The Official Toronto Blue Jays Thread [Archive] - Page 2

wildboy26

4-07-06, 8:23 AM

One thing I notice so far is the the games Hinske has started he is brought out the minute a left hander comes to the plate. Boy I guess they are really serious about not letting him bat lefties. :laughing:

I hope Hill and Adams both have true breakout years this year. Well actually to be fair Hill had hone one last year, but hopefully he takes it to another level this year with the added experience.

Leafs_Fa_Life

4-07-06, 4:52 PM

One thing I notice so far is the the games Hinske has started he is brought out the minute a left hander comes to the plate. Boy I guess they are really serious about not letting him bat lefties. :laughing:

Plus, most lefty relievers come in late in the game, which is a perfect time to sub since you want Rios' defense out in the field for the last part of the game.

wildboy26

4-08-06, 3:13 PM

Plus, most lefty relievers come in late in the game, which is a perfect time to sub since you want Rios' defense out in the field for the last part of the game.

Yeah I am sure that is a factor as well, good point. That being said I am interested to see how Hinske plays defensively at his new position when the times to do so arises, I dont expect alot of spectacular "saves" from him like the really good defensive players at their positions, but I will be happy if he just avoids making alot of the "errors" he was making last year at first base.

Leafs_Fa_Life

4-15-06, 1:05 PM

A.J. Burnett makes his Blue Jay debut this afternoon in Chicago. Hopefully it's a good one for the flamethrowing righty.

Newfie John

4-15-06, 6:53 PM

Not a bad performance by Burnett. Did look a tad rusty as he had a few mistake pitches which he paid for with Konerko. Jays lost 4-2.

On a more positive note, Rios got another HR today. Can he notch 30 homers?

wildboy26

4-16-06, 5:32 PM

A.J. Burnett makes his Blue Jay debut this afternoon in Chicago. Hopefully it's a good one for the flamethrowing righty.

Even though we lost I thought he had a decent and pretty good outing. I still am anxious for him to win his first though, I really want to see him fulfill his potential(which in most peoples minds he hasnt done with his previous teams)and finish well above .500 this year.

wildboy26

4-16-06, 5:33 PM

On a more positive note, Rios got another HR today. Can he notch 30 homers?

It depends how much they play Hinske. If they play Rios almost all the time I think he can hit 30 HRs and 100 RBIs this year. :boogie:

Leafs_Fa_Life

4-17-06, 11:43 PM

Well Rios should be in the lineup tomorrow, since I think Randy Johnson is gonna start against the Jays. Hopefully we can sweep this 2 game set against the Yanks.

J.R.

4-19-06, 12:18 AM

Well Rios should be in the lineup tomorrow, since I think Randy Johnson is gonna start against the Jays. Hopefully we can sweep this 2 game set against the Yanks.
A great start to the quickie series for the BJs tonight.

They fell behind early 4-0, but responded vs. Johnson and walk away with a confidence swelling 10-5 win.

Good team effort.

charlio lemieux

4-19-06, 12:21 AM

These guys are building some cofidence for sure. Excellent!

The Insider

4-19-06, 12:56 AM

It was a very nice win tonight, coming back is something this team has done a lot of lately and if they can learn how to hold leads... be afraid :thumb:

Another encouraging sign is 48,000 + at the dome tonight, say what you will, the Yanks draw crowds. Hopefully the Jays fans will come back, I know I will as I have already attended my yearly game this season and intend to add a few more dates for this season.

Leafs_Fa_Life

4-22-06, 12:12 AM

Jays score 4 in the 8th to come back and tie the game off of Beckett, and then go on to win it 7-6 in the 12th. Bullpen stepped up big time tonight, and hopefully Burnett is alright after leaving the game in the 4th.

Roy is coming back tomorrow, so hopefully he can give us a big game with the bullpen getting used up tonight (except Walker). Then I'm going to see Sunday's game, so hopefully the Towers of last year shows up :)

wildboy26

4-22-06, 4:01 PM

My guess on Towers is that he will never have another .500 year. I do think the rest of the pitching staff is sufficient to make up for that though. If Burnett can stay healthy, that is a worry of course. Halladay will have a great year, Chacin will have an even better year than last time, and Lily will bounce back with a good year IMHO.

I am so happy to see how well Rios is playing. He has already eroded that platoon situation with Hinske atleast for now. Yeah I know Hinske is playing a bit, but it isnt a true platoon anymore, and I am happy about that. I know Rios probably will cool a bit, but I still think he can have a great year, a real breakthrough year. His swing looks alot better this year.

Leafs_Fa_Life

4-22-06, 4:35 PM

Towers will finish the year .500. The offense will pick him up in some games, and he isn't nearly as bad as he's been so far. Burnett was throwing hard when he was taken out after the 4th, so I don't think it's any ligiment damage. Probably the same scar tissue problem that kept him out of the lineup to begin the year.

wildboy26

4-22-06, 6:59 PM

Towers will finish the year .500.

We will see wont we. :D

I really hope you are right as well. If your #5 starter goes .500 that leaves you in good stead. Still I will be surprised if he does.

Newfie John

4-23-06, 9:49 PM

Burnett is scaring me. Towers has to get that pinpoint control back.

leaferfan87

4-29-06, 11:29 PM

Towers is starting to annoy me, like really annoy me. Are we to expect this same performance every time he steps on the mound? We sent down Jason Frasor, maybe it is time to do that with Mr. Towers.

wildboy26

5-07-06, 9:38 PM

Omigod, what a great game from Janssen. The awesome kid even had a no hitter going into the 6th inning. I so much wanted him to get it, but an awesome game in the teams 3-1 win nonetheless.

Newfie John

5-07-06, 9:43 PM

Janssen looked like a young Roy Halladay today.

KB in Kelowna

5-07-06, 11:27 PM

Janssen looked like a young Roy Halladay today.

don't start engraving the Cooperstown plaque just yet.

Newfie John

5-08-06, 7:25 AM

don't start engraving the Cooperstown plaque just yet.

Nah, I meant that he reminded me of Halladay in his first start. Ofcourse this is Jansens third start but still he reminded me of it. Halladay's no no went to the 9th though.

The Insider

6-11-06, 10:57 PM

This team is really getting killed by their pitching staff. They have had chance after chance to get ahead of NY and Boston but they can't sweep a series for the life of them and the pitching staff other then maybe Ryan, Halladay and Janssen are all inconsistent and really playing this team out of a playoff spot. The offense is solid 1-9, defense is hot and cold, pitching is the problem and unless J.P. gets it fixed one way or another they are going to keep pace with the Red Sox and Yanks until about early August when those two teams get into playoff mode and start pulling away. By fixing it now, they could put some room between the teams and maybe come August there will be a big enough cushion to let the 2 get hot and still be able to hang around until the season ends.

wildboy26

6-11-06, 11:43 PM

I wish Toronto would trade McGowan, Hinske, Towers, all away. Easier said then done I guess though.

Leafs_Fa_Life

6-12-06, 6:59 PM

McGowan won't go anywhere. His arm is too live for JP to give up on him. He hasn't shown anything yet, but in the long run he could give us a big time power arm and I wouldn't be shocked if he was back up with the team in a month or so.

Hinske and Towers aren't hurting the team. One is a bench player and the other is in the minors. Our problem is the bullpen (outside of Ryan) has forgotten how to pitch. Speier, Frasor, Chulk and Rosario all have good stuff. It's hard to imagine that what was considered a strength of this team coming into the season has struggled so badly. JP is in a tough spot too because it's not like quality relief pitchers are abundant on the trade market. So hopefully the guys we do have get their sh*t together for the stretch run. The starters going past the 4th inning would help too because the pen has been grossly overworked.

wildboy26

6-12-06, 9:50 PM

McGowan won't go anywhere. His arm is too live for JP to give up on him. He hasn't shown anything yet, but in the long run he could give us a big time power arm and I wouldn't be shocked if he was back up with the team in a month or so.

I know he had TJ surgery, and that definitely set him back, but he is 24 now and to say he is still a work in progress is being generous. Taubenheim is younger then him, is not even that good himself, and has even surpasssed him. McGowan is too weak to be even up with the team with all the injuries, and the somewhat desperate pitching situation they are in now, he certainly wont be up with the team then under normal conditions.

Also while I know he was coming back from TJ a couple years ago, he is alot worse this year then last if anything, and the surgery cant explain that, he should not be going backwards.

Hinske and Towers aren't hurting the team. One is a bench player and the other is in the minors.

Hinske would not be hurting the team if you werent paying him 5 freaking milliion dollars, if you were paying him $1-million he would be just fine. If he were making alot less, great, a utility player who can play 3rd base, 1st base(although horrid defence at first)or right field, and can sometimes reasonably vs right handers. Towers you are also paying a major league salary to pitch in the minors, although atleast it is not as severe as Hinske's. They arent used enough to be hurting the team on the field, just in the pocketbook is all.

Leafs_Fa_Life

6-12-06, 10:02 PM

I believe Taubenheim is older than McGowan.

The reason McGowan is up is because they've changed him back to a starter and have to get his arm back up to that level on conditioning.

wildboy26

6-13-06, 2:50 AM

I believe Taubenheim is older than McGowan.

The reason McGowan is up is because they've changed him back to a starter and have to get his arm back up to that level on conditioning.

Taubenheim is 7 months younger then McGowan, ok not much younger, but before the year he was the next in line to come up, and now Janssen(who has been unbelievable BTW)and Taubenheim have both passed by, atleast from what I can tell. When he was up with the Jays as a reliever for a couple weeks I cringed watching him pitch, he was dreadful, not nearly as good as his stint with the Jays a reliever last year(after trying out as a starter for awhile)it was nerve wracking him finish an inning. I just personally would guess him being in AAA a long long time, or atleast only be an injury call up for the next 4-5 years, if he is not traded in which case it would depend if it was a team with less pitching depth then the Jays have(when all are healthy).

Leafs_Fa_Life

6-13-06, 9:57 PM

Taubenheim and Janssen are control pitchers, which is why they've been able to transition from AAA to the pros easier (although Taubenheim has looked like sh*t to me). Power pitchers like McGowan and League will always have a harder learner curve because they need to transition from being throwers to pitchers when they get to the majors. A guy like McGowan gets by on stuff alone in AAA, and unfortunately he found out that doesn't cut it in the majors when your 98mph fastball doens't overwelm the hitters anymore. I think in the minors the Jays just want him to lose some velocity on his pitches and be able to place them better.

You look into things too much man. Just because Taubenheim is in the majors now doesn't mean the Jays have any plans for him at all. Long-term I'm sure he sees McGowan on the team, and admitted he shouldn't have rushed him last year coming of the Tommy John. I think he had less than 10 starts in the minors before getting thrown to the wolves in the bigs.

Amoroq

6-13-06, 11:24 PM

Ok some adjustment need to be made, but lets not overlook the fact that the jays are only 2 games out of first place.

Newfie John

6-14-06, 12:14 PM

Just what the doctor ordered last night.

J.R.

6-19-06, 12:21 AM

The Blue Jays will not win the World Series. Why? They're 0-6 versus the National League. Hopefully the get their first three interleague wins against Atlanta this week, then return back to form on the weekend against NYM. I'm going to the Mets/Jays game on Friday night.

wildboy26

6-20-06, 5:31 PM

I dont think the Jays will win the World Series this year, definitely not as much as it would be nice. However I could see them sneaking into the playoffs perhaps if they split Boston and New York somehow, and their record is good enough. It will be tough but they are within reach so far, and they can play better and get better injury luck(with pitching especialy)then they have so far.

charlio lemieux

6-23-06, 11:09 AM

Beckett looked pretty good last night in his return. His first two innings were great. He has some nasty stuff with some zip to it. He was consistantly around the mid 90's with his pitches. Let's all cross our fingers and hope he will stay healthy for the rest of the year.

Troy Glaus as a shortstop? Any thoughts?

Amoroq

6-23-06, 11:14 AM

Amoroq

6-23-06, 11:24 AM

Leafs_Fa_Life

6-23-06, 3:38 PM

Troy Glaus as a shortstop? Any thoughts?

He's only SS because there's no DH in NL parks, and Gibbons wants him, Hillenbrand and Overbay in th lineup. No way the Jays risk their high priced slugger getting hurt long term by having him play short everyday. Remember, he does have a history of knee problems.

Him getting a few starts at SS is good for fantasy leaguers though. I believe 5starts at a position gains a player eligiblity there in Yahoo leagues.

Amoroq

6-23-06, 3:48 PM

charlio lemieux

6-24-06, 8:55 AM

Jordan Bastian, of Toronto.BlueJays.MLB.com, reports Toronto Blue Jays 3B Troy Glaus could see more time at short stop, even in AL stadiums, in order to get another solid bat in the lineup. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said he wouldn't hesitate to put Glaus in, especially against a tough left-hander

That is similar to what I heard. That Gibbons wanted to get Hillenbrand into the line-up with him hitting well over .300 and all.
Glaus just looks slow at SS.

What about a package deal that gets us the best 2nd baseman in the game? A 2nd baseman, I might add, who is currently not even playing his natural position, and has expressed his displeasure of that in the past. J.P., time to go to Old Man Rogers and get some more money, so the Jays can swallow the gargantuan contract of one Alfonso Soriano.
Hillenbrand, Hinske, Adams/Hill & prospects/picks go the other way.
What a lineup that would give us.

KB in Kelowna

6-24-06, 11:01 AM

I see Carlos Delgado got a nice reception on his first trip back to Toronto. Too bad the Jays went down to the Mets:(

As for the speculation earlier about Alfonso Soriano coming over from Washington to play second, I am not sure about that one. I don't think Alfonso is as good a second sacker as HE thinks he is. But I like a good infeild defence while others seem to value a bat more:shrug:

charlio lemieux

6-24-06, 12:27 PM

The Soriano thing is totally my own creation. The Jays are weak up the middle and Soriano would rather be playing second base. It just seems to fit.
It has nothing to do with my having him in the Yahoo fantasy Baseball or anything like that. I promise.

Leafs_Fa_Life

6-25-06, 12:13 AM

I don't want Soriano's glove anywhere near the Jays infield.

charlio lemieux

6-25-06, 2:54 PM

I don't want Soriano's glove anywhere near the Jays infield.

Who cares about his glove?
His bat and his feet are what counts, and outweigh any defensive short comings.

wildboy26

6-25-06, 9:47 PM

I would not want to see a defensive liability come to Toronto. The team has enough bats this year as is, they also have pretty very good defence except for Adams and Hillenbrand. I would rather see somebody better defensively then Adams playing in the infield, if is a big boomer to boot great, but not neccessary.

KB in Kelowna

6-25-06, 10:38 PM

Who cares about his glove?
His bat and his feet are what counts, and outweigh any defensive short comings.

You sound like Tommy LaSorda, did you know I dislike Tommy Lasorda, biggest phony in baseball.
Give me a glove and a decent OBP at 2nd over a bat and an ego anyday.

Leafs_Fa_Life

6-26-06, 12:44 AM

You sound like Tommy LaSorda, did you know I dislike Tommy Lasorda, biggest phony in baseball.
Give me a glove and a decent OBP at 2nd over a bat and an ego anyday.

Word up, KB.

Soriano's .322 career OBP is pathetic. Sure he may hit homers, but he's an impatient, free-swinger and in clutch situations will be chasing balls at his ankles instead of going for a base hit. We already have Vernon Wells to mess up in those situations, no need for another.

charlio lemieux

6-26-06, 3:46 PM

You sound like Tommy LaSorda, did you know I dislike Tommy Lasorda, biggest phony in baseball.
Give me a glove and a decent OBP at 2nd over a bat and an ego anyday.

Look it's not like he's replacing O-dog or a top quality defensive player anyway. The drop off wouldn't be that drastic. Whereas the improvement of the offense if very drastic. It would be a done deal, with no hesitation as far as I'm concerned.

Word up, KB.

Soriano's .322 career OBP is pathetic. Sure he may hit homers, but he's an impatient, free-swinger and in clutch situations will be chasing balls at his ankles instead of going for a base hit. We already have Vernon Wells to mess up in those situations, no need for another.

Whereas Adams and Hill are both superb hitters who are totally clutch. Give me a break! How can you even argue replacing Hill/Adams with Soriano. One's an All-star at two positions and the other two are nobodies.

Hill has a Lifetime .337 OBP and a .977 FPCT
Adams has a .322 OBP and a .949 FPCT
Soriano has a .322 OBP and a .969 FPCT

So just where is the big drop off?
These are the two areas both of you feel are so weak that they are reason enough to not use Soriano, yet Hill is barely better in both categories and Adams is equal or worse.

Lifetime SLG%
Adams .387
Hill .375
Soriano .505

Add in the offense and Soriano is an easy pick over Hill and Adams.

Leafs_Fa_Life

6-26-06, 6:13 PM

I don't know why you're comparing him to Hill since he's a SS, but during the time in his career where he played out of position at second he had a range factor of 5.10 and a zone rating of .880, while Soriano had ones of 4.78 and .806.

As for Adams, where did I say or even try to prove he was a better player than Soriano? I hate Adams and wouldn't miss him at all, but at a position like second you can get by with a guy that just plays solid D and has a good OBP (not that Adams does either of these yet). For the cost of getting Soriano, the team would be better off trying to get some arms to help for the stretch run.

Also, if the team does want a second basemen for the Nats, I'd rather see them go after Vidro. His bat would look nice in the two spot. Catalanotto/Johnson could leadoff and Rios could move down in the order, which would then create another run producer for the already strong offense.

charlio lemieux

6-27-06, 7:44 PM

Vidro is definitely the better fielder. But his OBP is only .022% better than Soriano's. I could see if Vidro's OBP was in the .410 range and he had some SB's, but Soriano has 19 more HR's, 21 more Runs, 22 more RBI's and 17 more SB's. Between the two, I would think that offensively Soriano will produce more runs, than Vidro's defense will save.

My only issue with Soriano is, as you mentioned above, the cost. Regardless of his salary, which I'm sure Rogers would spring for, the amount of talent that would have to go the other way would have to be substantial, to say the least.

Leafs_Fa_Life

6-28-06, 12:45 AM

Burnett was amazing tonight. If he's healthy for the second half this team might be able to make a run at the wild card.

charlio lemieux

6-28-06, 1:04 AM

Burnett was amazing tonight. If he's healthy for the second half this team might be able to make a run at the wild card.

I'll second that!

wildboy26

6-30-06, 3:30 PM

It was good to see Burnett get that first win, that following a game he pitched well and the team won in a game he started, even though he didnt get the win. If he stays healthy, things are looked up.

Also although I cant stand him it was good to see Hinske have a rare very good game last night.

The Insider

7-03-06, 4:20 PM

charlio lemieux

7-04-06, 1:06 PM

Sweeping a couple of three game series over Boston and New York is just what the Jays need. :thumb:

Leafs_Fa_Life

7-04-06, 1:25 PM

Sweeping a couple of three game series over Boston and New York is just what the Jays need. :thumb:

The Sox and Yanks are two of the teams in the league I'm actually confident in the Jays playing. Too bad they don't play either as much in the second half as they did in the first because they always play the Yanks and Sox tough, while they seem to play down to their lesser opponents.

leaferfan87

7-04-06, 6:47 PM

The Jays will be sending a very impressive 5 players to the all star game although only 4 will play with Rios being on the DL. Halladay, Ryan, Wells, Glaus and Rios were all selected along with Gibbons as a coach, it is truly good to see the Jays get noticed down south, and hopefully now that interleague is over, Boston will start losing again and we can make up some ground in the East and get the playoff spot :thumb:

I am also impressed. We have more selections than the Red Sox and the Yankees despite all their fans stuffing the ballot boxes to get them on the team. Mark Loretta! You got to be kidding me.

Leafs_Fa_Life

7-09-06, 1:01 AM

League's back up with the team. Pitched a scoreless inning today. Hopefully his time in the minors helped him learn to harness his stuff. He has the ability to be a great reliever.

wildboy26

7-09-06, 12:06 PM

Is it true that Dustin McGowan is out of options next year if he does not make the Jays roster? That is what somebody else told me. If that is not wrong, they should really trade him this off season, so they can atleast get something in return for him perhaps rather then lose him for nothing.

Leafs_Fa_Life

7-09-06, 11:20 PM

wildboy26

7-10-06, 4:52 PM

They'd probably keep McGowan on the pro roster before letting him go. He's been improving in AAA this season. So hopefully he'll be able to at least hold down a long relief role on the team next year.

Well do you know if what I was told is true or not? Is he out of options and has to be up with the major league team next year to start and stay for a certain period of time? I am not that up on that sort of rules but somebody told me that so do you know if that is the case for sure?

For the record I see them losing him on waivers if that is the case, I see no chance of him being on the Jays roster until atleast 2008, so if that is true what I was told, the team is going to lose him the same way they did Quiroz.

The Insider

7-16-06, 10:45 PM

The Jays get another extra-inning win today and pull within 3-1/2 games of the Slumping Red Sox. The team is starting to put things together and pull closer to the leaders in the AL East, even though B.J. had a bit of a setback tonight, Burnett was once again his flame throwing self. Hopefully Glaus isn't out for too long, especially because the Yanks are in town on the weekend and that'll be the series that will probably make or break us with the trade deadline approaching.

And I love how everyone on ESPN and SI and all the major American writers have it down the either the Sox or Yanks winning the division even though the Jays are in striking distance. I mean I know that those two teams are the bread and butter of MLB, but if things keep going the way they have been these guys might be surprised come September that the Jays are still hanging strong. Although I can guarentee that both the Sox and Yanks aren't ignoring the Jays and they know where they are.

THE HACK

7-22-06, 4:10 PM

Shea Hillenbrand and releiver Vinnie Chulk have been traded to my SF Giants for releiver Jeremy Accardo.

Jays fans are going to love Accardo and I'm going to miss him as he's been one of our best releive pitchers who finally brought stability to our bullpen.Jeremy has a really good arm and instantly improves the Jays bullpen and will be good in the 8th inning.But with Shea on my team our offence just got better and the fact that alot of team members pushed Alou and Sabean to get Hillenbrand shows he should fit in well with SF!

Cheers

wildboy26

7-26-06, 8:27 AM

They should use Hinske's hot streak to try and trade him away if at all possable.

charlio lemieux

7-26-06, 1:44 PM

They should use Hinske's hot streak to try and trade him away if at all possable.

I dunno. They just traded away one bat, I'm not sure they want to deal another. Hinske has been quite effective off the bench this year. As one person I talked to put it, "He grew up". I say keep him for the stretch drive. The new pitcher we got for Hillenbrand has got a favourable review from THE HACK, and I want to see for myself.

wildboy26

7-26-06, 2:40 PM

I dunno. They just traded away one bat, I'm not sure they want to deal another. Hinske has been quite effective off the bench this year. As one person I talked to put it, "He grew up". I say keep him for the stretch drive. The new pitcher we got for Hillenbrand has got a favourable review from THE HACK, and I want to see for myself.

I see your point but when Rios comes back he will still be back to being a bench player, who only plays occasionaly if there are no injuries. Do you ever really want to play a bench player that much money, even if he is a useful bench player who can fill in at 3 different positions(as well as DH)? Then again they seem very injury prone now so maybe keeping Hinske for the rest of the year wont be a bad thing even if they miss his window to trade his inflated salary, they only have a year and a half anyway left though.

He definitely has been a pleasent surprise to me the last few weeks. It is good to see him playing that well when given the opportunity to play.

charlio lemieux

7-26-06, 3:41 PM

I see your point but when Rios comes back he will still be back to being a bench player, who only plays occasionaly if there are no injuries. Do you ever really want to play a bench player that much money, even if he is a useful bench player who can fill in at 3 different positions(as well as DH)? Then again they seem very injury prone now so maybe keeping Hinske for the rest of the year wont be a bad thing even if they miss his window to trade his inflated salary, they only have a year and a half anyway left though.

He definitely has been a pleasent surprise to me the last few weeks. It is good to see him playing that well when given the opportunity to play.

To win a championship you need a good bench. If, big if, the Jays make the post season, they will need to have guys like Rios and Hinske on the bench. There are always injuries or just situations in a game where by changing the batter you force the opposition to change the pitcher. Or vise-versa where a pitching change warrants a different hitter. Either way, having three guys(Zaun too) on the bench capable of stepping in and getting a hit or even a homer is definitely a good thing. As for their salary, well I don't think you have to worry about Old Man Rogers standing tin the bread line anytime soon. He has already spent what 10? 20 times what the bench players will earn. I think that finally, money, or lack of it, is no longer a dictating factor in Blue Jays decisions. Don't worry about about a few million sitting on the bench. A 9th inning double with runners on base in the post season, will make you forget all about paying for a guy to sit on the bench.

KB in Kelowna

7-26-06, 4:34 PM

To win a championship you need a good bench. If, big if, the Jays make the post season, they will need to have guys like Rios and Hinske on the bench. There are always injuries or just situations in a game where by changing the batter you force the opposition to change the pitcher. Or vise-versa where a pitching change warrants a different hitter. Either way, having three guys(Zaun too) on the bench capable of stepping in and getting a hit or even a homer is definitely a good thing. As for their salary, well I don't think you have to worry about Old Man Rogers standing tin the bread line anytime soon. He has already spent what 10? 20 times what the bench players will earn. I think that finally, money, or lack of it, is no longer a dictating factor in Blue Jays decisions. Don't worry about about a few million sitting on the bench. A 9th inning double with runners on base in the post season, will make you forget all about paying for a guy to sit on the bench.

But won't their ego's and self esteem and confidence be hurt by sitting on the bench? :rolleyes:

Actually I agree, most teams need guys how can hit in situations and are used to the pressure of the big leagues and have a decent glove in a couple of positions.

Mel

7-26-06, 5:19 PM

Actually I agree, most teams need guys how can hit in situations and are used to the pressure of the big leagues and have a decent glove in a couple of positions.

Depth seems like an afterthought until you need it. The Yankees would not likely be in the hunt right now if it wasn't for guys like Melky Cabrera, Bubba Crosby, Miguel Cairo, and Andy Phillips stepping in and picking up the slack when the regular starters fall to injury and/or need routine rest.

Yeah I know Toronto beat them 3 out of 4 last week but other than that they've managed to stay on track and stay on Boston's tail.

( sorry for this yank butting in on the Jays thread :o )

charlio lemieux

7-26-06, 8:26 PM

Depth seems like an afterthought until you need it. The Yankees would not likely be in the hunt right now if it wasn't for guys like Melky Cabrera, Bubba Crosby, Miguel Cairo, and Andy Phillips stepping in and picking up the slack when the regular starters fall to injury and/or need routine rest.

Yeah I know Toronto beat them 3 out of 4 last week but other than that they've managed to stay on track and stay on Boston's tail.

( sorry for this yank butting in on the Jays thread :o )
No problem at all, you Yankee you. :)

Actually the Blue Jays commentators were mentioning how many Yankee fans are in Canada. I have noticed it too. It is almost like the Raiders craze of the 90's.

And yes the Yankees should be commended for their depth, and how well it has helped them this year.

J.R.

8-01-06, 11:21 PM

I think it's now safe to say that A.J. Burnett is one of the biggest busts in Blue Jays' history.

charlio lemieux

8-01-06, 11:33 PM

There's still some time left, but it doesn't look good. He has all the right stuff. Just making too many mistakes I suppose.

Amoroq

8-02-06, 12:05 PM

I think it's now safe to say that A.J. Burnett is one of the biggest busts in Blue Jays' history.Doesn't even light a candle to Bill Caudill :laughing:

Leafs_Fa_Life

8-02-06, 2:28 PM

It's too early to declare him a bust. But he doens't seem to have much mental toughness, that's for sure. Too much of a thrower, and not a pitcher.

The Insider

12-16-06, 12:46 PM

KB in Kelowna

12-16-06, 1:44 PM

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=188513&hubname=

I know I mentioned this in the other thread, but V-Dub has re-signed. This is great news for all sides and it goes to show how far this team has come in being able to attract talent north of the border. We still lost out on Lilly and Meche, but at least we got the Vernon Wells problem solved and can move forward from here. I am looking forward to next year for sure. :thumb:
I think this is a great signing for the Jays. Wells would have commanded big dollars form a lot of teams. As for the earlier non-signings of Meche and Lilly, I am reminded of the old owner from the early days of baseball saying that it wasn't the high price of talent that bothered him, it was the high price of mediocrity.

Leafs_Fa_Life

12-16-06, 6:01 PM

As for the earlier non-signings of Meche and Lilly, I am reminded of the old owner from the early days of baseball saying that it wasn't the high price of talent that bothered him, it was the high price of mediocrity.

Glad you mentioned this. There's some Jays fans disappointed that the team missed out on Meche and Lilly, but neither guy is very good. Teams are paying 10+ million a year for guys that have been at best average 3rd starters in their MLB careers. In the long run it's probably best the Jays missed out on both.

With Wells in the loop it probably means one of the teams corner OFs will be moved for an arm. Johnson, Lind, and Rios are all guys that a package could be built around, and since all are young players, years away from free agency, you would hope that JP can land a pretty good pitcher.

wildboy26

12-16-06, 7:52 PM

I think Reed Johnson, Adam Lind, Dustin McGowan, Jeremy Accardo, and Alex Rios can all be great trade bait pieces. None are really paramount to the Jays future, except maybe Lind, and all are guys some others teams might want especialy in a package. You can maybe get a cheaper pitcher or shortstop/2nd baseman(whichever position Hill will play the other)whose former team still owns their rights and so are low priced but good for a much better deal.

Meche and Lilly were too high priced anyway. I would be happy seeing a Marcum or Janssen, or even both gain the experience and I do believe both can be .500 pitchers very soon, and in time even better then that. The problem with the Blue Jays is they are always looking for now and never go through a small period of building for the future and that is why their prospects never materialize to anything and they end up having to overpay for just fair players.

Leafs_Fa_Life

1-12-07, 8:45 PM

KB in Kelowna

1-13-07, 12:01 AM

You don't think Rios is gonna be a player in the future? He's only been our best prospect since Wells, is a five tool player, and broke out last year before his infection skinnied him down to his weight of the previous season.
Wildboy has a thing for predicting the decline of players in all sports, even if the facts don't support his arguements.

wildboy26

5-23-07, 9:13 PM

Does anyone have a opinion of what the Jays rotation will look like 1 year from now? I am thinking it will be:

Halladay
Burnett
FA pitcher-Buehrle maybe
Chacin
Marcum

Leafs_Fa_Life

5-24-07, 12:44 AM

Does anyone have a opinion of what the Jays rotation will look like 1 year from now? I am thinking it will be:

Halladay
Burnett
FA pitcher-Buehrle maybe
Chacin
Marcum

I think it'll probably look something like that. Marcum looks good so far, and he's young so they should stick with him. Chacin is the only question mark. He's stats have never been as good as his win-loss record, so if he doens't perform coming off the DL maybe he gets moved in teh offseason and another one of the Jays young pitchers takes a bottom of the rotation spot. It won't hurt us much to bring along a kid if they do add a rock like Buehrle.

wildboy26

5-24-07, 4:44 PM

I think it'll probably look something like that. Marcum looks good so far, and he's young so they should stick with him. Chacin is the only question mark. He's stats have never been as good as his win-loss record, so if he doens't perform coming off the DL maybe he gets moved in teh offseason and another one of the Jays young pitchers takes a bottom of the rotation spot. It won't hurt us much to bring along a kid if they do add a rock like Buehrle.

I am not a big fan of Chacin. I actually respect him in that I think he is an overachiever considering his limited "stuff" and skills. I wouldnt mind seeing him displaced by a 2nd younger starter like Janssen, Litsch, Purcey, or Banks, but I am not sure if the Jays would be willing to move a somewhat proven pitcher to make room for another young pitcher or not.