The Blue Jays decided that they have seen enough of 27-year old righty swinging 3B Edwin Encarnacion for the time being as they have sent him to AAA. Encarnacion has played in 37 games for the Jays this year and he is 24 of 120 (.200 avg, .765 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 9 homers and 22 RBIs. The Blue Jays are likely going to leave him in the minors for a little while until he gets his act together. The Blue Jays have recalled 27-year old right swinging Jarrett Hoffpauir from AAA to replace Encarnacion at 3B. Hoffpauir has played in 57 games in AAA this season and he is 77 of 235 (.328 avg, .910 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 9 homers, 43 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He also has shown outstanding plate discipline walking 21 times this year while only whiffing 15 times. Hoffpauir got his first taste of the major last season with the Cardinals playing in 8 games in which he was 3 for 12 (.250 avg, .854 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. Hoffpauir doesn’t have near as much power as Encarnacion but he will make a lot more contact.

UPDATE: (6/21/2010) - The Blue Jays have decided to designate Encarnacion for assignment instead of sending him to the minors. He has played in 79 games for the Blue Jays in his two years with the team and he is 61 of 274 (.223 avg, .755 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 17 homers and 45 RBIs. The Blue Jays hope to be able to trade him in the next ten days while getting something decent for him.

UPADTE: (6/24/2010) - The Blue Jays didn’t find any takers for Encarnacion so they sent him to AAA after he cleared waivers.

The Blue Jays have traded 30-year old righty swinging outfielder Jorge Padilla to the Mets. The return the Jays got for Padilla has yet to be announced. Padilla played in 50 games in AAA-ball for the Jays this year and he was 61 of 185 (.330 avg, .864 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 4 homers, 27 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Padilla played in 29 games in his first taste of the majors last year for the Nationals and he was 3 of 25 (.120 avg, .274 OPS) with 3 runs scored.

The Blue Jays have signed 31-year old infielder Nick Green to a major league contract and they have sent 29-year old righty swinging infielder Mike McCoy to AAA. Green played in 5 games earlier this season for the Dodgers and he was 1 for 8 (.125 avg, .347 OPS) with 1 RBI. Green has now played in 383 games in his major league career and he is 235 of 987 (.238 avg, .657 OPS) with 140 runs scored, 16 homers and 95 RBIs. Green will likely be a improvement over McCoy who just didn’t hit much at all for the Jays. McCoy played in 28 games for the Jays this year and he is 10 of 50 (.200 avg, .519 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.

34-year old righty reliever Shawn Camp is really pitching well out of the Blue Jays’ pen right now. He has pitched in 30 games (0 starts) for the Jays this season and he is 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He has only given up 27 hits while walking 7 batters in 35 1/3 innings for the Jays this year as he has been quite impressive. Camp has been a different pitcher since coming to Toronto as he has worked in 129 games (0 starts) in his three years with the Blue Jays and he is 6-8 with 1 save, a 3.44 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Before coming to Toronto though Camp was pretty lousy. He pitched in 196 games (0 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he was 10-13 with 6 saves, a 5.27 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. So the pitching coaches of the Blue Jays have done a fine job with Camp in his tenure with the Jays so far.

29-year old lefty swinging LF Fred Lewis has really benefitted from his change of scenery. He came over from the Giants in a trade early this season and he has been starting in LF and leading off most of his time in Toronto. Lewis has played in 49 games for the Blue Jays this year and he is 56 of 199 (.281 avg, .788 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 4 homers, 17 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He’s not the most disciplined leadoff hitter in the league as he has only walked 13 times this season while whiffing 54 times. Still he fits right in with the free swinging Blue Jays.