Fire Sale underway?

[Trots]

The Jays have sent Billy Koch to Oakland for a pair of minor leaguers. Is this the beginning of the fire sale?

[Baseball Guru]

It sure does appear that way huh??
A GREAT trade, obviously, for the A's who get a guy that can "bring it" for virtually nothing....A big name closer after losing Izzy.....
Good job by the A's who appear that they want to move on and stay in contention whether or not they keep Giambi...This is good to see:)

[Trots]

Deal number two for the Jays. Alex Gonzalez was sent to the Chicago Cubs for Felix Heredia.

[Paul]

Fire sale? It's called improving your team. Koch is OK, but not that great... his fastball is just too straight and his control isn't good enough. He's not as bad as he pitched last year (only Loaiza had a worse ERA on the Jays) but he's not a real top closer either. Hinske gives the Jays a third baseman who should be able to hit decently (can't be worse than Batista was last year), and Justin Miller has good stuff and might find his way into middle relief. As far as Jays closer, due to his mysterious injury it looks like Escobar has to be a reliever and so he's been penciled into the closing role. He was a lot better than Koch last year so it could be a nice upgrade.

Good trade there for the A's also though, since Hinske was blocked.

As far as the Gonzo trade... anything to get that guy off the team is a good trade. He's the worst hitting shortstop in the majors who isn't named Rey Ordonez, and although his defense is good it isn't as good as Ordonez. I far prefer to see Felipe Lopez at short... he's got great potential with the bat and even last year he out hit Gonzo during his time in the majors.

Then there's the Quantrill trade... I hated seeing Quantrill leave, but when you can get a good young starter like Prokopec middle relievers become expendable. Another good move by Riccardi. The team certainly looks better than last year now... and incidentaly cheaper, which will come in handy if they need to add something later on.

[Trots]

Paul, I have to admit I thought more names were on the way out of Toronto. Generally, when the youth movement begins, the high priced veterans are shown the door. Apparently, the Jays are going to try and alter the lineup and unload a couple of salaries, instead of starting over. While I would hesitate to call them improved, we all know about those "can't miss" prospects, it's got to be a good sign for Jays fans that the team isn't going to totally dismantle.