5 Quick thoughts on the Blue Jays on Sunday Morning

Here I go!

1.  Looks like Alex Anthopoulos was out 1st hand the other day watching Jonathan Papelbon in a game against the Yankees!  Is there anything to this?   I doubt it unless the Phillies are going to be giving him away for practically nothing.  I'm torn on if it would be a good move or not.  On one hand it would be great to have a little more experience back there, especially with a group that may be very green, but he isn't the same pitcher he was even two years ago!  What the hell!  Trade for him AA

2.  Osuna and Castro both got knocked around for the 1st time this spring yesterday!  It happens...no big deal.  I think it could be really telling how the both react in their next outing however.  Let's see how they handle the pressure.

3. I've really liked watching Kevin Pillar this spring so far!  I wonder how they are able to keep him in regularly during the season once Saunders is back!  I would hate for him to collect rust on the bench all year and not put his skill set to use. 

4.  I was reading that Anthony Gose is considered a Sleeper pick on some Fantasy Baseball websites this year!  I laughed....I will give him that he's had a great spring and he can say that he's made a change to his swing that has helped him get on base alot more, but i'm not buying it!  That swing is terrible and he should be lucky if he can fool the tigers into thinking he should be playing everyday!

5. I have my Fantasy Baseball draft today!  One of my favorite days of the year to be quite honest.  There's something about Fantasy Baseball that crushes all other Fantasy sports for me.  Yeah the season is long, most leagues probably have guys that check out a quarter of the way through the season  and it is a challenge to set line ups everyday, but the #'s that live within baseball make it the ultimate Fantasy Sport.  

I imagine today is also the draft for many other Fantasy Baseball GM's out there, so good luck to them and I hope they enjoy it as much as I do!

*This is a picture my wife took of me last year after the draft as I broke down my picks to her on my draft board.  Gotta love her for humoring me at least.

5 Thoughts on the Toronto Blue Jays - Spring Training

5 Thoughts!!!!  Here they are!

1.  If the Blue Jays don't make the playoffs and Alex Anthopoulos gets fired, how long is it before we all realize that it was a bad move? 

If you think of where the Blue Jays organization is right now compared to where it was when J.P. Ricciardi was fired it's pretty easy to see what kind of job AA has done at not only turning it around, but also turning the organization back into a club that is known for drafting and developing young talent.  

I would just hate to see a re-start with a new administration and almost put the forward progress on pause while a new team tries to determine what it means to be a Blue Jay.......again.  

2.  In the past couple days at Spring Training we've seen Ryan Goins playing some 3rd base, and outfield in addition to SS and 2nd.  Word is that they are trying to make him into a Ben Zobrist type play.  This is a great idea except what makes Ben Zobrist really great is that he can play all those positions and ALSO HIT!

3. Shi Davidi had a great article tonight that covered the Jays new philosophy on how they are going to handle their young pitchers going forward.  I won't confuse you by me trying to summarize it, especially since you can just read it by clicking the link below. 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-taking-new-approach-young-arms/

It's an interesting way to go about things especially when we leave in an age when people are just waiting for reasons to jump all over decisions and point out why they are wrong and how they would have handled it differently.  

4. Who do you think makes it back to the Major Leagues 1st....  Ricky Romero or Johan Santana?  I go with neither!  Actually if either of them make it to the Majors this year then the Jays are pretty much FUK'd! Actually forget I even asked that.....The thought of it actually makes me depressed. 

5. So my over under on when Miguel Castro becomes the Blue Jays closer is May 1st.  Cecil will have a short leash at the start of the year and the guy's arsenal is prototypical closer.  After Cecil he's really is the next guy that would make sense to close. 

  

5 Thoughts on the Toronto Blue Jays - Spring Training Edition

Well it's been about 2 and a half months since I posted anything, but what better time than the day before Spring Training games are about to start.

Lots of stuff has happened since I last found time to write, but more than anything I think most Jays fans were itching to grab onto any minuscule Blue Jays news with the flurry that we were treated to at the start of the year! To summarize in a nut shell what's happened since my last post.  Jays wanted to hire a new President, but didn't.  Know one could figure out what the Jays payroll for 2015 would actually be. Jays did nothing to improve the Bullpen and 2nd base and there was a bit of talk about Clubhouse Chemistry.

So....Anyway spring training games start tomorrow so here are 5 quick thoughts....

1.  Jays signed Dayan Viciedo over the weekend, giving them another guy who may or may not be able to contribute to the Big League team.  Not sure if this pick up would have happened without Michael Saunders getting hurt, but regardless the Jays now have another guy to fill their already crowded bench.  Something is telling me more and more that a deal like this regardless of the "Were going to take the best team north" talk means that Pillar is going to be starting his year in Buffalo. Options left = bad news for Kevin



2.  Jays also signed 2 time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana this past week and there's another SP in the mix for the 5th starter in the Jays rotation.  Good on the Jays for trying to help bolster their Starting rotation, but couple this with the Viciedo signing do they really think the money being paid to these two is better spent in these two places rather than in their bullpen?  I get it...The Bullpen is a real enigma from year to year, but it would be nice to have a few less questions in the bullpen then where we are standing right now.



3. I really really really really really hope that Martin can catch the Knuckle Ball.  The thought of having 3 catchers on the roster on April 6th is just not sitting well with me. I can't see how the Jays are going to keep a decent bench together by having such little versatility. 



4. If Michael Saunders is able to keep himself healthy this year (Yeah I know he already isn't) his attitude and the way he's approaching being a member of the Blue Jays is going to make him a fan favorite in Toronto really quickly.  Brett Lawrie had the opportunity to be something special for the Jays, but something about his persona made it awkward for fans to really connect with him.  Saunders on the other hand has a likability  that if he's able to succeed professionally I think fans will really take to him.



5.  Good on Sportsnet for finding a way to make all of the Jays spring training games available in one way or another for all us Jays Fans!   PVR is already set for Tuesday's opener.  Can't wait!  It's been too long....



Alright....Good Talk.

5 More Thoughts on the Toronto Blue Jays Offseason - Thoughts on Happ/Saunders Trade, Smoak Signing, Budgets/Sanchez & Bullpen

I'm about a day and a half late on this latest entry on my series of thoughts on the Blue Jays offseason, but I couldn't help it,  Men's League hockey took priority one night.  I played great....Dino Ciccarelli'd it up! and then fell asleep watching a movie the next night, but that's ok I'm a Dad and It's pretty much a given that Dad's will fall asleep during any movie.

Anyway...enough about me potting garbage goals and watching the inside of my eye lids. 5 more thoughts on the Blue Jays offseason!

1.  After being non tender by the Blue Jays on Tuesday night...Justin Smoak turned around and signed a 1 year 1 million dollar contract with your Toronto Blue Jays!  I like the  upside of this deal given the power potential, him playing half his games in a homer dome then a good number of road games in hitter friendly AL East parks, it's pennies financially, and they still retain a year of control if everything works out. Sure the worst case scenario is that he's horrible, but it's not like 1st baseman are really that hard to find compared to a 2nd baseman who can hit anyways!



2. Late Wednesday afternoon word got out that the Toronto Blue Jays traded current member of the starting rotation  JA Happ to the Seattle Marniners for Good Old Canadian Boy from Victoria BC Michael Saunders. First off I like this Trade!  JA Happ is a FA at the end of the 2015 and baring him coming out and dominating for 3 months... right now is the time to deal him if you want to get maximum value.  In Saunders you get a guy to play LF Well, Got some Wheels and moving to the Roger's Centre "Should" help his bat (which looked to be taking a turn for the better last year).  Yes, I would rather have Melky then Saunders (Lots of power in the line-up currently and they need more contact hitters) but this deal allows the team to do so much more to the overall line-up than signing Melky would have.  Anyways.....What I took most from this deal is that Alex Anthopoulos is doing exactly what he said he was going to do this offseason.  At the end of the year AA said that he was not going to let the market dictate what Jays plans are for the offseason.  Waiting around to see how thing splayed out was not an acceptable strategy, and this deal to me is a perfect example of this.  I think the Jays did want Melky back, but even though they said that they didn't have a time frame on getting a deal done with Melky, this trade for a Left Fielder with potential and control right before the winter meetings says otherwise.  AA now has no Left Field issue to deal with, He's potentially cleaned up some of the bad eggs around the clubhouse and how will spend the Winter Meetings fixing his bullpen.  It's Alex's World this offseason and we are all just living in it!



3. The past few days have seen a number of the regular Blue Jays reporters are starting to stress that the Jays have XXX amount of Money left to spend this offseaosn based on the previous year's player salary budget.  That's all well and fine, but what makes me question all of this with a Rockian Eyebrow is if this is the case, why does Paul Beeston go out of his way to say that Payroll is going up this year?  I get that if it even goers up by 1 million year over year it's technically going up, but to me why would you put yourself in a position if it's minimal increase.  I don't get the need to build false hope and then need to justify your statement through semantics.



4.  Good Old Boy John Gibbons was on the Jeff Blair Show on Thursday and the conversation at one point turned to the the topic of putting Aaron Sanchez into the starting rotation for 2015.  Gibby didn't hold anything back and pretty much said that 99% we are going to see Aaron Sanchez as a starter for the Blue Jays in 2015.  I'm not convinced this is the case. I'm not saying he can't go there and pitch well, but I still think the Jays make a play for another starter and may end up putting Sanchez into the Closer role.  Gibby really liked him there and he has the stuff to dominate in that role for a long time!



5.  So now it looks like the focus for the Blue Jays will shift to the helping upgrade the bullpen, which in all reality how this turns could determine how next season will play out.  We've seen over the last few years that a truly dominant bullpen can help push a team towards playoff glory and how a terrible bullpen will turn a good team into a mediocre one. I'm still not convinced the Jays see the value in giving crazy $ to the two big FA bullpen arms that are out there in David Robertson and Andrew Miller, but to say I would be surprised if they did sign either one would mean I didn't learn anything from the offseason so far.  Still I believe we see the Jays bring in 2 or 3 relievers in the next few weeks.  I could see them looking seriously at Luke Gregerson, Sergio Romo, Jason Grilli and maybe even taking a flyer on Jason Motte.



Next week we have the Winter meetings!  One of the most exciting times of the year in the baseball world!  I don't expect the Jays to do anything overly significant next week, but i'm sure there will be rumors aplenty that will keep those in Jays nation talking for some time!

5 Thoughts on the Toronto Blue Jays Dec 1st - Week in Review - Offseason Edition

The week in Jays Nation started out quiet and left with a "HOLY SHAT...we got Josh Donaldson"

5 thoughts on the week that was..... here you go!

1.  The Blue Jays released their 2015 promotional schedule.  Lots and Lots of great stuff to help elongate line-ups on Sunday mornings all through the summer.

Highlight 1.  The Bell, Barfield & Moseby bobblehead.   Ummm yeah that's amazing.  Who wouldn't want that?  Probably anyone born after 1985 maybe?

Highlight 2.  On April 19th, there is a Jose Bautista Bobblehead night, but in addition to this...... After the game any Amateur baseball team can have their picture taken on field.  Amazing.... and I have already sent an email to my softball team.

To see a complete list of the promotions for 2015...See the link below.

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/schedule/promotions.jsp?c_id=tor


2. A report came out  from Buster Olney saying that Melky Cabrera would rather sign with a team other than the Jays due to the team still playing on artificial turf!  Cue the Shat Storm....Soon after the rumor came out Melky's Agent was on the Fan 590 saying  Melky never said that, Soon after that Melky sent out a Tweet refuting the statement and then after that Jose Bautista ripped into the original tweet giving writers shit for saying info publicly that could have an effect on a free agents signing.  Pretty crazy chain of events...Whatever really....I would probably rather play on grass too, but let's be serious Melky is going to sign with whatever team gives him the best deal regardless of the surface he's playing on.



3.  Friday Night we had the latest MLB blockbuster that saw the Blue Jays trade Brett Lawrie, Sean Nolin, Kendall Graveman and Franklin Barreto to the Oakland Athletics for All-Star Josh Donaldson.  I've said much to this trade already, but let's be real... If you don't like this trade for baseball reasons than you suck!  Sure some of the Guys could turn out to be stars and help the Athletics win multiple pennants, but the reality is that they won't.  The road to the MLB is littered with players who were can't miss prospects and if you can get an MVP candidate for some lower end prospects you do it.



4.  Late Sunday night Ken Rosenthal tweeted out that the Blue Jays were interested in Alberto Callaspo as a buy low option for 2nd base. I can't say really see it as that much more of an upgrade over Macier Izturis.  I guess the possibility of having an offensive resurgence hitting at the Dome is possible, but that being said I really don't know what his defense is like, so i'm not sure I see the reasoning with signing Callaspo.  What do I know...I'm not be paid to make make these decisions.



5. Word out from Alex Anthopolous himself on Sunday was that the Jays are  out on any of the high end Bullpen talent that is available in Free Agency.  From my POV, this only makes sense.  Long term deals the like of Andrew Miller and David Robertson are going to get rarely have staying power for bullpen guys.  I'm not sure why that is, but my assumption is that after a guy has a breakout year in the pen it's only a matter of time before the league is able to watch enough film and figure them out.  If that's the case then it's really not that difficult to figure it out since I figured it out.



That being said I do believe the Jays were in on Andrew Miller and were trying to get it done early in the hope of getting to sign quick and get as much value as possible, but as the off-season went on more and more teams got into the race and killed any value that the Jays possibly saw in him.

5 Thoughts on the Blue Jays Trade of Brett Lawrie (+) for Josh Donaldson

So after a very bland and boring week in Blue Jays land on Friday Night at around 10:30pm it was leaked that the Blue Jays have traded Canadian 3rd baseman Brett Lawrie, Starting pitcher Kendall Graveman,  Starting pitcher Sean Nolin, and International SS Franklin Barreto to the Oakland Athletics for All-Star 3rd baseman Josh F@cking Donaldson.



Needless to say Blue Jays nation went god damn bananas!

Here are my 5 initial thoughts on the trade!

1.I'm still a little bit shocked that Brett Lawrie was traded to be quite honest!  When he joined the team after being dealt for Shaun Marcum, it seemed inevitable that he would be a staple in the Blue Jays organization.  He seemed to have all the physical tools that one would need to make it the Big Leads + he was Canadian.  The Jays had never had a full fledge Canadian Star on the team and this seemed like their best shot to have one.  Those elements lead me to believe we would see Lawrie around for a while.  Well since making his MLB debut he's been injury prone and very inconsistent, couple that with the fact that the Jays now have another potential Canadian Star and one Proven Canadian star on their roster, the time just seems right to capitalize on the value that Lawrie has.



2. Oh the three prospects that went to the Athletics most Jays fans probably only saw limited innings pitched by Graveman and Nolin at best.  Most of the word on the Interwebs is that Barreto could be the key of the deal and he's still only 18.  For me I like what I saw out of Graveman this year and was a little disappointed his name was out 1st of all the prospects going the other way.  I'm a big fan of having sinker ball pitchers in the Dome and he definitely was that.  Oh well!  Prospects will break your heart!



3. Again much like the Martin FA signing this deal doesn't fix an immediate need that the Jays had.  We still don't have a Left Fielder, A working Bullpen and an acceptable option at 2nd base.  That being said, both deals have made us better at each position, they haven't really handcuffed the team financially and they make the team more appealing to other possible FA targets.  The whole concept of AA having an off-season plan and not deviating from it is getting extremely difficult to ignore!



4.  I'm not going to pretend that I heard this exactly word for word, however today on PTS Shi Davidi said something along the lines that John Gibbons want to eliminate the immaturity in the club house.  Well I guess after the way the off-season has a gone already it's fair to assume who those player were who Gibbons thoughts were "immature".





5. JOSH DONALDSON!  WOW!  Still can't believe that this trade was out there to make.  In Donaldson we pretty much get the guy who we all wanted Brett Lawrie to be!   Being able to put a talent like him into the middle of our line-up instantly makes the Blue Jays better.   I'm not exactly sure how his game will translate into the AL East, but you would think a great hitter going to one of the best hitters ball parks in the league it should be a good thing.  We will have to see how he get's accustomed to playing on the turf, most guys need some time to get used to the unique playing conditions that the turf provide.



Bonus Thought!  I can't believe the Red Sox weren't in on a deal like this....They have the prospects to make it happen and I would think they would rather give up a few pieces rather than give Pablo Sandoval almost 100M over 5 years!

Quick 5 Thoughts on the Toronto Blue Jays - Off-Season Edition - The more fun season!

Fairly boring weekend out there in Blue Jays land, but i'm not complaining after such a fun week leading into the weekend.  Just a quick hit today!

1.  Looks like the Blue Jays are out on Pablo Sandoval seeing as they haven't provided an offer to the player and all reports are saying that it's down to the Red Sox, Padres and Giants.  I would have liked to see the Panda with the Blue Jays, but ideally I would like to see the Blue Jays go after a 2nd basemen in Trade rather than sign a 3rd baseman and send Lawrie over to 2nd.  If the Jays are going to have Reyes playing SS for the next little while having Lawrie beside him drastically helps make the left side of the infield.  The Jays wouldn't be going after Chase Headley now would they?



2.  So we are less than a week into the Russell Martin era in Toronto and I've already heard more about framing then when I finished my basement.  Do I understand 100% exactly that all entails a good 'Framer" of the baseball?  No, but that's ok!  After listening to people talk about it, it sounds kinda boring.  All I do know is that if it's going to help the Jays win then I'm in.  Pitch Framing for everyone!



3. Later on in the week we heard that the Jays were feeling out what the market is for Torii Hunter. Seems that there are a lot of teams in on him.  My suggestion...Let them have him.  Only reason for me to think that the Jays want him would be for this Clubhouse Presence, cause he aint getting any better.



4.  Mike Wilner today went out to say that the Jays had  "One of the most dysfunctional clubhouses" around via some of his sources.  Well I guess we can tell who the Jays thought was the problem.... I wonder if it's just a coincidence that Adam Lind and Anthony Gose have been traded and the team won't be bringing back Colby Rasmus and Casey Janssen?



http://pmd.fan590.com/podcasts/blue_jays_this_week/bjtw_20141123_143524--BlueJaysTalkThis-Week---November-23---Sunday-.mp3


5. Below is a link to a great overview of the timeline up to the Russell Martin signing via Bob Eilliott.  He wrote something similar a few years back that went over the timeline leading up to the Marlins trade.  Give it a look, you'll even get the chance to find out what AA had for dinner one night!

http://m.torontosun.com/2014/11/23/in-depth-look-at-how-blue-jays-landed-russell-martin







Worst Clubhouse - Can it be changed?