Land of the Leaf

Shameless Plug
I love Scott Richmond, but mostly because he’s Canadian. That shouldn’t warrant him a spot in the Jays’ rotation. I did something about it. I went to the Bleacher Report and I spit some words out on why J.P. Ricciardi should make a move for Ben Sheets. Hold the cynicism and rising blood pressure for a minute, it’s the Bleacher Report, people have said much wilder things over there.

Leafs Prepared to Sign Christian Hanson
Joe Ross at NHL Rumours is on to something: the media scrutiny this poor Hanson kid is going to face for his entire career because his father was an actual Hanson brother from Slap Shot. Hanson projects as a strong two-way centre and he has posted 16 goals and 15 assists in 37 NCAA games at Notre Dame this season. Tyler Bozak could be heading to Toronto as well.

Alonzo Mourning Is A Piece Of Shit
From Doug Smith’s blog:

I didn’t hear the whole speech so maybe I missed it but I don’t think Alonzo Mourning thanked Rob Babcock and the Raptors for repatriating him to Miami, where they retired his number last night.
But how crazy is this?
Normal halftime breaks are 14 minutes; the Heat-Magic game was delayed 43 minutes at halftime for the Mourning ceremony.

Giving A Man Named Pops a Nickname?
Seriously, I thought Pops worked just fine. Nonetheless, he’s going to be the “British Bulldog”.

Should They Stay or Should They Go
Arsenalist runs down a list of so-so Raptors and gives some insight into who should be bought out, benched, and given playing time. I think I can agree with almost all of the suggestions, except Joey Graham… he can go stack shit for all I care. Quincy Douby “looks like Tupac”!

J.P. Ricciardi continues to roll the dice on pitchers with injury-riddled careers.  Add Shawn Hill’s name to the list of pitchers that the Jays hope can contribute to their rotation at some point this season.  The Mississauga native has had a lot of trouble with the elbow on his throwing arm for the past 3 seasons, but in limited work with Washington in 2007 Hill had a 3.42 ERA and a nifty 1.14 WHIP.  Hill also starred for Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Hill’s ability has never really be questioned, he could have been a reliable mid-late rotation pitcher on most teams, but his durability has kept him from really developing.  With Matt Clement currently competing for a spot in the rotation, and Wade Miller working in minor-league camp, Ricciardi hopes that one or two veteran arms can ease the load on their younger pitchers:

“We wouldn’t be signing him to come in here and make the major-league staff… We’d have to get him up to speed, kind of like Wade Miller. We’re just trying to get as many arms as we can in here. We know the young kids are going to struggle. … We’re trying to put them in spots they might not be ready for. We get some veteran guys here and they can hold the fort down. … It gives us enough experience where we can just ease them in as opposed to throwing them in.”

(Hat-Tip MLBTradeRumors)