Steve Simmons says in today's paper that the problem with the Jays is they are built for the future, not for today.
One Blue Jay executive called the performance of the team in the first quarter "a complete f' ing distaster".
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/05/18/blue-jays-built-to-win-in-future-not-now
I agree with him.
They have some pretty good parts that could make for a strong pitching staff 2 or 3 years down the road.
The biggest problem is that the timelines of players like Bautista and Encarnacion don't slush in or mesh in with when these pitchers are likely to be pretty good.
And that's a huge problem.
To me the older veterans who have market value should be traded and the team should acquire prospects that can contribute meaningfully in a couple of years.
I think Billy Beane would do that and he's a pretty good GM.
And I don't blame Gibby for the poor performance of the team. Overall, I think he's done a pretty good job.
It's not his fault he's forced to use some of the pitchers he's stuck with.
As Don Cherry once said when he got fired from a coaching job in Denver: "You can't soar like an eagle when you're working with turkeys".
And as for AA.
He's a tough one to evaluate. I kind of like the guy to be honest. He has a good heart for baseball.
But then again I did like J.P. Ricciardi mainly because he was such a great and entertaining talker in post game call in shows.
I loved Ricciardi even though some of his moves turned out to be not so great.
The thing about AA is that he's almost brilliant at times and then blows it by getting a bit careless.
He did draft Kris Bryant, but couldn't sign him.
He was just about the only one who knew about Noah Syndergaard the year he was drafted; but, gave him away for pretty much nothing.
He signed Henderson Alvarez as an international free agent and then tossed him away.
He almost got Aroldis Chapman out of Cuba; but, got nervous and backed out at the last second.
He's been a really good drafter of players and he has some pretty good instincts about who might be good.
He has to learn to trust his gut more and stop thinking himself out of his gut feelings.
That's the way it looks to me anyway.
There's always next year as they say in Dodgerland.