Miller: Five things to know
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Most challenging job in the AL East this year?
A) Daisuke Matsuzaka's interpreter.
B) Alex Rodriguez's shrink.
C) Toronto's pitching coach.
Hint: The answer is not "All of the above."
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| The Blue Jays value closer B.J. Ryan, who was acquired last year. (AP) |
Maybe Arnsberg doesn't have the toughest or most difficult job in the division. But challenging? You bet.
"And a few new languages to overcome, too," Arnsberg says, chuckling. "I'm going to have to be tri-lingual. I'm working on my Portuguese."
That's in reference to the newest Jay, reliever Jo Matumoto, signed out of a tryout session just last week. Matumoto is Brazilian, of Japanese descent, and scouts from several teams watched him throw in Tampa before the Jays grabbed him.
It was perfectly appropriate, even if Matumoto is raw and will open up in the minors, because general manager J.P. Ricciardi spent the winter assembling pitchers like a kid collecting baseball cards.
"We've got some really good, young arms here," Ricciardi says. "But we'd rather build some insulation around them. And in Tomo Ohka and John Thomson, those are two veterans who can take a lot of innings."
Even after a second-place finish in the AL East -- Toronto's highest since 1993, when the Jays last won a World Series -- the Blue Jays, after making a big splash on the free-agent market a year ago in reeling in A.J. Burnett and closer B.J. Ryan, were reduced to scrounging for crumbs over the winter.
They tried to re-sign Ted Lilly, but the Chicago Cubs opened their checkbook. They went after Gil Meche, but Meche thought he could be part of a Kansas City Renaissance.
