The Blue Jays thread!

[sonysnob]

The MLB shouldn't allow Fernando Rodney to wear his hat on the side of his head like he does. It's just not baseball.

[DrNest]

Agreed. I rarely hate anything to do with baseball apart from A-Roid, but Rodney's hat needs to be straightened.

On a different note, congratulations to Kawasaki on the birth of their child!!

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Reyes out again. This season's a lost cause. Shut him down and let him mend for 2014. We don't want these injuries lingering into next season, after all. I wouldn't be surprised if this knee issue is a result of him favouring his ankle.

[DrNest]

You make a good point about Reyes. I don't know if I would shut him down completely, but then again I don't know the full extent of the injury.
If it is a niggle, then certainly once the roster expands in September it would make sense to give him a lot more time off in order to be fully healthy for 2014.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Yeah, perhaps just giving him some time off is enough. Unfortunately they're a little shallow in the infield these days. We may very well see more of DeRosa and Kawasaki up the middle heading down the stretch out of necessity more than anything else.

On a positive note, Happ looked good. I'm not really sold on him as a member of the starting rotation but if he pitches like that more often, he'll be a nice addition at the bottom end. Again, the Jays need some combination of Hutchison, Drabek, Nolin and Stroman to step up next season and impress. Perhaps they'll do so by committee. After all, it seems unlikely that any of them might get through a whole season without injury. Morrow and Romero? Forget about it...time to discount them completely, I say. Mental and physical wrecks - such a shame.

[DrNest]

I think Happ will be reliable as a number 5 starter.
I fully expect to see Romero traded in the off season. As for Morrow, he is so injury prone, but can be outstanding when fully on his game. I think the Jays will stick by him next season unless they also get a good offer for him in a trade.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Re Romero

He's due $15mm over the next two seasons. The Jays have a $13.1mm option for 2016 - think they'll make that offer?

In a perfect world, Romero comes into camp next year born again.

In the world of reality, however, RR Cool Jay (lame nickname) continues to struggle and is given the number five spot based on some kind of drug-induced delirium on behalf of management.

The only way anybody takes Romero is if the Jays eat most of his salary. I dunno, like Johnson, perhaps the smart move is to bring him back and hope he rebounds. Can you imagine the Jays firing him into the rubbish heap only for him to resurface as an All-Star again? Jays' management will never forget the Chris Carpenter debacle, nor should they.

p.s. Romero won last night: 7IP 6H 1ER 1BB 6K. It's still not time to call him up, however.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Someone who's totally off the Jays' radar is Deck McGuire. Actually, that's probably not true but he's definitely not on the minds of Jays' fans.

After a totally sh*te 2012 where he finished 5-15 with a 5.88 ERA (AA), he's been OK this year. In fact, he appears to be on a bit of an upswing, though I can't be absolutely sure of that as I haven't been tracking him very closely. Anyway, at the moment he's 8-9 with a 5.00 ERA. He's given up 140 hits in 138.2 innings and has struck out 125. That's not horrendous by any means.

Perhaps the Jays should give him a call this September and see what happens - he might surprise.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Cont'd

Left-hander Sean Nolin and catcher A.J. Jimenez, rated by MLB.com as the Blue Jays' No. 5 and No. 9 prospects, were promoted from Double-A New Hampshire to Triple-A Buffalo. Nolin, who made his Major League debut earlier this season, will most likely be called up again before season's end.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...k_tor&c_id=tor

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Now that the season's - unofficially - over, players are pulling up lame. Who isn't on the DL??

Bautista
Cabrera
Rasmus
Izturis
Delabar
Johnson
McGowan
Morrow
J Perez

Probably missed a couple.

If this team can't get pumped enough to take one game in NY, then that's a terrible shame. And the Yankees, widely considered a mediocre team this season, make the Jays look like a proper last place team. Sad.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Buffalo Bisons' pitching update.

Hutchison 0-2 7.36
Drabek 1-1 2.57
Nolin 0-1 3.38

[DrNest]

I didn't expect anything from Drabek or Hutchinson this season, certainly not at the Jays' level anyways. It's still quite early in their rehab so I wouldn't worry too much about their stats yet.
I hear talk of Nolin being brought up again. That would be a mistake this season. He's not ready for the majors yet, and I think it would just destroy him being hit about from the likes of the Yankees and TB.

Wang is supposed to be back up pitching today. Lets hope he can get us a win. Last night's game showed that the AAA players aren't ready for a long term stint in the majors yet. They really need more coaching about the fundamentals of baseball, ie when to attempt a throw to catch the runner, and when to just hold and concede the base, positioning in the outfield, bunting....

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Fundamentals seem to be an issue with this club. I know that's an oversimplification of the Jays' problems but it's been pointed out time and again that this organisation may not be the strongest in terms of player development.

The year's a great illustration of just how hard it is to win. Because the Jays have done it before, fans assumed it would be just like flipping a switch. During the glory days of the early 90s, however, they had some very powerful personalities in the clubhouse. Young players watched them, learnt from them and most importantly, feared them. Would you dare not run out a ground ball knowing that a six foot six inch two hundred and forty pound Dave Winfield would be waiting in the dug out to give you sh*t? Add to that the likes of Joe Carter, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris and Dave Stewart and you had a team that oozed victory and confidence. The Jays' clubhouse lacks that today, though to be fair, the whole of MLB has a dearth of well-respected authority figures compared to yesteryear. Sadly, Dave Winfields don't grow on trees.

[DrNest]

Interesting stat: If you ignore all the games this season between the Yankees and the Blue Jays, they have identical records against the rest of the majors. So had the Jays won half their games in the Bronx, they would be right up there with the Yankees and still in sight of a playoff spot.
Still unlikely to make the playoffs, but at least within sight of them.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^That makes it even more depressing, really. I mean, sometimes teams just have your number but from what I've seen of the Yanks and Blue Jays this year, the Yankees just seem to be a much better team. A team that's cobbled together let's not forget.

[DrNest]

Sitting at the game tonight I have figured why the Jays have been so bad this season.
For the most part their walk-up music is diabolical trite.
Better tunes would no doubt bring better play. It's got to be the explanation!!

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Haha...I hate the whole concept of walk-up music. It's lame.

What would yours be?

[DrNest]

AC/DC's Riff Raff or Guns N' Roses Paradise City.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Good call.

I'm thinkin' a little Ravi Shankar for myself.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I would hope that EE gets some courtesy MVP votes this year. He's on pace for 100+ runs, 30+ 2bs, 40+ hrs, 110+ rbi and is hitting around .280. And his walk to strike out ratio is dynamite (78-57).