Jays wanted Ibanez

Interesting stuff from the Seattle Times on the Blue Jays' late push for Raul Ibanez. Geoff Baker writes in his Mariners Blog:

Why would Toronto do an Ibanez deal? I'd wondered that earlier. Until my buddies back east reminded me of a cardinal rule of covering the Jays that I'd forgotten about during my two years here. That optics mean as much back there as reality at times.

To realists, like most of you, and me, a snowball has a greater chance of lasting the afternoon in this Texas heat as the Jays do of making the playoffs. But in Toronto, the Jays could acquire Ibanez, then tell their fans they still have a chance and that they're going for it.

Everything I read about Toronto sound slike smoke and mirrors these days. They're probably lucky they didn't make the deal as Ibanez is getting up there in age, and Toronto has slugging prospect Adam Lind to fill the position.