Scott Carson

Stats man Scott Carson is now in his 18th season as "third man in the booth" during Blue Jays telecasts.

Fred Lewis is paying dividends since arriving in Toronto from San Francisco.

Alex Anthopolous is winning on a budget, which is good news for when the purse strings are loosened.

You have to give Alex Anthopoulos credit; like Eddie Shack says in the old Pop Shoppe commercial, he sure has a nose for value.

Case in point: Plucking left-hander Dana Eveland and lead-off man Fred Lewis off the scrap heaps in Oakland and San Francisco. Both played prominent roles in the Blue Jays 2-0 win to open its four-game set with the White Sox in Chicago, the club's fifth straight victory. Eveland threw seven scoreless innings and has yet to give up a run in his two road starts this season. One more of those and he'll join Roger Clemens as the only Blue Jays starter to put up zeroes in three straight road games to start a season. Clemens accomplished the feat in 1997 en route to his first of two consecutive Cy Young awards. The Jays acquired Eveland in a cash deal with Oakland and this season the 26-year-old will make $419,500.

Lewis was acquired back on April 15 from San Francisco in a similar cash deal after the Giants had no room for him after he returned from a stint on the disabled list to start this season. Lewis has stepped into the lead-off role to provide some much needed speed and in May, his 11 hits so far this month is second only to Denard Span's 13 in the American League. Lewis' 2010 salary is a mere - in baseball terms -- $455,000.

What this clearly shows is that while trying to rebuild this franchise, which was left in disarray after the previous general manager was let go, Anthopoulos realizes that before the house can built a solid foundation needs to be formed. All told, it cost the Blue Jays just $150,000 to acquire the aforementioned two pieces. Are these players who will play prominent roles once the team returns to contention, probably not for Eveland, but maybe for Lewis. But they do represent what can happen when scouts beat the bushes and see what others do not. And it was done on the cheap, never a bad thing.

The time will come when they Blue Jays will have to fork out big bucks to draw even with the Yankees and Red Sox; it is inevitability, especially when you play in the same division as these two behemoths. But now is not the time, and while that might not sit well with those of you in the "instant gratification" generation, this is exactly the right tact to take. Like we saw in the early 90's when the organization was the best in the game, the big money free agents were brought in as the final pieces to the puzzle.

Ownership has stated that the funds are there when needed. Now is not the time. Until then, the Jay rookie G.M. will continue search for bargains. They are out there; you just have to be patient.

MEMORIES OF MR. HARWELL

After learning that Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell had lost his battle to inoperable cancer on Tuesday night as we broadcasted the Jays/Indians game from Cleveland, I took time reflect on the handful of times that I had been in the company of one of the true gentlemen of this great game.

The first was when I was introduced to him in the cramped broadcast booth at the now torn down Tiger Stadium, and I can still hear his voice, in his down home southern drawl saying, "Scott, it's a pleasure to meet you, son." But I will always remember, after the sudden passing of my friend and colleague John Cerutti, responding to my e-mail for a few kind words of his memories of John with what I would consider an essay. In this harsh and cruel world, we sometimes cross paths with Saints, and I consider Ernie Harwell to be one at the head of the class. I hope that if I ever make it to heaven, it is his voice that pipes me aboard ...

AROUND THE HORN

I'm starting to find the Cito bashing to be laughable. For example, after the Blue Jays came from behind on Wednesday (aided by some shoddy fielding by the Indians) to snatch a victory out of the jaws of defeat. Forgetting the fact that the Jays won their fourth game in a row, members of the media and the always anonymous 'comments' at the bottom of all descriptions and accounts of games, were all over the Blue Jays' manager for not pinch-running for slow-footed Jose Molina in the top of the seventh. Fred Lewis shot a double up the gap and Molina was only able to make it to third. As it turned, the Jays failed to score that inning after 2009 RBI machines Aaron Hill and Adam Lind struck out and fouled out respectively. But what most of y'all didn't know was that the Jays were playing with a short bench because Randy Ruiz had left the team to deal with some personal issues. Cito was looking at the bigger picture and pinch running for Molina at the time wasn't the right move. The fact that they ultimately won does matter to his detractors, who have been many over his 12 seasons at the helm of Canada's only major league team. Feel free to vent below, I need the laugh ...

I've always said that age and injury are the great equalizers and the Yankees are feeling both. Chan Ho Park (hamstring), Curtis Granderson (groin), Mariano Rivera (oblique), Jorge Posada (calf) and Andy Pettitte (elbow), whose combined average ages are 36 years, currently sit on the disabled list or are limited in their roles. No wonder the best team that money can buy currently sit just 3.5 ahead of the Blue Jays who were, by the accounts of most of you, expected to lose 100 games this season ...

The more I see the Tampa Bay Rays, the more I believe they are best equipped to represent the American League in the World Series for the second time in the last three Octobers. They have many offensive weapons, a solid rotation and a manager that knows how to get the most out of his charges. The only thing that might hold them back is their middle relief ...

Time for a bold statement: Roy Halladay, pitching in the National League where he only has to battle through seven hitters a night will win 25 games this season and win his second career Cy Young award. And while I'm at it, off all the faux pas that J.P. Ricciardi did during his eight-year tenure as chief decision maker at One Blue Jays Way, his worst was trading Jayson Werth to the Dodgers for Jason Frasor. I have nothing against Frasor, but Werth is the type of bomber that can make a big difference in the power league that is the American. All one has to see is the 65 home runs and 187 RBI since the start of the 2008 season. The best any Blue Jays hitter can claim over that timeframe is Adam Lind with 49 HR and 170 RBI ...