Story One – Stairs climbs north
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (CP) – Unlike their courtship of other players this off-season, the Toronto Blue Jays had little trouble getting a deal done with Matt Stairs.
“It didn’t take very long for me to say yes,” the Fredericton outfielder, speaking from Bangor, Maine, said Wednesday of his preliminary agreement on a one-year deal. “It took about 10 minutes to get done. I was extremely happy, I’m really looking forward to coming back to Canada.”
The contract is expected to be finalized and announced later this week, allowing the Blue Jays to keep an extra spot open on their 40-man roster for Thursday’s Rule 5 draft.
Stairs joins the Blue Jays as a fourth outfielder and left-handed bat off the bench, brigning with him a .358 average plus nine home runs and 23 RBIs in 106 career at-bats at the Rogers Centre.
Toronto will be the 38-year-old’s 10th stop in a nomadic yet solid career that will leave him among the greatest Canadian batters to ever play the game. In 1,416 games over 14 seasons, Stairs has 220 homers (second only among Canadians to Larry Walker’s 383) and 751 RBIs.
He also reunites with general manager J.P. Ricciardi, who helped sign Stairs as a free agent Dec. 1, 1995 with the Oakland Athletics, where he enjoyed his finest seasons.
“I didn’t think we’d be apart 15 years,” Stairs said in his trademark deadpan. “J.P. is a good guy, we go way back, and he knows what he’s doing. He’s a good GM.”
Ricciardi wouldn’t confirm the deal but said he had spoken with Stairs’ representatives. On Tuesday, he admitted the club’s interest in him.
“I’ve always liked Matt,” said Ricciardi. “I helped bring him over to Oakland so I’ve known him a long time.”
Stairs batted .247 with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs last season for Kansas City, Texas and Detroit. The Royals did Stairs a favour by moving him to a contender in a deadline deal but when the Rangers faded they put him on waivers and the Tigers claimed him.
He played 14 September games with Detroit, hitting two homers with eight RBIs in helping the Tigers reach the post-season. Ineligible for the playoffs because he wasn’t on the roster before Sept. 1, Stairs went home while his teammates reached the World Series.
In coming to Toronto, he sees a chance in getting back to the post-season.
“That’s the biggest thing for me now,” he said. “The last few years in Kansas City I was mainly in a rebuilding situation helping out in a leadership role as the older guy in a younger clubhouse. Now I’m coming back to Canada on a team with that has a chance to get to the post-season.
“It’s something I’m looking forward to.”
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Story Two – Lilly signs with Cubs
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (CP) — Spurned by Ted Lilly, the Toronto Blue Jays shifted gears at the baseball winter meetings Wednesday by zeroing in on Gil Meche and reaching a preliminary agreement on a one-year deal with Canadian outfielder Matt Stairs.
Larry OBrien, the agent for Lilly, told general manager J.P. Ricciardi and his staff during a morning meeting that they were out of the running for the left-hander. Later that night, OBrien said Lilly had agreed to a four-year, US$40-million deal with the Chicago Cubs, pending a physical.
“At the end of the day, Ted decided he wanted a change of scenery,” OBrien said in an interview outside the Disney Dolphin Hotel. “The decision had nothing to do with length of contract or money. The offers are all about the same.”
Lillys departure means Meche becomes the Blue Jays main target to bolster their starting rotation. Meche is also being pursued by the Cubs while the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers are also said to have jumped hard into the chase.
The Blue Jays had hoped to leave Orlando with both Lilly and Meche. Their best offer, believed to be for slightly less than the one to Lilly, has been made and its up to Meche now.
“I think weve done everything we could possibly do,” said Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi. “Really the ball is in their court at this point.
“I dont think its going to be a long wait. I think well find something out in the next few days.”
Ricciardi said the goal now is to add one more pitcher, be it Meche or someone from their fallback list, which includes Jeff Suppan and Mark Redman. That pitcher would join ace Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett and Gustavo Chacin with a host of internal options to compete for the final spot.
“If we walk out of here with one, well be in the same boat we were in last year with three good pitchers in the front,” said Ricciardi. “Our ultimate goal was to have two guys, we tried to get two, we didnt get one, well see if we get the other one.”
Josh Towers and Shaun Marcum are chief internal candidates to fill out the rotation.
The deal with Stairs is expected to be announced later this week, allowing the Blue Jays to keep a spot on the 40-man roster open for Thursdays Rule 5 draft. The Fredericton native and Ricciardi know each other from their days in Oakland and Stairs nearly signed with Toronto before the 2003 season.
“Im very excited,” Stairs said in an interview from Bangor, Maine. “We worked on it (Tuesday) night and it took about 10 minutes to get done. I was extremely happy, Im really looking forward to coming back to Canada.”
Stairs batted .247 with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs last season for Kansas City, Texas and Detroit. The 38-year-old is a career .358 hitter with nine home runs and 23 RBIs in 106 at-bats at the Rogers Centre and is happy to be joining a team with post-season aspirations.
“Thats the biggest thing for me now,” he said. “The last few years in Kansas City I was mainly in a rebuilding situation helping out in a leadership role as the older guy in a younger clubhouse. Now Im coming back to Canada on a team with that has a chance to get to the post-season. Its something Im looking forward to.”
A deal with veteran infielder Chris Gomez, who spent 2004 with the Blue Jays, could also be completed in the next few days.
“We had Gomey here before and he did a great job for us, hes a great guy, a good veteran player,” said Ricciardi. “Hes a guy weve talked about.”
But Lillys loss was sure to sting, with the only solace being that he didnt end with the rival New York Yankees. The Boston Red Sox took a major step forward Tuesday when they reached tentative deals with outfielder J.D. Drew and shortstop Julio Lugo, making the AL East as competitive as ever.
OBrien said Lillys decision to cut the Blue Jays had nothing to do with his altercation with manager John Gibbons in the tunnel after he was pulled from a Aug. 22 start in Toronto.
“None whatsoever,” said OBrien. “As a matter of fact, his relationship with Gibby got better after the altercation.
“He has a respect for John and the organization . . . Ted is happy to be a Cub and he wants to be part of bringing a pennant and World Series to Chicago.
Word of Lillys decision came shortly after new Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella kept up his teams pursuit of Lilly and Meche.
Piniella said he has been on the phone with both — he knows Meche from their days in Seattle where he also managed Pete OBrien, brother of Larry OBrien — and believes they would benefit from a move to Wrigley Field.
“Part of my job since Ive been here in Orlando has been a little bit like a college recruiter, calling these guys. I enjoy that,” Piniella said.
“I think theyve both been successful major-league pitchers but I think theres still some upside there for them. Weve got a good pitching coach in Chicago, Larry Rothschild, theyll benefit from that experience also. Hopefully things will fall our way.”
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