Blue Jays 2010
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I know that. Was surprised when he was called up and he's not done a lot of good things since then has he?
Tallet is the other really bad pitcher in relief. A few others have good and bad days, e.g. Fraser. Even Downes has not been as solid as he was last year.
Hate to correct you again but to this point Downs has pitched better than last year.
Here's the stats to prove it. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/downssc01.shtml
Here's what Richard Griffin (who's actually pretty decent, for a Star reporter anyways) had to say:
http://thestar.blogs.com/baseball/
http://thestar.blogs.com/baseball/
Whoa, deja vu!
Huh, I didn't know Damien Cox was a TERBite...
Jokes aside, I think Griff is actually pretty good. He's fairly balanced, and he's been around the game for a long time. I've seen him coaching his Oakville team on a few occasions, (back in my, umm, "previous life') and his kids play the game the right way - good fundamentals, aggressive without being foolish, their fielders play solid defense and their hitters go up to the plate with a plan. Bantam and Midget are two of the hardest divisions to coach; anyone who can teach baseball to 14- to 16-year-olds needs to have a pretty solid understanding of the game, and Griff does a good job of it.
Sometimes he goes on these long rants where you can't make heads or tails of what his point is; sometimes he acts like he knows more of what's going on behind the scenes than he actually does. But on the whole, I still think he's worth a read. Considering Toronto's mostly a hockey town, good baseball commentators are hard to come by. Even though I'm not quite an expert, I think I know baseball pretty well... and IMHO, Griff is far from the worst.
But that's just my opinion, what is it about Griff that you don't like? Not trying to be confrontational, I'm just curious because I thought his rep was generally positive among baseball people.
I used to follow the team a lot more in the late 90's and I thought Griffin was a sleazebag idiot who made a mountain out of every little mini controversy that he managed to kick up and slammed the players and manager unfairly and unmercifully. I guess it was his way of being "controversial" and selling newspapers.
Anyway, I've avoided the guy's column since that time.
I'm glad to hear he's a competent bantam baseball coach though. I guess he's found his correct level in the baseball world.
Anyway, I've avoided the guy's column since that time.
I'm glad to hear he's a competent bantam baseball coach though. I guess he's found his correct level in the baseball world.
Blue Jays Defense was key tonight. It let them down in the 6th but couple of big plays in the 9th by the defense , Molina picking off Kalish at 1B and Wise coming over from his RF spot to back up Wells and Snider to limit Martinez to a triple instead of an inside the park HR. Still not happy with Molina's efforts on pitches in the dirt though. He doesnt seem to make much of an effort to get down and block the pitch.
I am really glad that the Jays are playing the Red Sox tough and in Fenway too. Can't wait until September 27, 28 and 29 when the Yanks come to town.
Clever play by John McDonald Sat. night in 1 run game.
Scampers home to score a run when the catcher and pitcher leave home plate undefended.
http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12203743&c_id=tor&topic_id=
Scampers home to score a run when the catcher and pitcher leave home plate undefended.
http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12203743&c_id=tor&topic_id=
They messed up, one of them should have backed up the other and hold Martinez to a double and maybe even a single. It turned out OK, but it could have cost them the game. Why even attempt to catch it at that point in the game ? I was thinking 'oh no' when Martinez made it all the way to third.
I probably would have been saying "What a great catch !" if Wells or Snider had caught it.
The way it turned out, I think the Blue Jays could have contended if Hill and Lind had had a season close to what they had last year.
Although I no longer recall specifics, there have been at least 15 occasions in all the games I have watched this year when they were so close to victory but could not get a timely hit with runners in scoring position. Put 10 of those in the win column and they would be, say, 85-63... and NY, Boston and Tampa with 1 or 2 less wins each, too, because they were the opposition on some of those blown opportunities.
That does not change the fact that it is not what happened... just a "what if" to look ahead.
I don't think the Jays are that far off. If you assume for 2011 about the same level of performance from the rest of the team -- except for Bautista, of course -- and if Hill and Lind can return to form, then they are probably a productive first baseman and 3rd baseman or right fielder away. Pitching is bound to improve now that the starters have some experience and there are more candidates for the pen. Of course, you can never have too much pitching... but they already have a lot of talent, what is missing is the consistency.
Perry
Although I no longer recall specifics, there have been at least 15 occasions in all the games I have watched this year when they were so close to victory but could not get a timely hit with runners in scoring position. Put 10 of those in the win column and they would be, say, 85-63... and NY, Boston and Tampa with 1 or 2 less wins each, too, because they were the opposition on some of those blown opportunities.
That does not change the fact that it is not what happened... just a "what if" to look ahead.
I don't think the Jays are that far off. If you assume for 2011 about the same level of performance from the rest of the team -- except for Bautista, of course -- and if Hill and Lind can return to form, then they are probably a productive first baseman and 3rd baseman or right fielder away. Pitching is bound to improve now that the starters have some experience and there are more candidates for the pen. Of course, you can never have too much pitching... but they already have a lot of talent, what is missing is the consistency.
Perry
I've been thinking about 2011 a bit, too, and I'm not quite as optimistic as you. A few thoughts:
(1) Hill and Lind should be better than this year, but may not be as good as 2009. Rather than .300 - 35 - 110 they may be .275 - 25 - 90. That's still a considerable improvement.
(2) Bautista will come down to earth. He may crank out 35 HRs, but he won't approach 50.
(3) Whereas in the past the Jays have had horrible luck with respect to injuries, this year they've been almost untouched. The only significant ones I can think of are Snyder and Litsch. My guess is that next year they'll be more affected by injuries than this year.
(4) Like this year, there will be one or two players having career years, and one or two who have season long slumps. We'll just have to see who they are.
(5) One concern I have is that Baltimore will be much better next year. They seem to be a solid team since they've changed managers. Except for the last series, the Jays have pretty much had their way with the Orioles. That may not be the case next year.
So where does this leave the Jays? If you accept that the Yankees and Red Sox will be spending even more money to win next year, and the Rays talent is still maturing or in its prime, the Jays may be in a position of battling to hold onto 4th place in the division rather than thinking about pushing their way up into third. Of course, this is just my opinion. I've been wrong before, and I certainly make no guarantees on this prediction.
The Jays also lack a superstar pitcher. Someone like Doc Halladay for example. As good as they are, would Marcum, Romero and Morrrow ever compete for the Cy Young?
Morrow totally has the stuff to compete for a CYA. And I wouldn't worry too much about Baltimore for the next few years as their current roster sucks, and their farm system is pretty weak at the higher levels.
God, this Cito madness can't end soon enough. What the fuck are stiffs like McCoy, Wise and Lewis doing in the lineup at the expense of Arencibia and Snyder. You make room for Arencibia's bat, dumbass.
Can't argue that point, I was particularly disappointed with how he played up last year's "mutiny" against Cito... but I don't think that really speaks to his knowledge of the sport itself. Midget is pretty much the last level where the players need any real teaching; once they reach Junior, they either know it or they don't. It's the players in Midget Ball that are looking for scholarships down south where they can get the attention of the scouts, and maybe make a career of it.
Perhaps Griffin's taste for controversy is more a reflection of the fact that he writes for the Star?
I hope Travis Snider spends the offseason playing in the Arizona Winter League.
He's lost so much time to injury the last 2 seasons that he needs to get a lot of at bats and play a lot of defensive baseball so he can hit the ground running at spring training next year.
He's lost so much time to injury the last 2 seasons that he needs to get a lot of at bats and play a lot of defensive baseball so he can hit the ground running at spring training next year.
The article was actually written by Geoff Baker:
http://digamma.net/btfwiki/White_Jays
Griffin's contribution was to suggest Ricciardi's obsession with sabermetrics (and the Moneyball philosophy) tended to prefer patient hitters, and those who had played in college; the team's preference for non-minorities was more because of systemic issues regarding race, rather than out-and-out racism, or a desire for a cohesive clubhouse.
Latin players tend to show less discipline at the plate because they're taught, at an early age, that they "have to hit their way off the island." Miguel Tejada is the primary example used in Michael Lewis' Moneyball, and the statistics are legit; Latin players do tend to swing at more pitches, and Vladimir Guerrero is another good example. African-American players, especially those of a lower socio-economic status, are more likely to skip college in leiu of a signing bonus, and the chance to start playing and earning a paycheck right away. Also, the number of African-Americans in MLB has declined steadily over the last two decades (something Torii Hunter has been speaking against for years) due to the higher appeal of other sports, such as football and basketball, and the fact that baseball is increasingly more expensive to play.
So, Griffin was actually correct on this one, and his comments were supported both by statistics and the team's approach to the draft under Ricciardi. Regardless, the Jays have expanded their international scouting departments under A.A., and the signing of Hechavarria and the club's pursuit of Aroldis Chapman certainly speak to the progress we've already made since we (finally!) got rid of J.P. last year.
We'll also need to rebuild our bullpen, since Downs is gone for sure, and Gregg and Frasor are likely to leave as well. I don't think 2011 will be our year to compete, and we might even finish with a worse record next year than this year.
The bottom line is, if you play in the AL East and you want to make the playoffs, you have to be one of the top three teams in the majors, and the Jays will need to win at least 96 games just for a sniff of the Wild Card. If we finish at .500 this year, that means we'll need another 15 wins to get there; I just don't see our players improving so much as to give us the wins we need to compete.
Still a fun team to watch, though (assuming Rogers doesn't put ALL the games on SN1!)
