Thursday, February 2, 2012

Offseason Thoughts and Rumblings

So, it's been quite sometime since I last posted about the Jays. A lot has gone on in my life the past year and it's been difficult to keep this blog up to date. However, as things are starting to become normal in my life - I am going to do my best to nag a little more often about the Jays.

We are less than month away until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training and although the Jays haven't made a big splash this offseason, it was definitley one of the more interestings offseasons we've had in quite sometime.

The media made decision at the start of the offseason that the Jays had millions and millions to spend, and were going to be a big player in the Free Agent market. The media had the Jays linked to nearly everyone including; Prince Fieder, Yu Darvish and Carlos Beltran just to name a few. However, none of that came to fact, and the Jays decided (or were unable) to not to sign a big name, big money free agent. Instead the Jays kept it in house as far as the lineup and starting rotation is concerned, including bringing back Kelly Johnson to play second base.

One area that was addressed was the bullpen. Jays upper management decided that last years pen was in fact a gongshow and brought in; Jason Frasor (yes the same one as before), the ageless wonder Darren Oliver, new closer Sergio Santos, and newly acquired set-up man Francisco Cordero. All of whom should make the later innings of games just a little less interesting for Jays fans.

Of interest it should be noted that Jays fans were a little more vocal this season with the lack of signing a big name free agent. To me this means the passion is still here in Toronto. We want a reason to go the games, we want a team that will finish higher than 4th. Hopefully with the core we have built the day will come sooner rather than later where we can attract those players that will put us over the top.

I for one am excited for the new season. I don't expect them to finish higher than 4th in the tough AL East, but even-so, I will continue to support them............ for now.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Brett Lawrie up; Travis Snider down


Every internet Jays fan fantasy came true last night as the next Canadian legend Brett Lawrie made his Toronto Blue Jays debut vs. the O's in Baltimore. Further to that Jays fans caught many shots of his sister; which has seemed to create quite the stir on a number of forums around the world....
Lawrie had a very good game at the dish going 2 for 4 with an RBI, but looked awful in the field; booting two plays that the average softball player makes on a regular basis. All in all it was pretty cool seeing what could be a big part of our future finally hitting the field. Let's also keep in mind that this makes our superstar Jose Bautista a little more happy because he gets to go back to rightfield; and it might even make Edwin happy because there now might be a worse defender on the team than him.
This brings us to what was once our great next hope; Travis Snider.
Snider was once again sent to the minors. It could be the wrong or right decision to do this. That's up to you to decide. For me as long as he has options left it's not a big a deal.
Frankly; he's been pretty awful all season long in both the majors and the minors. His swing looks terrible, he isn't generating any power, he doesn't take walks, he has average speed and has played average D. Not really the right mix for the next best thing as he was once touted as. Hopefully this guy can figure it out somehow - he has players like Thames to compete with now. If he is going to remain a Jay he has to improve fast.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Blue Jays Hire Manager, discuss payoll, and the catching situation for 2011

For those like myself who can really give two stinkers about the Texas Rangers vs. San Fran Giants world series matchup; I have some nice news regarding our beloved Toronto Blue Jays.

After a very surprising season the Toronto Blue Jays have moved into fulll off-season mode.

Firstly, the managerial position has been filled. The Jays snagged Red Sox pitching coach John Ferrel, and made him manager. This move has recieved nothing but glaring and positive remarks from important baseball folks. ESPN said that this move makes the Jays a much better team, while former Boston Red Sox right-hander Curt Shilling mentioned that this was a great pick-up for Toronto.

In other coaching moves; it seems that 3B coach Butterfield and Pitching Coach Walton, will be in fact remaining with the team. All in all, I give Jays GM Alex A. a big fat A+ for the way he handled this situation.

Secondly, in a recent article that was published in the Toronto Star it was noted that Jays ownership is prepared to increase payroll this season. Now, before we get all hot and heavy over this, we need to understand that increase will likely come from current roster players. A few of them are arby ready, and will get a slight pay increase. However, who knows, perhaps one (Manny) or two slightly bigger contracts will be purchased by the Jays this offseason. Only time will tell.

Furthermore, the Jays picked up the option of backup catcher Jose Molina. This is interesting because it tells me that John Buck will likely not be back (although Alex. A has indicated they will continue to talk). It's to bad that Cito mishandled rockstar JPA in the fashion he did. JPA could have used the playing time down the stretch.

Finally, this is just the start of what could be a very interesting offseason. Many fans, like myself are keen to find out what direction will take place regarding Jose Bautista.

Stay tuned...

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Jays Lose Season Opener in a Heart-Breaker

Well it was nice to see the boys of summer back on the field. Unfortunately for us sober Jays fans the end didn't suit what was a rather exciting game.

In my opinion the 2010 Jays season is mainly about the stories. Marcum, Wells!!, and Lind all have began to write a ncie story, while Frasor and Gaston have not.

Frasor didn't pitch well, everyone noticed that. However, I feel that Gaston made a mistake by not pinch-hitting for Overbay when the Rangers brought in a lefty to face him with the bases loaded and less then 2 outs. IMO Ruiz made this team so he could pinch hit for Overbay (and sometimes Snider) when a lefty is brought in. Gaston decided to leave Lyle out there (keep in mind I am fan of Overbay because he is a very good on-base guy, and has more then a solid glove at first) and he promptly struck out on 3 pitches. Basically Washington out-managed Gaston in that situation.

All in all it was very exciting game. Marcum was excellent and I truly do feel that the lineup can put up some runs.

With that said Tallet goes tomorrow, so the offence should be put on notice!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

2010 Direction?


Well here we are folks, moving into what could be a very interesting 2010 season for the Jays. Clearly, the team is at a crossroads, no one will deny that. But what direction will the team take moving forward?

The Jays finished up a decent Spring session with a nice win over the Houston Astros, however the best news of the Spring came when the Jays organization announced the long-term signing of young slugger Adam Lind. Adam is now locked up (with various team options) for the next six seasons. I am not only happy for the Jays team, but also for Adam himself. Furthermore, and maybe even more exciting for me is that the team showed support for Adam. Wells, Hill, Overbay, and a couple other players all attended the announcement. This tells me that the team, might play like a team this season.

If I had to guess the opening day lineup, it would look like this;

Bautista
Hill
Lind
Wells
Overbay
EE
Snider
Buck
Gonzalez

SP -- Marcum

It's not a terrible lineup by anymeans. However an overall young pitching staff usually means a long year, but only time will tell.

One move coming out of the Spring I am not happy with is the fact that Billy Tallet was basically hand picked to be the number 2 starting pitcher for this team. A spot he did not earn in the Spring. Tallet helps this team much more as a relief guy, not as a starter. The argument to have him there include that he is a "proven starter" (he's actually not), and that he eats innings (he averaged just over 5 innings per start last season, so he actually doesn't). IMO Cecil should be there, but I guess time will tell.

The rest of the starting rotation looks like this;

Marcum
Tallet
Romero
Morrow
Eveland

All in all, I am very excited for the season to start. I still plan to attend 25-30 homegames this season. Hopefully you will too!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Are You Ready?


Hey guys - Sorry for the lack of posts. I will be back in full blogging mode starting next week!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Brandon League and a Prospect sent to the Mariners for Brandon Morrow


According to a number of sources the Jays will be sending the enigmatic Brandon League and a prospect (details to come) to the Seattle Mariners for fireballer Brandon Morrow.

So far this looks like a good trade for the Jays (depending on who the prospect is). League wasn't amounting to much in Toronto, and will probably not mount to much in Seattle. Morrow on the other hand is a year younger, has tons of upside, and is controllable for longer.

My sources tell me that the Jays may consider moving Morrow back into a starters role.

** It's nice to have a GM that other GM's will actually work with.