Toronto Blue Jays Thread

[bondon]

Watching this team is infuriating. Every time we start the inning off with a hit or a couple of hits we some how manage to end the inning with nothing to show for it.

Bonifacio ****ing sucks. ****ing horrible. Put aside the fact that the guy couldn't hit a ****ing whale if one was thrown at him but he can't bunt worth a shit. To me if you're a guy who relies on speed to be successful at the MLB level you NEED TO KNOW HOW TO BUNT. I have no doubt that I could ****ing bunt better than he could.

ARTHGHQ#%)%!

(I broke)

Edit: AND OBVIOUSLY JUST AS I POST THIS HE MAKES A NICE PLAY AT SECOND **** YOU BONIFACIO AND ARENCIBIA EVERY TIME I POST SOMETHING NEGATIVE ABOUT YOU YOU DO SOMETHING GOOD. I HATE WHEN PLAYERS DO THAT TO ME. IT'S LIKE ERIC HINSKE ALL OVER AGAIN. EVERY TIME I WOULD SAY HE'D STRIKE OUT OR HIT INTO A DP HE WOULD RIP A DOUBLE DOWN THE LINE

[bondon]

LOL! Let me break down what happened in the ninth inning for those of you who didn't watch.

Top of the 9th we're down by 3 runs. Izturis and Davis both single to get something going.
Arencibia comes up to the plate.
Arencibia gets two straight strikes.
Arencibia check swings at a pitch way up in the zone and strikes out on three straight pitches. Not only does he strikeout but he looks like an idiot while doing so.

Who's next? Emilio Boni****inguselessio.
Gibbons pinch hits Thole in for him.
You know you're shit when your manager pinch hits Josh Thole for you.

We out hit the Indians 8-4. We left 9 runners on base.

The winning streak feels like so long ago...

(If you couldn't tell, this game made me snap)

[TheWhale]

I'm glad someone has pointed out how exceptional Rasmus has been this year. Correct me if I'm wrong but he is #1 or 2 in Hr's for a CF and he actually leads the WAR category as well. As for him n D, that misjudged fly ball was one of maybe 2 bad plays I've seen from him this year.

It's annoying that JJ had such a good outing and this team couldn't do a damn thing with runners on. I don't know what it is about these Cleveland pitchers but they seem to own the Jays. Next up Masterson, which already has me feeling like the jays have lost another.

P.S. Cabrera may receive another 50 gamer due to be involved in the ridiculous Biogenesis case. If that happens, I officially give up on any wild card hopes for this year.

[bondon]

Yeah I've actually been a big fan of what Rasmus has done this year. Not the 5-tool player we thought we were getting, but still very good. By the way was the misplayed fly ball the one in Boston where he overcharged it and then turned around and fell? If so I think we should cut him a bit of slack on it...I know it's a routine play but if I remember correctly the weather in Boston at the time was extremely damp...it seemed like everybody was having trouble reading the ball that series. I remember Bautista did something similar and botched what should have been a routine play in the same series (might have even been the same game).

Masterson lifetime against Jays:
4-1, 2.80 ERA, 1.11WHIP

Decent numbers...bats are gonna have to wake up or he's going to shut them down.

As for Melky....sigh....

[bondon]

Great article posted on The Score regarding Arencibia. For those of you that don't know, Zaun was on Prime Time Sports recently where he gave his reaction to the Arencibia comments. Full article can be found here but I'll copy/paste the parts of the article that resonate with me the most

http://blogs.thescore.com/djf/2013/0...ew-of-reality/

ZAUN: I think his perception of my analysis is that I’ve somehow forgotten how hard it was to play the game in the three years since I retired. Unfortunately for him, I remember how easy it was for me to do certain things– catch the baseball, block it, make it stay right in front of me. I had my ups and downs with throwing the baseball based on surgeries, but he doesn’t really have that excuse just yet. You know, I’ve been a proponent of his in a lot of ways.

McCOWN: You were a defender of his when I was critical of him at the beginning.

ZAUN: No doubt. I always take an honest look at the catchers. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m hard on guys. I mean, I expect a lot out of a guy– and the first thing I expect him to be able to do is catch the baseball. So, when a guy leads the league in passed balls year after year, it’s embarrassing, and it’s not right. And I know this guy has so much more in him than we’ve seen.

McCOWN: Dirk went down to talk to him.
ZAUN: He did.
McCOWN: Did you you talk to Dirk after that conversation?

ZAUN: Yes I did.

McCOWN: How did Dirk evaluate that discussion? Did he think J.P. was receptive?

ZAUN: No, I think J.P. was very forthcoming with what he said to Dirk. It was also very evident that he has a very, shall we say, warped view of reality. I believe Dirk was having a conversation with him, and J.P. said something to him about a specific argument about how we should be skewing his performance in a positive way for the fans.

ZAUN: And he brought up the specifics– and I may be wrong on this– about how he wanted us to talk about where he ranked in the American League, as far as RBIs by a catcher. And I thought to myself, ‘Who cares? You’re hitting a buck-forty with runners in scoring position– that’s just about opportunity. How am I supposed to skew that?’ I think the word ‘top ten in the league’ came up, and I was like, ‘There’s only fifteen teams in the league, so why is that so great?’ It’s not that great.

McCOWN: [Laughter]

ZAUN: Look, I like the kid, I’m very hurt. I’m disappointed by his comments, especially the ones of a personal nature– I thought that was hitting below the belt– but I’m also a little disappointed that, like I said, he’s had my phone number, he’s had my email address, he knows where to find me. I don’t need to go down to the field every day to make sure everybody’s OK with the way I’m analyzing their performance. ‘Are you OK? Can I do anything to make your life better?‘ Come on. Nobody ever did anything for me. They never held my hand. In fact, I got the brutal side of the game. I had to earn every bit of it. So for somebody to say that I don’t remember how hard was to play? That’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s one of the most insane comments I’ve ever heard.

Arencibia is a ****ing tool. I can't believe he would say something like "you should be spinning what I'm doing in a positive way", though I'm not surprised that he did. That is one of the biggest problems in major sports media today. Too many writers/reporters are too afraid of speaking their mind because they're afraid the players won't like them or that they'll be fired (especially since Rogers owns the Jays). So instead of actually analyzing the game properly it's just one big circle jerk no matter how bad a player is doing. So sick of it.

Edit: I underlined the parts that really stood out to me.

[Zorro]

Big win tonight!! Lets start a damn streak here again boys.. Only 6.5 out of both wildcard spots..

I bet Jansen is teaching Kawasaki how to throw to 1st base tonight..

Bonnafaccio is still crap, how is this guy in the majors?? He is useless..

And Thole, what a waste of a roster spot.. Our catchers suck so bad..

[Axeman33]

I read that interview with Zaun yesterday. This whole fiasco has really put a bad light on JPA. As if he didnt need more eyes on how unsuccessful his season has been (yeh I know he has hit a bunch of home runs, big deal). He is still weak defensively and terrible with RISP. If he was only half as good as he thinks he is.

I am not a big Greg Zaun fan by any means, but I don't think JPA is in any position to criticize anyone, that being said Zaun is. That's his job. He is a commentator. His job is to comment on what he sees. As a former catcher himself it's easy for Zaun to pick on JPA and comment on the good and the bad. I feel he has been fair with his comments on JPA. He has said good and bad when it comes to JPA and his season so far.

I've said it before, if JPA doesn't want people to criticize his game then get better at it. I know that's easier said then done, but until you get to that level, you best be ready to get picked apart from time to time. He needs to thicken up that skin a bit.

[bondon]

Working late last night so missed the whole game. Just saw the highlights. Wow nobody remembered how to play defense on both teams lol...brutal game of errors all over that threw the momentum the other way.

Oh man, if Kawasaki doesn't get that double to cash in three runs and makes that error in the ninth I think that would have punched his ticket back to AAA. That hit snapped an 0-18 run.

Impressive performance by Esmil Rogers. In the six games since being converted to a starter he's really only had two bad outings. The rest have been stellar. Nice to see him do well against his former team.

And hey...Bonifacio did something.

[bondon]

Also wanted to post this on a separate thought, this week Dirk Hayhurst began floating the idea of trading Casey Janssen which is something I posted on here a couple of weeks ago, and not surprisingly he and I were both met with skepticism. Here is an article he wrote recently. I've copy/pasted some highlights:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb...e-janssen-now/

Since 1969, when the Save stat was officially added, the winning percentage of teams taking leads after the eighth inning hasn’t seen any perceptible change. There was no closer role before then, and no Save for late inning arms to collect.

In fact, since 1944, when a team has a one-run lead after the eighth, it goes on to win the game 85 per cent of the time. Two runs equals 94 per cent. Three runs makes for 96 per cent. From 1944 to today, it hasn’t changed, closer or no closer. Save or no save.

The numbers seem to imply that Saves are a bubble market. You could easily forsake the role of closer in favour of deftly handling a stable of quality relievers. In fact, if you stripped away all the late inning, closer entrance pageantry out of it, we all might once again see the mathematical truth at play.

But facts are stubborn things. Janssen’s value has never been higher and he’s never been more easily replaced in the Jays bullpen than he is right now.

Oh, and did I mention Janssen is in the last guaranteed year of his contract? The team holds a $4 million option for Janssen’s services in 2014, and he is eligible for free agency after the ’14 season.

That’s right, the Jays are going to have to pay Janssen for his saves total eventually. He’s earned it, for certain, but it’s money the Jays don’t have to spend. Instead, why not let another team pay the Jays for Janssen’s saves total?

This is no disrespect to Janssen and what he’s done for the Jays. He’s been phenomenal in his limited closer role samples. But if you’re the Jays, and you know there is a market overvaluing a limited impact arm, you’d be foolish not to milk it for all it’s worth, especially when you have capable replacements.

He also mentions that Steve Delabar and Brett Cecil would be more than adequate replacements. He pretty much said everything that I said two weeks ago lol, but it's not to see that some are thinking the same things.

[Zorro]

I actually agree with this notion aswell.. But honestly, what are we going to get for Janssen?? I understand his value has never been higher, but what exactly could we expect in return for a guy like Janssen??

[bondon]

I actually agree with this notion aswell.. But honestly, what are we going to get for Janssen?? I understand his value has never been higher, but what exactly could we expect in return for a guy like Janssen??

I think that the idea is to try and get some form of a top prospect package, maybe a top prospect with a serviceable bullpen arm. We gave up a lot of our once great prospect depth last off-season to make all of the trades that we did. Our cupboards aren't BARE now...but they're not good.

I think the most important thing to consider in all of this is that we don't have contractual control on Casey past next season. Right now at his contract level, he's a steal for the Jays. But after next year's $4M option is up, you're looking at him probably getting north of $10M per for a decent number of years. If I recall correctly, our organization has pretty much said that we're at our spending limit. I'm sure that if there REALLY was a chance, that the budget may increase by a bit to make us more competitive.

Not to mention what I said last time I posted on this subject, that the 'closer' role is really hard to lock down. For every Mariano Rivera there are probably dozens of BJ Ryans.

[metaldude26]

Some more fodder for this discussion, What Went Wrong With the Toronto Blue Jays.

The writer alludes to the Blue Jays' best option here being to continue pushing all-in with whatever assets they have remaining to try to win now. I tend to disagree with this notion, just as I disagreed with the notion that they should push all-in to get Dickey. I think if you push all-in to try and salvage this season, what you get is at best like 85 wins, which would be another failure. We all know this was a "three-year plan" because that's what AA said it was. Year One can be a failure, so what. You push all-in and suddenly years Two and Three flop as well.

I'm not adverse to the team making more moves to upgrade the roster, particularly the starting pitching as the article suggests but it can't be a one-year solution.

[Zorro]

Chalk up another loss..

Two runners on base and zero out.. What happens??

Well Batista strikes out on a pitch over his head, and then Edwin hits into a double play.. Edwin did hit well though, had some nice lazers out to left, one cleard the wall and one smacked the top of the wall(364 feet from homeplate)..

Too many guys walking up there and swinging at the first pitch.. No feeling the pitcher out at all.. No trying to wear him down.. And no tryign to have quality at bats..

Lets turn this around boys, we need a leader, someone needs to talk to this group and wake everyone up..

[bondon]

14 hits vs. 9.
2 walks vs. 0.

5 runs vs. 8.

Nuff said....this team is brutally useless when runners are on base. But we'll hit solo jacks eight ways to Sunday.

[Zorro]

Big WIN, finally.. Bautista comes through in the clutch and hits a huge double to score Bumafaccio..