Toronto Blue Jays Round Up - Quick Hits and Misses

The Jays have headed out on a 10 game road trip after a utterly horrible 10 game home stand to lead off the unofficial 2nd half of the baseball season.  This road trip sees them take on the Athletics from Oakland, the LA Angels and the Seattle Mariners.  Should be another run of increasingly frustrating games, but that doesn't mean there's not stuff to talk about!

 - The Trade Deadline is Wednesday at 4:00pm!  What can we expect from the Jays? I don't think we should expect much. Maybe a few minor moves here or there, but I think this team is going to look fairly similar next April.  Maybe Janssen, Oliver & Davis will get shipped out.  Nothing that should kill the team going forward. Oh yeah and if it's not obvious I don't think JJ is moving anywhere.

-  Is Buck Martinez the worse play by play announce in Jays history?  I thought so but I started to do some research on old announcers and I found one who I wouldn't listen to unless I was forced to.  Worse ever!  Rod Black.....Stick to figure skating Rob.  Let me say this...I don't not like Buck.  I just think he was much better as a Color Commentator.

 - Edwin Encarnacion won AL player of the week today!  Well that's good, he put up a great week and became only the 2nd player in Jays history to hit two home runs in one inning.

 - Jose Bautista was thrown out of the game on Sunday against the Astro's for arguing balls and strikes.  This was the 4th time this year that he's been thrown out the game.  I was glad to hear Joey Bats talk about his temper after the game, but he really has to get a handle on his emotions as you can see it start to leak into younger players attitudes on the ball club.

- Rajai Davis stole 5 bases on Saturday. becoming the 4th Jay to steal 4 bases in a game.  I would have to think Davis would fit in great with a team looking to make the playoffs.  I mean who doesn't need a pinch hitter who can pretty much take 2 bags at any time?

 - Both Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek are well into their re-hab assignments and have been very impressive so far.  I'm still left to wonder where these two guys will fit into the rotation for 2014.  Could this year have been saved if we had these two guys in the minor's when our pitch went to the shitter?  Would we even have made any trades for starting pitching if they both didn't get hurt?

- I'm not sure what I'm going to think of this team in 2014 if they tell me that Macier Izturis is our everyday 2nd baseman.

 - How far are we really away from real grass in the Dome?  I don't think it's going to happen even in 5 years.  I would like to think Beeston is telling us the truth, but I can't see the team walking away from all the extra revenue that comes with having a multi purpose stadium.

 - What I've heard is that the renovation on Windows restaurant (Which has been a huge success) is a 3 year process.  I wonder what surprises they have for us in year two and three?

 - Anyone else remember what AA said about International signings after we lost out on Chapman?  Yeah me too.  Glad to see Gonzalez end up in Philly.

 - I was happy to hear that JP quit twitter last week.  I really don't know why any professional athlete would ever want to be on twitter.  Sure these guys are trying to build their brand and make themselves a niche in their market, but there are just too many dumb internet tough guys who think what they have to say is actually worth while.  I hope him moving on from the SM outlet allows him to concentrate more on the team and his personal performance.

- Can you really say that Buehrle's been a disappointment?  I don't think so.  I wasn't expecting the Mark Buehrle from 2005 by any means, but he's had his bad and good games and has been the one guy we've been able to count on more than anyone else.  He is a work horse.  Plain and simple

- I don't know why I get so worked up with people saying that Gibbons should be hired, but it just gets my blood boiling.  Yes I get that the team is not playing well and that most of the time the Manager is the one to blame, but I just wished that people would actually look at what's going on in game rather than just going with the lazy excuse of firing the manager as a way to solve all problems.  If they did, they would notice that the team is just bad right now and the issue's are mainly from the starting pitchers.  It's not like Gibby can tell the pitcher to throw more strikes or the hitters to hit the ball better, those things are up to the players, Gibbons job is then to manage the in-game match ups and put the line-ups together, and he does that very well.

 - That being said I do believe the team has a cultural issue that needs to be fixed.  We need more consistency in the minors and the organization to ensure that we have the message to be the same no matter if we have players in the minors or the majors.  I didn't think it was going to be an issue at the start of the year, but bringing in a bunch of new players to team looks to have effected the team in the long run.  Hopefully over the next 3 year the Jays can use this time to replenish the minors and build a culture of winning.  We need players to come to Toronto and understand that they will need to play Toronto Blue Jays Baseball.

That's enough for now.  Enjoy the late games on the West Coast.

Go Jays Go!

Long range plans at 2nd base for the Toronto Blue Jays.

This past off-season the Jays basically told Kelly Johnson that he wasn't good enough to be their 2nd baseman and decided to go in another direction at 2nd base. Looking back at it now, that may have been one of the larger mistakes made during the 2012 off season.  The Jays then went out and gave Macier Izturis a 3 year (+ an option) contract with the intent that he would be the 2nd baseman for at least the 2013 season.  The Jays then made their big trade with the Miami Marlins and picked up Emilio Bonifacio a guy with much of the same skill set (just not the bat, or eye at the plate) as a Jose Reyes to split time with Macier at 2nd base.  As another depth move the Jays also picked up Mark Derosa a guy who can fill in every now and then at 2nd.

Personally I was pretty much convinced that Emilio was going  to be the guy at 2nd.  Given his previous offensive output and his speed, I convinced myself he was going to be the guy at 2nd and pretty much put Izturis into the super utility role.  Well I was wrong...Emilio has been a big disappointment, but that being said Izturis hasn't been that much better himself.

Right off the bat both guys had a hard time getting used to playing 2nd base on artificial turf (side track....Why doesn't the Jays organization make an effort to bring new players who haven't played on artificial turf  to get used to the surface before the season starts?  Could they not make one of the practice facilities in Dunedin on a turf field?  Could they not fly some of the infielders into Toronto during the off-season to take drills on the surface?) and both bats were cold up until very recently to boot.

The play of both these guys has made me ask what other options do we have?  Internally we don't have much. Jim Negrych in Buffalo has had a great year, but has cooled off considerably in the last 2 months. If the Jays weren't going to call him up when he was hitting over .400, I really don't think the Jays are prepared to make him their 2nd baseman going forward.  Going deeper into the minor league depths, it doesn't look pretty as most of the 2nd baseman in the minor's are more long shots than real prospects.

The Jays have also toy'd with the option of making Brett Lawrie their new 2nd baseman, although the experiment has come to a crashing halt with the Jays saying publicly that Brett will spend the rest of the year at 3rd,  could we see him moved their eventually?  I don't think the team is going to make that move, but to be honest (even though it's not the popular stance) I like him better at 2nd.  I find his bat could end up being a + at 2nd rather than an average one at 3rd.  Sure his defense is unlike many in the league at 3rd, but with time I think Lawrie could bring that same + defence to 2nd plus a bat that plays better at 2nd.

So if the Jays don't choose to either stay with one of the two guys playing 2nd right now or look to someone else from the organization, we would end up looking at another short term fix either through trade or FA. Some of the trade options that have been rumored are interesting.  Gordon Beckham could be a good fit, but the question would be the price that the Jays would have to pay in order to get him and do the Jays have the pieces to make something like that happen? Chase Utley sounds like he may end up re-singing in Philly,  but  it's probably best for the Jays to steer clear of Utley.  Nothing good could come from Chase Utley playing on turf.  Could the Jays Sign Robinson Cano?  Could you imagine?  Well stop imagining cause that ain't happening.

With another busy off-season around the corner for Alex Anthopoulos I really think that he is going to focus some time around finding an 2nd baseman and eliminating a 2nd base by committee.  It's not the popular choice, but I think that the Jays 2nd Baseman is already on the team.

What does it mean to be a Toronto Blue Jay?

I posed this question the other day and I didn't seem to get much of a response back with a definitive answer.  Given it  is a tough question to answer, but looking at the Jays line-up these days i'm stuck with the feeling that we don't have much of a legacy within the current roster.

Let me explain what I'm saying here.  Just a little while ago Carlos Delgado was honored with one of the greatest accomplishments a former Toronto Blue Jay could receive by having his name put among the great Jays of the past on the "Level of Excellence".  Carlos is from the last bunch of Blue Jays who have seemed to be a home grown talent to excel in the minors right up until blossoming into a true bonafide All-Star (Others from that relative era being Shawn Green, Roy Halladay & Vernon Wells.  Since Halladay & Vernon left the primary Jays "Stars" that have been players that have come from other organizations and haven't really come up through the organization from bottom to top.  

Given Alex Anthopoulos has been one of the key people in bringing in this new talent to the organization from other clubs, the main reason for the lack of current home grown talent can pretty much be put on the JP Ricciardi era.  

The lack of focus and constant change in direction during this era put the team's future in constant question. 

Now i'm not going to go into a really deep dive into all the draft picks during JP's time as the Jays GM, but below is a quick look at all the 1st round picks made between 2002 - 2009.  During this time we had 14 1st round picks and only 2 of them are still with the Toronto Blue Jays, given one was an All-Star this year, but leading up to his role change, both Brett Cecil and JP Arencibia have been good players, but are not guys that can have championship teams built around them. 

2002	Russ Adams	Shortstop	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)	14	[39]
2003	Aaron Hill	Shortstop	Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)	13	[40]
2004	David Purcey	Left-handed pitcher	University of Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma)	16	[41]
2004	Zach Jackson	Left-handed pitcher	Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas)	32§[o]	[41]
2005	Ricky Romero	Left-handed pitcher	California State University, Fullerton (Fullerton, California)	6	[42]
2006	Travis Snider	Outfielder	Henry M. Jackson High School (Everett, Washington)	14	[43]
2007	Kevin Ahrens	Shortstop	Memorial High School (Houston, Texas)	16[p]	[44]
2007	J. P. Arencibia	Catcher	University of Tennessee (Knoxville, Tennessee)	21	[44]
2007	Brett Cecil	Left-handed pitcher	University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, Maryland)	38§[q]	[44]
2007	Justin Jackson	Shortstop	Roberson High School (Asheville, North Carolina)	45§[r]	[44]
2007	Trystan Magnuson	Right-handed pitcher	University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky)	56§[s]	[44]
2008	David Cooper	First baseman	University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, California)	17	[45]
2009	Chad Jenkins	Right-handed pitcher	Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw, Georgia)	20	[46]
2009	James Paxton*	Left-handed pitcher	University of Kentucky (Lexington, Kentucky)	37§[t]	[4

That being said currently on the Jays current 25 man roster there is a total of 6 players who were drafted by the Blue Jays.  

As I said before this isn't really knock at what the current organization has done with the team, since they have been forced to fill holes in the organization due to the lack of talent that has been brought into the organization over the past 10 + years, but in doing adding these new elements, the Jays have again been forced to trade away a lot of their younger talent in the hopes of providing a winning team to the Fans of the Toronto Blue Jays . 

My worry now is that with a team that is forced to come together made up from a group of players that have grown up within other organizations the window to field a competitive team may end up closing before they can win and the organization will once again be forced to bring up/in talent that won't be able to compete in the AL East once the current talent is gone.

With all that being said I go back to my original question.  What does it mean to be a Toronto Blue Jay?  Right now I don't think we really know.....My hope is that the current team can turn the fortunes of the next few years around and carve our an identity that resembles what it was back in the 80's and 90's. Playing good fundamental baseball focused on winning.

Given I am not an expert by any means (just a guy with internet access, an opinion and a laptop), but I think this is something that comes from stability within the organization.  The organization needs to breed a culture from the ground up and ensure the same message and philosophies that is being preached in minors are the same all the way up to the Majors. Whatever that culture is, we need it to be bought into by all those who put on the Jays uniform.

Go Jays Go!

Toronto Blue Jays Trade Deadline 2013 - What will they do?

Much of the discussion around the Jays for the next few weeks is going to be whether or not the team should be buyers or sellers leading up to the July 31st non waiver trade deadline.  There are definite pros and cons to both sides of the argument as it stands right now, but regardless of if they choose to be buyers or sellers I think the Jays could still be in a somewhat sell mode and not really do anything to kill their slim chances of making a run at the post season if they actually can.

The Jays currently have a number of assets that could be considered important pieces for a club when making a run towards the post season.  The interesting thing about these pieces is that these players although valuable are pieces that the Jays seem to have alot of depth in position and talent wise.

The Blue Jays bullpen all year has pretty much been one of the most dominant bullpens in all of the MLB and due to the inconsistencies of the starting rotation and injuries, the bullpen has had to carry 8 arms for the greater part of the year.  Which hasn't been bad since it has given the opportunity to many of the arms in the bullpen to come out and prove themselves and ultimately put the Jays in a place of power. Most bullpens are lucky have 2 LH pitchers, but the Jays themselves have the luxury of having 4 reliable LH pitchers currently in the bullpen. I would not be surprised to see a guy like Darren Oliver moved out of town.  This would still allow the Jays to keep both Loup and Cecil, younger more controllable pitchers in their line-up and open up a spot in the Bullpen to being back a guy like Wagner who was just recently optioned back to Buffalo.

Sticking with the Bullpen and it's resurgence, I see a number of young controllable arms that could turn into closers, with that being said Casey Janssen and his 2014 option could make him a hot item on the trade market and unlike Darren Oliver he would be able to bring a much higher return.  Would I hate to see him go?  Yeah... I love home grown guys who have said they want to win in Toronto, but the truth is with all the guys performing so well we have too many bodies for only so many spots.

Outside of the bullpen it becomes a little more difficult to determine what should/could be done.

The starting rotation is full of questions. Let's start with the obvious in Josh Johnson.  Yes Josh Johnson has been an utter disappointment, and truth is they Jays will more than likely not get offered anything more valuable than a 1st round pick talent that they could get by offering him a qualifying contract and him ultimately choosing to sign with another team.  Worse case scenario with Johnson maybe that he accepts the qualifying offer and we have a bunch of pitching depth for 2014 (Could the season have been saved if Hutchison and Drabek were in the minors offering more depth than having to rely on guys like Wang, Redmond, Nolin etc...). So long story short I don't think the Jays will move Johnson unless they get something better than a 1st round talent, but that wouldn't kill their 2013 since he hasn't exactly been a valuable piece of the rotation to begin with.

Outside of Johnson....They aren't trading Morrow, too much opportunity there.  I don't think anyone will ever take Romero's contract.  Buehrle could go, but he has a few more years at about 20M + so I can't see the Jays being able to move him unless they are concerned with simple getting ride of a contract and not getting much in return.  Dickey I think offers alot to the rotation outside of his performance, so that being said I think he's not the ace in 2014, but he will be around.  Happ's contract is really solid and doesn't have much market value so he's another I see the Jays keeping around.

As for position players at the start of the year I would have said the Colby Rasmus could be a guy who is shopped, but with the way that Anthony Gose has fallen out of favor I don't think AA is ready to move Colby out of TO.  The guy is a stud in the field and has a good bounce back year with the bat.  Could JPA be moved?  Maybe, but are you'd have to be committed to going to FA to pick up a catcher cause there Jimenez is a little ways away  (A little off topic, but I would think the Jays would be good to go and get AJ Pierzynski if they would be in need to a guy who could play 3/4 of the games).  Adam Lind could go to a team looking for a solid LH bat, but you I wouldn't think the Jays would see the greatest return again.  Outside of those guys, Bautista, Encarnacion, Cabrera, Reyes, Lawrie would all be a part of this team if the Jays are looking to contend in 2014.

On the bench I think we have a move to make.  Rajai Davis to me looks is the exact type of guy a team looking to make a run to the playoffs need.  Which team doesn't need a team guy who can pinch run and steal 2nd and 3rd late in a game?  With Davis a FA at the end of the year and a speedy guy like Gose  who can steal bases in the minor's, Davis looks to me as a guy who could bring some return in the FA market.  Bonifacio could also be seen as a guy who could be that type of player, but with Bonifacio's ability to play multiple positions (Not well I give you) he proves to be a little more valuable going forward for the Jays.  Both Derosa and Izturis won't bring anything in return and Izturis in particular gives the Jays some good bench depth especially with his ability to play a few positions.

So ultimately I think there are some minor deals to be made that will make the team better in the long run, but I don't think we'll see any jaw dropping deals that overhaul the Jays line-up within the next week or so.

What do you think the Jays do at the trade deadline?

Go Jays Go!