SPORTS: New Jay Third-Sacker

The Toronto Blue Jays introduced Scott Rolen as their new third-baseman today, replacing the player he was traded for, Troy Glaus.

The conventional wisdom thus far is this: the St. Louis Cardinals probably won this exchange of birdies. But I disagree.

Glaus has more than a few pluses. He's a good guy, great power and he's a good fielder of bunts. In fact, he's pretty good within the limited range he patrols. Did I mention he's a good teammate? But he has some downside. His average is going to hover in the Johnny McDonald-area most of the time. He's got that limited range thing and he's slower'n molasses on the basepaths.

And he's got bad feet. More of that later.

Rolen has a few pluses of his own. He's a Gold Glover who hits for average and used to have power not that long ago. His minuses include the loss of that power recently and the fact that he's left two towns (Philly and St. Loo) with some baggage. There's an honest fear that we are looking at Shea Hillenbrand redux.

And he's got a bad shoulder.

Ahhh, yes. The favourite J.P. Ricciardi kind of acquisition. Lots of talent and a history of DL visits. Like the blackjack player who keeps doubling down, the Blue Jay GM figgers sooner or later he's got to win a big one.

This could be it. Both players passed physicals but that doesn't mean much these days. It's the nature of the injuries that makes the two-year older Rolen seem a better bet to earn his $12 million this year. Rolen's operation this past fall was the removal of scar tissue from one of his umpteen left-shoulder surgeries. That's more of a clean up operation that one of repair. Docs know a lot about shoulders, elbows and knees these days. They've had a lot of practice. ANd cleaning out scar tissue is a whole lot more 'predictable' these days.

On the other foot, feet are mostly still a mystery to doctors. Bad feet on big men is a problem. Glaus is a b-i-g man, well over six feet. He had a nerve problem in his foot that has allegedly been fixed. I wish him well, but I wouldn't bet on that fact in a month of "feeling lucky" days.

When healthy, these two players are all-stars. When unhealthy, neither one earns the $12 million pay cheques (give or take) each collects. Rolen had three years of such largesse, Glaus two. Advantage St. Louis. If both succeed, advantage Toronto. If only one succeeds, which one makes their new home town cheer?

And that's where I think Rolen puts the best foot forward and bounces back from two down years under the Tony LaRussa thumb. In fact, I think I'll go out on a limb.

There will be a day this summer when Rolen lines up beside McDonald, Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay in the game's best defensive infield. The top Jay defensive trio of Reed Johnson, Vernon Wells and Alex Rios will be manning the outfield. Roy Halladay will be on the mound that day and will throw his first career no-hitter. And Rolen will be a key part of that.

At least JP Ricciardi hopes so.