On Tuesday I asked how many players the Blue Jays need to add to have a competitive team in the upcoming season. Today the focus is more on what the first priority of the team's front office should be in the coming weeks. The possible options for Alex Anthopoulos to improve this team are drying up pretty rapidly, even more so with rumours that Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka will not be posted this offseason. The choices for what the Blue Jays should focus on first in December and January seem to be: find a new front of the rotation starter, acquire depth at the middle of the rotation, find a better second baseman than what the team currently has, find Adam Lind a platoon partner, and lastly to add one more bench option. Over at the Toronto Star, Brendan Kennedy also provided a quick overview of what moves he thinks the Blue Jays could make.
With Tanaka seeming to no longer be an option, acquiring a front of the rotation starter is looking to be pretty unlikely as the pickings are slim in free agency. Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana are the 'sexy' names still remaining and the Blue Jays protected picks in the first round would make it easier to stomach the signing, but it still seems like a long shot at this point. There's always the possibility of trading for an ace, but after last year's deal for R.A. Dickey, Alex Anthopoulos might be a little cautious about going down that road again.
Adding more depth and middle of the rotation starters seems more realistic than finding a new ace. Toronto has an Olympic-sized pool of back-end starters so not making any moves on the depth front wouldn't cause too much panic among Blue Jays fans, but there's a definite need for one more solid mid-level stater. A player like Tommy Hanson may get a look from the Blue Jays if they begin to get even more desperate, but there's always an endless amount of options for the type of pitcher that the team needs.
I actually had a dream last night that the Blue Jays traded for a second baseman, which isn't relevant for anything other than showing how little of a life I have. Alex Anthopoulos has said he is fine with having Ryan Goins and Maicer Izturis split time at the '4' spot, so this move doesn't seem to be a big priority for him. The market for second basemen isn't overflowing, so it's tough to predict where the replacement would even come from at this point. It would likely have to come from a trade that involved more than just two players.
The last two options I listed can pretty much be combined into one, as it will likely end up being a bench player who mashes lefties that platoons with Adam Lind. Alex Anthopoulos could always decide that Moises Sierra can be that partner and won't acquire any more bench players.
Personally I think the team needs another starter first and foremost, although it probably won't be an ace. A reliable mid-level starter who has a healthy past will be targeted by Anthopoulos to shore up a pretty questionable rotation at this point. If we know anything about the Jays' General Manager, it's that he will be working the phones throughout the rest of this offseason trying to improve all facets of this team and we won't hear about 99% of the deals he's working on. What are your thoughts?
Every now and then there is a line in a story that make you say 'you've got to be kidding me'. A couple of days ago (this was to go up the other day but the network was down), our pal Shi Davidi wrote that the Blue Jays might be content to 'stand pat' with the starting pitching they have. In the middle of it was this:
The Blue Jays are taking the same approach at second base, and for now appear content to take Ryan Goins and his plus-defence in some sort of job-share arrangement with Maicer Izturis. They talked to the Rangers about Ian Kinsler before Texas shifted gears and traded him to the Detroit Tigers for Prince Fielder, and kept tabs on Omar Infante and Mark Ellis, both of whom would likely have needed a premium on what they signed for to head north.
Now, I can sort of understand that the Jays might want to delude themselves into thinking that they have enough starting pitching. I mean, they are wrong about that, but you can understand the delusion. But to think they can compete with Ryan Goins and Maicer Izturis at second base? That's beyond delusion.
Ryan, we can all agree, was a breath of fresh air, at least on the defensive side, after the clown show of Izturis and Bonifacio. But, he aspires to be the hitter John McDonald was, and Mac's glove couldn't carry his bat, even playing shortstop. Goins didn't even hit RHP particularly well, going .263/.273/.355 against them and that includes a hot streak for his first few games. He hit .400/.419/.467 over his first 8 games. The rest of the ways he hit .202/.211/.303. I really don't see him as someone that I'd want to see get the lion's share of the starts in a platoon pairing.
Izturis, according to Fangraphs, has the worst WAR in baseball at -2.1. He hit roughly as poorly as Goins, 236/.288/.310. He wasn't all that much better versus left-handed pitchers (who he'd be playing against if he was platooning with Goins), hitting a big .259/.287/.319. On defense, I honestly don't think I've seen a second baseman with less range. It wasn't just the eye test that didn't like his defense, Fangraphs has him at a -26.7 UZR/150. I don't know if it was because of the fast turf or if he just got old in a hurry, but I can't imagine him improving enough to be anywhere close to average next year.
I have to hope that Alex is saying that he'd be happy with Goins and Izturis just to not tip his hand, but if that's what he's up to, I wish he would hurry up and find us our second baseman,
Ken Rosenthal reported last night that the Jays traded sometimes-brilliant, occasionally-frustrating pitcher Brandon League to the Seattle Mariners for sometimes-brilliant, occasionally-frustrating pitcher Brandon Morrow. The Jays also included a "prospect" in the deal but we don't know who that is - although according to MLB Trade Rumors, it should be someone pretty good to make it a fair deal.
Chavez seemed like an ok prospect, at the time, but he didn't pan out. Last year he played in Tennessee, for the Cubs' Double-A team, hitting just .205/.306/.270.
Brandon League was a favorite of mine and Hugo liked him too:
Leaguer, if this is it, it's been fun having you on the Jays. You often amazed, occasionally frustrated with your crazy sinker and constantly morphing mechanics. Your tattoos gave hope to Asian-Americans everywhere that they could be thought of as cool. Good luck and enjoy the West Coast!
But anytime you can trade a reliever for a starter....you should do it. League turned into a pretty decent closer, for the M's, putting up 52 saves and a 3.26 ERA in 2.5 seasons, before he was traded to the Dodgers for a couple of minor leaguers. League was very good in LA, for the second half of the 2012 season and managed to get a $22.5 million 3-year contract (with a vesting option for a 4th year). His 2013 season didn't go so well, he lost his closer job and put up a 5.30 ERA, becoming the mop up man by the end of the season.
Morrow needed a fair bit of help from former pitching coach Bruce Walton which we asked him about back in 2012:
Brandon, it's my second year with Brandon. His first year we went through some walk issues, base on balls, command issues. We pretty much ironed it out. We got to the point where now we left a lot of balls in the middle of the plate. So we went from one extreme to the other extreme and we gave up a lot of home runs last year. He's a fly ball pitcher at times, he doesn't get a whole lot of ground balls, so when the ball sits in the middle of the plate belt high and they get a piece of it, it goes. So now it is just staying down in the zone consistently. I think for Brandon to be consistent, his pitches have to be down consistent. We have to plan the effort level to pitch at consistently. Consistency is what we have to work on in every aspect. Keeping the ball down, keeping our emotions in check. Keeping our work effort at a certain level, consistently. All those will come. This is the year for that to come. There's steps to becoming a major league starting pitcher. The first step was that we needed to throw strikes. We accomplished that. It took us a year and a half. Our next step is to manage the game a little bit better and manage our emotions a little bit better and manage our season a little bit better and become more consistent. That's where we are at.
In 2012 it looked like he was putting it all together, he had a 2,96 ERA, but injuries limited him to 21 starts. Last year he only made 10 starts before hitting the DL again. Hopefully next season will go better.
Despite all injuries, I think it's pretty safe to say that we won the trade(Baseball Reference credits Morrow with 5.5 WAR as a Jay). That 1-hitter, with 17 strikeouts, in 2010 by itself made the trade worthwhile to me. But we haven't had that really great season yet from Morrow. Maybe 2014 will be that year.
Which moment holds a bigger place in Yankees' lore: a perfect game or a game-tying home run in the World Series?
The Pinstripe Alley Top Moments Tournament enters the second round of the 1980-1999 bracket. Vote for the moment that deserves to move on in the poll below.
The Yankees sparked some controversy after the 1996 World Series when they let the popular Jimmy Key walk in favor of fellow lefty David Wells, who'd been on four different teams in the previous five seasons. The hefty, tattooed, biker-bred Wells seemed an odd fit for the clean-cut Yankees of the late 90's, but his Yankee-killing reputation and his success at the Stadium convinced Bob Watson and George Steinbrenner otherwise.
After a solid '97 campaign that included a big win in the ill-fated ALDS vs. Cleveland, Wells stumbled out of the gate in '98, posting a 5.23 ERA over his first eight starts and drawing criticism from Joe Torre over his questionable conditioning. As if to prove his manager right, he took the hill vs. Minnesota on May 17th, three days before his thirty-fifth birthday in a state he later described as "half in the bag." We'll never know for sure if Wells was really drunk or hung over that Sunday afternoon, but the end result can't be disputed. After striking out eleven Twins through an untouched 8.2, Wells got shortstop Pat Mears to loft his 120th pitch to Paul O'Neill in right for the final out of the fifteenth perfect game in MLB history and the first for the Yankees since Don Larsen's in the 1956 World Series.
Wells' perfecto sealed for him a permanent place in Yankee lore and won him the coveted "true Yankee" title that he still holds to this day, even though he pitched just four total seasons in pinstripes. He cemented his status with a third-place Cy Young finish in '98 and a 4-0 playoff record that year en route to the club's historic 125-win run of dominance. His trade to the Blue Jays after the season drew the ire of many of the Yankee faithful even though the team got Roger Clemens in return.
#3: Jim Leyritz's '96 World Series game-tying home run
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The Yankees got off to a very sluggish start to the 1996 World Series; they got outscored at home 16-1 through the first two games against the defending champion Atlanta Braves. They got back on track in Game 3, however, as David Cone gave them a very gritty six innings while yielding just one run, and the offense was able to outlast Tom Glavine and the Braves' bullpen in Atlanta. With the series now 2-1 in favor of the Braves, the Yankees, like the first two games, struggled mightily, this time through the first five innings of Game 4. Kenny Rogers started for the Bombers, and, like his first two playoff starts that October, got shelled. "The Gambler" allowed five runs and seven base runners through just two innings. The offense, meanwhile, had a hard time picking up their starter, as the Braves' Denny Neagle held New York in check. At least through the first five innings, anyway.
Neagle retired the first eight Yankees he faced before allowing a single to the opposing starter Rogers with two down in the third. The Yankees were able to scratch together a handful of walks (three, to be exact) in the fourth, but a poorly timed Bernie Williams double play hurt the rally. In the sixth, however, things changed, as the Yankees, down 6-0 to begin the frame, strung together four straight base runners together (Derek Jeter single, Bernie Williams walk, Cecil Fielder single, and a Charlie Hayes single) to knock Neagle out of the game and make the score 6-3. The Braves' bullpen was able to stop the damage and escape further trouble.
Although Jeff Nelson pieced together two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh, the Yankees were running out of time to complete the comeback. The Braves attempted to put the nail in the Yankees' coffin by summoning their closer, Mark Wohlers, to record the final six outs. However, Hayes reached on an infield single that slowly rolled to third base and died in fair territory while Darryl Strawberry singled to left set the stage for Jim Leyritz to tie the game. Leyritz, who didn't even start the game, worked one hell of an at-bat against one of the best closers in baseball that year in Wohlers. With the count at 2-2, Wohlers hung a slider to Leyritz and the latter crushed it over the left field fence for a three-run home run to knot the game at six.
Though the Yankees were able to tie the game, the business wasn't finished quite yet. Thanks to more help from the Yankees' bullpen (namely Mariano Rivera and Graeme Lloyd), which was a very underrated part of this game, the team was able to take the lead in the 10th, courtesy of a bases loaded, pinch-hit walk by Wade Boggs. For insurance, Charlie Hayes reached on a Ryan Klesko error. With the score 8-6, Yankees, John Wetteland was able to wiggle out of trouble, though Paul O'Neill helped him out as the latter made a nice running catch to rob Terry Pendleton of a game-tying extra base hit to end the game.
If you believe in "momentum," Leyritz's game-tying three-run home run was surely a momentum-grabber that the Yankees would hold onto for good. After winning Game 4, the Yankees were able to win Game 5 in Atlanta (thanks to Andy Pettitte's masterful pitching performance) and Game 6 back in the Bronx to seal the franchise's 23rd World Series championship.
Every Fan Down in Jaysland Liked the 2012 offseason a lot... But the Grinch,Who lived to the south and east of Jaysland, Did NOT! The Grinch hated the offseason! The whole dang offseason! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be, perhaps, that his cleats were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all, May have been that his UCL was two sizes too small. Whatever the reason, His UCL or his cleats, He stood there during the 2012 offseason, hating the Jays.
Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown, At the warm lighted glow below in that town. For he knew every fan down in Jaysland it seems, Was busy now, dreaming of a playoff team. "And they're hanging their banners!" he snarled with a sneer, "Tomorrow could be a World Series! It's practically here!" Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, "I MUST find some way to stop a World Series from coming!" For the 2013 season, he knew, all the fan girls and boys, Would come to the Dome bright and early. They'd cheer for their boys! And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! That's one thing he hated! The NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! Then the fans, young and old, would cheer the Jays winning the East. That damn East! And all they'd talk about is winning the East! THE EAST! EAST! EAST! EAST!
They would be a beast with good pitching, and winning the AL Beast. Which was something the Grinch couldn't stand in the least! And THEN They'd do something He liked least of all! Every Fan down in Jaysland, the tall and the small, Would stand close together, with together. They'd stand hand-in-hand. And the fans would start singing! They'd sing! And they'd sing! And they'd SING! SING! SING! SING "OKAY BLUE JAYS LET'S PLAY BALL" And the more the Grinch thought of Jays fans celebrating, The more the Grinch thought, "I must stop this whole thing!" "Why, for twenty years I've enjoyed a playoff free season!" "I MUST stop this championship from coming! But HOW?" Then he got an idea! An awful idea! THE GRINCH GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!
"I know just what to do!" The Grinch laughed in his throat. And he made a quick red hat and a coat. And he chuckled, and clucked, "What a great Grinchy trick!" "With this coat and this hat, I look just like Saint Nick!" "Now to stop the Jays I need is an assassin..." The Grinch looked around. But, since assassins were scarce, there was none to be found. Did that stop the old Grinch? No! The Grinch simply said, "If I can't find an assassin, I'll use Murphy's Law instead!"
All the fans were all dreaming playoff dreams without care. When he came to the white Dome Stadium in Toronto fair. "This is stop number one," the old Grinchy Claus hissed, And he scampered down the roof, a bag of Murphy curse dust in his fist. Then he slid down the roof. He cracked one tooth. But, if Santa could do it, then so could the Grinch. He got stuck only once, for a moment or four. Then he stuck his head past the clubhouse door. Where the new Jay pitcher lockers were standing in a row. "These starting pitchers," he grinned, "are the first things to go!" Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most bitter, Around the whole room, and he Murphy'ed every starting pitcher! Home runs! Higher BB%! BABIped! Bad Defense! Hit Batters! Injuries! Lower velocity! And passed balls! And he put BABip curses in ball bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly, replaced all the bags, one by one, so to end their joy swiftly!
Then he slunk to the bat rack. He took the Jay's offense! He broke the Jay's bats! He spared no expense! He made their bats so weak as to be cruel. Why, that Grinch even took Brett's last can of Red Bull! Then he Murphied all the bats on the rack with glee. "And NOW!" grinned the Grinch, "I will F up the D!" And the Grinch grabbed the gloves, and he started to shred, When he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove. He turned around fast, and he saw a handsome Jay! Big JPA, who had just played two (full seasons.) The Grinch had been caught by this handsome Jay catcher, Who'd got out of bed for a cup of cold water. He stared at the Grinch and said, "Santy Claus, why," "Why are you messing up our 2013 season? WHY?" But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick, He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick! "Why, my sweet catcher," the fake Santy Claus lied, "I think you'll win if you just swing swing swing." "I'm telling you walks are overrated, my dear." "Just swing at every high fastball and slider in the dirt and you'll hit them over the fence here." And his fib fooled the catcher. Then he patted his head, And he got him a drink and he sent him to bed. And when JPA went to bed with his cup, HE had on his evil smile knowing he messed JPA's mind up!
"PoohPooh to the fans!" he was grinchishly humming. "They're finding out now that no World Series is coming!" "They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!" "Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, Then the Fans down in Jaysland will all cry BooHoo!" "That's a noise," grinned the Grinch, "That I simply MUST hear!" So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear. And he did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started in low. Then it started to grow.
He stared down at Jaysland! The Grinch had glee in his eyes! Then he laughed! What he saw was a joyous view! Every Fan down in Jaysland, the tall and the small, Was crying! Without any pennants at all! He HAD stopped the World Series from coming! IT NEVER WAS! Somehow or other, though the fans just showed! And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?" "2013 came without playoffs! It came without banners!" "It came without highlights, healthy hip flexors or winners!"
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe a championship," he thought, "doesn't come from a trade with Miami." "Maybe there's hope here...perhaps...means a little bit more!" And what happened then? Well...in Jaysland they say, That the Grinch's UCL Grew three sizes that day! And the minute his elbow didn't feel quite so tight, He decided against that through the bright morning light, And he brought back the heat! And pitching for the Jays against the East! And he, HE HIMSELF! The Grinch had won the AL Beast!
After a huge offseason, the Blue Jays were expected to contend in 2013, but they fell far short of expectations. The current offseason has been much quieter for the northern birds, but it looks like they'll be in a better position to contend in 2014, especially if they add more than they subtract the rest of the winter.
To say that the Toronto Blue Jays were a disaster in 2013 would be an understatement. In case you've forgotten, they traded their top three prospects (who also happened to be the #23, #54, and #64 prospects, respectively, in all of baseball), along with several other solid minor leaguers and a certain controversial shortstop, for, essentially, three starting pitchers and another shortstop.
Those pitchers combined for a 4.50 ERA and 5 WAR in 509.2 innings, and the shortstop, while effective (2.2 WAR in 419 PAs), spent a good chunk of the year on the DL. At the beginning, they had championship aspirations; by the end, Navin Vaswani was writing this just to cheer himself up. The obvious question is, what should the Blue Jays do now?
So far, they haven't done much of anything. Adam Lind's option was picked up, meaning he'll contribute for one more year. Josh Johnson -- one of the pitchers acquired in the Miami trade -- has signed with the Padres, and J.P. Arencibia and Rajai Davis -- two players that received a good amount of playing time last year -- have signed with the Rangers and the Tigers, respectively. The only major move they've made is inkingDioner Navarro, a backup catcher who will provide an upgrade over Arencibia even when pressed into full-time duty.
Overall, it's safe to say that the Jays are looking to be pretty conservative this year -- the antithesis of last year. One might go so far as to say the Blue Jays are rebuilding. It's not uncommon for a team to rebuild after a down year; we're seeing it this year with the White Sox.
The only problem is, the Blue Jays -- unlike the White Sox -- don't need to rebuild, because they can, and should, rebound next year.
Why? It's simple, really. First of all, rebuilding is generally only done when the team in question has a poor farm system. In the case of the South Siders, this would certainly be true; in the case of the Jays, it's really not. Despite the aforementioned trades last winter, Toronto still entered the offseason with the 11th-best minor league system in baseball. While that's nothing spectacular, it's not as poor as Chicago's (24th).
Second of all, the Blue Jays' miserable season can be attributed, at least in some part, to injuries. Toronto's players spent the fourth-most time on the DL last year, and the team was second in the total number of DL stints. While the Blue Jays have had some injury problems in the past, it's reasonable to expect a healthier year in 2014.
None of this means anything, though, if the product on the field isn't good enough. This is where the main argument against rebuilding lies. Steamer is one of the most widely used projections in baseball, and it has some interesting thoughts about Toronto in 2014--namely, that their team WAR should improve by quite a bit. See for yourself:
Even with the dearth of action in free agency, the Jays are still expected to see the third-largest improvement in the American League and the two teams ahead of them, the Mariners and Astros, havebeenfairlyactive.
Some of this can be attributed to our old friend regression to the mean. As you can see on the table, most of the teams projected to advance were bad last year, and most of the teams projected to decline were good last year. Moreover, the WAR range in 2013 was a very large 54.4, but that figure is only 21.2 for the 2014 projections; basically, Steamer says that the best team in the AL next year will be only 21 games above the worst team, when that figure was more than double that in 2013 (46, to be exact).
Regardless, it's probably fair to say that the core of this team is pretty good, and if they can live up to the WAR projected by Steamer, they'll win 87 games--a massive improvement over the previous year. That's still not great, though, so the obvious move would be to improve the team further, perhaps by signing a free agent of some sort. Alex Anthopoulos has been given permission to upgrade payroll by up to $30 million, and the moderately strong minor league system could probably withstand the loss of a first-round pick. So why haven't they done anything? In fact, the argument could be made that the Blue Jays are at the exact right place on the win curve for a big free agent splash to make sense.
Perhaps Anthopoulos doesn't want writers to get carpal tunnel syndrome and is just waiting for things to quiet down before making a move. Or perhaps, the Jays have gotten sucked into the rebuilding trap. It's unlikely, given the erudite reputation of the front office, but it might be the case. How else can you explain the team's silence during these last few months when they have so much to gain from a big move?
Left-handed pitcher from Giants adds pitching depth
The White Sox have claimed LHP Eric Surkamp off of waivers from the San Francisco Giants. Surkamp figures to be another possible candidate for the starting rotation and generally adds some left-handed pitching depth to a team that still sorely lacks it.
The 26-year-old has seven major league starts with little success: 29.1 IP, 41 H, 18 BB, 13 K, 25 R. Six of those starts came late in 2011. The following spring training he tore his flexor tendon and had Tommy John surgery, missing all of 2012.
He was a well-regarded prospect, ranking in Baseball America's Giants top ten for both 2011 and 2012. The Cincinnati, Ohio native (oh, look, an Archbishop Moeller alumnus - wild guess, Buddy Bell drove this claim) has a fastball that sits in the upper 80s and his main secondary offerings are a curve and changeup. Pre-injury, his curve was considered a plus pitch and his change was at least average. Brooks Baseball says Surkamp's fastball is a four-seamer but the reports I've read all discuss his fastball having sink or being a two-seamer. He also dabbles with a cutter, an area I'm sure Don Cooper will attempt to refine with his magic Coopdust.
His minor league numbers were always impressive but he also always got the skepticism associated with a soft-tossing, strike-throwing lefty. His major league numbers certainly did nothing to allay that skepticism. However, he does have a funky delivery that adds deception and likely the perception of a somewhat more velocity.
Surkamp has one minor league option remaining.
In related news, the Blue Jays claimed Brent Morel. The 40-man roster is at 40. When Scott Downs passes his physical, the White Sox will need to free up a roster spot.
The first Blue Jays news in a while just broke and it doesn't exactly blow your (white) socks off. The Blue Jays claimed third baseman Brent Morel off waivers this afternoon from the Chicago White Sox. The 26-year-old right-handed hitter is a former highly ranked prospect who didn't pan out as expected. The California native has played 194 games over the past four years for the Sox, with 126 of those coming in 2011. Nearly all of his time in the majors has come at third base and he's considered a solid defender at the hot corner with a good arm.
Prior to the 2011 season, Morel was ranked as the second best White Sox prospect behind left-handed pitcher Chris Sale by Baseball America. They predicted Morel to be the starting White Sox third baseman in 2014, which obviously didn't work out as planned. He's never gotten on base enough to be an above average player, although he did hit 10 home runs during his lone full MLB season in 2011.
With four more years of team control, Morel projects to be a depth piece with the Blue Jays and might end up filling the role left by Mark DeRosa's retirement. He's better against left-handed pitchers so the team might be hoping that Morel hits well enough to platoon with Adam Lind, but that seems like a long shot.
Brendan Kennedy broke the news and as you can see, the Blue Jays now have a full 40-man roster:
#bluejays claim 3B Brent Morel off of waivers from the #whitesox. The #jays now have all spots filled on their 40-man roster.
The Twins ultimately decided to remove Mastroianni from the roster to open a 40-man roster spot for the newly signed Kurt Suzuki after Chris Colabello refused to move to Korea.
Needing a 40-man roster spot after signing Kurt Suzuki, the Twins reportedly were interested in selling Chris Colabello's rights to the LG Twins in South Korea. However, after Colabello nixed that transaction, the Twins were forced to find another way to clear space for Suzuki. They announced just minutes ago that their decision was to outrightDarin Mastroianni to Triple-A Rochester.
Mastroianni originally made his debut with the Toronto Blue Jays back in 2011 because then-second baseman Kelly Johnson forgot his passport in Arizona, who then had to fly back to retrieve it. Mastroianni played in only one game that season, and then was designated for assignment prior to spring training in 2012.
The Twins then claimed him off waivers and sent him to Double-A New Britain, where he hit a meager .143/.231/.171 in 40 plate appearances. Nevertheless, he was called up to Triple-A Rochester where he triple-slashed a much better .346/.393/.423 with 10 stolen bases in only 85 plate appearances, and he was eventually called up to the majors in May 2012. He hit .252/.328/.350 in 186 plate appearances while mostly playing the outfield corners, but where he showed his best talent was on the basepaths. In less than half a season, Mastroianni stole 21 bases in 24 attempts (88%), which tied Alexi Casilla for 2nd most on the team behind Ben Revere's 40, even though Casilla had nearly twice as many plate appearances.
Mastroianni started 2013 as the 4th outfielder for the Twins, but suffered an ankle injury just before the season started when he fouled a ball into his leg. What was initially a mild ankle problem became a stress reaction and later he underwent surgery to fix it, causing him to miss most of the season. He did receive a call-up late in the season, but only mustered a .185/.229/.215 line in 73 plate appearances (30 games).
He was in line to compete for a backup outfielder job in 2014, but that seems unlikely now with his removal from the 40-man roster. Since he was outrighted, the other 29 teams had a chance at claiming him but all passed, meaning he will definitely remain in the Twins organization for the near future.
Because of his ability to play all three outfield positions and his baserunning ability, I feel that with a few breaks (no injury-related pun intended) he could still find his way back in Minnesota at some point next year, with Aaron Hicks still being a question mark and Alex Presley never being a full time center fielder, though admittedly Mastroianni has only 8 major league starts in center field himself.
Fan-favourite Munenori Kawasaki has re-signed with the Blue Jays to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league spring training camp, according to an official Blue Jays tweet.
The @BlueJays have agreed to terms with INF MUNENORI KAWASAKI on a 2014 minor league contract with invite to Major League spring training.
Kawasaki had a $1 million option for 2014 that was declined by Toronto at the end of the season, making him a free agent. Had the Blue Jays picked up that option, Kawasaki would've been placed on the 40-man roster. As a minor league signing, Kawasaki does not have to take up a place on that roster.
The 32-year-old infielder first signed with the Blue Jays half-way through spring training in 2013 in a depth move, but only played two games with the Buffalo Bisons before his contract was selected to replace the injured Jose Reyes in early April. He gave the Blue Jays moderate defence in the middle infield positions and poor offence (hitting .229/.326/.308), but most importantly he gave the fans a lot of excitement and good memories. He had but one home run, but how could anyone forget their feeling after seeing this?
Kawasaki will provide the depth role again for the Blue Jays. Hopefully, for the big club, he will spend the majority of this time in Bisons gear (Buffalonians love him too) and comes up just occasionally for the crowd to cheer at him. With Ryan Goins looking like he's going to stick with Toronto, the Bisons will need infielders, and at least right now it looks like Kawasaki will get to start most nights. Mike McCoy is gone and there really isn't a boatload of infield prospects banging on the triple-A door.
Most Jays fans know that he is a replacement-level player, but he's one of the most fun replacement players I know about, so good on the Jays for bringing the guy back into the fold.
Dear Santa, I'm sure you don't need help but I figured I'd offer anyway. First of all, if you can remember where I hid that one gift for my son.....I'd be thrilled.
Tim Raines: Once again I ask for a plaque in the Hall of Fame for the very deserving Rock.
Bud Selig: RETIREMENT. Santa, we ask this every year. I've been especially good this year, so please Santa, do this for me.
Montreal: New Expos.
Minor Leaguer and everyone else on the masthead: Lots of interesting stuff to write about, and, of course, the time to write it all.
Me: I'm blessed enough, I don't need much. But if you let me have more time to watch my boys become fine young men, I'd be happy. Beyond that, I'd be happy if you allow me to play in this fun sandbox for a while longer.
For all of us: Health and more wins for the Jays.
Add in any other suggestions you have.
Merry Christmas to all. I hope Santa is good to you.
This saga changes every few days, but now it looks like the Golden Eagles will post Masahiro Tanaka, even though they can only get $20 million for him. If I was them I'd have likely have held on to him another year. Out of spite, if nothing else.
Every team in baseball is going to be after him:
I just spoke w/an MLB source who believes Cubs will not be outbid on Tanaka. He also said convincing Tanaka to come to Chgo will be hard.
Everyone will be offering a ton of money. I wonder if it will come down to where Tanaka would like to live. I'm sure the Jays will use Munenori Kawasaki as a ombudsmen for the Jays and the city of Toronto. Whether the Jays will be willing to put up the cash that the other teams will. You have to figure Tanaka will be getting something like $20 million a season for at least 5 years, likely more.
We should have a contest....guess which team will sign Tanaka, the number of years and the per year average of the contract.
Hall of Famer and former Blue Jay (if only for three months), Rickey Henderson, turns 55 today.
It might have only been 3 months, but then it was long enough to earn one of his two World Series rings with the Blue Jays. He really wasn't at the top of his game with us, in 44 regular season games he hit .215/.356/.319 with 22 stole bases and 35 walks. The .356 OBP seems pretty good, but not compared to his .401 career mark. In our playoff run, he hit .170/.316/.255 with 3 stole base and 2 caught stealing....but then he did get on base for Joe Carter's series willing home run so he can be forgiven.
Of course, you know he had a great career, with a MLB record 1406 stolen bases and record 2295 runs. Combine that with a .279/.401/.419 slash line, 297 home runs and a great glove in left field and you have the best lead off hitter ever.
He also had the biggest ego in baseball too. I do love this story though:
In the early 1980s, the Oakland A's accounting department was freaking out. The books were off $1 million. After an investigation, it was determined Rickey was the reason why. The GM asked him about a $1 million bonus he had received and Rickey said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it on a wall at his house.
So he wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but I still would have loved him to have been a Blue Jay for more of his career.
Happy birthday, Rickey, I hope it is a good one. Poor guy, likely gets ripped off on presents. My birthday is in mid-January and my parents still didn't do much for birthday presents, course that could be just because my parents were cheap.
Tell us your which is your favorite Christmas movie.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas time. Or, if you don't celebrate the season, enjoying a good movie. When I was younger I always wondered why so many movies opened on Christmas day.
I hope Santa was good to you. I got new headphones, good for our flight to the Dominican Friday, and tickets to a hockey game and a ton of other things...I'm far luckier than I deserve to be.
In the spirit of the season, I'm recycling a post from last Christmas.
Christmas movies or TV specials that you can't live without at this time of year?
For me I have to watch A Wonderful Life and Holiday Inn each year.
A Wonderful Life I've likely watched 50+ times. I can do all the lines. It's always good to be reminded the importance of friends. I'll admit to tearing up at the end every time I see it. The funny thing about the movie is that it wasn't popular when it came out. It was too dark. People didn't like it., but Jimmy Stewart would always name it when asked his favourite movie and, well, it was cheap to put on TV (someone forgot to renew the copyright), so it got played at Christmas over and over. Times changed, it didn't seem so dark.
Holiday Inn really isn't a great movie. You have to be a fan of old Hollywood musicals to like it. Bing Crosby at his best minimalist acting and great singing. Fred Astaire dancing and showing off his limited acting ability. A pretty silly plot. Bing is lazy, opens an inn that will only be open on holidays, and, as always in these movies, they fight over a girl. Though, with how they treat her, I have no idea why the girl would want either of them, but that's the way those movies go. Women in those movies didn't have much choice in men.
I also watch Peanuts Christmas and the Alastair Sim Christmas Carol movie.
I have to watch these in the original black and white, I think of colourizing sort of like remixing old music. I want the original vision of the artists.
Anyway those are my favourites, tell us about the ones you like best.
It's Boxing Day in Canada. For me, public enemy number one is anyone getting in my way at the parking lot and the mall.
The Sporting News came out with a slideshow profiling who they thought was "Public Enemy #1" for each team in Major League Baseball. They picked Jeffrey Maier for the Orioles, Jeffrey Loria for the ExposMarlins, and Bud Selig for the Astros all of humanity. For the Toronto Blue Jays, they picked Bill Madlock, the Detroit Tigers' designated hitter who slid way off the basepaths into Tony Fernandez in 1987. Fernandez's season was ended when his right elbow hit the hard Exhibition Stadium surface (Madlock blamed the wood frame around the bases for the injury) and shattered. Shattered also was the Blue Jays' playoff hopes, who ended up blowing a 2.5-game lead to lose the A.L. East pennant at Tiger Stadium a week later. The Blue Jays won the game Fernandez was injured and the one after that, but then lost the last seven games of the season.
It’s a story that many Blue Jays fans of a certain age would definitely remember, but I think it is a bit dated and my guess is that 90% of Blue Jays fans (TFSML excepted) would pick someone else more contemporary as the club's "Public Enemy #1". So let’s look at the possible candidates for that title. And to any of the candidates reading this: don't worry if you're named to the unenviable title, Dave Winfield and Robbie Alomar were hated in Toronto after the seagull and spitting incidents, respectively, but managed to be rehabilitated in the fans' eyes eventually. Fans are fickle; the title is not for life.
Candidates
Alex Anthopoulos
Wanted for: Failure in building a playoff team, poor talent evaluation, not living up to the hype built up by the fanbase
General manager Alex Anthopoulos was loved by Blue Jays fans when he was first hired, receiving nicknames like "ninja" and "boy genius" in his tenure when he re-built a depleted farm system, got rid of Vernon Wells' contract, oversaw a complete re-branding, getting Steve Delabar for Eric Thames, moved the triple-A affiliate to Buffalo, and pulled off massive trades with the Marlins and the Mets to acquire stars like Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, and R.A. Dickey. Unfortunately, the 2013 Blue Jays were a massive flop and some fans grew critical of him. They've recalled how he fell short in the bidding for Yu Darvish, his mistakes in judging the talents of Yan Gomes and Emilio Bonifacio, failing to sign two first-round draft picks, not being able to acquire Doug Fister from the Tigers, not signing free agents, selling the farm, non-tendering J.P. Arencibia, and not making any significant upgrades this offseason.
J.P. Arencibia
Wanted for: Poor performance, whining about hurt feelings on the radio
Catcher J.P. Arencibia was loved by Blue Jays fans when he first came up to the major leagues, going 4-for-5 in his first game, hitting a double and two homers, including one on his first major league pitch. His good looks, youthfulness, and love for tweeting didn't hurt. But then as the numbers slipped, down to .194/.227/.365 this past season, fans and the media started becoming very critical of the young catcher. Arencibia responded by biting back, attacking Sportsnet analysts Dirk Hayhurst and Gregg Zaun on Twitter and morning radio. The backlash was so strong that he ended up quitting Twitter. The former first-round draft pick and top prospect ended up being non-tendered and allowed to walk for nothing.
Wanted for: Being injured a lot, then opting out of his contract to go to the Yankees
Pitcher A.J. Burnett was loved by the Blue Jays fans when he first signed in 2006 as a potential number two to a rotation fronted by Roy Halladay. He never lived up to what many Blue Jays fans wanted him to be, mostly because injuries sidelined him for his first two seasons in Toronto, pitching just 135 and 165 innings in 2006 and 2007, respectively. He finally had a healthy season in 2008, where he had an 18-10 record, 4.07 ERA, 221 IP, and American League-leading 231 strikeouts. However, in June of his walk year, Burnett tipped his cap to the boo birds in Toronto after a bad outing and admitted that he was looking for an opportunity to go somewhere else, where "baseball is breakfast, lunch, and dinner." True to his word, Burnett opted out of the last two years of his contract to go sign with the Yankees. Of course it was J.P. Ricciardi who gave him the player-friendly contract, but Burnett was lustily booed when he came back to Rogers Centre in an epic duel with former rotation mate Roy Halladay, who ended up getting a complete game.
Wanted for: Requesting a trade from the Blue Jays, alleged steroid use, having an affair with a 15-year old, being a shithead
Pitcher Roger Clemens was loved by the Blue Jays fans when he first signed in December 1996. In my baseball newsletter (I was 10) I wrote an article about how Clemens and the new uniforms would breathe new life into a franchise that was coming off of three horrible seasons after winning for so long. And, boy, did he deliver: Roger Clemens became the first pitcher since Sandy Koufax to win back-to-back triple crowns in 1997 and 1998, going a combined 41-13 with a 2.33 ERA and 1.061 WHIP, striking out 563 batters in just under 500 innings, throwing 14 complete games and six shutouts. Despite Clemens's performance, the Blue Jays finished below .500 out of the playoffs in the two seasons, and Clemens soon demanded to be traded when it was clear that Interbrew was not opening its wallet to make a better team for 1999. He got his wish when Gord Ash shipped him out to the Yankees for David Wells. Clemens had unnatural ERA-'s of 45 in 1997 and 57 in 1998... "unnatural" because he was later alleged by former trainer Brian McNamee of using performance-enhancing drugs starting around the time when he joined the Blue Jays. Oh and he also allegedly started having sex with a 15-year-old Mindy McCready. And Cito Gaston called him "an asshole," and he beaned Mike Piazza and threw a broken bat at him, and he stopped traveling with the team on road trips later in his career.
Bob Davidson
Wanted for: Robbing Devon White of a World Series triple-play, calling interference on Yunel Escobar, being an umpire
Umpire Bob Davidson was probably not loved by anybody ever because he is an umpire. After Devon White's Catch in game three of the 1992 World Series, Terry Pendleton was called out when he passed the runner in front of him, Deion Sanders. Sanders was then caught in a rundown between second and third, with third baseman Kelly Gruber running him back to second before diving to tag Sanders on his ankle to complete the triple play. However, Bob Davidson, the second-base umpire, waved his arms repeatedly to call Sanders "safe". As you can see in this video, Davidson had a pretty good view of the tag and just plain missed it.
The next batter struck out, so no damage was done (and of course the Blue Jays ended up winning the game and the World Series), so most Jays fans are probably just annoyed at the fact that they were denied the second triple play in World Series history. However, the incident with Davidson in 2011 actually cost the Blue Jays a win against the Angels. It happened in the wee hours of the morning on April 10 (in the east coast; it was still late April 9 on in Anaheim). The Blue Jays and the Angels were knotted at fives entering extra innings. With two outs in the top of the 13th, the Blue Jays had Adam Lind at third and Yunel Escobar at second with Edwin Encarnacion at the plate. Encarnacion hit a grounder to third, third baseman Alberto Callaspo fielded it but threw wide of first, scoring the go-ahead run for the Blue Jays... or so they thought. Right after Lind crossed the plate, Bob Davidson ran in to call Yunel Escobar out for runner interference, even though he was nowhere near Callaspo. In the bottom of the 14th, the Angels won it on a walkoff single by friggin Maicer Izturis.
Yunel Escobar
Wanted for: Poor performance, writing gay slurs on eyeblack, being too "flashy" on the field
Shortstop Yunel Escobar arrived in a trade for Alex Gonzalez (with Tim Collins and Tyler Pastornicky), one that was seen as a good "sell high" trade after Gonzalez went on a hot start to the season, hitting 17 homers and slugging 100 points above career average. Escobar had been in the dog house in Atlanta after reportedly clashing with Bobby Cox and Chipper Jones and we kept wondering why--he seemed like a jovial player in Toronto. He was still a fan-favourite going into 2012, even getting his own bobblehead day, but then a poor April and a weak August and September brought his numbers much below his career average. People started noticing more and more air-headed plays, like unnecessary spin moves and bumping into other infielders on pop-ups. But that's not what ultimately did him in: in a mid-September game in 2012, a Blue Jays season ticket holder James G. noticed Escobar wearing the letters "TU ERE MARICON" on his eye black stickers, which was interpreted as a gay slur. The Blue Jays had a horrible season filled with injuries and broken dreams (this line could also have been used to begin almost every single profile in this piece) and then this unnecessary drama happened. After the incident, a press conference was hastily organized, with a very apologetic-looking (and -sounding) Yunel Escobar sitting beside an annoyed Alex Anthopoulos, a crappy Spanish interpreter, and John Farrell who claims to not be a regular reader of his starting shortstop's face. What's worse than the eyeblack incident, and the horrible presser that followed, was the fact that other players were trying to explain away the crime by saying that all other Spanish-speaking players do it. In any case, Escobar apologized and then was suspended for three games. He came back to the Rogers Centre with a forgiving round of applause from the home town fans, but only played a few more games in Toronto before he was shipped to the Marlins and then the Rays.
John Farrell
Wanted for: High treason
It's now kind of fun to look back on Escobar's press conference and imagine what manager John Farrell was thinking about as he sat on the dais, because he was probably counting down the days as a Blue Jays manager. After two months of rumours and innuendo, the Boston Media reported that the Red Sox hired John Farrell on October 20, 2012. Farrell had been a pitching coach in Boston before being hired as the manager with the Blue Jays, but he was already interested in hopping back down to Boston after Terry Francona got canned after the 2011 season. The Blue Jays had to publicly come out to announce a "no lateral moves" policy for club staff.
Frankly, by the end of 2012, I don't think there were too many of us left who actually liked Farrell. His lack of understanding of platoons, poor bullpen management, love for bunting in the first three innings, and his politician-like interviews annoyed a lot of us. But it was the way he left (exacerbated by Boston Media reports) that left many of us hurt. He wanted to leave Toronto for the "epicenter" of baseball, and he upped his jackwadness by saying "if memory serves me correct, I was traded," when Toronto reporters asked him about his exit from the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays fans welcomed him back, like they do with so many former players, with a rousing round of boos when Farrell returned as a Red Sox manager. Jays fans were confident that Farrell had made the wrong choice to leave, especially with all the acquisitions that were made in the offseason, but flash forward to October and the same fans who had mercilessly booed Farrell had their hearts broken as they saw the man win his first World Series.
J.P. Ricciardi
Wanted for: Ineffective drafting, poor trades, failure to produce a playoff team, saying "chowdah"
General manager J.P. Ricciardi was touted as a prized acquisition from the A's front office, who sought to re-build the Blue Jays franchise using Moneyball principles after the disastrous Gord Ash regime. In his eight years at the helm of the franchise, a lot of promises were made about building up a winning team, but little was delivered. The Jays finished above .500 in half of those years, but they did finish in second place in 2006, albeit 10 games behind first. His draft philosophy was to prefer college players with higher floors rather than gambling on high schoolers with higher ceilings. Among his 14 first-round picks, he chose just three high schoolers (Travis Snider, Justin Jackson, and Kevin Ahrens). At the time he was ousted, the the top Blue Jays prospects were arguably Zach Stewart, Chad Jenkins, and David Cooper, and it got pretty thin heading down from there. His poor relationship with the Syracuse Chiefs ended a long-term affiliation and forced the triple-A team to pack their bags for Las Vegas for four inconvenient seasons. He did make several good trades in retrospect (acquiring Ted Lilly, Marco Scutaro, Justin Speier, Shea Hillenbrand, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion), but the poor drafting, almost a decade of poor-to-mediocre baseball, and handing out huge contracts to Vernon Wells and Alex Rios that just didn't work out, puts him on this list.
Rogers Communications Inc.
Wanted for: Building a statue of their founder, being cheap, cell phone contracts and roaming charges
Rogers Communications was viewed as "cheap" owners with "payroll parameters" to meet, but they finally opened up their wallets the past offseason when they authorized the big deals with the Marlins and Mets, and the signing of Melky Cabrera. There were Blue Jays fans detested the company's decision to build a statue commemorating their founder, Ted Rogers, in front of a property they owned, the Rogers Centre, before putting in statutes of Blue Jays legends. They have been blamed for the Blue Jays having a stale stadium and an even staler marketing team. I think that a lot of the frustration comes from the fact that Rogers is a huge corporation that charges Canadians a lot of money for cell phones (especially data when roaming), home phones, cable TV, internet, home security systems, and whatever else they do nowadays.
I'm pretty sure that there are other names that could be on the list as contenders, especially for a club that has not been to the playoffs in 20 years, but I'll let you nominate them in the comments.
Hat tip to @KennedyMLB for passing on the link to The Sporting News' slide show.
With the news that Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is going to be posted by the Rakuten Golden Eagles, there's no better time to actually look at the type of pitcher he is. Too often in sports it seems fans get overexcited about possible acquisitions to their team without ever bothering to find out what said player brings to the table. With very little accessible video of Japanese players on the internet the hype for these potential imports usually reaches pretty silly levels, leading fans to believe that the next Justin Verlander is coming to the MLB anytime a player is posted.
Of course I'm no Japanese baseball expert myself, but let's try and take a look at what Tanaka could bring to the table for the lucky team who wins this sweepstakes. The 25-year-old right hander from the Itami area of Osaka has been pitching professionally since the age of 18, when he started 28 games for Rakuten. There's always going to be concern about the miles on a pitcher's arm when he's had such heavy workloads so far in his career, with 1315 innings already under his belt.
Here's a nice snapshot of Tanaka's performance thus far in his professional career:
Tanaka stands 6'2" and weighs in a 205 pounds, which is comparable to a pitcher like Brett Cecil. Tanaka's delivery is similar to former Japanese import Yu Davish and has no obvious problems, although people have said his wide stride causes his pitches to have a flatter plane than you would expect from someone 6'2".
As most Japanese hurlers do, Tanaka throws a multitude of different pitches and has the ability to locate with all of them. His fastball sits low-90's and is pretty flat, often thrown up in the zone. That might be a concern in the major leagues as power hitters will be able to launch that high pitch into orbit. His two-seamer is similar to the shuuto thrown by most Japanese pitchers which is also known as the "reverse slider". His splitter is a big whiff pitch and runs in on a right-handed hitters' hands as you can see at the 36 second mark in the video:
Tanaka's slider is arguably his best off-speed pitch and he throws it about a quarter of the time. The hard slider is effective against hitters on both sides of the plate and is easily thrown for strikes. There's a ton of sliders in this video as it's Tanaka's favourite pitch to throw when he needs a whiff:
To round up his repertoire the right-hander also mixes in a more straight changeup, a loopy curve, and a rarely seen cutter. Like Darvish, Tanaka pounds the strike zone with a lethal combination of different pitches and while the stuff is not as electric stuff as the Texas Rangers ace, the command of it is pinpoint accurate. As the report I linked to early points out, a more accurate comparison to Tanaka might be Hiroki Kuroda of the New York Yankees as both pitchers rely on their "reverse sliders" and splitters to get hitters out, while their four-seam fastballs don't blow anyone away.
Personally I believe Tanaka will be a fine number two pitcher in North America, but he will have to rely on his command to get him out of innings. The chances for the Blue Jays to land him are very slim considering how many teams will be willing to drop huge amounts of money on the Japanese pitcher and Alex Anthopoulos' hesitancy to take huge risks on free agents. It would not surprise me in the least if he went to New York due to their need of a starter, the Yankees' limitless cash, and the familiarity of having fellow countryman Hiroki Kuroda already playing there.
With snow and ice coating every surface outside my windows, and Tom being in the Dominican, it's perfect time to dream about the summer, baseball, and of course, baseball trips. I am a relative latecomer to the whole concept of travelling to another city to watch baseball--some of my friends are not only non-baseball fans, but they actually despise it, so despite having gone on many road trips throughout the United States, I only got to see two baseball games outside of Toronto (a Reds-Pirates game at PNC, and an Astros-Brewers game at Miller Park) until the past couple of years.
In 2012, TFSML and I went down to Dunedin for Blue Jays spring training (see TFSML's recaps: part I, part II), as well as games in Lakeland and Sarasota. As TFSML wrote in the post, Ed Smith Stadium (spring home of the Orioles) was gorgeous and really made me realize how big of a dump Florida Auto Exchange Stadium was (and is). Give TFSML credit for his scouting report on Yan Gomes. I also made my only (known) appearance on Sportsnet during that trip, playing the role of a fuzzy white patch wearing a red (Vancouver Canadians) cap:
We had a great time and I'll definitely need to return another spring one of these days before the Blue Jays leave Dunedin. I'll also use this opportunity to peddle TFSML's Bluebird Banter t-shirt.
The only significant problem I had during that trip was my flight back home (TFSML got home fine). I flew Delta, and the plan was to go from Tampa to Cincinnati back to Toronto; however they overbooked the second flight and I was stuck in the Cincy airport for five hours and had to stop again in Detroit before heading back home. The good thing is that the Cincinnati airport had great WiFi and cubicles for working, so I got a post and some "real" work done, and collected a cool $600 in Delta credits for the hassle. So this spring, days before the credits expired, I used the $600 to fly to San Francisco to see a friend and catch an Athletics-Giants pre-season game at beautiful AT&T Park. They had extra bobbleheads somewhere and handed a random one to everyone at the gate. I originally got a Robb Nen, but traded it for a diving and bubble-gum-blowing Pablo Sandoval.
It got cold towards the end of the game and I was too cheap to pay $7 for a cup of Ghirardelli hot chocolate so I settled with just shivering, which was free. The next out-of-town game I saw was a Buffalo Bisons game at Coca-Cola Field in late April. Coca-Cola Field was a great ballpark but we froze our butts off during the double-header. Game one started around 1 pm and we were there all the way until the end of game two (around 6:30 pm)--and were very appreciative to the guy who decided that minor league double-headers should be only seven innings each. By the end of game two, there were just 80-some fans left at the park, which normally seats 18,000. It was so quiet by the end that we heard the sounds of the metal ad panels turning. After that game, I returned to Buffalo for numerous games in the summer and it was amazing--I highly encourage those in the area to give Coca-Cola Field a try.
Next, piggybacking on a work trip to Florida, I went down to Miami to see a Marlins game at their new ballpark. We were able to pay a scalper $5 (for $1 face value tickets) to get into the ballpark and pretty much got to sit wherever we wanted:
Officially, the attendance was 13,110 but I doubt if there were more than 5,000 people there. In the eighth I went out to the outfield to take a good, close look at the home run sculpture and was lucky enough to witness it go off up close when Giancarlo Stanton hit a go-ahead (and later game-winning) home run. I am the guy wearing the dark shirt above the 427 sign in this video.
Then, in mid-August, a friend and I drove down to Detroit to go see a recently-traded Emilio Bonifacio wear a Royals uniform. Our seats were pretty much right on top of the Royals bullpen, and the Tigers fans near us had a good time heckling the relievers. We really enjoyed the beer selection at the park, and we even got a nice fireworks show after. On the same trip we drove down to Lansing for a Lugnuts game at Cooley Law School Stadium. Lansing is a really nice little town with a fantastic peanut shop right downtown (people who are allergic, alert). The ballpark is nice and intimate, with a fantastic beer and food selection. The Voices of the Lugnuts, Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and Slavko Bekovic, were super nice guides, and we got to see some young kids in action.
In 2014, I already have plans to go to Montreal for the Blue Jays-Mets games in Olympic Stadium in late March (get your tickets here), and hope to go to Manchester to see the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and then down to Boston for a Red Sox game there.
Where did you go in 2013? What are your plans for 2014?
All photographs copyright Minor Leaguer, all rights reserved. Use only with permission.
But he included a tidbit that I hadn't heard, that Dirk Hayhurst won't be back with Sportsnet next season and that Jack Morris may not be back. Hayhurst, Bob says, is heading elsewhere. That would make me sad, I like Dirk, he is far better than Zaun. I'll miss him.
Dirk has a new book coming out in February, I have a review copy I am enjoying between drinks here.
Richard Griffin figures that Alex Anthopoulos time with the Jay's might come to an end without a winning season this year. His story is here.
Richard also tells us that other GMs have figured him out, using the Tigers trade of Fister as an example, talking about how Alex would have liked to make an offer but didn't know the Tigers were close to a deal. To me that's a failing of the Tigers, they should have talked to all teams known to be interested in landing a starter before making a deal. If you were wanting to trade a player wouldn't you want to start a bidding war? Or at least see what was it there.
I don't think that's Alex's fault. Perhaps other teams are a little more careful in dealing with him, but then, if Alex has failed so miserably, why would other teams need to come up with strategies to deal with him. Either he is a failure and other teams should be happy to make deals with him, or he's a success and they have to figure out how to put smart him, but I don't think he can be both.
I had been wondering how long it would take for Griffin to turn on Alex, he spent all his time trying to get JP fired during his time as GM.
Personally, I still like Alex. I think his moves made sense, things just didn't work out. Life is like that sometimes. Nothing is guaranteed.
I am still enjoying life in the Dominican, beer appears beside me, I don't have to ask. Vladimir knows me.
One of the all-time great Chicago White Sox players has the numbers and lengthy period of dominance that voters eat up. Unfortunately, like most of the other players on this year's ballot, the era in which he played will almost certainly be held against him.
Longtime Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas makes his debut on the Hall of Fame ballot this year alongside a host of other terrific first-time nominees, including Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina. Thomas is by far the most accomplished offensive player of the first-year group and is one of the top hitters on the ballot altogether.
More from SB Nation's White Sox community, South Side Sox: Thomas on the fence
Why he's a Hall-of-Famer
Thomas broke into the league as a 22-year-old in a big way. He hit .330/.454/.529 with 21 extra-base hits in 240 plate appearances while walking nearly as many times as he struck out. It was enough for the No. 7 overall pick in the 1989 MLB First-Year Player Draft to earn a full-time spot with the White Sox heading into the 1991 season. Thomas responded by leading the league in on-base percentage and walks while hitting .318/.453/.553 with 32 home runs and finishing third in the MVP voting.
The Columbus, Ga., native's terrific full-season debut began an incredible 10-year stretch in which he hit .320/.439/.581 with 337 home runs and walked 1,144 times while only striking out on 781 occasions.
Thomas did his best work in 1993 and 1994, earning back-to-back American League MVP honors. He was deeply entrenched in the Triple Crown race when the latter campaign ended in a strike, boasting a .353/.487/.729 line with 38 home runs and 101 runs batted in. It wasn't easy to be the best offensive player in either league at a time when the competition included the likes of Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Albert Belle, Jeff Bagwell and others all in their prime, but Thomas was right up there with them. He accumulated 7.1 offensive rWAR in consecutive seasons, finishing second to only Bonds over that two-year stretch.
2-time American League MVP 5-time All-Star 4-time Silver Slugger 1997 AL batting champion .301/.419/.555, 156 career OPS+ 521 home runs 495 doubles 73.6 career WAR 59.5 JAWS (9th among 1B)
The man known as "The Big Hurt" finished his career a .301/.419/.555 hitter with 521 home runs, 1,704 RBI, and 2,468 hits. Those are the sort of eye-catching numbers voters love. In addition, Thomas compiled 73.6 rWAR and scores a 59.5 in Jay Jaffe's Hall of Fame scoring system, JAWS. That's good for ninth all-time among first basemen, and six of the players ahead of him are already enshrined in Cooperstown. Only Albert Pujols, who is still active, and Jeff Bagwell, who is entering his fourth season on the ballot, have yet to be elected.
Why writers won't vote for him
Thomas spent the majority of his career as a designated hitter. Granted, he put up precisely the sort of numbers that a DH would need to overcome the lack of a real position. However, it negatively impacted his value as a player and makes him appear pale in comparison to, say, Bagwell, who actually remained at first base for most of his career and was largely very good at the position.
Bagwell played against the same competition as Thomas and posted similar numbers but still remains on the ballot, instead of enshrined in the Hall, mostly because of the era in which he played and the unfounded suspicion that comes along with it.
Thomas unfortunately might suffer the same fate, though, like Bagwell, he should see his name and face on a plaque in Cooperstown once the voters come to their senses.
