Blue Jays 2006 Rewind: The Moods of Spring

[Mac]

With his eighth big league camp over a week away, Vernon Wells already felt a spark for the upcoming season.

Wells and a dozen other Blue Jays showed up in Dunedin well before their scheduled check-ins to get a head start on their preseason work at the Bobby Mattick Training Center. Wells’ early arrival was partly to get ready for the inaugural World Baseball Classic, but Toronto’s starting center fielder was also feeling enthused about this season’s team. An aggressive offseason (see 2006 Rewind Part 1 and Part 2) had improved Toronto’s roster and put the Jays in the conversation to win the American League East.

For all of the acquisitions made over the winter, the Blue Jays would need the best version of Wells in order to stay in contention. The year before, Wells was expected to shoulder more of the load offensively following the loss of Carlos Delgado, but he came out of the gates flat. Manager John Gibbons dropped Wells from third in the lineup just two weeks into April, a month in which he hit under the Mendoza line. Wells picked up the pace as the season rolled into summer but struggled again after the All-Star break, collecting only 15 extra-base hits over the season’s final two months. As he put 2005 behind him, Wells was energized by the moves his front office made. “We’re being talked about from coast to coast, said Wells. “It’s fun to talk about possibly winning this year.”

Wells would be in Team USA manager Buck Martinez’s lineup on March 8 when they were upset 8-6 by Canada in what is remembered as the Adam Stern game. (photo credit: Baseball Canada)

Not arriving in Dunedin in as good of a mood was Gregg Zaun, and it was hard to fault the Blue Jays’ catcher. In 2004, Zaun was exiled by the exiled when he was an early spring cut of the Montreal Expos. Toronto had been looking for catching depth, and then-manager Carlos Tosca remembered Zaun from their days in Florida when Tosca was heading the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate. The Blue Jays signed Zaun in April, and when Greg Myers severely sprained his ankle on newly-installed turf at the Metrodome a few weeks later, Zaun was given an opportunity with his eighth organization. It was one he made last:

Data from Baseball-Reference.com. View original table, generated 2/4/2026.

Season	Age	Team	Lg	WAR	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2004	33	TOR	AL	2.3	107	392	338	46	91	24	0	6	36	47	61	.269	.367	.393	.761	96
2005	34	TOR	AL	3.6	133	512	434	61	109	18	1	11	61	73	70	.251	.355	.373	.729	94

For the first time in his career, Zaun headed into the offseason preparing, expecting, to catch every day. Weeks before he was set to depart for Dunedin, Zaun received a call from Gibbons: the Blue Jays were signing Bengie Molina. Zaun was not happy, though he had a sympathetic ear from his manager. “I told him if he needs to vent, he can call me anytime,” said Gibbons. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll get him his playing time. He waited so long for that job, and he did a great job. We owe him the at-bats.”

For general manager J.P. Ricciardi, the addition of Molina simply made the team better, potential disharmony aside. Early in the offseason, the Blue Jays made Molina an offer of $4 million for one season, but entering free agency for the first time and coming off his best year at the plate, the two-time Gold Glove-winning backstop was seeking a big payday. It would not come. Toronto’s offer to Molina stood through the winter, and by February, it was basically all that remained of his market. About two months after Baltimore gave Ramón Hernández $27.5 million over four years, Molina signed a one-year deal with Toronto for $4.5 million.

With another starting-calibre catcher in camp, Zaun joined Shea Hillenbrand as the less-than-chipper returnees who were relegated to lesser roles. Ricciardi spent a good chunk of his offseason trying to replace Hillenbrand, who, despite being an All-Star in ‘05, the team felt was too inconsistent throughout the year. Hillenbrand somewhat agreed, feeling that he had “fought [his] mechanics” all year, and he spent the winter tweaking his stance, turning his stride leg inward to combat stepping out. While the results weren’t showing up early on in Grapefruit League play, Hillenbrand felt he was taking quality at-bats and was encouraged by the changes.

Another player who revamped his approach at the urging of the Blue Jays was Zaun, who started spring hot at the dish. Zaun had six hits in his first 12 at-bats after he “slowed his feet down” over the winter, delaying his stride to temper swing aggressiveness. Ironically, Zaun said he felt confident enough to work through those changes, as he felt assured he would return as the number one catcher for the first time in his career. Molina or not, Zaun was determined to make it hard for Gibbons to keep him off the lineup card.

In the end, Molina chose the Jays over an offer from the Dodgers due to reported concerns about losing playing time to Los Angeles’s two young catchers, Dioner Navarro and Russell Martin. Molina’s contract with Toronto also had a mutual option for the 2007 season. (photo credit: Rick Madonik/Toronto Star)

Another player who arrived in Dunedin with an improved swing was Alex Rios. On the second day of camp, Rios launched several home runs in an intra-squad game, one clipping a yellow Hummer belonging to a Jays’ executive in the parking lot. Rios was working on mechanical changes after his power disappeared the season prior. Digging into the box with a widened stance and lower hand placement, everything looked great early, but no one ever really knew what Rios was feeling. 

2005 had been a frustrating year for all involved in the Alex Rios business. In July, he stopped running after a batted ball that was ruled fair, leading to a costly run in a loss against the Royals. It was the play that stood out most in a season of frustrating moments for his manager, Gibbons, who benched Rios for parts of September. “How can they just justify keeping him out there?” a teammate wondered aloud over the winter. “He doesn’t run balls out. He hasn’t been around long enough to start playing the game that way.”

No one was as experienced in dealing with Rios as Marty Pevey. The veteran Blue Jays minor league coach had managed Rios in Double A and had taken the outfielder out of games for not running balls out before. In the final month of the ‘05 season, Toronto made Pevey the big league first base coach, and while he watched Rios’ struggles along with the rest of the staff, Pevey saw the player differently than most. To Pevey, Rios was just as hard on himself, aware of the expectations he carried and how he wasn’t meeting them. “I was just surprised at how he was letting all of it affect him,” said Pevey.

Pevey joined the Blue Jays in 1999, hired by Tim Johnson as the bullpen coach before Johnson was, uh, let go. He lasted one year on Jim Fregosi’s staff before being reassigned to coach High A. “I did know when (Fregosi) walked in, we were all in trouble...and eventually we were in trouble.” (photo credit: Chicago Cubs)

Rios would soon be off to play for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, allowing his potential platoon partner in right to have a loud start to camp. Eric Hinske hit a meager .545 OPS against left-handed pitching in 2005 and lost any semblance of a role on the infield over the offseason. Toronto asked Hinske to learn the outfield in spring in hopes of platooning him with Rios in right, allowing the Blue Jays to hopefully salvage some production out of Hinske’s near-$5 million price tag. Hinske tagged six home runs in spring and played well enough in the field that Gibbons would start the regular season with a platoon in right field.

The player with the largest spotlight on him in Dunedin was Toronto’s big free agent signing, A.J. Burnett, who threw two scoreless innings in his spring debut against Team Canada. In his second start, Burnett attempted to add an overhead windup to his delivery and was taken for four runs in three innings before returning to form in his subsequent turn, striking out six Astros across four frames. It was his next outing that gave Blue Jays fans their first scare of the season. Burnett took himself out of the game with discomfort in his right elbow, the same one that required Tommy John surgery three years prior. 

The follow-up MRI allowed a big sigh of relief. The discomfort was just loose scar tissue from the prior surgery. There was no serious issue, and Burnett would be able to resume throwing in a few days. Still, with Opening Day on the horizon, the Blue Jays opted to start Burnett on the injured list. In his absence, Gibbons moved Scott Downs from the bullpen to the rotation, opening a roster spot for another lefty who put together quite the spring.

In January, Ricciardi acquired Brian Tallet from Cleveland for a right-hander named Bubbie Buzachero. Gibbons declared early on that there would be little competition in spring training, and Tallet was one of the six pitchers in camp who figured to be on the outside looking in. As spring rolled through, all Tallet did was get outs. The 6-foot-7 (with 4-inch sideburns) lefty allowed no runs over nine appearances, outperforming the last gasp veterans (James Baldwin and Ben Weber) and trio of young homegrown prospects (Dustin McGowan, Brandon League, and Shaun Marcum). When final cut-down day came, Tallet had a ticket for the flight north as the 12th and final member of the Blue Jays’ pitching staff.

Also making the Opening Day roster was Jason Phillips. After being let go by the Dodgers, Phillips called Gibbons, his former minor league manager in the Mets organization, and all but begged for a job. Gibbons went to Ricciardi, and the general manager signed Phillips as a favour to his manager. Phillips was expected to compete with Guillermo Quiroz for the backup job behind Zaun before the Molina signing, which left his chances of making the team near nil. However, Zaun would start the season on the injured list, and Phillips would win the roster spot over Quiroz. 

Signed as a 17-year-old out of Venezuela, Quiroz was once Toronto’s top catching prospect but looked out of place in 29 games over two seasons. He was claimed off waivers by Seattle after being designated for assignment. (photo credit: MLB)

After a pair of games against Triple-A Syracuse, the Blue Jays arrived home in Toronto ahead of a Tuesday night opener against the Minnesota Twins. Over 50,000 tickets were sold for the first game of Toronto’s 30th season, and after a somewhat low-key spring, everyone was finally about to see what the new look Blue Jays were made of.

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Was at that Home Opener in 2006.

Remember it was Roy Halladay vs. Johan Santana.