Overbay calls out Sox, Yankees

[Halladay_is_God]

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASA...=.jsp&c_id=tor

TORONTO -- With Prince Fielder pushing him out of a job in Milwaukee and Toronto eager to add his bat, rumors swirled for weeks that Lyle Overbay was destined to become a Blue Jay.

So when the trade that sent him north of the border was completed at the Winter Meetings in Dallas this week, Overbay was delighted by the development.

"It's a great time to be a Toronto Blue Jay," Overbay said in a conference call with Toronto reporters on Friday.

"They're serious about things," he continued. "Guess what, New York and Boston? We're going to go out and get guys, get what we need."

The Yankees and Red Sox may have owned the American League East for a decade, but Overbay sees their time alone at the top drawing to a close.

"The Yankees and Red Sox kind of leveled off," he said. "They're not getting much better. They didn't go out and spend a lot of money like they maybe should have.

"I'm a big believer that we can contend with Boston and New York."

Overbay became available when the Brewers decided Fielder, the son of former Blue Jay slugger Cecil Fielder, was ready to take over at first base.

"I knew it was just a matter of time," Overbay said. "I'm glad to get it done now."

The 28-year-old first baseman, a native of Centralia, Wash., may remind Blue Jays fans of John Olerud, another lanky lefty from the West Coast.

"He's one of my idols," Overbay said. "I remember him winning batting titles in Toronto. I try to mimic his swing. Hopefully, I'm kind of close."

Overbay's usually sweet stroke abandoned him for parts of the 2005 season, when he hit .276 in 115 games, adding 19 homers and 72 RBIs.

"Last year, I was really inconsistent," he said. "I got out of the consistency of my swing. I was searching for it, doing different things every time up."

Overbay is hoping to stick with one approach in 2006, and he has set his sights on hitting .300 and driving in 100 runs for the first time.

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"If I'm scoring runs or driving in runs, that's all that matters," he said.

Overbay may not bring the big power bat the Jays lost when Carlos Delgado departed after the 2004 season via free agency, but he believes Toronto can win with contact hitters up and down the lineup. By way of example, he points to the Twins, who won three straight AL Central championships without a 30-homer bat.

Let Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett and B.J. Ryan handle the pitching, says Overbay. He'll be happy to slug doubles and play strong defense, a part of his game he honed watching veteran Mark Grace when the two were teammates in Arizona.

"I've always taken pride in being a good first baseman, but I know I've still got lots of work to do," he said.

Overbay, his wife and the couple's two boys still live on the West Coast. He's only visited Toronto once -- a three-game series with the Brewers last summer -- but he isn't worried about fitting into his new home. He got the lowdown on the city from catcher Gregg Zaun and outfielder Reed Johnson at a player's union meeting, and also knows skipper John Gibbons from a stint in the Arizona Fall League.

"I know I'm in good hands," he said.

I'm starting to like this guy

[nyjunc]

I'll cut him some slack as he still has no clue what playing in meaningful games is all about.