The Blue Jays have signed 26-year old righty starting pitcher Wade Townsend to a minor league deal. Townsend was a first round pick of the Rays in 2005. He pitched in 3 games (all starts) in Rookie-ball last season and he was 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 3.75 WHIP. He has now pitched in 64 games (43 starts) in his four years in the minors and he is 7-21 with a 5.58 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. It’s a longshot that Townsend will amount to much in the majors but he does have a good arm.

The Blue Jays have signed 31-year old righty reliever Kevin Gregg to a 1-year, $2.75 million dollar deal with two options that if picked up can top out at $12 million bucks for the life of the contract. Gregg pitched in 72 games (0 starts) for the Cubs last season and he was 5-6 with 23 saves, a 4.72 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He has now pitched in 343 games (8 starts) in his major league career and he is 23-27 with 85 saves, a 4.10 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Look for the Blue Jays to put Jason Frasor on the trading block with Gregg likely being the closer for the Jays in 2010.