roger wilson

Roger Wilson, a long time, active member in CommunityAIR, passed away this morning.

Roger was connected everywhere in the city. A senior partner, until his retirement, with Fasken Martineau, a corporate lawyer who sat on many boards and handled multi-million dollar clients, a member of the RCYC and a resident of Toronto Island.

A fierce supporter of CommunityAIR, Roger had his greatest impact in the fight against the bridge. It was through his efforts that the yacht clubs were mobilized and that was key in stopping the bridge. He continued his involvement in CommunityAIR right up until the end.

When evaluating what the Pirates acquired today, I think we've first got to establish what they gave up. Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson, and Ian Snell are all players that have their own value. Sanchez is a .300 hitter with a decent gove, Wilson has a great glove, and Snell still has stuff that could make him a solid major league starter.

The thing to remember is that Wilson is a pending free agent with an expensive option that the Pirates weren't going to pick up, that Sanchez has had injury trouble the last two years that's interfered with his production and an expensive vesting option the Pirates didn't seem thrilled to pay, and the team's relationship with Snell had completely soured to the point that he couldn't return to the Pirates.

I've got a pretty long post, plus a long list of links below, so check it all out after the jump.

To summarize, the Pirates had three players that absolutely no one in the world thought would end the week in a Pirate uniform. Given that they were starting with a tipped hand and that Sanchez's option seemed to be driving interest in him way down, the Pirates could've traded all three guys for the proverbial bag of balls today and the general response would've been that we all should've known better than to expect more for these three guys.

Instead, the day ends with the Pirates bringing one top prospect (Tim Alderson), a former top prospect (Jeff Clement), and three interesting young pitchers (Brett Lorin, Nathan Adcock, and Aaron Pribanic). And Ronny Cedeno, who at least plugs the immediate hole created at shortstop for the short-term.

In fact just last night he was at a CommunityAIR meeting, discussing with his usual determination and good spirits, ways to close the Island Airport and bring an end to the Toronto Port Authority. He was in fine fiddle, filled with confidence and life, a big man in every way, strong and vital.

Roger cared about his city and his community. Above all he worked to try and achieve the clean, green Waterfront that we have been promised.