And so we wait

....for Tom Cheek to rightfully receive his due. I'm past the point of outrage on this one, really, but recognition for (arguably) the most important voice of baseball this country has ever seen is long past due.

....for the Jays to take a run at that one free agent bat still kicking around the market. Damon? Delgado? Gomes? Branyan?

....for Alex Anthopoulos to pull the trigger on one of those deals he's been sitting on for the past weeks. He's hinted at working on a few things, and you know he'd like to make one more deal before spring training.

....for one of the bullpen arms to get moved. AA is stockpiling arms out there, and we've been reading lots of whispers of Frasor and/or Downs being available. Even in the Jays cone of silence, where there's smoke, there's fire.

....for Rod Barajas to get a job. I'm not even concerned about the compensation pick at this point (I'm lying), but Rod's got a family to feed, man. Do it, Omar.

....for continued progress from Dustin McGowan. Just how big of a boost to the pitching staff would a healthy Dusty be? Massive. McGowan/Marcum/Morrow/Romero/Cecil/Rzepczynski. 5 rotation arms aren't enough.

....for the start of spring. Because I'm sick of this long cold fucking winter already.

Waitin' on news

Don't get me wrong - playoff baseball is great.

With the Jays on the sidelines (newsflash!), there are still small joys to be found, and I'm wringing every last ounce possible out of the season. It might not result in the same level of enjoyment as, say, a Travis Snider opposite-field shot, but getting the opportunity to yell "SUCK IT, JETER!" as the Captain grounds into a (bogus) double play is still something. Like methadone, I guess.

Yes, the baseball fan in me is still religiously glued to the set as we march towards crowning a new (or repeat?) World Champion, but the raging lunatic Jays fan in me still scours the usual sources for news. And I'm still looking. And waiting.

I seem to recall freshly minted GM Anthopoulos hinting strongly that news on direction would come sooner rather than later, but I suppose it's only prudent to hold the line until Beeston names his successor (if there is one to name). Stop me if you've heard that before.

And so we wait. The guess here is that we're about to embark on a r-r-r-r-r-rebuild (I stutter when I say it), as the young GM looks to rework the franchise in his own mould. I could be wrong (it's happened before). Maybe the front office and ownership really does come through with this magical pile of money we are continually told is there to spend. But honestly, I have my doubts, friends.

I don't want to consider just what that might entail - until I'm forced to.

Grinding axes
Honestly, his body isn't even cold yet, and Griff still feels the need to plant his boot in JP's ribs.

Now, to be fair, Griffin makes several salient and entirely defensible points within his latest mailbag....and I understand that ol' Rich was never a Ricciardi supporter (newsflash pt II!).... but this latest salvo was way over the top.

And I mean, way over, man. Like, past the bounds of decency:

"Not to be overly simplistic, but the difference for the Jays between the Ricciardi regime past and the Anthopoulos years to come is like the difference between two countries - one governed by a dictatorship and another by a parliamentary system. Yes, the Ricciardi statue in the village square has been toppled and democracy takes over, signaling the dawn of a new Blue Jays day."

I've laid down my fair share of outrageous innuendo here in the blogosphere.....but - in my humble opinion - Griff really crossed the lines of good taste just to work another shot in at the deposed GM.

And, uh, about that analogy? Let's hope things work out a little better in "the dawn of a new Blue Jays day" than the "real-life" scenario alluded to.