We haven’t mentioned Canada’s Marty York in a good two months. Back in March, York mentioned that the Blue Jays were close to acquiring Craig Wilson and that A.J. Burnett would miss all of April. Wilson’s a Pirate and Burnett made two starts in April, but I have to give him partial credit on Burnett.
Last Tuesday, York threw out all sorts of intiguing teams in connection with Dontrelle Willis. The Blue Jays and Rockies were two I definitely hadn’t heard before.
Willis to Colorado isn’t as crazy as it sounds. For one thing, the Rockies are shockingly a half game out of first place in the West. Secondly, they’ve never really tried this strategy in Colorado: just acquire really good pitchers and the ballpark won’t matter. A rotation of Willis, Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook, Jason Jennings, and Byung-Hyun Kim would actually be decent. Would the Rox offer up Ian Stewart and Brad Hawpe?
The Blue Jays, though…that part would be more feasible if the team had expendable young studs with which to make a deal. Dustin McGowan, Josh Banks, Brandon League, David Purcey, and Casey Janssen are all intriguing young pitchers, but only McGowan has been seen on any Top 50 Prospects lists. I imagine the Fish would want Alex Rios in the deal. Still doesn’t seem like a good fit.
York also mentions the Rangers, Yankees, and Phillies as interested parties.
