©97-01 gm_kel

After today's loss to the Yankees, the Blue Jays stand a season-high ten games under .500 at 48-58, 16½ games back of New York in the AL East. At 6-12 since the All Star break, the Jays have pretty much taken themselves out of playoff contention. In the 12 game span that concluded today, the Jays faced New York seven times and Boston five times. If anything was proved, it was that the Jays can't compete, and once again, that this won't be their year. The painful statistics: 4 wins to 8 losses; 44 runs to 74 opposition runs. The newest hit craze among Jays fans: "How much will they lose by today?"

While Carlos Delgado has been showing signs of breaking through lately, he won't be able to bring the Jays back into contention. At best, we can root for him in the home run chase, although he does have some work to do; his 28 long balls are five behind Jim Thome's 33 dingers. Though I had predicted Delgado to be the lone Jays rep at the All Star Game, I wasn't very surprised that he was left off - his batting average is about .100 points below where it was last year.

On the other hand, a belated congrats goes out to Paul Quantrill, who was the only Jays player at the Midsummer Classic. Quantrill definitely deserved to go, as he had been rock solid in the first half, sharing setup man duties with Kelvim Escobar. Seeing how miserable the Jays' season has been, it was only fitting that Quantrill would allow the only National League run in the game. Of course, no one noticed because everybody was talking about Cal Ripken Jr big home run... and Tommy Lasorda's big tumble.

With the July 31 trade deadline fast approaching, there have been a lot of rumors circling the Blue Jays. The two biggest names mentioned are Shannon Stewart and Jose Cruz Jr. Stewart has been getting the most attention lately, as the Rockies and the Yankees are very interested. Reportedly, there's a four-way deal in discussion that would land Colorado's Pedro Astacio in Toronto and send Stewart to New York. Trading Stewart makes some sense, as he is a year from free agency and the Jays have been dying to bring up Vernon Wells from Syracuse. Cruz was wanted in Seattle but apparently those talks broke down as the Jays were reluctant to trade Cruz before Stewart. In addition, Escobar, who recently made his first start, is rumored to go to the St. Louis Cardinals for catcher Eli Marrero.

Well, looks like the Blue Jays chapter of Deion Sanders' baseball career is over. The two-sport star announced his retirement from football before being released by the Triple-A SkyChiefs on Saturday, July 28. Sanders, who had been acquired from the Cincinatti Reds earlier this season, was hitting .337 with the Jays' minor-league affiliate at the time of his release. He hit a home run in his final game with Syracuse, and then proceeded to pack his bags.

If there's anything positive in Blue Jay land these days, it might be the re-emergence of Roy Halladay. Next year, the Jays might finally have the young highly-touted pitching staff that we've all been waiting for since 1998. If Halladay can stay consistent, he will follow Chris Carpenter and perhaps Kelvim Escobar, if he's still around. Yes, I think Escobar should start, but that can wait for another BJF Update. That's it for now, be sure to tune in next time!

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