Blue Jays 2007 Season

[salsamarc]

are we a better team this year ?

consider the following:

well here we go again......

the 2007 season is just around the corner and there are some major changes

The Cat is gone (I am a big fan of him and I am sorry to see him go but I understand the reason of this move and hopefully R. Johnson can duplicate what he did last year)

Royce Clayton was signed (no comments here but please feel free to make any)

fan favorite Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas has been signed as a full time DH a smart move IF he remains healthy although we gave him quite a pay raise compared to what he make last year.......and in case he goes down who do we have to take over the DH position?

A.J. Burnett.......will he be healthy this season?

Greg Zaun: no Bengie Molina this time around to rain on his parade, is age going to be a factor here?

Alex Rios: is he still being used as trade bait? will he be here for years to come? HECK! will he finish this season as a Jay?

 

[bigdik]

The Jays still have a lot of question marks, mainly the rotation.
Halladay and Burnett have health questions, always. They're both injury prone
Chacin is an enigma, very good or very bad, but no consistency
The rest? Who knows? There's some good arms there, but can they come through?
Catching - I like Zaun, but behind him?
Left Field - Can Johnson play every day?
Middle infield - These guys sure as hell aren't Jeter and Cano, are they?
I think Rios will have a big year, and don't think he's going anywhere, at least not yet.
Great nucleus, with Overbay, Glaus, Wells and Thomas in the middle of the lineup, they'll score runs, but can they prevent them?

 

[A-ROD]

I think we are a touch better this year.
I am also going to be optimistic and believe that we have a shot at the pennant.
Yankees are older and I don't think the Red Sox are as good as last year.
Otherwise why watch....IMO

 

[bigdik]

I think we are a touch better this year.
I am also going to be optimistic and believe that we have a shot at the pennant.
Yankees are older and I don't think the Red Sox are as good as last year.
Otherwise why watch....IMO

Red Sox aren't as good as last year?

 

[A-ROD]

Red Sox aren't as good as last year?

Hey! I am a fan! Not an expert....

 

[salsamarc]

Red Sox aren't as good as last year?

too many unknowns

Shilling is a great player but sooner or later age catches up to everyone

can Manny be a team player?

Japanese pitcher (sorry forgot his name and too lazy to look it up) looks like a great player but still untested (that could also work for his advantage.....remember Hideo Nomo?)

I do believe we are better than the Red Sox and who knows....with a little bit of luck and a combination of bad luck to NY we could have a contender here....

Jays have more power this year no question about it, and pitchers "appear" to be healthy (Burnett may want to prove himself) we have an awesome closer and the bullpen is not half bad either (not great but not bad either)

 

[BlahBlah]

The potential is there if everything falls into place, but of course it rarely does. As always, it'll boil down to pitching:

Will Doc be healthy all season? If so, he's good for 18+ wins. Without that the Jays have no chance.

Will Burnett finally put together the type of season scouts have always expected? If he can remain healthy and have a breakthrough, the Jays would have the 1-2 punch that can get them in.

Will Chacin be the Chacin of last year (horrible) or will he go back to the year previous (solid)?

Will any of the guys fighting for the 4th and 5th spots step up and eat some innings and give the team a chance?

I don't think there is any "for sures" in the questions above.

My guess is it will be somewhere in between great season and miserable failure, meaning 85-90 wins, not good enough for either the division or the wild card.

 

[bigdik]

Red Sox upgraded at Short and in Right.
Second and Closer are question marks, but lotsa closer candidates.
Rotation?
Schilling
Matsuzaka
Beckett
Papelbon
Wakefield
Lester
Clement ( by mid season)
Clemens? ( 1 in 3 shot )

Manny is Manny. It's not really a team sport, is it. 40 HR and 120 RBI are a given.

On paper, Redsox are a much better team. They don't play the games on paper.
It's a marathon, we'll find out in October.

 

[salsamarc]

this just in....

BLUE JAYS 4, RED SOX 1
Thursday, March 1

Red Sox at the plate: Boston's lone run came in the seventh inning, when Brandon Moss grounded into a 4-6-3 double play with no outs and the bases loaded. Former Blue Jay Eric Hinske collected a double against Toronto ace Roy Halladay in the first, but was stranded.

Blue Jays at the plate: Second baseman Aaron Hill provided the first Toronto home run of the spring, sending a two-run shot over the left-feild wall in the fourth inning. Alex Rios, who was serving as the designated hitter, doubled and scored on a ground out by center fielder Vernon Wells in the first inning.

Red Sox on the mound: Left-hander Kason Gabbard started for Boston and gave up one run and one hit over two innings. Righty Devern Hansack, who yielded the homer to Hill, gave up two runs on three hits and struck out three in 1 2/3 innings.

Blue Jays on the mound: Halladay turned in two crisp innings for Toronto. The right-hander allowed only one hit and threw 27 pitches, including 19 strikes. All six outs that Halladay recorded came via grounders. Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan pitched a scoreless third inning.

Up next: Toronto left-hander Gustavo Chacin is scheduled to take the mound against Boston right-hander Kyle Snyder when the Blue Jays take on the Red Sox at 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla.

 

[T-1000]

Pitching & more pitching

It all boils down to pitching.

I think the Blue Jays already had enough punch in their day to day offense prior to Frank Thomas coming on board. With the Big Hurt in their everyday line-up as full time DH, the offense will not only get better but it will be downright scary. Match up nightmare for the rest of the american league.

The pitching on the other hand is filled with question marks. Everything must go right in order for them to compete for the post season. Their projected starting five of Halladay/Burnett/Chacin/Thomson/Okha all have been through some sort of injury. Should they remain healthy throughout the season along with the emergence of Marcum and return to form by Zambrano and Towers will give the Jays a deep starting rotation / long relief corps. What troubles me is their current set-up roles of League/Frasor/Accardo. League is currently nursing shoulder problems and has not thrown as of yet. Frasor was shaky last year and Accardo has not shown enough consistency to be billed as a reliable set-up guy. Their most effective set-up guy for the 8th inning Justin Speier is now toiling in LA Angels bullpen.

So to make a long story short, should the Jays pitching (starters and middle relief) stay healthy and provide consistent innings, the Jays will be in pretty good shape.

My projections for their season - anywhere between 88 to 92 wins and battle to the wire for the wildcard spot.

 

[teassoc]

What troubles me is their current set-up roles of League/Frasor/Accardo. League is currently nursing shoulder problems and has not thrown as of yet. Frasor was shaky last year and Accardo has not shown enough consistency to be billed as a reliable set-up guy. Their most effective set-up guy for the 8th inning Justin Speier is now toiling in LA Angels bullpen.

I agree. Real shame they couldn't hang on to Speier. Really painful to get into a winning position to see it all lost in the 8th innings because someone couldn't hold things down.

 

[T-1000]

Exactly. Last year, when Speier went on the disable list Gibbons was forced to use BJ Ryan as early as the 8th inning. BJ Ryan led the American league in multiple innings appearances. He was clearly overused. The media keeps analyzing on the success and failure of the 2007 Jays solely on the back end of their starting pitching. I'd say the most critical area they need to focus on is the middle relief.

 

[salsamarc]

agreed..... but I believe there is a lot of potential in Accardo or League to make either one of them a set up man

expect that position to be up for grabs

 

[T-1000]

Enough have been said and written about Wells, Thomas, Glaus and Overbay.

2 players that i will be keeping a close eye on is Rios and Hill. Rios was well on his way to a 25-30 homers and 100 plus RBI year until he got sidelined by the staph infection...and when he returned he was not the same. Aaron Hill got off to a horribe start and really picked it up during the second half. I expect both to have breakthrough years.

 

[Perry Mason]

Actually, with Janssen, Rosario, Tallet, Ramirez and Taubenheim, etc. as back ups in the minor leagues, they have a lot of depth and good arms and guys that can pitch... what they don't have is consistency and reliability... they have lots of guys that can pitch 4 or 5 hit games, but they can just as easily throw 4 or 5 hit innings, too!

Perry

 

[salsamarc]

BLUE JAYS 9, RED SOX 6, 10 innings
Friday, March 2

Red Sox at the plate: Kevin Youkilis had a pair of doubles and scored a run. David Ortiz produced an RBI single, and Alberto Castillo contributed with a three-run homer. Manny Ramirez was 0-for-1 with a walk in his exhibition season debut.

Blue Jays at the plate: Kevin Barker (two-run homer) and Adam Lind (two-run double) had the big hits in a six-run, third inning against Runelvys Hernandez.

Red Sox on the mound: Swingman Kyle Snyder pitched two shutout innings and struck out four. Hideki Okajima made his debut out of the bullpen, firing a scoreless inning. Bryan Corey allowed just one hit over two scoreless frames.

Blue Jays on the mound: Gustavo Chacin was touched up for three hits and three runs over 1 2/3 innings. Righty Casey Janssen was sharp out of the bullpen, pitching a scoreless inning.

Grapefruit League records: Red Sox 0-2-1; Blue Jays 2-0.

Up next: The Blue Jays will send right-hander A.J. Burnett to the mound against the Devil Rays on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET.

 

[salsamarc]

DEVIL RAYS 5, BLUE JAYS 4, 6 innings
Saturday, March 3

Devil Rays at the plate: Jonny Gomes led the way with his first two home runs of the spring. The outfielder sent offerings from Toronto pitchers A.J. Burnett and Tomo Ohka over the right-field wall in the first and third inning, respectively. Shortstop Brendan Harris bounced a two-run double off the left-field fence in the third.

Blue Jays at the plate: Third baseman Troy Glaus sent an offering from Rays lefty Scott Kazmir deep to left for a two-run homer in the first inning. Alex Rios doubled off Kazmir in the second and later scored on a single by Royce Clayton. Jason Smith tripled and scored on a ground out in the sixth.

Devil Rays on the mound: Kazmir made his first appearance in a game since being sidelined by a stiff shoulder late last August. The left-hander struggled with his control, throwing 41 pitches -- 22 for strikes -- in 1 1/3 innings. Kazmir gave up three runs on two hits with one strikeout and two walks.

Blue Jays on the mound: Minus the solo blast by Gomes, Burnett's first outing of Spring Training went well. The right-hander struck out two in two innings and threw 25 pitches, including 16 strikes. Ohka gave up four runs on five hits over two innings.

Grapefruit League records: Devil Rays 1-0-1; Blue Jays 2-1.

Up next: Toronto right-hander John Thomson is scheduled to take on Tampa Bay righty Jae Kuk Ryu when the Blue Jays face the Devil Rays at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday at Progress Energy Park in St. Petersburg, Fla.

 

[salsamarc]

Doc is looking good

Blue Jays at the plate: Jeff Duncan opened Toronto's scoring with an RBI triple in the sixth inning before Kevin Barker drew the last of three straight walks to plate another run. Ryan Patterson singled in a run and scored on Rob Cosby's double to tie the game.

Tigers at the plate: Placido Polanco went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, including a run-scoring double in the sixth. Combined with his 2-for-2, two-walk game Monday, he has reached base safely in his last seven plate appearances. Chris Shelton, playing in his first game of the spring, had two hits and scored twice.

Blue Jays on the mound: Roy Halladay had a shutout going until Polanco's RBI single in the third. Geremi Gonzalez gave up a three-run, fifth-inning rally in his second inning of work. Josh Banks stranded the would-be go-ahead run in scoring position by striking out Kody Kirkland to end the eighth.

Tigers on the mound: Mike Maroth allowed a lone single and a walk in three scoreless innings. Jose Mesa and Wilfredo Ledezma added a scoreless inning each before Joey Eischen walked three straight Blue Jays in the two-run sixth. Tim Byrdak gave up two runs and the lead in the eighth before Todd Jones fanned two in a perfect ninth.

Grapefruit League records: Blue Jays 3-1-1, Tigers 4-2.

Up next: The Blue Jays will visit Clearwater for a 1:05 p.m. ET matchup against the Phillies. Gustavo Chacin will make his second start this spring.

 

[teassoc]

: Blue Jays 3-1-1, Tigers 4-2.

Better than that. Jays are 4 - 1 - 1.

 

[teassoc]

I know spring training doesn't mean much but Jays have lost 4 in a row and look like losing another one.

Results to date have shown how one or two poor reliever performances can ruin good starts.

Having said that the starting pitchers seem to be coming through OK, including Josh Towers.