Consider this your
required reading for the week.
“Kyle certainly deserves it,” Anthopoulos said. “He had a great year.
His last start was outstanding. It was important for us for him to
pitch in a playoff atmosphere. He did a great job. He did everything we
asked, and his innings total is pretty much identical to what it was
last year.”
Drabek’s first outing will come Wednesday in place of Brett Cecil, whose start has been pushed back to Friday in Boston.
According the current rotation schedule, Drabek would make his home
debut Sept. 22 against Seattle and his final start, again at home,
against the New York Yankees on Sept. 28.
It's been confirmed that this game will only be shown on SportsNet One. Now that REALLY sucks for those that can't get the channel. Look for this hashtag to explode: #StupidSportsnetOne
The confusing part is that with Paul Beeston back in charge, the
disliked J.P. Ricciardi gone, a local boy running the front office and
an appealing youth movement, it was expected this would the year GTA
baseball fans began to feel more enthusiastic about the team.
Instead,
attendance suggests the Jays are less popular now than they were last
year, and definitely from three or four years ago.
'Tis a puzzlement.
Wtih
Jose Bautista swatting homers at a major league-leading pace, an
impressive young pitching staff featuring Brandon Morrow and some
exciting prospects on the way, one might have thought there was an
opportunity at hand for the Jays to recover some lost ground, not lose
more. Generally speaking, local media types have approved of the
direction of the team, some suggesting this has been nearly a triumphant
season despite a record just about .500. Moreover, its not like any of
the other pro teams in town are producing championship-quality teams.
So
what's the reason behind the drop? Well, the stadium, of course. The
Rogers TV issues haven't helped. Having a caretaker manager doesn't
exactly get the masses excited. And, as has been the case for a long,
long time, no meaningful games in August, let alone September, kills
interest. Playing in the tough American League East continues to be an
issue, although another competitive season from low payroll Tampa Bay is
gradually taking away the division in which the Jays play as a
meaningful excuse.
The season began with some shockingly low
numbers, but then there was some recovery. Now, it seems the season may
end on a low, which has to leave the Jays thoroughly puzzled as to what
it will take - if anything - to bring the people back.
This guy needs to stop writing about baseball. Seriously.
Pettitte isn't that great a prospect, as he's old for the level, but New Hampshire starter
Zach Stewart was extremely impressive in his seven innings of work, striking out 10
(also against a weak lineup) with just one walk and ten groundouts
against just one air out.
Stewart showed four pitches, pitching at 90-96 with sink and some
tail with a tight, out-pitch slider at 83-87 that he threw for strikes,
even back-dooring it to left-handed hitters for called strikes. His
changeup was the biggest surprise, as another scout at the game told me
he hadn't seen it this good before; it's mostly straight but has good
separation from the fastball at 81-85 and his arm speed is excellent. He
also used a fringy curveball with good depth, but he didn't command the
pitch as well as he did the slider.
Stewart worked aggressively with everything and had good tempo. He
stays over the rubber before driving forward with a long stride,
although his arm action is a little long in the back and he pronates
relatively late in the delivery. I know several scouts see Stewart as a
sinker/slider pen guy, but I see four pitches, a good frame, and a
pitcher who likes to attack hitters, and I see a potential No. 2
starter, maybe a No. 3 if the changeup isn't always where it was
tonight.
Klaw had something positive to say about your Toronto Blue Jays. Seriously.
Asked whether he wants to succeed his old friend Cito Gaston as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, Nick Leyva does not hesitate.
"They
know I'm interested," he says. "Why wouldn't I be? This organization is
going in the right direction. You have a young, aggressive general
manager. He's got a plan. You'd be foolish if you didn't want to be part
of that."
The general manager, widely credited with Midas-like
qualities in his rookie year, is Alex Anthopoulos, now deeply engaged
in his next big decision: culling a long list of contestants for the job
Gaston will vacate at season's end.
Do we go outside the organizations? Do we look within the organization? Both have their pros and cons. Discuss.
A team bursting with impact prospects will
represent the United States at the 2010 Pan American Qualifying
tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The team will scrimmage Sept. 25-28
at USA Baseball's National Training Center against teams from Puerto
Rico and Canada, then plays in the tournament Oct. 1-10. The event
serves as a qualifier for the 2011 Pan Am Games, with the top eight
teams earning entry, and the top six teams also qualify for the 2011
IBAF Baseball World Cup.
Brian Jeroloman gets the call to represent his country. Great honour for him. I see him as our AAA starting catcher next season with d'Arnaud, Jimenez and Perez breathing down his neck.
Dunedin Blue Jays closer Matt Daly joined fellow pitcher Joel Carreno as
a Dunedin record-breaker in 2010, setting new single-season marks for
both saves and appearances in the D-Jays' 4-3 win over Tampa on
Saturday.
Daly, 24, notched his 31st save in his 56th appearance, breaking Connor
Falkenbach's save mark from 2007 and Ben Weber's appearance mark from
1993.
Falkenbach's saves record was the most recent record set by a Blue Jays
player, and with both Daly and Carreno breaking records in 2010, they
became the first D-Jays duo to accomplish that feat since pitchers
Cameron Reimers (hit-by-pitches) and Aaron Dean (earned runs) did the
deed in 2001.
The 13th round draft pick in 2008 out of the University of Hawaii has
had a stellar 2010 campaign, going 2-2 with a 2.50 ERA and holding
opposing hitters to a .214 batting average. His 31 saves came in 33
chances, a remarkable 94% save rate. He also struck out 63 in 57 2/3
innings. He was named a first-half Florida State League All-Star, as
well, pitching in the FSL All-Star Game back on June 12.
Daly now has 56 saves in his three seasons with the Blue Jays
organization and 32 overall with Dunedin, having notched a save during a
late-season call-up in 2009.
Straight rip of a press release. Looking forward to seeing how Matt does in the AFL.
Bautista
opened the year as the leadoff hitter, later batting sixth and seventh
before his burgeoning power production prompted manager Cito Gaston to
install him in the No. 3 slot on June 24.
Since then, Bautista
has batted .296 with 23 homers and 56 RBIs. In the same span, Wells has
hit .262 with 11 homers and 35 RBIs, a sharp drop-off from his early
pace. At the time of the change, Wells was batting .281 with 16 homers
and 42 RBIs.
So I had this thought. Why not put J-Bau in the clean up spot next year? Move Vernon to the 5 hole and bring Lind back up to the 3 hole. I'm kinda getting tired of seeing Esco take the bat out of J-Bau's hands.
Toronto Police have turned over
documents removed from Toronto Blue Jays offices to U.S. authorities in
connection with the perjury case against seven-time Cy Young winning
pitcher Roger Clemens.
Two Toronto officers executed the search in June, an Associated Press
report said, and assisted the U.S. Justice Department by forwarding two
boxes they obtained, according to Toronto police spokesman Constable
Tony Vella. The police spokesman would not say whether the documents
were medical records.
The Blue Jays are maintaining silence on the Clemens matter. Blue Jays
physician Dr. Ron Taylor said through an associate “he did not know
under what circumstances the documents were obtained and will make no
comments,” while Blue Jays spokesman Jay Stenhouse said the club will
not comment “about matters pending before courts, other than to confirm
that it is our policy to comply with all valid legal process.”
Jays president Paul Beeston did not reply to a phone message seeking his comment.
He is still the very best pitcher I have ever seen in person. Check out his numbers as a Blue Jay. Fucking insane.
But I do know Anthopoulos is a smart guy, and I know that smart,
first-year general managers pick their spots. You can’t take over as GM
of a team managed by someone with Cito Gaston’s track record knowing
that your boss – president and chief executive officer Paul Beeston –
wants a comfortable exit for the guy who helped bring the city two World
Series titles. You can’t fight bitterly for every inch of your turf,
not when you know that Beeston stared down the players during last
year’s September clubhouse revolt. So you save your powder, knowing you
are just weeks away from making your franchise’s most important
managerial hire since Gaston was fired.
When you are asked about Snider’s handling, if you are Anthopoulos, you
point to his age: 22. You point to nine home runs in 222 at-bats, shrug
and say, essentially, “could be worse.” J.P. Arencibia’s lack of playing
time? “No,” you would say, “John Buck was an American League all-star."
I have been meaning to post about The Cito for a while now. I am suppressing the anger. It's becoming un-healthy.
“It’s more about the opportunity I have to pick these guys brains as
much as possible and watch games on a closer level,” Arencibia said.
“Watch the hitters, watch what’s going on. Sitting in on the
catcher-pitcher meetings before games and stuff like that. That’s the
way I’m going to have to learn.”
Arencibia has a lot to learn. Following his fabulous August debut,
he caught sporadically and when he did, pitchers struggled. He must
improve his pitch-calling and his understanding of the major-leagues. He
must form relationships with the pitchers he will work with next year.
He needs to play.
Even if the Jays plan on re-signing Buck, especially if the Jays
plan on re-signing Buck, they could easily ease his workload in
September and it wouldn’t hurt him. As for Arencibia, following his
second straight successful season at Triple-A he was asked if he was
ready for the majors.
“I’m the Pacific Coast League MVP,” Arencibia said with quiet confidence.
You Don't Know Dick absolutely nails it. Why not play the kid? What the fuck do we owe the Skankees or Tampa Gay?
