoli was traded.

Rauch hopes to play big role in Jays’ bullpen | The Globe and Mail
Robert MacLeod of The Globe and Mail catches up with Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco. It’s interesting to hear Francisco say “I thank God I got out of there” when referring to Texas.

Miscellaneous

Stakes high for 51s in Vegas stadium fight | Ballpark Digest
An article looking at the fight for the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s, and their fight to build a new stadium.

Projected rosters: First Look | The Southpaw
The Southpaw offers a great forecast into roughly what all of the Jays’ minor league rosters will look like.

The Greg Brady Show | Sportsnet Radio Fan 590
Brett Cecil and Jays radio voice Alan Ashby were both on the show yesterday.

Phillies’ Mitch Williams recalls fateful pitch | Philly.com
Marc Narducci sits down with former Philadelphia Phillies reliever Mitch Williams to talk about the infamous pitch he served up to Joe Carter in the World Series 17 years ago.

-JM

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