I'm back after a week long journey to the other side of the country. If you're looking for a vacation spot in California then my vote is Santa Barbara. The place is absolutely beautiful.

On to more important stuff. Some news and notes on what I missed:

• Today's game against the Tampa Bay D-Rays has been canceled due to hurricane Jeanne. It's really been a tough past couple of months for those living in the way of all of these hurricanes. To all of you who may be affected, please be safe.
• Aquilino Lopez has been outrighted to the minors after he was removed from the 40-man roster. We've probably seen the last of this guy in a Jays uniform.
• Justin Miller has been removed from the starting rotation and placed in the bullpen. Gustavo Chacin has taken his place. Unlike the move with Batista I don't mind this so much. Miller has not really been all that great and I like the idea of getting a look at Chacin. Though, I wasn't a huge fan of him, Chacin's first impression on me was very good. Before I took off for the week I watched his entire start against the Yankees and he looked very good. It was only one start so I'm not going to get too excited but it was nice to see. Miller on the other hand, is probably done as a starter for the Jays. We have too many young cheap guys coming up to look at to keep him in the rotation. He could work out in the bullpen so I'll watch to see the way this works out. If JP thinks he'll be effective in this roll I think he'll be brought back. If not, he'll probably be gone at the end of the season.
• The official site of the Jays mentioned the team could be in the market to lock Orlando Hudson up to a long term contract over the winter. I wouldn't mind seeing this happen as Hudson has been pretty good for us this year. He defense has been outstanding and I think he's on the verge of making a big leap with the bat. It's always a good sign when a young players power and patience get better throughout the course of a year and that is exactly what is happening with Hudson. His SLG has increased from .395 in 2003 to .438 this year. Thanks in large part to a nice increase in doubles and a couple extra HR's. His BB/PA has moved from .75 to .89 and his BB/SO has gotten slightly better going from .45 to .50. He has not made any huge leaps but I think all of these factors point towards a better season in 2005. Next year is also his age 27 season which typically can be a breakout year for a player. A nice 3-4 year deal would be great to see for the kid. I don't think I like him in the #2 spot in the lineup but I think he could do some damage somewhere around the 6 or 7 spot.
• Great to see (or I guess see the highlights) Doc Holliday out on the mound again. He went 4 innings the other day giving up 4 hits, 3 runs and striking out 2. Not great, but I'm not really worried about him. As long as the shoulder is healthy he'll be fine next year.