2011 Blue Jays/MLB Thread

[maplesyrup]

A minor deal but we reacquired Trystan Magnuson from the As for cash... He's the pitcher we sent to to them in the Davis deal.

 

[bustaheims]

A minor deal but we reacquired Trystan Magnuson from the As for cash... He's the pitcher we sent to to them in the Davis deal.

Interesting. They reacquired the other guy they traded for Davis earlier in the season when they sent Purcey to Oakland.

 

[maplesyrup]

In another not so minor move, the Jays beefed up their front office staff today announcing that they hired former Devil Rays GM Chuck LaMar as a special assistant to amateur scouting.

 

[Erndog]

Not sure if this was posted somewhere but here is Ron Washington and some of the players pep talk before game 7 of the World Series.

http://vimeo.com/31675320

Warning:  Profanity.  NSFW.

 

[Deebo]

Probably not earth-shattering, but Ken Rosenthal says that the Jays are among the teams most agressivley persuing starting pitching through trade.

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/marlins_blue_jays_pursuing_starters/7951378?new_post=true

 

[maplesyrup]

Probably not earth-shattering, but Ken Rosenthal says that the Jays are among the teams most agressivley persuing starting pitching through trade.

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/marlins_blue_jays_pursuing_starters/7951378?new_post=true

... and Buster Olney of ESPN believes the Jays are pursing one of the better closers on the market too... If we bump our payroll to ~85 mil from ~65 mil, it could be a fun offseason.

 

[bustaheims]

Probably not earth-shattering, but Ken Rosenthal says that the Jays are among the teams most agressivley persuing starting pitching through trade.

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/marlins_blue_jays_pursuing_starters/7951378?new_post=true

I enjoyed this part:

As for the Jays, their pursuits of both starters and relievers is standard operating procedure for general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

?Alex is always looking for everything,? one rival GM said. ?He is the only GM in the league with a 60-man roster ? and I say that as a compliment.

?You can?t pin him down. He has interest in every one of your players.?

 

[maplesyrup]

I think he's building a reputation as being pretty tireless.

 

[Kin]

Just no big money/years for FA closers. Let's learn the lesson the Jays haven't before.

 

[bustaheims]

Just no big money/years for FA closers. Let's learn the lesson the Jays haven't before.

Here's hoping. It actually wouldn't surprise me if the guy AA is really targeting to step in as closer for the next couple seasons is Joe Nathan. He won't cost too much, won't be a long-term commitment and won't cost a draft pick either. Of course, trying to predict what AA is up to isn't always the easiest thing in the world - it wouldn't shock me if he turned around and went after someone like Aaron Crow to fill the role instead. Not that Crow has any experience in the role, nor is he rumoured to be on the market, but, acquiring him just feels like an AA type of move.

 

[Kin]

Here's hoping. It actually wouldn't surprise me if the guy AA is really targeting to step in as closer for the next couple seasons is Joe Nathan. He won't cost too much, won't be a long-term commitment and won't cost a draft pick either. Of course, trying to predict what AA is up to isn't always the easiest thing in the world - it wouldn't shock me if he turned around and went after someone like Aaron Crow to fill the role instead. Not that Crow has any experience in the role, nor is he rumoured to be on the market, but, acquiring him just feels like an AA type of move.

Either one sounds good. Again, I'm just strongly opposed to offering big money to a closer in general and in particular to this group of closers. Papelbon has been up and down, there are huge questions about Bell being able to get the job done outside of the NL West and so on.

 

[bustaheims]

Either one sounds good. Again, I'm just strongly opposed to offering big money to a closer in general and in particular to this group of closers. Papelbon has been up and down, there are huge questions about Bell being able to get the job done outside of the NL West and so on.

I agree. The BJ Ryan potential in this year's group of prominent closers is discomforting, though, at the very least, these guys have a little more experience in the role. The Jays are better off with a short-term stopgap type while they develop someone in house - or pluck someone cheap from another organization like they did with Henke back in the day.

 

[maplesyrup]

... and there is of course, the surrendering of the pick... Not something I want to do for a closer.

Edit: Well, if that closer is Papelbon anyway.

 

[L K]

Just no big money/years for FA closers. Let's learn the lesson the Jays haven't before.

For all the talk of the Jays not being playoff-ready...and technically they probably aren't still unless they really bolster the rotation/bullpen. 

They finished with 81 wins and fell 10 games back of the Rays for the wild-card.  They blew 25 saves while only saving 33.  The Rays saved 32 and blew 12.  The Yankees saved 47 and blew 19.  One guy doesn't solve the problems with the bullpen but if they cut that number down by 6-7, that's got the Jays firmly in the playoff hunt.

If they could add a mid-rotation starter (I actually wouldn't mind them going after Erik Bedard who doesn't require any compensation) and maybe grab a guy like Felipe Lopez (coming off a brutal year) to play 2B - he plays a lot of SS but has somewhere under 3000 innings at 2B. Give him maybe a 2-year deal, and it also frees the team up to have a guy who can play 3B if you give Lawrie a day off instead of putting E5 there.  Similarly, you could always give Lawrie a day or two at 2B to fill in if you want to give Lopez a day off.

 

[Kin]

For all the talk of the Jays not being playoff-ready...and technically they probably aren't still unless they really bolster the rotation/bullpen. 

The Jays could use improvement in a bunch of areas. They were 11th in ERA and 9th in OBP. They weren't very good defensively either which contributed to the bad ERA as well.

So I don't disagree that they should be looking to fix the bullpen, they just shouldn't do it by throwing around significant chunks of the team's payroll at the hit and miss closers on the market.

 

[hockeyfan1]

On Nov. 18 (Friday), Jays are to introduce their new uniforms for the upcoming 2012 season, according to media speculation.  Invitations were sent out for a 12noon gathering at Rogers Centre, with the theme of "Step up to the plate in style", thus fuellng speculation on the above.

Source:  Sportsnet

 

[Trolloc]

On Nov. 18 (Friday), Jays are to introduce their new uniforms for the upcoming 2012 season, according to media speculation.  Invitations were sent out for a 12noon gathering at Rogers Centre, with the theme of "Step up to the plate in style", thus fuellng speculation on the above.

Source:  Sportsnet

Most fans seem excited for a change. especially if we return to a more classic look.  That being said, I like the current jerseys and logo. I never seen so many youth wearing logos before and I think it has a lot to do with the modern look.

 

[Erndog]

24 year old Washington Nationals catcher, Wilson Ramos, kidnapped in hometown in Venezuela


My goodness that is terrible.  Prayers go out to him and his family for a safe return.

 

[Kin]

Dustin Parkes, fast becoming my favourite Blue Jays writer, has this terrific article about the "need" for a closer.

http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2011/11/10/theres-no-need-to-spend-money-on-a-proven-closer/

First of all, of the 25 blown saves that Blue Jays relievers committed last season, three times two blown saves occurred in the same game. Of the 23 games in which a blown save occurred, seven of those games still resulted in a Toronto Blue Jays victory. Of the sixteen losses resulting from a blown save, only half of the blown saves occurred in the ninth inning or later, when a ?proven closer? type would be more likely to have been used. Of the eight saves blown in the ninth inning or later, two were blown by non-closers who were only pitching because the closer wasn?t available. This leaves us with six losses in which the team?s closer blew a save or was taken out of the game in the ninth inning and the replacement reliever blew a save.

 

[bustaheims]

Yeah, the need for a closer from a purely statistical POV is largely overblown and, as we've already covered, I'm against the Jays going after someone like Bell or Papelbon, because they'll cost more than they'll contribute in value. However, I think there's value in having the guys in the pen know their role and not have it change from week to week. As part of the Jays' complete bullpen overhaul, I'd like to see them bring in a guy who would be the 9th inning guy, if for no other reason than providing some stability on the backend of the pen.