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DUNEDIN, Fla. — Whoever said the first cut is the deepest had it all wrong Sunday. Cutting Reed Johnson was tough for general manager J.P. Ricciardi. But seeing third baseman Scott Rolen with a mangled right middle finger must have hurt more.
There were droplets of dried blood on the sidewalk leading to the Toronto Blue Jays' clubhouse at Knology Park, the route taken by Rolen after he suffered a non-displaced fracture of his finger (he broke the bone above the top knuckle) — ripping the nail off in the process — during a fielding drill on one of the back fields.
Rolen was sent to Baltimore Sunday night to be examined Monday by hand specialist Thomas Graham, the surgeon who repaired Gregg Zaun's broken hand last year. Next week at this time, Rolen was supposed to be getting ready to start for the Blue Jays on opening day. That won't happen. Marco Scutaro is now the nominal third baseman, and he was supposed to be on the bench.
"Early prognosis is it's not going to be six weeks or something like that, so I don't even want to throw a schedule out there," Ricciardi said when asked whether he knew how long Rolen could be out. "I can say this: he won't be lost for the year. The nail actually is more of an issue than the fracture."
Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen will be out for an undetermined length of time with a non-displaced fracture of his right middle finger after getting injured in a fielding drill Sunday. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
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That Easter Bunny. What a kidder, eh? No wonder that Ricciardi, who sat on a white chair in the right-field corner inside fair territory as John Parrish gave up a couple of home runs in a 15-7 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, finally got up and walked away, telling an observer, "Black day at Black Rock."
In reality, Johnson's days with the Blue Jays were numbered the second that Shannon Stewart agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.5-million (U.S.) with a $250,000 bonus that kicks in after 400 plate appearances. The Blue Jays had pursued Stewart to be the right-hand-hitting part of their left-field platoon as far back as November, but Stewart balked at their offer. He signed after switching agents.
The Blue Jays couldn't find any takers on the trade market for Johnson, who had surgery on a herniated disk last year after appearing to establish himself as a useful player and fan favourite by hitting .319 and leading the team with 147 hits. Now, any club can sign Johnson for the major-league minimum, $390,000.
"We're going to miss Reed's defence and grittiness, but at this point, we decided to go with offence over anything else," Ricciardi said. "The best way to describe it and from our end is that every time we play the [New York] Yankees and [Boston] Red Sox, you see those lineups and they're just prolific. And if something happens and we're not in a platoon, Shannon's a guy who can run out and hit right-handers."
And that's it, really. Grit's good, if you're looking for a third-line or fourth-line winger, but it doesn't matter in the American League East. Left field won't be a strict platoon, and the Blue Jays believe that although both Stewart and Johnson are right-handed hitters, Stewart's loftier career average against righties (.298, compared with .267) makes him a more useful player. Defence would be an issue in right or centre field, not in left. If you're counting on your left fielder to throw people out, you're in big, big trouble, anyhow.
Both Johnson and Stewart said all the right things, which pretty much figures.
"It's kind of a weird ordeal for me," said Stewart, who was traded to the Minnesota Twins by the Blue Jays in 2003 and in the process opened the spot for Johnson.
"When I left, I figured Reed would be the guy. I didn't expect to be in this type of situation. I'm not happy to be in this situation. I thought I had a good enough year last year to get a job without having to do this [taking the place of a player he knows well]. It's unfortunate. I know how it is. My heart goes out to him and his family."
Ricciardi and manager John Gibbons both spoke to Johnson when they gave him his release. Ricciardi later said: "This is one of the bad things, telling someone that represents everything you believe in that you don't have a spot for him.
"I remember the first time I took the job. We were trying to change the culture of how we play the game and I asked [farm director] Dickie Scott, 'Is there anybody down there who plays like their head's on fire?' He said: 'This kid Johnson.' I said, 'Send him over.' "
Spring training really can't end too soon for the Blue Jays. Rolen, who has a history of issues with his left shoulder, was hitting .345 and had taken charge in the field, and that was almost enough to make people overlook the absolutely horrendous spring that another big part of the middle of the order, Frank Thomas, is having.
And now it's all out of whack: the lineup, the defence (Rolen's range at third base was supposed to offset the net defensive loss of having David Eckstein start at shortstop over John McDonald) and the karma, for what that's worth. Bad day, indeed — and there's still six more to go before it begins counting.
