Roenicke great in Blue Jays debut

It's an extremely small sampling, but the early look at the newest member of our bullpen is very promising. Josh Roenicke, considered the "lesser" of the two pitchers in the Scott Rolen deal (Zach Stewart, the former #2 prospect in the Reds system being the central piece in the trade), came in relief Sunday against the Athletics and looked very good.

Roenicke worked a scoreless 8th inning, allowing just one base runner, while striking out two batters. He threw fast, and mixed that in with a dirty slider. The hard throwing soon to be 27 year old (tomorrow) has a fantastic 2.51 ERA in 12 outings this season. He has stated his desire to be a closer at the major league level, and the Jays might experiment with that down the road particularly with incumbent closer Scott Downs injured, and also with only 1 year left on his contract.

Meanwhile, Stewart (4-1, 1.67 ERA in 3 minor league stops this season) hasn't yet pitched with the Jays AAA affiliate, the Las Vegas 51's.

Downs back to DL; Accardo returns to Jays

Well that didn't last long. 2 days Jeremy Accardo was sent down to AAA to make room for newly acquired Josh Roenicke, he has rejoined the ball club following the the foot injury suffered by Scott Downs.

On Saturday, Downs aggravated the left toe that caused him to miss 19 games the past two months, sending Downs back to the disabled list. The move means Accardo, who was miffed at being demoted on Friday, is now back in the fold with the ball club. He worked a scoreless ninth inning in the series finale against the A's.

Manager Cito Gaston admitted that Downs might have come back too quickly from his injury suffered while running out of the batter's box in Philadelphia. His numbers since being activated off the DL would certainly back that up, as the Jays closer struggled in his past six outings, blowing 2 saves, losing 3 contests while posting a 12.60 ERA.

Accardo, who hadn't reported to Las Vegas at the time of his demotion, should never have been sent down by the club, so it's a welcomed sight to see the former 30 game closer back with the team.

Cecil flashes brilliance in win over A's

Rookie Brett Cecil is continuing to make a name for himself around Major League Baseball in his first season in the bigs, serving notice that Ricky Romero isn't the only Jays rookie southpaw with supreme talent.

The former University of Maryland closer was so dominant, in fact, that he shut the door on the A's offense, retiring 15 batters in a row. He lasted all the way through 7 innings in picking up his 5th win of the campaign. In Saturday's game against the Athletics, Cecil responded like a season veteran after being tagged for four runs in the 2nd inning.

Having been given a 3 run lead in the Jays half of that inning, and then coughing it up, the 23 year old Cecil could have folded, gotten beaten around more, costing his team a chance at victory. However, Cecil dug deep and fashioned a brilliant performance for the remainder of the game.

He now has lasted 6 innings in 8 of his 12 starts in his maiden campaign in the major leagues.

Accardo not happy with demotion

If there was one loser in the trade of Scott Rolen to the Reds, it has to be hard luck Jeremy Accardo. After the Jays acquired the rights to right handed reliever Josh Roenicke in the deal, Accardo was optioned down to AAA Las Vegas to make room for the newest member of the bullpen.

Accardo was not impressed with the demotion either, nor should he be. He spent the first couple of months buried in AAA when inferior pitchers were called up to pitch for Toronto, and has been very solid in 16 outings, not allowing a run in 12 of those contests while posting a solid 2.87 ERA.

The 27 year old Accardo saved 30 games for the Jays in 2007, missing most of the '08 campaign with a forearm injury.

Halladay remains a Blue Jay after all

After weeks of speculation and rumours that Roy Halladay's career in Toronto would be over, the Blue Jays have decided to keep their ace in the fold for at least the remainder of this season with the intention of contending in 2010. For a while Halladay seemed all but destined to punch his ticket to another city, with J.P. Ricciardi fielding proposals for the 6 time all-star, but instead, he is staying with the only organization he's known.

On one hand, I'm extremely glad that J.P. Ricciardi didn't trade Halladay just for the sake of making a deal. Taking anything less than market value would have hampered a team that would surely be in the dumps with the loss of the 2003 CY Young Award winner. But on the contrary, trading arguably the best pitcher in baseball really would have netted a slew of prospects that could have aided this team down the road. And that is the distinction that continues to fail to be made. Are the Jays rebuilding with an eye to the future? Or are they contending for a title?

Ricciardi has indicated that because he wasn't "wowed" and "moved" by any offers, the team is keeping Halladay with the intention of contending in 2010. I don't believe Toronto has the personnel to be a factor late into the season next year, because it'll be mostly the same lineup coming back (Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Lyle Overbay are all bums) Trading Doc is still a possibility in the off-season or at the trade deadline in 2010, because his value will still be sky high (he is, after all, the best pitcher in baseball)

Because Halladay is such a class act, it's really disappointing that the bulletproof Ricciardi managed to bungle his status through the media, further isolating the team's best player.

How is it that Ricciardi still has a job?

Rolen traded; Encarnacion, prospects to Toronto

In what appeared to be a rather curious move by General Manager J.P. Ricciardi (because it now appears all system go toward contending again in 2010), 3rd basemen Scott Rolen has been shipped out of town to Cincinnati in exchange for 3rd baseman Edwin Encarnacion and two pitching prospects.

Rolen wanted to skip town for "personal reasons" related to the 34 wanting to be closer to home so Ricciardi appeased Rolen who was with the Jays for a season and a half. He was playing quite well this season, filling in as the cleanup hitter, putting up 8 homers and 43 RBI. Rolen's exceptional glove will be sorely missed in the Jays infield.

It'll be obvious how important defensively he is to the team because the 26 year old Encarnacion is terrible at fielding his position. His numbers at the plate this year are rather pedestrian (5 home runs, 16 RBI with a measly .209 average), but if he can stay healthy does have upside and some pop in his bat, having knocked out 26 homers last year.

The two pitching prospects coming back are Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart. The 26 year old Roenicke bounced back and forth from the Reds to their AAA team in Louisville, posting a 2.70 ERA in 11 games with Cincy. The right hander has good numbers in 4 seasons in the Reds minor league system, going 12-4 with a 2.89 ERA. He'll be slotted into the Jays bullpen, and to make room the Blue Jays pen, the club has announced that RHP Jeremy Accardo has been sent back down to AAA Las Vegas.

The true blue chip prospect coming back is Stewart, selected in the 3rd round in 2008. In three levels of the Reds farm system this year, the 22 year old has gone 4-1 with a 1.67 ERA over 23 games, including 14 starts. He's got a plus fastball that tops out at around 96 MPH, and is expected to make a push for the Jays rotation in a couple of years, if not earlier.

Rolen will be missed, particularly his stellar play this season after an injury riddled 2008 campaign. Considering the fact he wanted out, the Jays have acquired a pretty decent package back for him. Ricciardi has stated that both pitchers were guys the team has been interested in acquiring before, and Encarnacion could prove to be a pretty good pickup that might ultimately be moved to the outfield to offset his poor defensive skills.

David Purcey's control problems persist in AAA

It's hard to imagine with all the injuries to the Blue Jays starting rotation that David Purcey has been buried in AAA since the end of April. While he has pitched fairly well since the demotion, going 5-4 with a 4.31 ERA, Purcey is still battling command issues.

Purcey pitched Thursday night in Vegas, picking up the win after giving up just 1 run in 6 frames, allowing just 2 hits while fanning 6 batters. However, the 27 year old lefty was still unable to pitch in the strike zone consistently, walking three batters.

In fact, in Purcey's last 9 starts, the least amount of walks he's allowed in one start has been 2, with 6 being his worst output. Curiously, on the other end of the spectrum, Purcey has racked up 9 strikeouts in 3 of those contests. His results are a marked improvement over his 5 starts with Toronto this season, where he walked 18 hitters in 25.2 innings, posting a poor 7.01 ERA.

Purcey is still a pitcher worth watching for the Jays. I would suspect the best case scenario is a September promotion, barring more freak injuries to the starting staff. However, he was a 1st round draft pick in 2004, so the club likely would've expected him to be a mainstay with the team by now. He certainly is at a career crossroads, and could possibly find himself pitching in a different uniform should he not improve his command.