Blue Jays, 2013 edition

[Jennifer_]

I've not seen 1 indication that Mark Buehrle does not want to play for Toronto.

He would like to be able to have his family here with him, but I don't think he's ever mentioned
not wanting to play for the Blue Jays.

No- totally-agree

I think highly of him...

I forget the catcher's name- Buck (?)

He talked to the former Marlins about Toronto - telling them they aren't just Toronto's team but all of Canada"s..

Reyes was very unhappy initially.. I folkowed him on Instagram but he later deleted his unhappy comments...

You are right and maybe I wasnt fair bc he has been nothing but professional. ..

But I know how it feels to be seperated from a pet you love.

Mark was encouraging Romero tonight... and I agree he is a good person and Im glad he is a Jay.

Based on earlier media coverage - I think he was unhappy (kinda like Bautista said he will never move here bc he hates the cold...)but I agree it was unfair of me to criticize him.

I still need a lil civic or national pride to care.... these guys give me that.

 

[gcostanza]

No- totally-agree

I think highly of him...

I forget the catcher's name- Buck (?)

He talked to the former Marlins about Toronto - telling them they aren't just Toronto's team but all of Canada"s..

Reyes was very unhappy initially.. I folkowed him on Instagram but he later deleted his unhappy comments...

You are right and maybe I wasnt fair bc he has been nothing but professional. ..

But I know how it feels to be seperated from a pet you love.

Mark was encouraging Romefo tonight... and I agree he is a good person and Im glad he is a Jay.

Based on earlier media civerage - I think he wS unhappy but I agree it was unfair of me to criticize him.

I think he was unhappy he couldn't live with his family during the season.
He has been a leader on that club, one of the few acquisitions who has lived up to his pedigree.

Solid 2 innings by RiRo tonight, without the Davis error, who knows if that run scores.

 

[Jennifer_]

I think he was unhappy he couldn't live with his family during the season.
He has been a leader on that club, one of the few acquisitions who has lived up to his pedigree.

Solid 2 innings by RiRo tonight, without the Davis error, who knows if that run scores.

You are right.

I will post the links tomorrow but if you know them- look at Rogers, Bautista, Encarnation or Reyes' Instagrams....

These guys love our city....

It just makes me happy to have them (..wow- I know exactly how estorgen-filled that I must sound )

But it makes me a more dedicated fan regardless

 

[mightymouse007]

I really feel positive for next year.
I know people whine about Toronto fans bc we accept mediocrity... I really dont care much about any other sport- so that is not fair. I was at World Series games in both 92 and 93 ... so i know how good it feels to have a winning team..... I want that again. (I was too young to enjoy the wins
.. and not from Toronto then. ..)

I love seeing blue Jays gear on people- I think the jays have more fans than the leafs.....

Our players like being here (...well maybe not Burhele...). And bc guys like Alomar chose to stay here- I kinda feel pride in our team bc the players make me feel civic pride (really- I think that is a vital factor in satisfying female sports fans... we need more than chosing a random team to care about... we need a reason and this team gives me one....)

I want us to win for our city.

I really believe in what we have though.

I will support the Jays through this season and im ready for 2014. I hope there are a few small tweaks but dont believe an overhaul is needed.

Romero did well tonight- his messed up head needed this...

Well Jenn, it's good that you're always positive with everything. However, I think it's time we accept reality. As much as I hate to admit, John Farrell is right when he said the blue jays don't know how to handle players development. We have not had any decent prospects since the Gord Ash day's with Halladay, Vernon Wells in his prime, Carlos Delgado, etc.

Did I not tell you the Dickey trade was bad? As much as you love him, he is not going to get any better than what you have seen him this year. At best, he be in the mid-high 3 ERA range playing in the AL East. I'm already being optimistic when I say that. Roger Center is just not the park for Dickey. Neither is Fenway or Yankee Stadium.

Buerhle, I think he's decent. The only downfall is, his career overall numbers is bad against the Yankees. He gives you your 200 innings every year. In general, I don't have a problem with him on the team. He's not as old as Dickey.

However, I do think we need more players that play with passion. I too like Kawasaki's presence. He isn't the most talented player on the team, but he is one of the smartest players on the team. If only guys like Brett Lawrie and a few other guys play with that attitude, we be in a much better situation. Of course, we also need a better starting staff.

I think Toronto teams is curse in general.

Leafs - no cup since 1967.
Raptors - no championship on record lol
Jays - not since 92-93. I was still too young at that time to understand baseball.

 

[Jennifer_]

.

Did I not tell you the Dickey trade was bad? As much as you love him, he is not going to get any better than what you have seen him this year. At best, he be in the mid-high 3 ERA range playing in the AL East. I'm already being optimistic when I say that. Roger Center is just not the park for Dickey. Neither is Fenway or Yankee Stadium.

Buerhle, I think he's decent. The only downfall is, his career overall numbers is bad against the Yankees. He gives you your 200 innings every year. In general, I don't have a problem with him on the team. He's not as old as Dickey.

However, I do think we need more players that play with passion. I too like Kawasaki's presence. He isn't the most talented player on the team, but he is one of the smartest players on the team. If only guys like Brett Lawrie and a few other guys play with that attitude, we be in a much better situation. Of course, we also need a better starting staff.

I think Toronto teams is curse in general.

Leafs - no cup since 1967.
Raptors - no championship on record lol
Jays - not since 92-93. I was still too young at that time to understand baseball.

...you did.

The day after when I was on a Blue Jays high

He has still pitched more innings than most pitchers (think hes in the top 3??) And since the Allstar break he has been more dominant.

Will we have grass next year or not? Zaun is right.. dome needs to be closed when he pitches (tho I saw him win on Canada day....)

Sky dome is 3rd best hitters park which is bad for Dickey... think we have 3rd most hrs here....)
.

I like good people on my team because I wanna be proud of the players on my team.

I know nice doesn't win games and I know y all will roll your eyes.... lol

But his play combined with "him".. leaves me with zero regrets.

Maybe he's not our ace but I am glad he is a Jay.

 

[teassoc]

Shame McGowan couldn't hold on to the lead. Gives up 2 doubles and a walk for 1 out.

Good to see Rasmus and Encarnacion back.

Not surprised to see Arencibia strike out with runners on first and third in the seventh to end the innings.

 

[Dawgger]

Shame McGowan couldn't hold on to the lead. Gives up 2 doubles and a walk for 1 out.

Good to see Rasmus and Encarnacion back.

Not surprised to see Arencibia strike out with runners on first and third in the seventh to end the innings.

Don't blame McGowan... Sierra should have caught that ball. As for JP he needs to play winter ball. Hitting awful defense worse.

 

[gcostanza]

J. P. Arencibia~batting .203 , the lowest average ever for a Blue Jay player with 450 p.a. in one season.

 

[Dawgger]

J. P. Arencibia~batting .203 , the lowest average ever for a Blue Jay player with 450 p.a. in one season.

That is sad..... the combines batting average of the 3 Jays catchers has to be under .200 which is even sadder. None of them were/are outstanding defensively either, That position need to be seriously addressed in the off season.

 

[Jennifer_]

Don't blame McGowan... Sierra should have caught that ball. As for JP he needs to play winter ball. Hitting awful defense worse.

They brought up that catching coach and suddenly he made 2 game ending throws two days in a row..

Im hesitant to totally discount him... again- he loves Toronto and likes playing here.. I believe he wants to be better. ... dont wanna see us lose him if he has real potential. ...

But he needs some help or needs a vetran to be brought in to take over as ft catcher.

..and he needs to stay off twitter.

 

[Jennifer_]

Well Jenn, it's good that you're always positive with everything. However, I think it's time we accept reality. As much as I hate to admit, John Farrell is right when he said the blue jays don't know how to handle players development. We have not had any decent prospects since the Gord Ash day's with Halladay, Vernon Wells in his prime, Carlos Delgado, etc.

Did I not tell you the Dickey trade was bad? As much as you love him, he is not going to get any better than what you have seen him this year. At best, he be in the mid-high 3 ERA range playing in the AL East. I'm already being optimistic when I say that. Roger Center is just not the park for Dickey. Neither is Fenway or Yankee Stadium.

Buerhle, I think he's decent. The only downfall is, his career overall numbers is bad against the Yankees. He gives you your 200 innings every year. In general, I don't have a problem with him on the team. He's not as old as Dickey.

However, I do think we need more players that play with passion. I too like Kawasaki's presence. He isn't the most talented player on the team, but he is one of the smartest players on the team. If only guys like Brett Lawrie and a few other guys play with that attitude, we be in a much better situation. Of course, we also need a better starting staff.

I think Toronto teams is curse in general.

Leafs - no cup since 1967.
Raptors - no championship on record lol
Jays - not since 92-93. I was still too young at that time to understand baseball.

Btw- john farrels opinion means very little to me (I was chanting "fak u farrel" at the first Red sox game this year

You honestly don't think we have players who the team has focused on for development?

I think Tampa is great at this for sure... and prob better than us... but I dont think there's that much to question in the jays' system.

 

[Dawgger]

They brought up that catching coach and suddenly he made 2 game ending throws two days in a row..

Im hesitant to totally discount him... again- he loves Toronto and likes playing here.. I believe he wants to be better. ... dont wanna see us lose him if he has real potential. ...

But he needs some help or needs a vetran to be brought in to take over as ft catcher.

Jenn I like JP as a person too and would dearly love to see him improve and succeed as a catcher. He is going to have to work at his trade if he wants to stay in the bigs. Offensively, average is deplorable strikeouts unacceptable. He has power but pitchers don't give him much to hit, especially with runners on base. because they know he will chase bad pitches. Defensively at times he looks like he can get it done but more often than naught he seems to lose concentration and reverts back to his old habits. Unfortunately for the Jays Thole isn't any better and there doesn't appear to be a minor leaguer getting close. I hope JP spends the winter working on all aspects of his game. AA will have to find another catcher in the off season that can challenge JP for the #1 job, that might get him moving too.

..and he needs to stay off twitter.

I don't tweet so I really don't what has or hasn't been said to or about him, however, if JP has problems with fan criticism he needs stay off social media, period.

 

[blackrock13]

The BJ's are the first team to have 5 20 HR players on a single team. today was a good game.

 

[saxon]

Getting Brian McCann would solve the catcher problem for several years. Would he sign with the Jays? probably not but you have to at least make an offer.

 

[Ref]

The BJ's are the first team to have 5 20 HR players on a single team. today was a good game.

For the current season. It has been accomplished in past seasons...

TSN quotes current season...
http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=431864


Baseball Almanac quotes records...
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_hr7.shtml

 

[blackrock13]

For the current season. It has been accomplished in past seasons...

TSN quotes current season...
http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=431864


Baseball Almanac quotes records...
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_hr7.shtml

Yes, for his season.

 

[Dawgger]

Getting Brian McCann would solve the catcher problem for several years. Would he sign with the Jays? probably not but you have to at least make an offer.

Agree he would help immensely. Making $12,000,000. this year and probably looking for next year. If the Jays were able to sign McCann who would they keep as back up?

 

[mandrill]

Any views on how the September call-ups will affect the off season and next year?

Here's my take so far:

Pillar back down to AAA for more seasoning.
Gose a maybe to stay up next year, but good speed and fielding.
Sierra will definitely stay up, w more work on his defence, if his hitting stays good.
Goins - definitely stays up unless his hitting totally collapses.

This probably means that Izturis is dealt. At this point, I think they are going to showcase Melke next spring and try and get a deal.

With reasonable outings from Rogers, Redmond and Happ, I think the Jays may try and package Dickey as well. The Rogers Centre may just not be a good place for him to pitch given his tendency to give up long flies.

 

[mightymouse007]

You honestly don't think we have players who the team has focused on for development?

I think Tampa is great at this for sure... and prob better than us... but I dont think there's that much to question in the jays' system.

Nope! Compare to our AL East Rivals, we are the worse in players development. If you look at our guys like: Lawrie, Romero, McGowan, Litsch(from before), Drabek, Hutchinson, list goes on. It's either they are injured or have underachieved. We have not really successfully develop any prospects to stars in the last decade. Maybe Aaron Hill is, but yet we let him go.

Tampa Bay is way better in players development, its not even a maybe. We're like almost double their payroll, yet we are like 2x worse than them. I think Joel Maddon did a good job in managing their players, something I feel like Gibby has not done a good job at. It could really be the small things such as asking a player to put a proper bunt down, stealing bases at the right time, look for opposite field hits, etc.

 

[Dawgger]

Any views on how the September call-ups will affect the off season and next year?

Here's my take so far:

Pillar back down to AAA for more seasoning.
Gose a maybe to stay up next year, but good speed and fielding.
Sierra will definitely stay up, w more work on his defence, if his hitting stays good.
Goins - definitely stays up unless his hitting totally collapses.

This probably means that Izturis is dealt. At this point, I think they are going to showcase Melke next spring and try and get a deal.

With reasonable outings from Rogers, Redmond and Happ, I think the Jays may try and package Dickey as well. The Rogers Centre may just not be a good place for him to pitch given his tendency to give up long flies.

Agreed on Goins. Defense is outstanding, hitting is the concern. As long as he isn't an automatic out he stays.
Pillar not ready for major league hitting but he sure looks promising as he has been successful in the minors. Defensively he is fine.
Sierra, no doubt gets a shot especially if Davis doesn't return. He will have to improve defensively and has the physical tools to do it.
Gose will depend on what happens with Rasmus and Davis. If they don't trade Rasmus he could be part of a trade for a starter and or a catcher.
I disagree on the starters. Of the 3 I think Redmond has the most upside. Happ scares me, I don't think he is anymore than a 5 inning pitcher.
He has to cut down on the pitches per inning. Roger has to get consistent. He has his moments but.....
The good news is there are lots of guys that think they can compete for a spot (competion is always good)and there is AA pitcher that is real close.
Don't know if these guys will get her done but I expect Dickey and Burhle to return.
I read an article on Josh Johnson suggesting he was better than his numbers and could/should be offered a contract. I am skeptical!

I can see a number of guys being traded, including Isturis, Lind Arencebia and/or Thole, Ramsus or Gose, DeRosa ,some of the relievers. I don't expect massive changes
but you may need a program on opening day.