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According to Jayson Stark on Twitter, the Blue Jays have serious interest in Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez.

On his Twitter account, Stark states that an executive who spoke with the club claims that Toronto "legitimately want this guy (Jimenez)."

http://www.thescore.com/home/articles/154535-jays-interested-in-ubaldo-jimenez

Yeah, take it for what it is worth.

I dont know too much about Jiminez other than his sparkling 2010 season records and the fact that he is still young..... but would he be the clear Ace of this rotation?

Thats what the Jays need know. A stud on the top of that rotation.... someone to take some pressure off of Romero and the rest of the guys

Marcum would have been good, but Romero is at the same level Marcum was at with the Jays anyway.... we need a true ace to anchor the thing

with last years numbers, Jimenez is would be the best pitcher since Halladay left

I think part of the issue is that his velocity has been down this season, from 96-97 to 93-94 and it's rendered him more hittable. I guess that's a cause for concern but if that issue is temporary and he can recover his form of the past two seasons, he's clearly the ace in my mind.

Great target, don't think it'll get done though.

number15 wrote:I dont know too much about Jiminez other than his sparkling 2010 season records and the fact that he is still young..... but would he be the clear Ace of this rotation?

He might be a bit better, but to me, he's not on a significantly higher level than Romero or even Morrow. It will also be an especially difficult transition from the NL West to the AL East. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't trade for him, though. The Jays really could use another good, dependable starter that goes 200+ IP a season and Ubaldo would certainly be that (if not better).

The one red flag is that significant drop in velocity.

Ubaldo's career #'s: 8.16 K/9, 3.89 BB/9, 50.5 GB%, 3.57 FIP, 3.81 xFIP, 3.93 SIERA
Ubaldo's 2011: 8.56 K/9, 3.47 BB/9, 46.8 GB%, 3.48 FIP, 3.49 xFIP, 3.48 SIERA

Romero's career #'s: 7.47 K/9, 3.67 BB/9, 54.2 GB%, 3.91 FIP, 3.77 xFIP, 3.89 SIERA
Romero's 2011: 7.82 K/9, 3.48 BB/9, 52.9 GB%, 3.79 FIP, 3.62 xFIP, 3.60 SIERA

Ubaldo's numbers all come against weak competition, of course, but it doesn't look like the drop in velocity has really hurt his performance at all. Romero comes out as equal or slightly better in this comparison, though.

he's a better trade target than that Rasmus guy, even if he costs an extra prospect. He's been pitching just fine since he got his control back in June and his stuff is pretty nasty across the board.

I say get him. You need pitching 1st and offense 2nd to compete in this league today, and we already have offense (ok maybe a few holes). To get Jimenez it will require good prospects (which we have plenty of), but not necessarily the ones that are a part of our future. We can trade people like Cooper and Carlos Perez who are good but might not make it to the majors (at least not soon) in our system due to depth at their positions. I'm no expert at trades but maybe a package like (and don't lynch me for this I said I'm not an expert) Cooper, C Perez, Mills, and probably one of our top 5 pitching prospects. This would give us a young star pitcher who even in an off year is as good as Romero. Colorado would be getting back a boatload of good prospects which make the deal seem pretty fair. This also doesnt hurt us that much because 3 of the 4 don't really figure to be in our future plans and we already have a stacked farm system (which is about to get even more stacked if AA can sign most of the draftees). The way I see it, AA spent his first couple of years here stacking our farm system, and will spend the next couple stacking our major league team, so a deal like the above makes sense.

Randle McMurphy wrote:Ubaldo's career #'s: 8.16 K/9, 3.89 BB/9, 50.5 GB%, 3.57 FIP, 3.81 xFIP, 3.93 SIERA
Ubaldo's 2011: 8.56 K/9, 3.47 BB/9, 46.8 GB%, 3.48 FIP, 3.49 xFIP, 3.48 SIERA

Romero's career #'s: 7.47 K/9, 3.67 BB/9, 54.2 GB%, 3.91 FIP, 3.77 xFIP, 3.89 SIERA
Romero's 2011: 7.82 K/9, 3.48 BB/9, 52.9 GB%, 3.79 FIP, 3.62 xFIP, 3.60 SIERA

Ubaldo's numbers all come against weak competition, of course, but it doesn't look like the drop in velocity has really hurt his performance at all. Romero comes out as equal or slightly better in this comparison, though.

The "weaker" competition also involves him consistently playing in big time hitter's parks in Arizona and Coors Field.

I think this is the perfect kind of target for AA. But he will cost a fortune because his contract is super cheap.

Based on the asking price with the Reds, I'd be surprsised if AA gives into the Rockies demands