FanHouse JohnMcDonald

It looks like David Eckstein can't rely on his scrappiness to rescue him much longer, as the Blue Jays are reportedly in the market to replace him and his offensively challenged partner John McDonald. The Jays are willing to trade A.J. Burnett and his opt-out clause to get that shortstop.

"They're offering Burnett to any team that needs pitching," an American League general manager told the (Toronto) Sun. "They've told us they're not happy with either David Eckstein or John McDonald."

Eckstein, who the Blue Jays inked to a one-year deal before spring training, is hitting .273 with a .360 on base percentage this season, but has struggled in the field. McDonald, who is a defensive specialist signed a two-year deal last fall for $3.8 million, but is only hitting .163 in 29 games so far this year.

The Jays caused heads to be scratched by signing Eckstein while they already had McDonald. Now they don't like either of them? Too bad NFL rules don't apply where one guy plays offense and one guy plays defense. As for who that new shortstop might be? Well I assume that Jimmy Rollins is off the table. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine. I'm not sure there's a shortstop out there that would be available for Burnett while making Jays fans forget the two they have at the same time. Perhaps a better idea would be to trade Burnett for Adam Dunn ... but that's only because I want to see if Dunn either retires on the spot or chokes J.P. Ricciardi.

John McDonald was a surprise quasi-star for the Blue Jays last year, maintaining his spot at shortstop some truly impressive glovework. Unfortunately, McDonald's offensive numbers were horrendous. He posted a .279 OBP and a .333 slugging percentage, which is just ... ick. McDonald's saving grace might have been his .250 batting average, which is just a bit below league average, but his other split stats tell the real tale: McDonald was an awful offensive player.

Instead of denying those bad numbers, or claiming he does things at the plate that can't be quantified (cough Juan Pierre cough), McDonald is refreshingly honest (via BBTF):

"I hit .250," he said. "I mean, this is the big leagues. Things don't get handed to you. People look and say, 'He played pretty well, he played good defensively, I like him, he's a nice guy. But he hit .250.' I think I took so much pride in my defence that I allowed my offence to not matter as much, which is the wrong approach," he said. "I know I've carved out my own niche defensively, and I'm going to make sure that doesn't go anywhere, but I also need to raise up my offence."

How nice is that? McDonald's defensive game is a pleasure to watch -- as his Baseball Reference sponsor says, McDonald is as slick as they come-- but for as good as his defense is, his offense is even worse. And hey knows it! Professional baseball players, take note: This is how you suck, but endearingly so.

Cough, Juan Pierre, cough.

Just a few weeks ago, 2007 was looking like a bust for Royce Clayton. He started off the season as the Blue Jays' starting shortstop, then lost his everyday gig to John McDonald, and had to languish on the bench until eventually getting released by Toronto.

But how quickly things change. Clayton got snapped up by the Red Sox, who signed the veteran to a minor-league deal with the intention of calling him up in September. So Clayton will soon find himself in the thick of a pennant race, playing for the team with baseball's best record.

"It's a great opportunity," he said. "You suit up every year with hopes of getting to the playoffs, eventually a World Series to bring home a ring. Obviously, they are the best team in baseball right now, and this is a good opportunity for me to be a part of it and hopefully I can contribute."

Before agreeing to sign with the Sox, Clayton had one small request: He wanted to be home for his son's first day of school. Sox GM Theo Epstein obliged.

"I appreciate [the Red Sox] accommodating that because it meant a lot to me," said Clayton. "My son may not remember it, but I will. After that, my mind was clear and I was ready to come, get in shape and help the club."

And, coincidentally, guess which team the Sox will be facing during the first few days of September when he's likely to be called into action: Your Toronto Blue Jays.

The last time the Blue Jays and Yankees squared off, A-Rod expanded his cheap manuever repertoire by infamously shouting "mine" as he rounded the bases, fooling Jays' third baseman Howie Clark into laying off a pop fly that he thought shortstop John McDonald just called for.

Well, more than a month has past. And as the Jays head to Yankee Stadium to square off with A-Rod again, they appeared to have put it all behind them.

"No one's here to pick fights," said McDonald, shrugging off the idea that Toronto might retaliate. "I think it might've been made into a bigger deal than it was on the field. ... Howie and I have talked about it already. We talked about it right after the game. If we had just caught the ball, it wouldn't have mattered."

"That was almost two months ago," said [Manager John] Gibbons, unwilling to offer much more on the subject. "We forgot all about that it was so long ago. That's all I have to say about it."

Okay, so everyone's saying the right things. But with the Jays dropping tonight's series opener and falling a couple games behind the Yanks in the East, they may need to take a page from A-Rod's book if they want to climb back into the race.

This is almost getting old and tiresome for the Rockies. Eight straight losses complimented by four consecutive blown saves from closer Brian Fuentes. According to ESPN researchers, it's the first time that a closer has blown four straight saves since Dave Righetti in 1988. Sure, Fuentes hasn't been his sharpest over the past week, but he's really getting a bad rap for the recent run of bad luck.

A week ago Friday, it was three runs scoring on a hit by John McDonald that accounted for the first blown save. The game-winner scored on an errant throw by catcher Chris Ianetta. Monday, it was a two-run single by Alfonso Soriano to win it. Both runs were unearned because Kaz Matsui booted what would have been the game-ending ground ball. Thursday, Carlos Lee hit a grand slam in the 11th to end it. Craig Biggio reached on a roller up the middle that went in between Troy Tulowitzki and Matsui, neither of whom could figure out who would make the play. The grounder would have ended the game.

Then came Friday night. After getting two outs, Fuentes walked Lee, and then allowed the game-winning walk-off home run to Mark Loretta. The recent string has manager Clint Hurdle worried. I'm not; most of those outings look worse because of the "blown save" title they have acquired. In reality, two of those games should have been saves. The bright side, at least Fuentes hasn't gone Armando Benitez yet. He elected not to speak with the media instead after Friday's 9-8 loss.

Despite a trail of injuries to key players that at times has bordered on the surreal, the Blue Jays keep chugging along, winning four straight games and now the sole possessors of second place in the AL East. But all these good vibes aren't affecting Royce Clayton, who's been watching from the bench since losing his starting shortstop gig to back-up guy John McDonald, who's hitting .333 for June.

At 37, the last thing Clayton wants to be doing is collecting moss on the bench, so he's been rather vocal in his campaign to get back in the line-up, taking some not-so-thinly-veiled swipes at McDonald's recent good fortunes, according to Canada.com.

"I've been around a long time, and there's certain things that play themselves out," he said. "There's a track record. Johnny Mac's playing good now, and I would hope that he does continue to play well. But in this game there's a reason why there's everyday players and there's bench players, you know?"

"In my heart of hearts, just being the type of person I am, I don't think there's a better shortstop out there," he said. "Nothing against Johnny Mac, but a career's a career. I've had a career. I've hit .500 for a month. Does that mean I'm a .500 hitter? Absolutely not. At the end of the day, you end up where you're supposed to be. I have absolutely nothing to prove to anybody."

Whether this attitude is part of the reason Clayton's with his sixth team in five seasons is irrelevant. What the man should be doing is chilling out, kicking back, and waiting for McDonald's inevitable trip to the DL.

Blue Jays utilityman John McDonald has had a fairly nondescript playing career, but from the sounds of things, baseball would be better off if there were more players like him. Last month when the Jays were in Baltimore , he helped organize a trip with some of his teammates to visit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Tomorrow, with the Jays back in Baltimore, he's playing host to several of the veterans he met in April for a couple of rounds of pre-game batting practice. From the Toronto Star:

McDonald's guests will include seven or eight Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, currently in rehab at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. One of them, Gunnery Sgt. Angel Barcenas, a double amputee, will be in uniform, to take batting practice and shag fly balls in the outfield. The rest of the wounded vets will offer moral support.

The 30-year-old Barcenas, a Paramount, Calif., native, was wounded during foot patrol on July 21, 2006, losing both legs below the knee. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal, among other honours.

A double-amputee will be taking batting practice and shagging fly balls less than a year after losing his legs? And he didn't even need a B-12 shot? Now that's impressive -- the Orioles should be taking notes.

Previously from FanHouse:
Former Badger Blogs from Iraq
Troops Inspired by Fellow Marine Cooper Brannan
G.I. Joe: Cooper Brannan Trying to Be Padres Hero