Rolen's hitting streak ends at 25

Scott Rolen's incredible run at Blue Jays history has fallen just short. The Jays 3rd basemen failed to register a hit for the first time in 26 games Friday, coming within a single game of tying Shannon Stewart and John Olerud for 2nd in franchise history. It also marked Rolen falling 3 contests short of matching Shawn Green's franchise record of 28 games with at least a hit.

During his 25 game hit streak, Rolen tore the cover off the baseball, hitting at a .390 clip, posting 3 home runs and adding 16 RBI's. With hits in 25 straight, Rolen far surpassed his previous best streak in his career of 14 consecutive games with a base knock.

With the Jays falling out of postseason contention, there have been rumblings that J.P. Ricciardi is shopping Rolen. Dealing him at this stage would net some prospects for Toronto, but it is important to note, however, that Rolen has a no trade clause and would need to be willing to waive it for any such transaction to occur.

Cecil defeats Orioles in his home state

Brett Cecil bounced back after a pair of miserable starts to defeat the Baltimore Orioles in his home state of Maryland. Cecil picked up his 3rd win of his career, his first in nearly two months allowing the Jays to secure just their 3rd W in their past 12 contests.

Cecil spun 6 innings of shutout ball while striking out 5 batters. The solid effort comes after two sub-par starts in which he allowed 12 runs and didn't work past the 4th inning in both of them.

The rookie lefty was the star closer in college at Maryland before being selected by the Jays in the 2007 draft. Friday he had one of his better outings in front of friends and his parents who were at the game cheering him on.

More starts like this one will undoubtedly ensure they see more of their 23 year old son plying his trade at the major league level.

Are the Jays hiding something about Halladay?

Good thing I'm not a cynical person, because then I wouldn't be scratching my head over the Blue Jays sudden interest in trading Roy Halladay.

But why all the speculation about the Jays parting ways with their ace? Does the club know something we don't? Halladay went down with a groin strain June 12th and went on the disabled list. Since his return, he's been un-Doc like in 3 starts, giving up 10 runs in 20 innings and has yielded 23 hits.

What if there is something more to this than meets the eye? Is there a direct correlation to Halladay's injury and the trade speculation? What if Halladay's injury lingers and is persistent long term, causing him to hit the shelf every so often? Would it then not be in the team's best interest to move him now?

With Halladay wanting to play for a contender, perhaps it's simply the right time to move on figuring Toronto won't be competitive in the near future. Maybe J.P. Ricciardi figures the time to drive the market for the clubs ace is now to fully maximize the return. But knowing Ricciard's previous history of sometimes fudging injury reports, is it possible there's something more sinister at play?

Then again, that would be a cynical way of thinking. So it's a good thing I'm not a cynic.