Life as a Steadfast Reliever for Jason Frasor

Image courtesy of Daylife via AP

First of all, congratulations are in order for Jason Frasor on surpassing Duane Ward as the new Blue Jays leader for appearances.

It’s an accomplishment that’s certainly worthy of our attention, yet when we look back on the Jason Frasor era, it doesn’t quite seem to have the same allure as the Duane Ward era.

For Jason Frasor to remain as a Blue Jay for eight straight seasons is nothing short of a miracle, as he basically flew by the seat of his pants on eight consecutive one-year contracts. It was only until this season where Frasor has some semblance of stability knowing the Blue Jays have an option on him for 2012.

Even then, there are no guarantees Jason Frasor will remain as a Blue Jay with the trade deadline quickly approaching. And once again, it seems like Alex Anthopoulos will be fielding calls for their longest tenured arm in the bullpen.

Throughout the years, for one reason or another Jason Frasor has turned into one of my favourite Blue Jay players. Maybe it’s because he’s proven that men who aren’t the most physically imposing characters can in fact have a successful major league career.

I just always got this underdog vibe about Frasor, which made him a very likable player in my eyes. Some might go for the guy with the goggles, the neck tattoos, I prefer to root for the little guy … literally.

Loyalty is something that is very rare in this day in age of baseball, so it’s nice to see somebody like Jason Frasor show loyalty to the Toronto Blue Jays. I’m not saying the team owes it to Frasor to pick up his option either, I just think they should bring him back because he’s an overall very good reliever.

Maybe it’s not so much loyalty from Jason Frasor as it is the Blue Jays were willing to bring him back year after year. It still surprises me that Frasor has managed to fly under the radar for eight seasons, and yet no one else has signed him or acquired him at the trade deadline.

Unless they are signing multi-year contracts, life as a reliever must be very uncertain, but Jason Frasor has managed to have a successful career and thus has enjoyed life as a steadfast relief pitcher.

The Blue Jays bullpen has seen its ups and downs since 2004, but the one constant in the whirlwind of change has been Jason Frasor. Not the biggest guy in stature, not even the biggest guy when it comes to character either, but big enough to make a name for himself.