Filed under: Blue Jays, AL East, MLB Gossip, Toronto, MLB Transactions

Yesterday Josh told you about Frank Thomas and his less than happy feelings after being told by Blue Jays manager John Gibbons that he’d be seeing a lot less playing time in the future. Frank said the move was definitely based more on his contract (Frank was scheduled to get a $10 million option if he reached 376 at bats this season), and that there was no way his career was going to “end like this.”

Well, Hurt’s playing career may not yet be over, but his career in Toronto is. The Blue Jays released him this morning.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi told ESPN’s Peter Gammons that the release of Thomas was “by mutual consent. He doesn’t want to be here if he’s not going to play much, and we don’t want him to be unhappy. He handled it with class, and I appreciate that.”

As far as Thomas’ initial benching, I gotta say, I agree with Frank on this one. We’re only a few weeks into the season, and 60 at bats is nowhere near large enough of a sample size to judge how a player is going to perform for an entire season. Especially when that player is only one of four players in the history of the sport to have a career average over .300, hit 500 homers, drive in 1,500 runs, draw over 1,500 walks, and score over 1,000 runs. Oh, and he led the team in home runs and RBI’s last season.

You would think that a general manager like J.P. Ricciardi, one who definitely uses numbers in his analysis of players, knows that. Which is why I agree that this was more of a money move than a baseball move. The fact they released him only confirms it in my opinion.

If I were Frank though, I wouldn’t worry about finding a new home. Anybody who was even rumored to be thinking about signing Barry Bonds will probably take a shot at Thomas since there’s no headache surrounding him. Frank’s probably going to be getting some calls from Tampa Bay, Seattle, and Kansas City amongst others.

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