Jays To Retain Stairs, Cut Towers?

I feel like with two guys named stairs and towers I could craft some sort of amusing play on words.  Oh well.  Here’s the latest on the Blue Jays.

• They’ll pass on A-Rod, says J.P. Ricciardi.  No surprise there, but now it’s official.  They could still stand an upgrade at shortstop though.  Unless Travis Hafner teaches John McDonald how to hit.  Hafner needs to get himself in order first though.
• The Jays also hope to re-sign Matt Stairs, who wants a raise from last year’s $850K.  Maybe $3MM would get it done.  Stairs was shielded from southpaws a bit but raked .289/.368/.549 overall in 357 ABs.  As I noted before, signing Stairs could result in Reed Johnson being non-tendered.
• Speaking of non-tendering, Allan Ryan says "Josh Towers’ time as a Jay has clearly passed."  Doesn’t he at least get a gold watch?  Towers earned $2.9MM this year while posting a 5.38 ERA in 107 innings.  Unless the price gets to the silly Jason Marquis territory Towers could be the bargain of the winter for a team like the Padres.  By the way, he’s from California.  Check out a list of other non-tender candidates here.  The Cubs, by the way, haven’t decided on Mark Prior but could cut him and then offer him a lower deal.
• The Jays hope to retain Sal Fasano and Joe Kennedy.