Notes: Weber grateful for opportunity
03/04/2006DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Every trip to the mound for Ben Weber is now a second chance.
The 36-year-old reliever signed a Minor League contract with the Blue Jays to try and show that he's still worthy of a job in the Majors, that his last two seasons were the result of poor advice from countless doctors, and that, despite a crowded Toronto bullpen, he still can compete for a roster spot.
"My mind-set is always, 'I'm going to win a job in Spring Training,'" Weber said recently. "Even if there's 10 guys in front of me, that's my mind-set. [I feel] that if I throw the ball like I know I'm capable of throwing, I'm just as good as anybody in this clubhouse. That's the way I see it."
Toronto doesn't have much room for Weber, though. The organization that originally drafted the right-hander in 1991, and later relased him in 1996, has seven relievers seemingly locked into Major League roles, barring injury.
An injury might be the only way that Weber gets his second chance. And the Blue Jays just want to give Weber an opportunity to get over his past injuries.
"We're not looking for him to come in here and win a spot," Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. "We just want to give him the chance to get healthy."
Over the past two years, Weber experienced numbness in his right arm, was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and suffered a ruptured disc in his neck. He was told repeatedly by team doctors that rehabilitation was the best option for his arm issues.
While he rehabbed during 2004 with the Angels and in '05 with the Reds, Weber posted a combined 0-2 record with a 8.05 ERA in 28 appearances.
In November, a doctor in Weber's hometown told him he needed to have surgery on the ruptured disc, and that he should have had the operation two years ago.
"It took two years [to get that advice] -- those two years," Weber said, shaking his head.
Now that Weber has had the surgery, he's trying to get back to the form he displayed with the Angels from 2002-03, when he was a combined 12-3 with a 2.61 ERA.
If Weber doesn't break camp with the Blue Jays, he has a clause in his contract that will gives him the option of talking to other clubs later in the year. Weber said the clause doesn't take effect at the end of Spring Training, but some time during the year. Ricciardi said he didn't know the date offhand, but he believed it could be June 1.
The next step of his career is not something that Weber is worrying about right now, though. Toronto gave him the chance to put on a Blue Jays uniform, and he's determined to show the team how grateful he is.
"The whole thing for me is, Toronto has given me an opportunity to get back to where I was," Weber said. "It's a chance to hopefully regain my old form."
Priorities: The Blue Jays have added a slugger in Troy Glaus. They brought in a Gold Glove Award winner in Bengie Molina and an All-Star closer in B.J. Ryan. Toronto got a solid No. 2 pitcher in A.J. Burnett and a gap hitter for the middle of the order in Lyle Overbay.
Now that all that is done, Ricciardi said recently that signing staff ace Roy Halladay to a contract extention is the next priority.
"It's something we'll try to visit as we get going here," Ricciardi said. "Doc knows we have a great concern in keeping him here, and I think he wants to stay. It's definitely the most important thing for us going forward -- putting our attention towards him.
"To me, he stands for the Toronto Blue Jays."
Halladay signed a four-year, $42 million contract in January 2004. He made $10.5 million in his injury-shortened season last year and is scheduled to make $12.7 million this year and $12.8 million in 2007.
Rough debut: Left-hander Ricky Romero, who was the sixth overall selection in last year's First-Year Player Draft, struggled in his first Spring Training appearance for Toronto.
Romero gave up back-to-back home runs to Philadelphia's Shane Victorino and Chris Roberson on Saturday. Romero nearly yielded three straight homers when Marc Tugwell followed Roberson's shot with a double off the center-field wall.
When the damage was done, Romero had given up four runs, two earned, on four hits in one inning to pick up a blown save and the loss.
On the mend: Reed Johnson was in the outfield shagging fly balls during practice on Saturday, but he was still throwing the baseballs back to the infield in an underhand motion. Johnson continues to deal with the soreness in his right elbow, and he is slowly working his way back into the daily baseball drills. While Johnson isn't throwing yet, he did pick up a bat and hit in the cage -- something he couldn't do without feeling pain last week.
Quotable: "The way I look at it is, if I'm the way I used to be, then I'm a pretty good pitcher and somebody will find a spot for me somewhere. If I can help Toronto out, that'd be great, because this is a great bunch of guys here." -- Weber
Source: http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/
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