Jays go with Clayton up the middle
Just as I was typing out this statement in my previous post, "[Counsell] could have provided excellent mentorship for the Jays' young infielders", a press release was being written on the other side of the continent to inform the baseball world that veteran shortstop Royce Clayton was signed by the Blue Jays today. A hat tip in my direction from J.P., I'd say! 
Clayton didn't get much love from Nationals fans last year (or Cinci fans for that matter), but I thought he did a pretty good job filling in for Christian Guzman. He's a quality defensive player who had some good success at the plate last season. Like Counsell, Clayton's veteran presence in the clubhouse should prove to be a stabilizing influence on Aaron Hill and Russ Adams. Landing Julio Lugo might have been nice, but I'd prefer to see that money spent on a proven arm, perhaps Gil Meche or Barry Zito.
Your more optomistic than us over in Jay land. We don't mind Clayton, but according to his stats it looked like he had a huge decline in defensive productivity. But $1.5 mill saves some money for some other spots. Is his bat as bad as they say?
I know Clayton's recent stats don't look great, and I would certainly agree that he's not the ideal fit at SS for the Jays, nor is he the SS of the future. However, I do think that we look better at the position for this upcoming season with Clayton on board than without.
Put it this way: Clayton wouldn't still be in baseball if he truly stunk. He's an average defender, with some speed around the base paths. Is his bat as bad as they say? His batting average is, well pretty average, and his OBP is not very good. But let's step outside the numbers for a minute… I listened to alot of Nationals games last season and Clayton came through with clutch hits a good many times. Some would argue that this indicates more about the lackluster Nationals than it does about Clayton, but I'd prefer to see Clayton swinging the bat than Russ Adams.
What about John MacDonald? Great question, especially since MacDonald and Clayton appear to be players with similar abilities. Clayton has had fairly good success against LHP, so I expect that we'll see him platooning with MacDonald and Adams. As J.P. said, it will be a three-headed monster up the middle! (Clayton still has to prove himself–a situation he's quite familiar with–as J.P. has stated that he is not a shoe-in for the starting SS.)
Sure, Lugo would have looked great on the field with the Jays, but starting pitching is the biggest need. If the team can save some money for pitching by signing the affordable and durable Mr. Clayton, plus get dependable offense vs. LHP and a mentor who can help Adams emerge as a true major leaguer, then we'll all look back on this trade positively.
Thanks for your comment!