Boston is signing free agents John Smoltz and Rocco Baldelli (sorry Hugo). Rocco's signing I understand, they need a four outfielder and he will be a good one. But after signing Brad Penny I thought thought the Sox had a deep enough starting rotation. Smoltz had shoulder surgery and isn't expected to be ready to pitch till June.

The deal Smoltz appears set to sign with the Red Sox is for $5.5 million over one season, with attainable incentives that could bring it as high as $10 million.

It seems to me to be a lot of money for a 41 year old coming off shoulder surgery, but I guess the Sox have lots of money to spend. Boston is apparently planning on using Smoltz as a starter, though he's been a very good reliever in the past. Smoltz has played for the Braves for his whole career up till now.

Alex Rios was born February 18, 1981 in Coffee, Alabama but moved to Puerto Rico when he was 3 months old. He was drafted in the 1st round of the 1999 amateur draft (19th overall) out of high school in Puerto Rico. Josh Hamilton was the first pick that year. Rios rose steadily through the Jays farm system showing a decent batting average on the way but not much power or much of an eye at the plate. A big guy (6'5") you'd have thought he would have been able to hit more than 11 home runs in a season in the minors.

Alex was called up to the Jays on May 26, 2004 when it was decided to move Reed Johnson to left to platoon with Frank Catalanotto . Alex played right field almost every day the rest of the season. He didn't do badly hitting .286/.338/.383 but with only 1 home run and an OPS+ of 85, I wasn't impressed, figuring a corner outfielder should have power and the potential didn't seem to be there. He did steal 15 bases but without the on base ability to be a lead off guy, I didn't see him as a star. Rios did show off a good arm finishing 4th in the league with 11 assists and good range in right.

Alex finished 5th in the Rookie of the Year voting. Bobby Crosby won it. Of the 4 that finished above him only Zack Greinke is someone you might consider trading Rios for. In 2005 he spent the full season with the Jays. Most of his numbers fell off from his rookie season except for home runs which jumped to 10. He hit just .262/.306/.397. With only 28 walks he looked even less like a corner outfielder. He didn't even steal bases as well, stealing 14 but getting caught 9 times.

Before the start of the 2005 season he played in the World Baseball Classic for Puerto Rico. Alex started the season in a platoon in right field with Eric Hinske, but Rios started hot and took the full time job. He had 15 home runs by early June and was named to the All-Star team. Unfortunately he didn't get to play in the game as he picked up staph infection in his leg, which landed him in hospital and cost him a month of the season. When he came back he was weakened (those staph infections are nasty things, ask Hugo) and his new found power disappeared.

In spite of the infection he had the best season of his career up till then, setting career highs in hits (136), doubles (33), home runs (17), RBI (82), walks (a big 35), batting average (.302), on base (.349) and slugging average (.516). And with his great defense, he finally showed he could be a good corner outfielder.

2007 showed that 2006 wasn't a fluke setting new career highs in games (161), runs (114), homers (24), RBI (85), double (43) and walks (55). And made the All-Star team again and took part in the Home Run Derby, he had the most home runs in the contest but Vladimir Guerrero beat him out in the final round. Leading off a bunch early in the season he hit 4 lead off home runs. And he won the Fielding Bible Award as the best right fielder in the majors.

1, 10, 17, 24....can you guess the next number in this sequence. If you said 15 you win. With his home run numbers improving every season I was hoping 2009 would be the year Rios became a superstar, but it didn't happen. He had a good season batting .291/.337/.461, but his home run count dropped to 15 though he set a career high for homers after the All-Star break which bodes well for next year. What he did do well was hit doubles, setting a career high of 47, and steal bases, setting a career high of 32. I'd gladly trade the steals for homers.

This season Rios signed a 6 year contract extension for $64 million with an option for a 7th year so he'll be with us until at least 2014 by which time he could up in the top ten of our list, unless he is traded by then. He has a tendency to be a little lackadaisical at times, hopefully that will change as he matures.

Rios is single, rich, tall, dark and likely handsome (I am the wrong person to judge that). At 28 I'm hoping this coming season will be a big break out year for Alex, but then I was hoping for that last year. I'd love to see 30 home runs from him. The Jay's hopes to make the playoffs hinge on him becoming a MVP type soon. And he could become just that. If he doesn't find the power, I think he needs to become a center fielder somewhere. He likely should be anyway, he played a better center field last year than Vernon did, switching them might help Vernon stay away from injuries and improve our defense. He likely deserved a Gold Glove last season, hopefully he'll get one before his career is over.

Alex Rios place among Blue Jay batting leaders:

Batting Average (>2000 PA) 5th .288
On Base % (>2000 PA) 11th .338
Slugging Average (>2000 PS) 10th .455
OPS (>2000 PA) 11th .793
Games 23rd 701
At Bats 20th 2635
Runs 18th 399
Hits 19th 760
Doubles 13th 170
Triples 6th 34
Home Runs 23rd 67
RBI 19th 333
Walks 25th 193
Stolen Bases 8th 93
Run Created 20th 403

A name mentioned around here as a cheap starting pitching option has signed with the Indians:

Pavano is guaranteed $1.5 million and a spot in the rotation for 2009, with the possibility to earn another $5.3 million in performance-based incentives. The incentives don't kick in until Pavano notches at least 18 starts. The deal does not include an option.

With how much others have been signing for, this doesn't seem like that much of a bargain to me. I'm kind of glad he didn't sign with us. What are the odds he gets to 18 starts?

Kelly Wayne Gruber|3B|1984-1992

Notable Accomplishments: All-Star: 1989, 1990 Silver Slugger: 1990 Gold Glove: 1990

Kelly Gruber was born February 26, 1962 in Houston, Texas. He was drafted in the 1st round, 10th overall, of the 1980 amateur draft out of high school. The 1st pick that year was Darryl Strawberry, the Jays had the second pick and took Garry Harris (who?). Other notables in the first round of that draft include Terry Francona picked by the Expos and Billy Beane by the Mets.

Cleveland had Toby Harrah, a much better player, at third so the Jays were able to pick up Kelly in the 1983 rule 5 draft. He got into 15 games that season with the Jays mostly as a defensive replacement. In 1985 he got into 5 games as a September call up. In 1986 he spent the whole season in the majors playing in 87 games mostly as a defensive replacement playing third, second, short and the outfield.

1987 was the first season Gruber had a defined role with the team, taking over Garth Iorg's half of the third base platoon with Rance Mulliniks as well as getting in 21 games at shortstop. In short he was awful, hitting just .235/.283/.399 for a OPS+ of 77. He did have 12 home runs and 12 steals. Defensively he wasn't much better showing little range and making 11 errors for a .948 fielding percentage.

Despite this Kelly was put in as the full time third baseman in 1988 with Mulliniks moving to the DH role. He had a much better year, batting .278/.328/.438 for a OPS+ of 113. With 16 home runs, 81 RBI and 23 stolen bases all that he needed to become a truly great play was to learn how to take a few walks, he was only walked 38 times in 569 at bats.

1989 was our first playoff season and Gruber was a large part of success despite a couple of trips to the DL, shades of things to come. Kelly got selected to the All-Star team and hit .290/.328/.448 with 18 homers and 73 RBI. Even his defense improved as he showed a bit more range. And on April 16th he became the first Jay to hit for the cycle. Gruber hit well in our 5 game lost to Oakland in the ALCS, hitting .294 and he even took 3 walks.

1990 was Gruber's best season by far, with 31 home runs and 118 RBI, hitting .274/.330/.512 for a OPS+ of 127. He had career highs in at bats, runs, doubles, triples, homers, RBI.....even walks with 48. He won the Gold Glove, Silver Slugger award for best offensive third baseman and made the All-Star game, taking a walk and stealing 2 bases in two plate appearances. He also was 4th in the MVP vote. He was 6th in the AL in slugging average, 2nd in total bases and 2nd in RBI.

Kelly's last two seasons with the Jays were injury filled and his production suffered but they made the playoffs both years and he got to end his time with the Jays by winning a World Series ring. He didn't contribute much with his bat during their first World Series win, batting under .100 for the playoffs, though he did have a home run in each series, but he did add one lasting memory during the World Series. He ended what should have been a triple play with a diving tag of Deion Sanders' heel. But the umpire at second didn't see the tag. He also had an interesting slide into home during the Series where he drove his face into the ground trying to make it to home.

After the 1992 season Kelly was traded to the Angels for Luis Sojo. The Jays wanted to open a spot for Ed Sprague. The trade didn't help either team as Sojo only had 47 at bats for the Jays before leaving as a free agent after the 1993 season and Gruber only had 65 at bats for the Angels . Kelly's career was over at the age of 31 because of a bone spur near his spine. He tried a comeback with the Orioles in 1997 but it didn't work out. After a pretty good 10 year career Gruber finished with 117 home runs, 443 RBI and a .259 batting average. One thing I didn't know about him was that he hit better with runners on base than with bases empty every season with the Jays, a talent we could have used last year.

A 6', blond, good looking, happy go lucky fellow, Gruber was a favorite of the female fans. At one point he was voted Toronto's most eligible bachelor, but maybe not as big a favorite of the rest of the fan base as it all seemed to come a bit too easy for him and it seemed like he didn't work too hard to rehab from his various injuries. That might be a little unfair as the back injury was more serious than it seemed at the time. He was an extremely gifted athlete. Bill James had him ranked as the 103rd best third baseman of all time in his New Historical Baseball Abstract.

He must have some fans; he won our Best Third Baseman poll and he was also the subject of a pretty funny Kids in the Hall sketch. Gruber has written an autobiography ‘Kelly, At Home on Third'. And he won ‘American Superstars' in 1991 a sports TV show, where athletes from different sports competed in a series of athletic events. Baseball players rarely won on this show, as soccer and basketball players tended to be in better shape.

Kelly married his second wife Tonna in 1993 and they've had two children together and four from previous marriages.

Kelly Gruber's place among Blue Jay batting leaders:

Batting Average (> 2000 PA): 20th .259
Slugging Average (>2000 PA): 16th .431
Games : 13th 921
At Bats: 16th 3094
Runs: 15th 421
Hits: 16th 800
Total Bases: 13th 1335
Doubles: 21st 145
Home Runs: 11th 114
RBI: 11th 434
Walks: 24th 195
Stolen Bases: 12th 80
Runs Created: 21st 400

I guess I shouldn't have said that the Rays haven't improved this winter. Buster Olney has him signing for 2 years and $16 million pending a physical. I think Burrell will make a really good DH. I was hoping he would be the one left over when the music stopped and Jays might get him cheap, he killed lefties last year we could use someone like that.

Hugo:  Update at 4:22 p.m., 1/5 - Looks like Bradley has signed with the Cubbies for 3 years and $30 mil.  Another DH option for the Jays off the table. 

No, not really. No news is boring. and there is very little out there for Jay fans. To fill space, non-Hall of Famer Bob Elliot has a list of 'The 100 Most Influential Canadians in Baseball in 2008' and surprise of surprises, we aren't on the list. I'm hurt. Actually what does surprise me is that no writers are on the list, neither internet writers or newspapers writers. And considering how far they had to reach to get to 100 Canadians you would have thought there would be the odd writer.

There are a bunch of TV types, a couple of radio guys and a couple of dead guys but no writers. Paul Beeston is at the top of the list, Pat Gillick 3rd, Justin Morneau 4th and the late Ted Rogers 5th. Larry Walker 17th. Jacques Doucet 30th, he was the French voice of the Expos, the Expos have been gone for a while now, I'm not sure how he influences baseball now.

Brett Lawrie 9th, drafted by the Brewers in the first round of last year's draft. Not sure how that influences baseball but they have to get to 100 some how. Matt Stairs 36th, think of how high up he'd be if he could have gotten us some hits last year. Denis Boucher 69th, the great French-Canadian hope for the Jays starting rotation from a few years back will be pitching coach for the Canadians in the World Baseball Classic.

And so it goes listing a bunch of scouts and minor league coaches and not one writer.

Over on Bugs & Cranks Spencer Kyte wants to write off the Jay's season more than a month before pitchers and catchers show up to camp. The Drunks answered back, but I wonder why there is such a rush to say we can't win. Is there something in our Canadian nature that wants to give up before things start.

Yeah we haven't signed a big name but neither have the Red Sox or the Rays. Is in not possible that Ortiz could be hurt again this year? That Lowell will have more troubles? That Pedroia might not have a career year again and that they all get a year older. Could the Rays regress some? Could the pressure of playing in New York get to AJ and Teixeira? Could the weight on CC's knees get to him? The Yankees have tried buying the World Series before and it wasn't always worked. Jeter is older, ARod is....well ARod, the team isn't young. Let's not jump off the bridge yet.

Mark Anthony Eichhorn|RP|1982, 1986-1988, 1992-1993|

Mark Eichhorn was born November 21, 1960 in San Jose, CA. He was drafted by the Jays in the 2nd round, 30th overall, in the 1979 amateur draft, out of Cabrillo College, CA, where he played shortstop and pitched. He quickly rose thru the Jay's farm system and made 7 starts for the Jays as a September call up in 1982. They didn't go well, he went 0-3 with a 5.45 ERA and to make matters worse he suffered a shoulder injury. The injury cost him the speed off his fastball.

Returning to the minors he learned to throw submarine style in fall instructional league in 1984. As a right handed submarine pitcher, Mark threw likely the slowest pitches in the majors. He threw an extremely slow change-up, a ‘fastball' and a slider. And with releasing the ball from very low to the ground, coming from behind a right handed batter, he had a huge split in his stats, righties couldn't hit him at all, while lefties could hit him. In 1986, his return year to the majors and his best season as a Jay, right handed batters only hit .135/.186/.165 against him, while lefties went .259/.345/.434.

Mark, in 1986, had likely the best season ever for a Jay reliever. He pitched in 69 games, throwing an amazing 157 innings and finishing with a 1.72 ERA. Williams offered to let him pitch 5 innings in the season's final game so that he could have enough innings to get the ERA title, but he passed on it. Had he not missed a couple of weeks at the start of the season on the DL he would have likely had the ERA title. The Sporting News selected him as the Rookie Pitcher of the Year. Jay manager, Jimy Williams, used him often and generally for multiple innings, pitching as many as 6 innings in a game out of the pen and going 3 or more innings several times. And we thought Cito loved Scott Downs this past season. No star reliever would be used like that now.

It is hard to blame Williams for over using Eichhorn, when you have a 'get some shutout innings free card', you tend to use it. Mark was terrific finishing the '86 season 14-6 with 10 saves. He gave up only 105 hits in the 157 innings, striking out 166 while walking 45. He was 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting, trailing Jose Canseco and Wally Joyner, and was 6th in the Cy Young voting. Rob Neyer rates this as the best season ever for a Jay reliever.

In 1987 Mark wasn't as good but still was very effective with a 3.17 ERA in 89 games, setting the Jays record for games pitched in a season. He won 10 games and saved 4 more as a setup man for Tom Henke. Even though he pitched in 20 more games than 1986 he pitched 30 less innings, though Williams still would have him out there for 3 or more innings on several occasions he also used him to get one or two right-handers out several times. Jimy used him as an all-propose reliever, sending him out there in any situation.Eichhorn made the most appearances and faced the most batters of any AL reliever. As always he had a large split with a .642 OPS vs. righties and a .760 OPS vs. lefties.

In 1988 he was on pace to get into a lot of games again but he suffered an injury in early June that kept him out till September. Baseballlibrary.com says that he altered his delivery to make it harder for runners to steal on him and that cost him some effectiveness. His ERA did jump to 4.19, but I would kind of think some of that was because of the number of innings he had pitched over the last couple of years. Since some of his effectiveness might have been due to batters not being used to his different delivery, with him pitching so much, batters may have been able to get comfortable with it and maybe had an easier time picking up the ball when he released it. And even throwing sidearm that much work has to cause some wear and tear on an arm.

After the 1988 season, feeling he had lost his effectiveness, the Jays sold Eichhorn to the Braves. After a pretty average season in Atlanta, the Angels signed him as a free agent. With the Angels he was again a very useful pitcher. After 2.5 good seasons with the Angels (he appears on Halos Haven Top 100 Angel's list), the Jays traded Rob Ducey and Greg Myers to get him back on July 30, 1992, just in time for Mark to get 2 World Series rings. He pitched 4.1 shutout innings, over 4 games, in the two post seasons.

In 1993, Mark's last season with us, he pitched in 54 games and had a 2.72 ERA. Cito started the season using him as a multiple inning reliever but as the season went on he was used more as a 1 inning or less late inning setup man. After the second World Series win he signed as a free agent with the Orioles. Near the end of a very good season with the O's he was injured and missed the whole 1995 season. He signed again with the Angels in 1996 but didn't do well. He bounced around in the minors for a bit after that, including pitching in the Jays farm system in 2000 but didn't pitch in the majors again.

One of the things I've always wondered is why we don't see more side arm/submarine type pitchers in the majors. The ones we do see have success; I think if I were a minor league pitcher that wasn't likely to make the majors I'd give it a try, or try a knuckleball. In the 70's and 80's Kent Tekulve and Dan Quisenberry were very successful submarine style closers. As a group sidearmer's tend to have very good control, but beyond that they don't have much in common. Some have been hard throwers, some have had great curves or sliders, some throw sinkers, Dan Quisenberry even threw a knuckleball for a while and Eichhorn got by with a slow slow change.

Sidearmers seem to be pretty durable and have, on average, had long careers. The most famous one may be Carl Mays who stands as the only major league pitcher to have killed a batter with a pitch. Likely the strange delivery had something to do with why Ray Chapman didn't pick up the pitch and get out of the way. There were a number of other factors, balls were used longer back then and tended to be dirtier. With no lights at the stadium, in late afternoon, the ball would have been hard to see. But, I digress a lot. Mays was a straight underhand pitcher who threw very hard, a very good starting pitcher, just short of being a Hall of Fame type.

Mark ended his career with a 3.00 ERA in 885.2 innings over 563 games. He is now a pitching coach for a high school baseball team in California. His son was drafted in the 3rd round 2008 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks and pitched in their system last year. Mark coached his son's team that was featured in a documentary movie called Small Ball, A Little League Story in 2002. It was about their team trying to make the Little League World Series.

And, of course, Eichhorn was a personal favorite of mine, I always liked the guys with a different throwing style. He pitched a ton of good innings for the Jays and seemed like a good guy.

Mark Eichhorn's place among the Jay all-time pitching leaders:

Wins 20th 29
Games Single Season 1st 89
Games 13th 279
Innings 26th 493
Strikeouts 19th 372
Hit Batters 13th 24

Paul John Quantrill|RP,SP|1996-2001

Notable Accomplishment: All-Star 2001

Paul Quantrill was born November 3rd, 1968 in Kingsville, Ontario. A good Canadian boy, in fact the only Canadian in our Top 50 list. Sorry Rob Ducey fans. He was drafted in the 26th round of the 1986 draft by the Dodgers but he didn't sign, deciding to the University of Wisconsin. After 3 years there and a Top Pitcher and Team MVP award there in 1989, he was drafted in the 6th round of the 1989 amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox. Mike Mordecai and Doub Mirbelli were also chosen in that round of that draft.

Quantrill quickly moved through the minors and made his Red Sox debut July 20, 1992. In May 1994 he was traded to the Phillies, where he played for the rest of that season and 1995. On December 6th, 1995 Gord Ash made likely his best trade of his time as Jay GM trading Howard Battle and Ricardo Jordan to get Quantrill.

His first year with us he started the season as a starter, making 16 starts in his first 17 appearances, at which point he was 4-9 with a 6.20 ERA so off to the pen he was shipped. By the end of the season we were well out of it and he finished the season in the rotation making 4 starts when Juan Guzman went on the DL after an appendectomy. It was a really awful season, in 134.2 innings he gave up 172 hits and an amazing 27 home runs. He walked 51 and struck out 86 to finish 5 and 14 with a 5.43 ERA.

In 1997 he was moved the pen full time. Rubber armed the pitched in 77 games (a record at the time for a Canadian pitcher) having one of the best seasons for a Jay set up man finishing with a 1.94 ERA (4th in the AL among relievers) and a 6-7 record with 5 saves. He gave up 103 hits in 88 innings but only walked 17 and 5 homers.

In 98 he made even more appearances (82) and had another great season with a 2.59 ERA and 7 saves and tied for the league lead in holds with 27. He had a reverse split that season holding lefties to a .258 average while righties hit .305 off him. But despite the high batting average hit against him he was an effective pitcher because he limited walks to 22 and homers to 5.

He missed the start of the 1999 season because of a broken leg suffered in the off season in a snow mobile accident. A true Canadian. He didn't pitch for the Jays until June 15th. He did still manage to get into 41 games. He had an off year in 2000 finishing with a 4.52 ERA in 68 game.

He made the All-Star team in 2001 leading the league in wins in relief with 11 and appearances with 80. He allowed only 5 unintentional walks in his 83 innings. He ended with a 3.04 ERA. After the season JP traded him and Cesar Izturis to the Dodgers for Luke Prokopec and Chad Ricketts. Yeah, not one of JP's better trades.

Over the next three years, 2 with the Dodgers and one with the Yankees he pitched in 86, 89 and 86 games. He made the playoffs in 2004 with the Yankees pitching in 4 games of the Red Sox come back, 7 game ALCS win over the Yankees. He took the loss in the 12th inning of game 4, the start of the Red Sox historic come back, giving up David Ortiz' walk off home run. . But all the pitching finally caught up to him in 2005 and the Yankees sent him to San Diego. After a couple of months the Padres released him and he signed with the Marlins to finish the season.

Quantrill pitched for Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and retired after that. In a 14 year career he pitched in 841 games, the most games of any Canadian pitcher and had a 3.83 ERA. A skinny right-hander Paul threw a sinking fastball, a slider, change and curve. The sinker was his best pitch causing batters to pound the ball into the ground. Consistent and extremely durable Quantrill earns a spot on our list and was one of best relievers in team history.

Paul is married and has three children.

Paul Quantrill's place among Jay pitching leaders:

ERA (> 500 innings) 7th 3.67
Wins 19th 30
Walks/9 innings (>500 innings) 6th 2.50
Games 4th 386
Innings 23rd 517.2
Strikeouts 21st 334
Strikeout to Walk Ratio (>500) 8th 2.32

Alexander Scott Gonzalez|SS|1994-2001

Alex Gonzalez was born April 8th, 1973 in Miami, Florida. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 1991 amateur draft. He turned out to easily have the best career of any player taken in that round of that draft. He rose very quickly thru the Jays minor league system and started the 1994 season as the Jay's starting SS at the age of 21 but after 15 games he had a .151 batting average and the Jays gave the job to Dick Schofield.

He was on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list 4 straight years moving to as high as 4th in 1994. To give you some idea Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez were 6th an 7th on the list that year, though I doubt that Baseball America brags about that. He did have good power and speed potential with a terrific glove. The bat just didn't come around like they figured it would. He just never figured out how not to chase bad pitches and struck out way too much. And, to show they weren't alone in over-estimating him, in the 1995 Bill James Player Rating book Bill said ‘My guess is he'll be an All-Star'.

The strike shortened 1995 season he took the SS role and held it for 7 seasons. He was never good with the bat, but he deserves a spot on our list for his glove. He should have had two or three gold gloves in his career. In 1995 he played in 111 games of the 144 games the Jays got in, hitting .243/.322/.398 with 10 homers. But 114 strikeouts in 367 at bats was a bit much.

In 1996 Alex got into 147 games and hit 14 home runs, but batted just .235/.300/.391 with 16 steals. But his defense is what made him a useful player, Alex did make 21 errors but he led AL short stops in total chances with 765 and double plays with 122 double plays.

In 1997 he missed some games with a fractured finger but still led AL shortstops in fielding average at .986. He hit .239/.302.,387 in 126 games with 12 home runs. Then in 1998 he set career highs in games played with 158 and stolen bases 21 but hit even worse than normal with a OPS+ of just 66.

The 1999 season for Alex started great, hitting .292/.379/.416 in 38 games before he suffered a torn Labrum in his right shoulder and missing the rest of the season. In 2000 he played in 141 games and hit .252 with 15 homers and 69 RBI. He also led the AL with 16 sacrifice bunts.

2001 Alex got into 154 games and hit 17 home runs to set career highs in runs (79) and RBI (76). He hit a big .253/.313/.404, his highest batting average, for the Jays, in a full season. He also stole 18 bases but was caught 11 times. He also led the AL in chances, assists and double plays at short. For some reason he batted mostly in the 2nd spot in the order. Boy that Buck Martinez was a heck of a manager.

After the 2001 season, JP Ricciardi became the Blue Jay GM and wanted to cut salary and Gonzalez was traded to the Cubs for Felix Heredia and James Deschaine. He spent 2.5 seasons with the Cubs getting into the playoffs with them in 2003 losing out in the NLCS to the Florida Marlins. Gonzalez had a great NLCS hitting 3 home runs driving in 7 runs in their 7 game loss. But he also made the big error in the 8th inning of game 6 that allowed the Marlins to score 8 runs.

In 2004 he was traded to the Expos as part of the 8 player, four team trade that sent Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs and Orlando Cabrera to Boston. He also played for San Diego, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia before retiring in 2006.

Omar Vizquel won the Gold Glove 9 years in a row from 1993 to 2001 but some of those seasons Alex really was the best shortstop in the AL, but getting Gold Glove voters to look at statistics isn't easy and if they did they wouldn't understand them. For a player that didn't hit well Alex had a long career in the majors, playing 13 seasons. Gonzalez was a favorite of female fans, "Marry Me Alex' signs often appeared at Skydome. Alex is married and he has two children. He does charity work for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Alex Gonzalez' place among Blue Jay batting leaders:

Games 17th 890
At Bats 13th 3258
Runs 16th 407
Hits 17th 798
Doubles 11th 172
Home Runs 16th 83
RBI 17th 350
Walks 18th 257
Strikeouts 4th 758
Stolen Bases 10th 85
Run Created 22nd 382
Sacrifice Bunts 2nd 64