The Blue Jays have signed 32-year old righty swinging shortstop Alex Gonzalez to take over as the starting shortstop in 2010 to a 1-year deal. Gonzalez played in 112 games for the Red Sox & Reds last season in which he was 93 for 391 (.238 avg, .635 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 8 homers and 41 RBIs. He has now played in 1,229 games in his 11 years in the majors and he is 1,087 for 4,393 (.247 avg, .689 OPS) with 508 runs scored, 114 homers, 521 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Gonzalez has random power and he plays great defense so he should help the Blue Jays next season. Just don’t expect numbers out of him like the ones that Marco Scutaro put up in 2009 because it isn’t going to happen.

26-year old lefty swinging outfielder Adam Lind finished 15th for the MVP Award in the American League. Lind played in 151 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 179 for 587 (.305 avg, .932 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 35 homers and 114 RBIs. He has now played 4 years in Toronto and he has played in 346 games in which he is 362 for 1,263 (.287 avg, .833 OPS) with 183 runs scored, 57 homers and 208 RBIs. Lind is on the upswing so there is no reason to think he won’t get votes for this award again in 2010.

27-year old righty swinging 2B Aaron Hill has tied for 12th in the MVP Voting of the A.L. with Bobby Abreu of the Angels. Hill played in 158 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 195 for 682 (.286 avg, .829 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 36 homers, 108 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. He has now played 5 years for the Blue Jays appearing in 633 games in which he is 684 for 2,402 (.285 avg, .771 OPS) with 328 runs scored, 64 homers, 296 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. Hill also won the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award this year. Look for him to keep getting MVP votes if he just can stay healthy because he seems to be just getting better with experience.

The Blue Jays have re-signed 35-year old righty swinging shortstop John McDonald to a 2-year, $3 million dollar contract. McDonald played in 73 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 39 for 151 (.258 avg, .655 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 4 homers and 13 RBIs. He has now played in 11 years in his major league career and he is 408 for 1,713 (.238 avg, .593 OPS) with 200 runs scored, 13 homers, 134 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. This was a smart move for the Blue Jays as McDonald is a very slick defensive infielder. But, if they are planning to start him at shortstop instead of Marco Scutaro (who is a free agent) then I don’t like the move because the Blue Jays’ offense isn’t good enough to carry McDonald’s bat.

32-year old righty starting pitcher Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays finished fifth in the voting for the American League Cy Young Award. He pitched in 32 games (all starts) for the Blue Jays last season and he was 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Halladay has now pitched in 313 games (287 starts) in his major league career (all with Toronto) and he is 148-76 with 1 save, a 3.43 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. Blue Jays’ fans hope that Roy Halladay will win a Cy Young Award in the near future for them despite the swirling trade rumors involving him.