Tony LaRussa is a baseball genius...

...and don't you forget it.

Incidentally, there's really something that is begging to be said about the inextricable link that we have created in our North American sports culture between booze and sports. But we'll keep it to ourselves for fear of offending our pals over at Drunk Jays Fans.

(Hat tip to the G&M's incomparable Jeff Blair for the link.)

The Wolfe-Man cometh

The Jays recalled Brian Wolfe from Syracuse last night, sending Ryan Roberts back to the Chiefs.

Wolfe (21.1 IP, 0.84 ERA, 20Ks, 4 BBs) is third pitcher from our very hand and obviously helpful Armchair GM post last month to get the call. (Unfortunately, Matt Roney will not likely see any action for the Jays.)

We’re hopeful that Wolfe can provide some added depth to the bullpen, and will help preserve the Janssen-Downs-Accardo troika that has performed so well lately.

But with this move, the Jays will now be carrying 13(!) pitchers, two of whom (Gas Can Towers and Jamie Vermilyea) have contributed less than the bat boys over the past two weeks.

Vermilyea hasn’t pitched since tossing three innings on May 10 against the BoSox, while Towers' last two appearances were on May 9 (3 IPs and 3ERs vs. Boston) and May 19 (1 IP, 0 ERs vs. Philly.)

Maybe those pitchers don't necessarily deserve any real-time access to a Major League pitching mound, but if J.P. shortens the bench to this extent, ostensibly because he can't figure out what to do with those two pitchers, it demonstrates just how shallow the Jays are in MLB-calibre position players.

But hey, we hear Shea Hillenbrand might be available!

Free Matt Roney!

J.P. Ricciardi has gone all Judge Joe Brown on Matt Roney, insisting that his 50 game aren't punishment enough for indulging in those drugs of abuse (which according to this article include "cocaine, LSD, opiates, Ecstasy, GHB and PCP".)

"We're looking into what we can do," (Ricciardi) said. "It's hard for me to feel sorry for anybody who does something and gets caught. If you're close to being a big league player and you get involved in anything, shame on you."

OH REEEEEALLLY? Well then, Mr. J.P., can you explain why this guy deserves 50 games plus a few purple nurples and pink bellies, while a certain bespectacled "Machine" keeps getting run out to the mound every five days, in spite of blowing twice the legal blood alcohol limit while driving around Dunedin at 4 am the night before he was scheduled to start a spring training game?

And moreover, would anyone even care if Roney had done all of those drug of abuse all at once on the mound? If he could do that and still get guys out, we'd take him any day over some of the crucifix-kissing chuck-and-duckers in the Jays bullpen.