It looks like
David Eckstein can't rely on his scrappiness to rescue him much longer, as the Blue Jays are reportedly in the market to replace him and his offensively challenged partner
John McDonald. The Jays are willing to trade
A.J. Burnett and his opt-out clause to
get that shortstop.
"They're offering Burnett to any team that needs pitching," an American League general manager told the (Toronto) Sun. "They've told us they're not happy with either David Eckstein or John McDonald."
Eckstein, who the Blue Jays inked to a one-year deal before spring training, is hitting .273 with a .360 on base percentage this season, but has struggled in the field. McDonald, who is a defensive specialist signed a two-year deal last fall for $3.8 million, but is only hitting .163 in 29 games so far this year.
The Jays caused heads to be scratched by signing Eckstein while they already had McDonald. Now they don't like either of them? Too bad NFL rules don't apply where one guy plays offense and one guy plays defense. As for who that new shortstop might be? Well I assume that
Jimmy Rollins is off the table. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine. I'm not sure there's a shortstop out there that would be available for Burnett while making Jays fans forget the two they have at the same time. Perhaps a better idea would be to trade Burnett for
Adam Dunn ... but that's only because I want to see if Dunn either retires on the spot or chokes
J.P. Ricciardi.
