Toronto Blue Jays News And Notes

Despite having the three powerhouses of baseball in their division, the Toronto Blue Jays have really held their own in 2010. They currently stand at 38-32 and are only five games behind the first place New York Yankees.

Let’s see what is going on in Toronto as they get ready for the G2 Summit and for my friend Tom, who will be seeing the Blue Jays take on the St. Louis Cardinals this week.

Edwin Encarnacion has been DFA’d

First the Blue Jays sent Encarnacion to Triple-A and then designated him for assignment. He was hitting .200/.298/.467 with nine home runs for Toronto this season.

Encarnacion’s batting average and OBP have declined four straight years, and he really hit rock bottom in 2010. The 27-year-old certainly has power, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see a team take a chance on him as a power hitting option off the bench this year.

One last note about Encarnacion: On May 21st, Enacarnacion hit three home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Since that three HR game, Encarnacion has hit .171 with four HR’s.

Jarrett Hoffpauir gets a promotion

With Encarnacion leaving, someone needed to fill his roster spot, and that person was Hoffpauir. The 27-year-old hit .328 with nine home runs and a .910 OPS in 57 games for Triple-A Las Vegas this season.

Hoffpauir can play both second and third. He will get first crack at nailing down the third base job for the Blue Jays. He was not ranked in the top-10 prospects by Baseball America prior to the 2010 season.

Fred Lewis was a great pickup

There have been a lot of great under-the-radar acquisitions in baseball like the New York Mets signing R.A Dickey, but perhaps the best under-the-radar acquisition this season has been the Blue Jays' acquisition of Fred Lewis.

Lewis was traded to the Blue Jays on April 15th from the San Francisco Giants, and he has been nothing short of spectacular in a Blue Jays’ uniform. Lewis is hitting .286 with four HR’s, five SB’s, three triples, and has a .332 OBP.

I am pretty confident in saying that the Giants could use a player like Lewis now.

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