No news here: the Blue Jays are still in need of some arms to fill their 2007 starting rotation. Back in December, when J.P. was swinging and not dealing at the Winter Meetings, and Wells appeared to be Texas-bound for 2008, I added a Reader Poll that asked which arms the Jays should target. Not included in the list of options but added by a reader, was the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley. Trading Wells is now off the table–would LA still be interested in a trade for Billingsley?

After ripping it up in the minors, Billingsley had a great 2006 campaign, posting a 7-4 record with a 3.80 ERA over 18 games. He's got a low to mid-90s fastball, but needs a little more control. Perhaps he's not a totally proven pitcher yet, but this scouting report from last spring names him and Dustin McGowan as the sleepers of 2007. The Jays already have McGowan–it might be nice to enter ST with both these guns in the holster.

Have a better bet for J.P.? Add your vote to the poll! (3rd column, mid-way down the page) 

UPDATE, 01/16/07: Jays Offered Rios For Myers, Billingsley 

This post was added on Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 11:53 am and is filed under Trade Rumors . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.