Scott Carson

Stats man Scott Carson is now in his 17th season as "third man in the booth" during Blue Jays telecasts.

As MLB hands out the hardware, free agents like Jason Bay prepare to hit an unpredictable market.

Jason Bay.

With the World Series now in the rear view mirror, MLB continues to keep itself in the news as awards are starting be handed out to honour those whose seasons were of note.

Last week, the silver sluggers were named and while panning through the silt of the Blue Jays forgettable 2009 campaign, a pair of hitters were singled out for their offensive exploits.

Adam Lind, apparently one of the few players to not have a problem with manager Cito Gaston, was rewarded for his breakout season (.305 AVG, 46 doubles, 35 HR, 114 RBI), having been named the top hitting designated hitter in the American League.

Aaron Hill (.286 AVG, 37 doubles, 36 HR, 108 RBI), already named the A.L. Comeback Player of the Year after returning from post-concussion syndrome that robbed him of the final four months of 2008, was feted as the junior circuit’s top hitting second baseman.

Now the major awards are at the forefront.

On Monday, both leagues named their Rookies of the Year. In the N.L. it was Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan (.321 AVG, 9 HR, 47 RBI, .390 OBP) and in the A.L., it was Oakland Athletics reliever Andrew Bailey (6-3, 1.84 ERA, 26 saves). No problem here with either of those selections as I was able to see both perform last season. Coghlan came into Toronto during Interleague and was a one-man gang, going 7-for-14 with four runs scored and three doubles as Florida swept the Jays in a three-game weekend series in June.

As for Bailey, he was perfect in three appearances against the Jays with two saves and a win, facing 15 hitters with not one reaching base while striking out seven.

Many thought that Jays’ rookie left-hander Ricky Romero had a shot, certainly at mid-season, but in the end he didn’t receive a single vote. Unfortunately for the 24-year-old he, like his team, fell off the radar in the second half. After his first start in August, Romero sported a sparkling 10-4, 3.53 ERA. Then the dog days of the season kicked in and Romero seemingly ran out of gas. Over his final 12 starts, he went 3-5, with a 5.53 ERA, while opponents hit him at a .310 clip. That and the fact that his team rarely strung two wins together did in Romero’s chances at some silverware.

From my seat in the broadcast booth, it seemed that he lost his arm slot due to fatigue and had trouble consistently hitting the strike zone. And over those final dozen starts, Ricky was throwing almost 20 pitches per inning which kept him from going deep into games. Building up his stamina in 2010 should be paramount.

And for Roy Halladay, it had to be a disappointing fifth place finish when the Cy Young results were announced on Tuesday, coming in behind winner Zack Greinke of Kansas City, Felix Hernandez of Seattle, Detroit’s Justin Verlander and the Yankees’ CC Sabathia. Halladay was the early-season favourite after winning 10 of his first 13 starts, but a groin injury in early June set him back followed by unneeded trade rumours and his general manager throwing him under the bus. Greinke was worthy of the award based upon his MLB-best 2.16 ERA and the fact that he won 16 games for one of the worst teams in baseball.

COLLUSION OR COMMON SENSE?

It will be interesting to gauge the reaction of the Major League Baseball Players Association and individual player agents when the free agent season opens up to the highest bidders. From what I’ve heard and read, big contracts like the ones that Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira received from the Yankees to pave the way to a World Series title might have gone the way of the dodo bird.

Sure, Matt Holliday and John Lackey are going to get lucrative offers thrown their way, but this may be an off-season where mid-range players are targeted and might get the majority of the attention. This will lead to calls from the MLBPA that the owners are colluding to keep salaries down but, really, it’s just a case of common sense. Only a handful of teams are financially stable enough to shell out the big bucks. Plus, why overpay for a name player when you are able to get similar production out of a younger player for a fraction of the cost. It’s only good business; just don’t say that around the PA or the agents who always think something sinister is in play when they don’t get what they want.

And perhaps now is the best time to revisit the debate about whether MLB should bring in a salary cap when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in December of 2011. That may be the only remedy to bring fans of over half of the teams back to the ballpark, because the way things are set up currently, that’s how many teams can only dream of the playoffs due to the massive payroll chasm between the rich and the poor teams.

Bringing parity into baseball should be paramount when the owners and players get back together to hammer out a new agreement.

I’m sure Blue Jays’ fans would welcome that.