DUNEDIN, Fla. — Fans have asked dozens of times since Roy Halladay left: “Is there any reason to root for this team?”
Your Toronto Blue Jays likely will be last in the American League East. They may or may not lose 100 games.
My answer has always been the same: Aaron Hill is exciting to watch, Ricky Romero can be dominating at times, Adam Lind will go upper deck at the Rogers Centre, Vernon Wells will make leaping grabs against the wall and the game itself is good to watch.
Ah, we have an addendum.
You can and should root for Mike McCoy.
Mike who?
McCoy will be the 25th man on the Jays roster. He was drafted in the 34th round in 2002, played eight seasons in the minors, was hitless in five at-bats with the Colorado Rockies last year and is at his first major-league camp.
A year ago he was getting $12-a-day meal money at the Rockies minor-league camp in Tuscon, Ariz. Before Sunday’s rain-out, Jays travelling secretary Mike Shaw gave McCoy $775 cash (for five days). Big-league meal money is $81.50 per day while “Murphy money,” which includes laundry and live-out money, brings the total to $155 a day.
“He moved up the ladder,” manager Cito Gaston said after releasing outfielder Joey Gathright. “He began moving up the first game we played when we put him at short.”
McCoy, who turns 29 on Friday, has played second, short, left and centre this spring. He’s battling outfielder Jeremy Reed for the final bench spot.
McCoy earned $8,000 a month for the five-month minor-league season ($40,000) in 2009. If he sticks with the Jays for the entire season, he will earn $405,000. What will he do with the extra revenue?
“Well, it won’t be anything crazy,” McCoy said. “We’ve never been able to buy a house.”
He and his wife, Stephanie, have 2-year-old twins, Gavin and Ryder.
McCoy is 5-foot-9 (if you like him, as scouts say). Gaston loves his versatility and ability to steal bases. He’s from San Diego.
“From looking at him the first day, I could tell he was a San Diego dude. He says he’s not a surfer,” Hill said. “In the outfield his arm is as strong as Jose Bautista’s.”
Jays scout Kimball Crossley suggested the Jays claim McCoy on waivers after he knocked in 52 runs and was 40-for-46 stealing bases with a .307 batting average at
triple-A Colorado Springs.
“What impresses me most about big-league camp? The work ethic of Hill, how much John McDonald has helped with my footwork. He’s an extension of the coaching staff and meal money,” McCoy says while standing at his locker.
Three lockers to his left is third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, who will earn $4.75 million this season, and to McCoy’s right is Bautista who will make $2.4 million.
Eight seasons in the minors means low points. McCoy, who played second for the San Diego University Toreros in 2002 alongside Ben Quinto of Richmond, B.C., has two.
In 2005, McCoy was off to a good start at class-A Palm Beach in the St. Louis Cardinals system and was promoted to double-A Spingfield. Two weeks later, he was back at Palm Beach riding the bench.
“A catcher got hurt so the only thing I was doing was catching bullpens,” McCoy said. “I’m thinking where is my career going?”
In 2008, he was a back-up at triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore had three prospects ahead of him. He was demoted to
class-A Frederick.
“I walk in, I’m 27, those kids were 22, 23,” McCoy remembers. “Stephanie and the kids made the drive with me. My wife is so supportive.”
One day later he headed to Norfolk and was dealt to the Rockies.
His father Gary runs a novelty store on Ocean Beach in San Diego. Could a No. 18 Jays jerseys with “McCoy” on the back be in the inventory?
bob.elliott@sunmedia.ca
