CLEARWATER, FLa. — You will not be hearing from yours truly from Fort Myers tomorrow. I have a running joke with our MLB.com Twins writer, Kelly Thesier — a former classmate of mine at Michigan State — that I’m boycotting all Toronto-Minnesota games on the road.

In three years on the beat, I have never been to Fort Myers during Spring Training and I’ve only been to Minnesota once — during the 2006 season. I missed Frank Thomas’ 500th homer in Minny a year ago and I won’t be making the trek to the twin cities this season because I have to stand up in a wedding. Go figure.

But, I’ll be at Knology Park bright and early tomorrow morning to hang out at Toronto’s workout for the A squad. Toronto’s bringing a real thin group to Fort Myers.

"I think you’re playing left field. You better check the lineup tomorrow," quipped Ricciardi, talking to The Star’s Richard Griffin.

Only Rod Barajas, Marco Scutaro, Reed Johnson and John McDonald had their names circled on the travel sheet. Poor Johnny Mac, I think he’s made every spring road trip for the past two years. Seems like it anyway.

I could be in bed right now, but I’m still winding down from sippin’ on a few Killians and listening to some terrrrrrible karaoke at a local sports bar. So, as promised earlier today, I’ll hit on a few of the topics that GM J.P. Ricciardi talked about today at the ball yard.

ROTATION: Ricciardi still won’t come out and say that Jesse Litsch will be the fifth starter, but he came pretty darn close to saying it today with this comment: "We’ve got five starters at the Major League level. So we’re pretty well set there." Soooo, that’s Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum and…well, Litsch. Ricciardi said the Jays are stretching out Josh Banks, David Purcey and Kane Davis, and Double-A pitchers Brett Cecil, Ricky Romero and Brandon Magee are on the club’s radar. The Jays are still pursuing potential trades, but there’s not enough flow available for a free-agent addition.

LEFT FIELD: When asked about the left field situation, Ricciardi said it’ll probably come down to whether Toronto skip John Gibbons is more comfortable with Reed Johnson or Shannon Stewart. That’d make you think Johnson is in the running, but with his next breath, Ricciardi said the Jays would probably wan’t to go with the best offensive club they can put together. Given how Ricciardi has pumped up Stewart’s offensive abilities, that sentiment would seem to point to him as the favorite for the job.

GIBBONS: Ricciardi was also asked about Gibbons being in the final year of his contract. The GM instantly issued great praise for the skipper, saying "I think Gibby will manage here a long time. All of us, at one point or another, are in the last year of our contract. Gibby knows he’s in good standing here. We like him a lot and the players like him." Right after that, one reporter asked why, if that’s really the case, was Gibbons not offered an extension. Ricciardi switched gears by saying, "Well, we’ll see. We’ll see how the year goes. We’ve got some expectations this year — like we’ve had in the past. We’ll see how they play out."

OTHER TIDBITS: Other items of interest included Ricciardi indicating that closer B.J. Ryan felt great one day after his spring debut. The GM said Ryan had normal soreness, but nothing out of the ordinary. … Ricciardi noted that starter Gustavo Chacin, who was optioned to Triple-A on Wednesday, probably wouldn’t be a viable option until around July. … Ricciardi said one of the biggest surprises of the spring has been Buck Coats: "We tried to get him for the last few years, whether it was a trade or a waiver claim or something like that. Then when we finally got him and you got to see him, he does a lot of things. He can be an extra outfielder."

After his start today, Roy Halladay expanded on his comments earlier this spring about the Jays lacking a sense of urgency last year. Instead of getting into that whole topic, let me just firect you all to the story I pieced together on the issue. One interesting item from that discussion was Halladay — a quiet presence in the clubhouse — said he would be willing to be more of a vocal leader on the team this year to hold players accountable.

That’s it for tonight. I’m going to read a few more pages of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men (hooray for by one get one half off sales at the local bookstore) and then hit the sack. More bloggage coming manana…

DUNEDIN, Fla. — It feels like Groundhog Day around here. Two home games in the past seven days and only Pittsburgh as the visitors. But, hey, the sun is out, there’s only a handful of clouds in the sky and there’s no long drive home when this game is over.

Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi held court for roughly 15 minutes with us scribes before the game, discussing a wide variety of topics: the fifth spot, left field, manager John Gibbons only being signed through this year, thoughts about Casey Janssen, the upcoming season and B.J. Ryan. I’ll be throwing together a few short items for the Web site on the scrum, and I’ll put some of what I don’t use on here after the game.

Until then, you’ll just have to stay on the edge of your seat (honestly, none of it was earth-shattering news) and be content with today’s lineups:

PITTSBURGH (5-11) at TORONTO (5-11)
at 10:05 p.m. ET at Knology Park

PIRATES
Nyjer Morgan, CF
Andrew McCutchen, LF
Chris Gomez, 1B
Xavier Nady, RF
Ronny Paulino, DH
Neil Walker, 3B
Brian Bixler, SS
Raul Chavez, CF
Josh Wilson, 2B

PITCHING: RHP Ian Snell

BLUE JAYS
David Eckstein, SS
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Scott Rolen, 3B
Frank Thomas, DH
Matt Stairs, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Aaron Hill, 2B
Gregg Zaun, C

PITCHING: RHP Roy Halladay

What do you guys think about the Jays’ lineup today? I have a feeling that could potentially be a preview of Opening Day’s order. Gibbons seems to like Rios-Wells in the Nos. 2-3 spots, and he’s talked about using Stairs ahead of Overbay in the Nos. 6-7 holes. Gibby also hasn’t been committed to using Thomas as the cleanup hitter, meaning he could slip to fifth easily.

More later…

ST. PETERSBURG — You heard it here first, B.J. Ryan is now in the running for the fifth spot in Toronto’s rotation. I mean, why else would he start on Friday before Jesse Litsch and why else would the Jays not commit to Litsch being the No. 5?

"Yeah, we should convert him," quipped Jays pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, joking about Ryan.

Ryan only started because the Jays wanted to make sure he got an inning done with rain clouds hovering overhead. Litsch followed with 4 2/3 innings in "relief" and gave up three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Litsch struggled with control, which isn’t good for a pitcher trying to wow Toronto.

Casey Janssen and Gus Chacin (a long shot at best, when camp opened) are both out of the running for the fifth, but Toronto continues to plead the fifth. Litsch appears to be the favorite, and manager John Gibbons and Arnsberg have both said they like him as the fifth, but their unwillingness to say he’s the clear frontrunner shows that the internal debate persists.

This could mean that the Jays have a trade in the works, or are merely unconvinced as an organization that Litsch can repeat what he did last season (3.81 ERA in 20 starts as a rook). Or, perhaps it’s just a way for GM J.P. Ricciardi to keep Litsch on his toes — keep the young pitcher from getting too comfortable out there.

With that rotation and the upcoming off-day in mind, here’s the tentative schedule through next weekend from Arnsberg:

Saturday vs. PIT: Roy Halladay
Sunday at MIN: Dustin McGowan
Monday at PIT: A.J. Burnett
Tuesday: OFF
Wednesday at BOS: TBA (Shaun Marcum Minor League game)
Thursday vs. NYY: TBA (Roy Halladay Minor League game)
Friday at DET: Jesse Litsch
Saturday at NYY: TBA (Dustin McGowan Minor League game)
Sunday vs. PHI: A.J. Burnett

Arnsberg wants to keep hiding his starts from the Yanks and BoSox, who play the Jays in the first two regular seaosn series. There’s also rumblings that manager John Gibbons is considering using a fifth starter on April 5 in order to give his starters an extra day of rest.

That’s all for today. I’m heading out. On the way back home, I’ll pop in the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols in honor of Wilner, who had never heard Anarchy in the UK before this spring.

Later…

ST. PETERSBURG — Sorry for the delayed entry here. It’s the second inning, but I had to spend most of the pregame here at Progress Energy Park downstairs, trying to figure out if the Jays and Rays would get this game in in between the raindrops.

The game didn’t start until around 1:25 and just in case the rain picks up again, Toronto sent B.J. Ryan to the mound as the starter. In his Grapefruit League debit, Ryan turned in one shutout inning, striking out two and finishing the stint with 12 pitches (8 strikes).

Jesse Litsch is scheduled to take the mound in the second and is down to work four innings, weather permitting. On another note, Melky Cabrera and Shelley Duncan have been hit with suspensions for their part in the Rays-Yanks brawl the other day and they won’t be available for a few of the games in the season-opening series against Toronto.

Today’s lineups:

TORONTO (5-10) at TAMPA BAY (9-3-1)
at 1:25 p.m. ET at Progress Energy Park

BLUE JAYS
David Eckstein, SS
Scott Rolen, 3B
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Matt Stairs, DH
Shannon Stewart, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Aaron Hill, 2B
Rod Barajas, C

PITCHING: LHP B.J. Ryan, RHP Jesse Litsch, LHP Scott Downs, LHP Brian Tallet, RHP Jeremy Accardo

RAYS
Elliott Johnson, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Willy Aybar, 3B
Cliff Floyd, DH
Eric Hinske, 1B
Dioneer Navarro, C
John Rodriguez, RF
Reid Brignac, SS
Jon Weber, CF

PITCHING: RHP Edwin Jackson

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Back at the ol’ MLB.com headquarters here — otherwise known as the condo I’m staying at — where the internet connection is quick, reliable and blog-worthy.

The drive back from Winter Haven was uneventful, unless you consider that mass of cars that always shows up on the highays around Tampa eventful. Wilner didn’t insist on another Waffle House run, but he did request a stop at a 7-Eleven, so he could pick up some apples with caramel dipping sauce.

That quick bite had to act as a substitute for lunch, because the pulled pork sandwiches, which didn’t look good anyway, weren’t ***-friendly for poor Mike. The ham n’ cheese omelet I had this morning was more than enough to hold me until dinner time.

Wow, fourth graph here and food is the only topic at hand? Time to move on…

For those of you out there that still think Spring Training stats matter, you can begin hyperventilating at the sight of Shaun Marcum’s pitching line: 3 2/3 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 K, 0 BB, 1 HR, 65 pitches, 47 strikes.

What you don’t see within those numbers is what Marcum was doing, which was working on his two-seam sinking fastball over and over and over and over, even though the Indians were spraying it all over the yard and over the fence.

In the regular season, many of the counts that Marcum used his sinker in will be situations he turns to his changeup — his sick out-pitch. Take the 1-2 count to Pronk Hafner in the third. Marcum tested out the sinker and it promptly — pronkly? — was sent bouncing off the wall in right-center for a two-run tater.

Marcum really wants to perfect this pitch, so he has a reliable groundball-inducing option much like Roy Halladay. With a spot cemented in Toronto’s rotation, Marcum can afford to keep turning to the pitch without fear that he’s going to lose his job with subpar results. Marcum said he’ll keep firing away for one more start.

"If it doesn’t get better, I’ll throw it in the trash and go with what got me here," Marcum said.

After I got back to the condo here, I received word that the Jays made the following roster moves: Optioned Adam Lind, Curtis Thigpen, Robinzon Diaz, Buck Coats and Joe Inglett to Triple-A Syracuse and returned Ryan Patterson and Wayne Lydon to Minor League camp.

Catch you from St. Pete manana. Jesse Litsch takes the hill and B.J. Ryan is set to debut in Grapefruit League play. Stay tuned…

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Just arrived at Chain of Lakes Park here in the terribly named Winter Haven. On the way here, Wilner and I stopped off at a Waffle House to get some breakfast. Our waiter’s name? Trampus. I can’t make this stuff up.

At least I ran four miles this a.m., so I don’t feel so bad about eating at the House. Wilner insists we stop there every year on the way to Winter Haven, so I guess this makes it our last installment of the pseudo-annual event. The Tribe is skipping out on Florida in favor of Arizona for Spring Training next year.

Today’s lineups:

TORONTO (5-9) at CLEVELAND (6-8-1)
at 1:05 p.m. ET at Chain of Lakes Park

BLUE JAYS
Reed Johnson, RF
Gregg Zaun, DH
Joe Inglett, 2B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Adam Lind, LF
John McDonald, SS
Buck Coats, CF
Hector Luna, 3B
Sal Fasano, C

PITCHING: RHP Shaun Marcum

INDIANS
Josh Barfield, 2B
David Dellucci, LF
Travis Hafner, DH
Victor Martinez, C
Casey Blake, 1B
Ben Francisco, RF
Jamey Carroll, SS
Danny Sandoval, 3B
Jason Tyner, CF

PITCHING: RHP Fausto Carmona

More later…internet connection permitting. It’s reeeaaaal shaky here.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Those are the storyines today. Casey Janssen is out for the year with a torn labrum in his right shoulder and A.J. Burnett is taking the mound without part of his right index fingernail.

There’s been some minor roster movement over the past few days. Prior to today’s game, lefty Gustavo Chacin was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse and Travis Snider was returned to Minor League camp. Yesterday, Russ Adams, Sergio Santos Tracy Thorpe, David Purcey and Jean Machi were optioned to Triple-A, while Pedro Lopez and Brian Jeroloman were sent back to Minors camp.

Before I delve back into the Janssen news for a bit, let’s get to today’s lineups:

PITTSBURGH (4-8-0) at TORONTO (4-9-0)
at 1:05 p.m. ET at Knology Park

PIRATES
Nate McCloth, CF
Jack Wilson, SS
Freddy Sanchez, DH
Jason Bay, LF
Adam LaRoche, 1B
Xavier Nady, RF
Ronny Paulino, C
Jose Bautista, 3B
Luis Rivera, 2B

PITCHING: LHP Zach Duke

BLUE JAYS
David Eckstein, SS
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Frank Thomas, DH
Scott Rolen, 3B
Aaron Hill, 2B
Reed Johnson, LF
Rod Barajas, C
Marco Scutaro, 1B

PITCHING: RHP A.J. Burnett

Now, in regards to Janssen. His absence will certainly effect both the rotation and bullpen. Brandon League looks to be in a good spot for a job in the ‘pen now, and John Parrish could make a push for a starting role.

Jesse Litsch is the clear favorite — Gus Chacin isn’t an option anymore — but GM J.P. Ricciardi said the fifth spot isn’t Litsch’s job by default. Ricciardi said the team would explore trade possibilities and perhaps other avenues. There are a few free agents still out there, and while adding depth is never bad, I say give Litsch the job.

The Jays are also saying the right things about Janssen’s injury, pumping up the idea that he’ll be back at 100 percent by next spring. That’s all well and good, but torn labrums aren’t easy to come back from. It could be a career threatening injury, but Toronto won’t say that.

One comment that I found interesting from Ricciardi was "With Casey Janssen, we have a great bullpen. Without him, we have a good bullpen." This quote comes from the main person who’s been hyping up Janssen as a potential starter. That made it sound like Janssen was going to be in the bullpen no matter what. Interesting, at least.

On another note, there are a few regular players making the trip to Winter Haven for the game against the Indians tomorrow. Shaun Marcum will pitch, followed by Parrish and others, and Gregg Zaun, Lyle Overbay, along with John McDonald, Marco Scutaro, Reed Johnson and Adam Lind, among others, had their names circled on the travel sheet.

I believe my name is circled as well.

UPDATE 4:21 p.m. — After picking up the save in today’s 4-1 win over the pie-rats, Josh Banks was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. Burnett pitched well — I continue to be impressed in how strong he’s looked even without his curve — and Wells launched his first homer of the spring.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Blue Jays pitcher Casey Janssen is done for the season. AN MRI exam revealed that the discomfort Janssen felt in his shoulder during a bullpen session on Tuesday morning was caused by a torn labrum.

Janssen is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery to repair his frayed shoulder on either Tuesday or Wednesday of next week in California, and the pitcher said the operation will likely be performed by Los Angeles-based surgeon Dr. Lewis Yocum.

The loss is a tough blow to the Blue Jays, who were giving the 26-year-old Janssen an opportunity to win a job in the starting rotation this spring. Last season, Janssen served as Toronto’s primary setup man and finished with a 2.35 ERA and 24 holds in 70 appearances.

With Janssen out of the mix for a job, Jesse Litsch becomes the favorite in-house candidate to depart Spring Training as Toronto’s fifth starter. Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi indicated on Wednesday, though, that the Jays aren’t unwilling to explore trades or other options to bolster their pitching staff.

More coming later…

TAMPA — In this case, all the assumptions were right. No one on the Blue Jays had come straight out and said it, but it’s been written all spring that Gustavo Chacin’s chances of making the rotation were slim to none.

Well, on Tuesday, after Chacin was roughed up by the Yankees, Toronto manager John Gibbons came out and said it. But he didn’t say Chacin’s chances were slim — Gibbons said his chances were none. That’s barring a few injuries, of course.

When asked if Chacin was still considered a candidate for the fifth spot in the rotation, Gibbons said: "No, he hasn’t been. We knew that."

Right, we’ve pretty much known that, but now one of the men in charge made it official. So, even with Casey Janssen sidelined for a while with a right shoulder issue, it’s Jesse Litsch as the favorite to round out the rotation. Chacin’s arm strength and velocity just aren’t there.

On Tuesday, Chacin took the hill as the starter against New York, only because the Jays opted to have Dustin McGowan throw in a Minor League game. In two innings, Gus threw 36 pitches (20 strikes) and yielded four runs on five hits with two walks and no strikeouts.

The first four batters Chacin faced reached base and scored. Melkly Cabrera singled, Derek Jeter walked, Bobb Abreu celebrated his birthday with a two-run double, and Alex Rodriguez launched a two-run homer. That pretty much killed any shot Chacin had — not that he had much of one anyway.

Chacin only made five April starts last year and then was sidelined with a shoulder injury all season. He then went under the knife in August to repair a torn labrum. Coming back from that in time to be the starter he was in 2006 was a little much to ask. Over the past two years, forearm, elbow and shoulder injuries have limited Gus to 22 starts.

"His arm strength is down," Gibbons said. "He has to build his arm back up. He’s not throwing really hard, but that’s going to come with time. With what he’s coming off of, it’s going to take a while to build that."

No word yet on Janssen’s MRI results. That might have to wait until tomorrow. Before I head out to grab some dinner at PF Chang’s with Bryan Hoch of the Yankees’ MLB.com site, I’ll leave you with this gem from Gibby.

When asked this morning about Toronto looking at Armando Benitez, Gibbons hadn’t heard whether or not it was a done deal yet:

"They have to take money away from me in order to sign him."

TAMPA — The good news or the bad? There’s been enough news this morning to put me well behind the normal routine. It’s the fifth inning here at Lengends Field and I have yet to get the lineups up. My apologies, loyal MLBastianites.

Let’s just get the bad news out of the way. If you hadn’t seen on the Web site, or elsewhere, already, Jays pitcher Casey Janssen is sidelined. He was supposed to pitch four innings in a Minor game today, but a right shoulder injury cut his warm-up session short.

Janssen’s down for an MRI later today and he sounded pretty dejected when we caught up with him at Knology Park. Basically, he doesn’t know what’s wrong with his arm just yet, but he certainly knows that his chances of breaking camp as a starter are pretty much shot. Even if it’s a minor setback, I don’t see him recovering in time to be built up for a starting role by Opening Day.

So, barring any other setbacks, it looks like the fifth spot is Jesse Litsch’s spot to lose more than ever. There’s a lot of people within the organization that wanted to keep Janssen in the bullpen and have Litsch in the rotation as it was, and while no one wishes for an injury, if this isn’t a major blow, that looks to be the scenario.

Closer B.J. Ryan turned in one shutout inning in a Minor League game, tossing 16 pitches (9 strikes). He fanned two batters, walked one and induced a groundout. Next up is a Grapefruit League game appearance against the Rays on Friday in St. Petersburg.

Also appearing in the Minor game was Dustin McGowan, and relievers Jeremy Accardo, Brian Tallet and Scott Downs. McGowan pitched four innings and focussed on using his four-seam fastball in the outing. He said his arm felt probably the best it has this spring.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi didn’t see Ryan pitch, because he was behind a fence in the back of the bullpen talking to veteran reliever Armando Benitez. After Benitez threw in front of Ricciardi and Toronto’s coaching staff, the Jays inked him to a Minor League deal.

The ways things unfolded, it seems purely coincidental that the Jays signed Benitez on the same day Janssen hurt his shoulder. Benitez adds some depth, but he’s hardly a candidate anymore for a setup job and the Jays don’t need him to close. We were standing behind the backstop watching McGowan throw when a man I believe was Benitez’s agent ran over to J.P. and said, "We’ve got a deal."

The offer that was accepted appeared to come prior to Janssen’s injury. Janssen promptly left the complex to see Dr. Steve Mirabello and he’s scheduled to have an MRI later today. When there’s word on that I’ll let you know. That wasn’t the only injury that happened Tuesday morning either.

While watching McGowan, we all heard some commotion on another practice field. Apparently, Toronto Minor League outfielder Moises Sierra lost a baseball in the sun out in right field and the ball came down and hit him straight in the face. Sierra was carted off the field after a laying on the ground for a while.

Later on, there was a foul ball that came pretty close to Ricciardi and another that landed not too far from where us media types were standing.

"It’s like a shooting gallery in here," Ricciardi said.

"They’ll have everyone wearing helmets pretty soon," quipped another coach.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "How’s Marty?" –Toronto Sun’s Mike Rutsey, asking Ricciardi for an update on Casey Janssen. Rutz experienced a minor brain fart and confused the young pitcher’s name with that of former Jays pitcher Marty Janzen.

Other items of note: RHP Tracy Thorpe and INF Sergio Santos were both optioned to Triple-A on Tuesday. Following Monday’s game, INF Russ Adams was optioned to Triple-A and INF Pedro Lopez and C Brian Jeroloman were returned to Minor League camp. Not sure how I missed it, but LHP Davis Romero and INF Chip Cannon were also returned on Saturday (Oh, I know how I missed it, I was off). … Remember Minor League Chad Mottola? He’s back in camp, but the former first-round pick is now a coach with the Jays. He’s going to test out his coaching skills in the Gulf Coast League.

Still want those lineup? Here’s the abbreviated version:

JAYS: SS David Eckstein, RF Matt Stairs, CF Vernon Wells, 3B Scott Rolen, DH Frank Thomas, 1B Lyle Overbay, LF Shannon Stewart, 2B Aaron Hill, C Gregg Zaun. Gus Chacin pitching.

YANKS: CF Melky Cabrera, SS Derek Jeter, RF Bobby Abreu, 3B Alex Rodriguez, DH Jason Giambi, 2B Robinson Cano, 1B Shelley Duncan, LF Jason Lane, C Jose Molines. Chien-Ming Wang twirling.

As a tribute to the Star’s Cathal Kelly, who has since returned to Toronto, and to go along with all the running around I’ve been doing today, here’s my Song of the Day: Scooby Snacks by Fun Loving Criminals.