The Sommer Frieze

MLB.com today had a post stating that Toronto, looking for some star power after trading Halladay to the Phils, could be looking at Damon or Delgado.

As for JD, I wonder. At 36, reliant on his legs, and with Astroturf up in Toronto, I don’t think it would help him. I think it would hurt him and accelerate the decline. 

With Overbay at 1B, Delgado would have to DH—which after his surgery, he may have to do anyway. Reports on Delgado possibly going back to 1B aren’t good.

But the Blue Jays already have a Dh– Adam Lind (.305, 35 HR, 114 RBI in 2009), whose D isn’t the best. You’d have to put him in LF to accommodate Delgado (473 HR), and that’d leave out JD.

Delgado, of course, had his best years in Toronto, 1993-2004, emphasis on 1996-2004. He hit 44 HR for the Jays in 1999, 41 in 2000 and 42 in 2003. He finished 4th in the 2000 MVP awards and 2nd in 2003 for Toronto. Given that Jason Giambi won the MVP in 2000 and A-Rod in 2003, you may say that those are awards Delgado should have won. After a year with Florida in 2005, Delgado’s last four years were with the Mets. A .280 hitter with a career OPS+ of 138, Delgado, 38 this summer, appears as if he’ll fall short of the 500 HR club.

Of course given what’s been going on, the 500 HR club isn’t a HOF guarantee anymore. Heck, Fred McGriff, who as we suppose, was clean and who finished with 493 HR, wasn’t close to the magic 75% number on the HOF balloting this year. Delgado is an interesting HOF call. He has had some dominant years.