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.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Halladay Traded to the Phillies - FINAL

Well it's happened. The good Doctor will be leaving Toronto. Halladay will be sent to Philly as part of a four team blockbuster. The other teams involved are Seattle and Oakland.

Coming to Toronto are highly touted prospects;

Kyle Drabek:

Drabek is the center-piece of the package for the Jays. He is known to have plus fasetball, and the makings of a good changeup. He is also known as a fierce competitor.

Travis d’Arnaud:

Travis is said to have a great makeup and good tools. He is seen by most pundits as a future starting major league catcher.

Brett Wallace:

Wallace is known to be a "special hitter" and a "student of the game." AA sees him playing first base for the Jays in the near future.

Thanks for everything, Roy. You were a treat to watch, and you truly are a great human being.

It would have been awesome to see you win as a Blue Jay, but I understand the current clubs situation and the fact that you want to win now. Perhaps if your still around in four years a return to Toronto could be in the cards?

However, thanks for all the great memories, and good luck in Philly!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Jays Sign Chavez to a Minor League Contract. Bring in John Buck too..


Well this is somewhat interesting. The Jays now have no catchers on the current Major League Roster. Something must be in the works. I have heard the names of Doumit and Mike Napoli.

I wouldn't mind seeing Napoli in a Jays uniform. That man has some serious power.

UPDATE: Unfortunately it turned out to be not that interesting afterall. Chavez was resigned to a minor league contract. The Jays have also signed former Royals catcher John Buck to a one year deal.
Oh well... another position of weakness for the Jays.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Looking Forward to 2010

What are people's thoughts about 2010?

Does anyone buy JP's and Beeston's promise of contending? We have to remember that the Yanks, Boston, and Tampa Bay will not be worse next season. Odds are that Boston will actually try to improve considering just how good the Yanks will be over the next few seasons. The Rays players are still young enough to keep them all on that team. So do we really have a chance to compete in 2010? Can we pass at least 2 of those 3 teams next season?

It looks like right now we have following team going into next season (either signed or ARB);
1B -- Overbay $7.95 million
2B -- Hill $4 million
SS -- ???
3B -- Edwin E $4 million
C -- ???
CF -- Wells $16.143 million
LF -- Lind
RF -- Snider
DH -- Ruiz

SP -- Halladay $15.75 million
SP -- Marcum
SP -- Romero
SP -- McGowan/Litsch/Richmond/Purcey/Cecil/Zep

RP -- Downs $4 million
RP -- League
RP -- Camp
RP -- Tallet
RP -- Janssen
RP -- Frasor
RP -- Roenicke/Wolfe/Accardo
** BJ Ryan $12 million

My figures are not 100% accurate because I am unclear on how much the Jays are paying Rolen next season, but it looks like we have approx. $64 million in locked up salary for next season. We will obviously need to sign our ARB available players as well. We also need to sign a shortstop and a catcher just to feild a full team. We have some options in the minors for both positions, but none of those players look anywhere ready to make the jump. We have some tradeable pitching assests in my opinion.Will we compete next season? I say no unless we upgrade C/3B, and sign a decent SS (perhaps Scutaro). A true number 2 starter would be nice too.I guess we won't know what the direction the club is taking until the offseason, but either way it's tough to compete in this divsion no matter how you look at it.

Scutaro is an interesting case. He will be 34 years old going into next season and only has one good year under his belt. He is in line for a HUGE raise. If the Jays are planning on contending next season then maybe your offer him a 2 or 3 year deal. I don't really like signing players into there late 30's, so I would perfer a 2 year deal.

I actually think the Jays have stuck gold with Randy Ruiz at the DH spot...

Next year will be something.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Alex Rios Gone - Direction?


Sorry for the lack of posts -- I have been on "vacation" the last week or so... and what a week it was in Jays land.

Obviously first and foremost the Jays dumped the chosen one by sending Alex Rios to the White Sox for a ball of bags (actually less then that!). Perhaps JP and the rest of the Jays upper management have been reading my blog. Is this an indicator that the Jays may actually be looking to rebuild properly? I am likely just dreaming, eh? This more realistically means that Jays ownership is trying to restructure payroll (aka - lowering it) moving forward.

I haven't given up all hope in Rogers Corp. quite yet. I mean they have increased payroll in the past, and have previously allowed JP to go out and buy players. I guess only time will tell.

For what it's worth Rios has gone 3 for 15 with an error since joining the White Sox. Personally I was never huge fan of Rios, so I will go on record and say I agree with this move. In my opinion his career .785OPS is not worth $60 million. Also rumour has it that some Jays players are starting to speak out and implying that Rios doesn't put in 100% effort day in and day out.

Secondly every-ones favorite cowboy Kevin Millar has decided to back to his old number 15. Rios was wearing that number...

Go Jays.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Time for a new direction... or a direction... or something that isn't annoying


Time to get negative.... or "confused" may be better word.

Although I didn't watch the entire game last night, I for some reason still decided to look at my blackberry every 10 minutes for game updates. Each time I looked I got more and more pissed off. I hate our lineup so much it is actually getting hard for me to justify why the Jays should peak my interest more then a outlet with nothing plugged into it.

Look I understand Cito has no ability to adapt (make change) and JP is desperately trying to look like he kinda knows what he is doing, but why in the hell is Kevin Millar receiving so many at-bats? Look, Millar's a good clubhouse and dugout guy, but let's get serious here, at this point in his career that's where he should be at ALL times. He has become a left hander masher who can't hit lefties anymore. Why Cito, didn't you pinch hit Overbay for him in the 8th inning? Why Cito, is he hitting 4th in the lineup? Why Cito, is he in the lineup in the first place??? Like what the F...

I just don't understand where this team is going anymore, and I think the Kevin Millar situation is a perfect microcosm of how this has no plan, no direction, and no hope in hell for improvement in the short to mid-term future. People tell me were going to complete in 2010, but how? Are Marcum and Litsch all off a sudden going to make us better then 2 of Tampa, New York, and Boston? Is Snider going to be the trump card agains the superstars our main rivals field? Come on...

Ok, I know this team was supposed to suck, but I was not expecting them to be the 3rd worst team in the majors since May 19th even though 3 guys in our starting lineup are having career years. Ok, I admit I didn't expect Wells and Rios to all of a sudden be mediocre at best baseball players, but wouldn't this ultimately give us a chance to figure out what the plan should be moving forward? Yet, instead, outside of a demanded trade, we decided to maintain the status quo at the trade deadline, and to piss fans off even more start to give the wrong players more playing time. Why doesn't Bautista play more then Millar? At least he makes contact sometimes, and has a killer arm? But no, let's go with what used to work 7 years ago(surrounded by superstars) just because he is a vet.

What the hell is going on here? What is the direction of this team? Are we going with the same group of guys who always finish 3rd and 4th in the division? Are we increasing payroll, or are we going to rebuild properly?

Something needs to happen and fast. 15 years is not a short time period.

The thing that really pisses me off is that I used to be able to answer questions about the Blue Jays, but know I have no f%^%&* clue whatsoever what is going on with this team.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Scott Rolen dealt to the Reds for Encarnacion and Two Prospects


Rolen will be missed. He was having a very solid season. However, Alonso included or not this is a good trade for the Jays. The Jays were not going to compete while Rolen was under contract with them, so it made sense to try to move him. The bonus is that we got a major leaguer and two solid prospects.

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090731&content_id=6169044&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor

"The Blue Jays dealt third baseman Scott Rolen to the Reds at Friday's non-waiver Trade Deadline, receiving third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, right-handed reliever Josh Roenicke and Minor League righty Zach Stewart in exchange for the veteran. Rolen waived his no-trade clause in order to approve the deal."

In other news - The Toronto Mammoth Burger has filed for bankruptcy

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Just over 24 hours left to go and all is quiet in Jays land - Status Quo Moving forward?

Well folks here we are - Just over 24 hours until the trade deadline.

The Jays are currently 4 games under .500 and have played a wicked awesome 17 games under .500 since their hot start. Maybe I am straying away from my own advice and not thinking rationally right now, but I am getting a little nervous that upper management might think that this is the team we should have moving forward.

In other words, is the Jays brass considering remaining status quo?

Can they really believe that staying with the same team that finished 4th last year, will finish 4th again this year, and likely 4th again next year is the right thing to do? I sure hope not.

We have so many moveable pieces right now, led by of course Roy Halladay. If done properly we can expedite a true rebuild if we move some (if not most) of the players we have on the current Major League team. I already listed the group that can be moved, but as we get closer to the deadline I am really starting to get worried.

I expected some moves by now. What is going on here?

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Time for a TRUE re-build


We will NOT compete with this core. We haven't even been a top 3 team in the East with this core going on two years now.
Upper management has resisted a true re-build for a good 15 seasons. We currently have some chips that could speed up the TRUE rebuilding process from 6 or 7 years to only 3 or 4.

The following players should all be shopped:

Halladay (he is the key player who will speed up the re-build), Rolen, Scutaro, Millar, Overbay, Wells (tough to trade obviously), Barajas, Downs, Camp, Frasor, Tallet, Bautista, Inglett, League, Richmond, and McDonald.

Of the players who have seen major league baseball this season on the Jays I would only hang onto Lind, Hill, Marcum, Rios (yes Rios), Snider, Litsch, Rze, Romero, and Cecil.

The time is now. There is a real chance to fix this team in just 3 or 4 years. But we need a TRUE re-build. A re-build that has a low team payroll and a team that isn't mediocre, but truly does suck. Enough with these 80-88 win 3rd and 4th place finishes!

**I just hate the JP is the man to do this.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Halladay trade deadline date set by Riccardi

I don't normally paste links to websites, but for this I will.

If you ask me, Halladay is not going to be traded this year.

“If you ask me today if we’re going to trade Roy Halladay, I’d say no,” Ricciardi, the Toronto Blue Jays’ general manager, said Tuesday morning. “Something could happen between now and the trade deadline, but this isn’t something that’s suddenly going to happen with someone on the 30th.

”While the non-waiver trading deadline is July 31, Ricciardi said that the Jays would most likely enforce an internal deadline of July 28 to make a deal. Since Ricciardi said the Jays “have to be knocked off our feet” to trade Halladay, he said trade talks with prospective suitors will need to have accelerated several days before the deadline. An 11th-hour deal sounds unlikely.

“There are too many pieces that have to be in play with this,” Ricciardi said.Ricciardi noted that Halladay is scheduled to start on July 29 and added that he did not want Halladay to have to make that start with the possibility of a trade still lingering over the pitcher. By then, Ricciardi hopes that the Jays have traded Halladay for a pile of prospects or have decided to keep him.

source : http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/plenty-of-suitors-for-halladay-but-deal-remains-elusive/

Monday, July 6, 2009

After 81 Games - Mid Season Thoughts


We were told by upper management that this was going top be a long season. We were told by upper management that we were going to suck. We were told by upper management to be patient.

Well here we are - halfway done the season and own a winning record, who would have thought that eh?

How have we been doing this? I am confused myself. Our can't miss rookie was sent to the minors in May. Our entire starting rotation has been on the DL or sent to the minors at one point this season. We have had two pitchers that we're drafted in 2007 make starts. Our elite closer hasn't been able to through a fastball over 88mph, and his replacement went down with a foot injury. Our two projected main offensive threats have been complete busts this season. Attendance is down about 6%, but SOMEHOW we have a winning record at the midway point. Baseball is a great game.

It is pretty simple to see that Scutaro, Lind, Hill, Rolen, Halladay, and Romero have carried this team on their collective backs. With special thanks to Frasor, Downs (before his injury), and Richmond.

The combo of Scutaro and Hill have been more then solid all season long. Hill has always been a potential guy, but has dropped that tag with his tremendous offensive first half. Scutaro, who has always been a part-time player has become one of the best shortstops in the entire majors. Nothing short of a major surprise there.

Rolen has adjusted his game to the point where you are shocked when he hits a homerun. However his .330ish batting average and near .900OPS more then balances out his diminished power. I am extremely happy with Scott this year (understatement).

Doc has been Doc.

Adam Lind in my opinion has been our best and most consistent hitter all season. He is the only hitter who hasn't gone through a prolonged slump, and is showing no signs of slowing down.

We have arguablely been a 5 or 6 player team all season long, but nonetheless have shutup the critics for the time being. Did we do it with smoke and mirrors? Perhaps, considering we have played 13 games under .500 since the hot start, but let's all be happy here. It was nothing but negative propaganda spewed out by our team management at the start off the season. The positives moving forward far out-weigh the negatives.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Rationalism Is An Interesting Concept


The Jays have now played 65 games this season, and have complied a 34-31 record. Sure it doesn't compute to the same success they were having just 3 weeks ago, but it still goes against what the majority of fans, bloggers, and professional writers expectations were for this team at the start of the season.

Heck even the GM and team President basically told us that the team was going to suck, so when you think about it, this current stretch of bad play should come as no surprise. Keeping in mind starting expectations, the state of the starting rotation, the downfall of our closer, the "failure" of our projected top hitting prospect, and god-awful hitting from our highest paid player we're not doing all that bad.

If Roy Halladay does miss some time due to injury our entire rotation from last year would be either hurt or off the team completely (Halladay, Burnett, Marcum, McGowan, Litsch). That is basically unheard of in professional baseball, which makes this 34-31 record even more remarkable.

We also have to keep in mind, as much as I hate to admit this, we play in a division where you MUST be an elite team and compile an elite record in order to properly compete. The Jays have a good thing happening here. We basically just by accident ran into depth in the starting rotation, and are starting to see the coming of age of players like Hill and Lind. Let's continue to move forward.

With that said, let's remain rational here. This team was not projected to compete this season, so this start should be seen as a welcomed surprised to everyone who follows this team.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Rios Goes Off On A Fan

The biggest problem with Rios' reaction is the fact that he said "Who gives a F$%^," basically implying that he only plays for his paycheck. I don't mind him yelling back at fan, but his choice of words is very alarming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt9hRCthV8E

Monday, May 25, 2009

Staying Focused

So we have hit our first real bump of the season, losing the last 6 in a row. Let's stay focused and continue to move forward. No one (including me) predicted that the Jays would be in second place, only .5 games out of first come May 25th. If someone had told me at the start of the season this is where we would be come this time I would have gladly accepted while walking away calling that individual a fool underneath my breath.

Considering we have had a make-shift starting pitching rotation (outside of Halladay) all season, we are in pretty good position moving forward. If Rios and Wells would actually do something we will continue to compete.

Romero is scheduled to make his first appearance back in the rotation, while the Internet legend of Casey Janssen returned throwing 6 solid innings the other week.

Things are still ok in Jays land. No need to panic quite yet.