The Blue Jays have claimed 26-year old righty reliever Casey Fien off waivers from the Boston Red Sox. Fien pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Tigers last season and he was 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP. He also pitched in 42 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last season in which he was 2-1 with 14 saves, a 3.41 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Fien has a good arm so it was worth the risk for the Blue Jays to take a chance on him.

The Blue Jays have signed 34-year old righty swinging Jose Molina to a 1-year, non-guaranteed contract. His contract will pay him $800,000 bucks if he makes the Blue Jays and the team has a club option for the 2011 season worth $1.2 million bucks. Molina played in 52 games for the Yankees last season and he was 30 for 138 (.217 avg, .560 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 1 homer and 11 RBIs. He has now played in 554 games in his major league career and he is 341 for 1,449 (.235 avg, .609 OPS) with 151 runs scored, 20 homers and 136 RBIs. Molina will battle Raul Chavez for the backup catcher job in spring training. It doesn’t hurt to bring in a veteran catcher to battle for a job in spring training.

The Blue Jays have acquired 26-year old lefty starter/reliever Dana Eveland from the Blue Jays for either a player to be named later or cash. Eveland pitched in 13 games (9 starts) for the A’s last season and he was 2-4 with a 7.16 ERA and a 2.18 WHIP. He allowed an amazing 70 hits while walking 26 batters in only 44 innings last season for the A’s. Eveland has now pitched in 83 games (44 starts) in his major league career and he is 13-17 with 1 save, a 5.54 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. The Blue Jays are stockpiling pitching for 2010 and it never hurts to have a lot of them that throw from the left side.

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.