Toronto Blue Jays November 17, 2012 Baseball News by baseball historian After a disappointing 4th place finish, a 73-89 record in the 2012 season, the Toronto Blue Jays served notice that were going to reload its pitching staff and infield. And… thanks to a trade with the Miami Marlins, the Jays appear to have the needed major league players to contend for 2013 East Divisional Play. Last season, 2012, the Miami Marlins played its first regular season game in their new state-of-the-art ballpark, a swanky $630 million funded mostly by state taxpayers and out-of-town visitors. After finishing in last place in the NL East with a disappointing 69-93 record, Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria decided to clean house. He dumped first year manager Ozzie Guillen, and on Thursday, November 15, traded away a huge payroll of players. Quick Baseball Blog of the trade: Miami traded longtime major league starting pitcher, Mark Buehrle, and another starter Josh Johnson, along with All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes, utility player, Emilio Bonafacio and catcher John Buck, the only current ML player to be born in Wyoming. Big Money $$$ also went from the Marlins to the Blue Jays. Buehrle and 2011 Opening Day and June 1 2011 Batting Averages Leaders and Hot Hitting and Fast Pitching during early April of 2011 In return, the Blue Jays traded right-handed pitcher Henderson Alvarez and Cuban shortstop Yunel Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria and Jeff Mathis, plus a 3 of Toronto’s top minor league prospects. Recall that on September 18, 2012, Yunel Escobar was suspended for 3 games for having an anti-gay slur written in Spanish (Cuban) on his uniform during a regular season game. More Signings by Toronto: Blue Jays manager John Gibbons stated he was happy and looked forward the following: All-Star outfielder Melky Cabrera signed as a free agent for a reported 16 $ million covering 2 seasons. The deal must first have Melky pass a physical and be drug free. Remember, playing for San Francisco, Cabrera was the MVP of the 2012 All-Star Game and was setting Giants team records, left-and-right, and was leading the National League in batting average with .346, then was suspended on August 15, 2012 after showing positive for a testosterone test. He was suspended for 50 games… and then the SF Giants did not put Melky Cabrera on the 2012 postseason roster (and the Giants went on to sweep the World Series over Detroit). World Series, 2012 Melky, a former KC Royals outfielder, batted .305 with 18 homers and 87 RBIs in 2011 for KC. Cabrera joins Jays power hitters, Edwin Encarnacin, a team-leading in all categories - 42 homers, 93 Runs and 110 RBI in 2012, and former 2-time AL home champ, Jose Bautista. Baseball Historian News Page 324 |
