Thursday, October 19, 2006
Not A Surprise for Molina
Although it was been speculated for awhile, J.P. Ricciardi has said that the club will not be picking up the $7.5 million option on Benji Molina. Instead they will buy him out for $500,000. Ricciardi also noted that they would like to bring back either one of Molina or Greg Zaun, but not close to the $5.5 million he paid combined last year for both catchers. Blue Jay first baseman Lyle Overbay will be joining the Major League All-Stars on the annual Japanese Tour. He'll back up Ryan Howard.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Schoeneweis Trade Complete
The Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds completed the Scott Schoeneweis trade from August. The Reds sent Class A middle infielder Trevor Lawhorn to the Jays. The 22 year old Lawhorn, batted .224 with 4 home runs and 28 RBI's in 90 games. This deal was done strictly for financial reasons, saving the Blue Jays about $600,000. It doesn't seem likely that Lawhorn will be with the big club anytime soon.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Tragedy Strikes Former Jays Pitcher Lidle
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Off-season Jays Notes
It is being speculated that the Toronto Blue Jays payroll for next season will be in the $90-95 million range. The Jays will have seven prospects in the Arizona Fall League for the Phoenix Desert Dogs: Dustin McGowan, Jordan De Jong, Tracy Thorpe, Kyle Yates, Chip Cannon, Ryan Klosterman, and Curtis Thigpen.
Russ Adams will most likely start next season in Triple A Syracuse according to J.P.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
JP’s Offseason Plan
JP has come out with his offseason agenda.Firstly, JP would like to sign Vernon Wells to a contract extension. Wells will earn $5.6 million in 2007. If Wells is looking for Carlos Beltran money, 7 years and $119 million, he won't get it from Ricciardi. I can see him signing for around $12-$14 million when he's a free agent. Not sure if that will be with the Jays though. If the Jays don't sign him to an extension this offseason or trade, they will most likely get nothing for him when he signs elsewhere after next year. Trade him this offseason, get a top shortstop prospect who is major league ready and a young, MLB experienced pitcher. Spend the money saved somewhere else.
Attempt to re-sign Ted Lilly. Lilly earned $4 million this past season on his one year deal, and will likely collect a decent multiyear contract, probably in the 7-8 million range for 3-4 years. Will JP go that high? I don't think so. How fitting is it that he had a career high in wins. JP already has a number in mind, I'm thinking $6 million a year, for 3 years. Even if they sign Lilly, I think they still need to sign another starter. Ricciardi has mentioned that Lilly is 'comparable' with Randy Wolf, Adam Eaton, Mark Redman, Gil Meche and Vincente Padilla.
Another area that needs to be addressed, is adding someone to play in the middle infield, either at second or shot. It appears that Aaron Hill is better suited for second, so they may go after a short stop. Alex Gonzalez (thankfully not the former Jay) and Julio Lugo have been mentioned for months as possible Blue Jay free agent signings, but I think they will want too much money. Lugo was talking earlier in the season at $9-10 million per season on a long term deal. No thanks, you're not that good.
Ricciardi would like to bring back either Zaun or Molina (option won't be picked up), but it would have to be at a good price. They would like to bring Catalanotto back, but once again, it would have to be a good price, and if he's okay with not playing everyday in the field.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Season Over
So this year's chapter on the Toronto Blue Jays is officially over. They finished the 2006 season with a 7-5 victory over the New York Yankees, capped off by Adam Lind's two run shot in the eighth. The Jays finished in second place with an 87-75 record, their best since 1998. But the season was still a disappoint in my eyes. They finished 10 games behind the Yankees, and 8 games behind the wild card winning Detroit Tigers. As I've mentioned in past posts, I don't really care about finishing second in the division. This team was built to suppose to challenge for a playoff spot, for the last 2 months they didn't. Now I'm guessing we'll start to hear again, the fans and media, saying 'if only Burnett and Chacin were healthy the whole season, it would have been different'. Sure they might have had a better record if the Jays didn't have to send Josh Towers, Casey Janssen or Ty Taubenheim out there, but Burnett and Chacin didn't improve the Jays standings (games behind) when they both returned from injury. Injuries are part of the game, good teams step it up when a quality player goes down. The starters didn't do that.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Second Place is Ours, Well For the Day Atleast
I had almost forgot the Blue Jays were still playing baseball and with such an exciting race for second place in the AL East with the Boston Red Sox. Does it really matter if they finish is second or third, they are still not close to the playoff. Jays players (away from the media, they probably could care less) and media outlets seem to think it's important. Local papers and T.V. stations keep us informed of the see-saw battle between the 2nd and 3rd place teams who are 12 games behind the division leading Yankees. The media up here in the 'Great White North' also feels that pre-season hockey is the most important sporting events that are going on in the world. Highlights of hockey precede all MLB playoff races and NFL football.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
50 Wins at Home
For the fifth time in franchise history, the Blue Jays have recorded at least 50 wins at home. That's great, too bad they have one only 33 on the road, with 6 road games remaining. So far they have 42 road loses. Sure it's important to win games at home, but you have also win on the road if you want to make it into the playoffs. With the exception of the NL Central (and it's a weak division), every division leader has a better than .500 record on the road.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Almost There
After a 13-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox Yesterday, the Blue Jays pulled to within 1/2 game of second place in the AL East. It's been kicked around for weeks, that this is one of their goals. In my opinion, who cares. Sure it's nice to win, but when you're out of the playoff picture, you should be evaluating some of your young talent. The regular Blue Jay starters are still getting plenty of time. Put Adam Lind in the outfield to see if this kid might be ready next year, instead of DHing him. The negative thing I've heard on his season, has been about his play in the field. Throw him out there to see if he can actually play out there. This may help management decide if they want to trade Vernon in the off-season. Bring up a young pitcher or two to see what they can do in the big leagues, either in the starting rotation or out of pen. Reward some kids who have played well this season in the minors.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Halladay Injured Again
Roy Halladay left last nights game against the New York Yankees after 3 1/3 innings with a right forearm strain. He encountered the same problem back in April that caused him to miss a game. The Jays announced today the he'll be shut down for the year. There is no point in risking further injury in meaningless games.
R. Howard Webster Award Winners Announced
Yesterday the Toronto Blue Jay organization announced the recipients of this years R. Howard Webster Award winners, the MVP's for each of their minor league affiliates. Syracuse SkyChiefs: First baseman Kevin Barker. The 31-year old had 18 home runs, 76 runs batted in, 39 doubles and 59 extra base hits. Was named to the International Leagues All-Star team and recorded 6 hits in a game against Ottawa.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats: It was no surprise that Adam Lind received this award for the Fisher Cats, despite being promoted to the SkyChiefs late in the season, and eventually called up to the big club. In 91 games, Lind hit .310, belted 19 home runs and driving in 71 runs. At the time of his promotion, he was challenging for the triple crown, leading the league in HR and RBI's, and third in batting average.
Dunedin Blue Jays: Ryan Patterson. Drafted in 2005 in the 4th round, Patterson had 19 home runs, 68 RBI's and a .286 AVE in 84 games before being promoted to New Hampshire.
Lansing Lugnuts: Chi-Hung Cheng. In 28 starts for the Lugnuts, Cheng posted a 11-5 record with a 2.70 ERA. In 143.1 innings, he struck out 154 batters, which led led the league.
Auburn Doubledays: Scott Campbell, a 10th round pick in 2006 MLB draft. Campbell owned a .292 AVE and a .397 OBP. He led the team in hits with 70 and runs scored with 39. Campbell had 33 walks compared to 31 strike outs.
Pulaski Blue Jays: 2006 1st round pick, Travis Snider wins the final Webster Award for Pulaski, as the team is being dropped as a Blue Jay affiliate. Snider had a .325 batting average to go along with 11 home runs and 41 runs batted in.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Glaus’s Struggles
In the 9th inning last night, Troy Glaus hit a 3-run home run to bring the Jays to within 1 run, which was as close as they got as they fell to the New York Yankees 7-6. The significance of Glaus's home run was that it was his first RBI's since August 25th. That was 20 games without an RBI, from a guy who at the time was leading the Blue Jays. Glaus also had only had 12 hits over that span. In the 61 at bats over the 20 games, his average fell to .252, heading into last nights game, and struck out 20 times.
Lilly Looking to Cash In
After another solid outing on Saturday where Ted Lilly last 6 innings and only giving up 1 run, he improved his record to 14-12. Lilly has already reached his career high in wins. It's not that surprising though, it's a contract year and it looks like he'll be cashing in. Richard Griffin, a writer for the Toronto Star, suggests that Lilly will likely receive a 3 or 4 year contract worth between 7 and 9 million dollars. Is he worth that much to the Jays? Do they even want to bring him back? It's hard to say for both questions. He might have priced himself out of the Jays budget and after his confrontation with manager John Gibbons, they may decide to let him walk. J.P. and Gibbons have both said they would like to have Lilly back. He owns a 58-57 record with a 4.62 career ERA. There are really only 2 or 3 free agent pitchers this year that would rank ahead of Lilly, all of which are lefties, Mark Buehrle, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder (who is on the 60-day DL). Buehrle and Zito will receive top dollar, over $10 per and will be chased by numerous teams. Lilly will also receive lots of interest.
I personally don't think he'll back, although I wouldn't mind seeing him as the 4th starter. If they chose not to sign him, the Jays will need to add 2 quality starters if they plan on competing next year. Finding 2 quality starters that fit into the budget will be hard to do through the free agent market.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Halladay is Sharp But Doesn’t Get the Win
Roy Halladay's elbow held up last night, pitching a solid game five days after taking a line drive off his pitching elbow. He didn't figure in the decision, as he wasn't around in the 10th when Aaron Hill hit a game winning 2 run home run to give the Jays a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Halladay allowed 3 runs over 9 innings of work. He threw 112 pitches, 80 which were for strikes, striking out 5 batters. Aaron Hill went 4-for-4, with 3 runs scored.
Ted Lilly looks to increase his career high win total today. The Blue Jays trail the second place Boston Red Sox by a game and a half. With Manny Ramirez potentially gone for the season, the Jays should be able to overtake the Sox for second place in the AL East. But at this point, does it really matter if they pass them?
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Halladay to Start on Friday?
It's looking like Roy Halladay may be starting for the Blue Jays on Friday. Since the swelling has gone down, he plans to throw today and tomorrow before determining for sure if he'll make his scheduled start. Gibbons' thinks they should go back to a balanced schedule. I've always thought they should have balanced schedule, especially with a wild-card spot open. Hell, make each league one division and the 4 best teams make the playoffs. If you have a balanced schedule, divisions don't matter. Sure, the divisional rivalries will be gone, but by the end of the season I'm sick of seeing the Yankees or Devils Rays. Imagine being in the NL central where you have to watch your team play the Pirates and Cubs 64 times (or whatever amount it is). If they went back to a balanced schedule, they'd also have to scrap inter-league play, not that that is a bad thing.