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Two Blue Jays Make Keith Law's Top 100 List Plus Other Notes

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After Baseball Prospectus had three Blue Jays in their top 101 list yesterday, ESPN writer Keith Law ranked only Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman in the top 100 prospects in baseball in his list today. The article is behind a paywall so we'll only quote small sections of it to avoid the wrath of the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Sanchez, the lanky right hander, slotted in at #30 after being ranked #19 last year due to a unimpressive year in Law's eyes. The quote that basically sums up the year for Sanchez is:

The gap between Sanchez's ability and his results grew a little this year, a season when the latter should have been catching up to the former as he gained experience and his body matured.

As numerous scouts have noted, his delivery has gotten worse, which has resulted in wild control and possible injury concerns. The abbreviated finish has also reduced the effectiveness of his breaking ball, which has all led to a step back for the top Blue Jays prospect. As everyone knows, 2014 is a big chance for Sanchez to take a step forward and become the pitcher everyone thinks he can be or else he runs the risk of wasting some seriously good stuff.

The other Blue Jay on the list is of course Marucs Stroman and the former Blue Devil slots in at #58, which is a lot lower than he was on the Baseball Prospectus list (#27). Law isn't sold on his future as a starter saying:

He's either a top-tier reliever, up in the Craig Kimbrel/Aroldis Chapman stratosphere, or a midrotation starter if he can keep the ball from leaving the park more than 25 to 30 times a year.

That's not a horrible ceiling obviously, but the height seems to worry Keith Law more than other evaluators.

Former Blue Jays are all over the list including Noah Syndergaard at #24, Travis d'Arnaud at #36, Jake Marisnick at #84, and Justin Nicolino at #93. That R.A. Dickey trade is sure going to be fun to re-examine in five years depending on how those top prospects end up playing in the major leagues.

As an aside, Ken Rosenthal has an article up reiterating that the Blue Jays are very interested in Ubaldo Jimenez and are doing a lot of background work on the righty. It's also equally as likely that the Blue Jays will make a run to sign Ervin Santana:

The team’s background work on Jimenez and the likelihood he will require a less expensive contract than Santana does not necessarily mean that he is the club’s preferred choice, sources said.

Also, the Blue Jays "State of the Franchise" is currently streaming on Sportsnet.ca if watching the team make vague statements about the future is your idea of a good time.


Toronto Blue Jays 2013 Offseason: The Darkest or Best Timeline?

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A Quick and Dirty Post. According to Shi Davidi, Ian Kinsler and Brett Anderson would have been Blue Jays if deals hadn't gone south.

Here is the link.

Deals that could've been alter Blue Jays' plans - Sportsnet.ca

Money Quote:

Kinsler, traded from the Texas Rangers to Detroit Tigers for Prince Fielder in November, would have been a significant coup, given the upgrade he would have represented at second base and the dynamic tandem he would have formed with Jose Reyes up the middle.

But a potential deal was scuttled by the three-time all-star’s no-trade clause, leaving the Rangers to look elsewhere, and the Blue Jays to anoint rookie Ryan Goins as the front-runner at second base.

Anderson, dealt in December by the Oakland Athletics to Colorado Rockies for pitcher Drew Pomeranz and prospect Chris Jensen, nearly ended up with the Blue Jays in exchange for Sergio Santos. But those talks fell apart due to concern over Anderson’s injury risk.

Oh well.  AA's trying but I wouldn't have done a deal for Anderson for the same reason as he did (although Brett would have been at home with the Jays thanks to all of his injuries.)  Ian Kinsler would have been nice, but it was obvious he didn't want to be here and I'm not going to get all teary eyed on might have beens for that reason.

Poll
Would you have been happy if the Jays landed:

  411 votes |Results

Blue Jays nearly had deals for Ian Kinsler, Brett Anderson, per report

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The Jays have remain “very active and very involved” in the pitching market.

For a team that finished in last place in 2013, the Blue Jays have been incredibly quiet this offseason, but not for a lack of trying. Toronto had separate deals for Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler and Athletics' lefty Brett Anderson fall apart earlier this winter, as Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reports.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos addressed a group of season-ticket holders during the clubs State of the Franchise event at Rogers Centre.

Those deals would have helped bring back some of the excitement Toronto fans had for the team after their blockbuster with the Marlins a year ago. Anthopoulos and the Jays might have missed on their primary targets, but they have other targets they continue to pursue, or "Plan D" as Davidi calls it.

A bargain deal for Ubaldo Jimenez or Ervin Santana could be what the team is waiting for, and Anthopoulos sounded enthused about his team's chances on the free agent market.

"The prices have certainly changed from the start of the off-season to now ... free agency, it’s probably fair to say, has become a little more appealing."

A trade for Jeff Samardzija is also something the Jays have considered this winter, but Chicago is likely asking for one of Toronto's best young pitching prospects in return. If this asking price drops, expect the Jays to be one of the frontrunners for Samardzija.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• MLB approves padded caps for pitchersCobb will wear one

• Buxton tops Keith Law’s prospect rankings

• Chipper Jones saves Freddy Freeman with his ATV

• Dr. SB Nation: How to fix the Cincinnati Reds

• 2014 MLB salary arbitration tracker

Alomar, Bell, Hentgen, and Quantrill will be Blue Jays guest instructors

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Very minor things from the State of the Franchise.

We are two weeks away from the official opening of Blue Jays spring training, where fans will see some familiar names present in Dunedin as guest instructors, including Roberto Alomar, Sandy Alomar, Sr., George Bell, Pat Hentgen, and Paul Quantrill. All five have previously been instructors at spring training. Roberto Alomar is a "special assistant to the organization", while Sandy Alomar, Sr., Bell, and Quantrill are all officially "consultants" to the Blue Jays. Hentgen, who decided to leave his bullpen coaching job to be closer to his ailing father, is still with the organization and will still help out with the pitchers this spring training.

Although Roy Halladay has agreed to be a guest instructor with the Phillies, the Blue Jays are still trying to have him in some capacity in spring training. I wrote about this possibility previously, but last night at the State of the Franchise, I got a confirmation that the Jays are actually working on it.

Non-Roster Invitees

In the brochure the Blue Jays handed out to attendees at the State of the Franchise event was an updated spring training roster with some non-roster invitees (NRIs) that have yet to be unveiled on BlueJays.com.

Uniform Number Updates
  • When Dioner Navarro arrived in Toronto, he was given #30, the number he has worn for the bulk of his career. Josh Thole was forced to change, and chose #22, displacing Kevin Pillar who wore that last season. Pillar will divide his old number by two and will wear Rajai Davis's old #11 in 2014.

A.J. Burnett, Best Pitcher Available

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Forget Ubaldo Jimenez or Ervin Santana, A.J. Burnett is the best pitcher–and player-still available on the free-agent market.

When news broke on Tuesday that A.J. Burnett was open to pitching for a team other than the Pirates in 2014, it’s fair to say that more than one GM around the league raised an eager eyebrow or two. After all, Burnett has been one of the better pitchers in baseball since 2012, something that might be lost on fans who remember his days in Yankee pinstripes.

Indeed, since moving to Pittsburgh two years ago, Burnett has excelled, changing his approach and thriving in more ways than one. He finished the 2013 season with a 3.30 ERA, a 2.80 FIP, and 4.0 WAR in 191.0 innings pitched despite turning 36 in January. Once injury prone, Burnett has been quite durable in recent seasons, throwing at least 185 innings every year dating all the way back to 2007.

In Pittsburgh, Burnett thrived with a sinker-heavy approach, incorporating the pitch more and more into his arsenal until it was his primary weapon in 2013. That offering, combined with a curveball that ranked first overall in terms of pitch value last season, has helped Burnett post the second-best groundball rate in baseball since 2012 (56.5%).

While much has been made of Burnett’s sinker (and for good reason), the right-hander’s curveball has been even more essential to his success. According to Baseball Prospectus, Burnett’s uncle Charlie generated the second-most groundballs per ball in play of any pitcher last season at a remarkable 68%. The offering held opponents to an .054 ISO in the process.

Despite producing loads of groundballs in a Pirate uniform, though, Burnett has also maintained his ability to strike opposing hitters out. His 26.1% strikeout rate was ninth-highest in the majors last year. Such prowess in generating groundballs and garnering strikeouts put Burnett in rare company in 2013, as he, Felix Hernandez, and Stephen Strasburg were the only pitchers in baseball to rank among the top 10 in both groundball and strikeout rate.

All of this bodes well for Burnett’s free agent prospects. The 15-year veteran has reinvented himself, while also maintaining what made him successful in the first place. The fact he has no draft pick compensation and won’t be looking for a long-term commitment in the four to five-year range only makes Burnett a more attractive option when compared with other available starters like Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana.

Considering his consistent success since the start of 2012, Burnett comes with far fewer question marks attached to him than either Jimenez or Santana, who both struggled mightily as recently as a year ago. While the Pirates have expressed a desire to bring Burnett back throughout the offseason, one would expect multiple other teams to show an interest. In fact, Burnett might be just the type of shorter-term, lower-cost option that teams like the Orioles and Blue Jays have been waiting for. Unwilling to commit big money or multiple years to guys like Jimenez and Santana, Burnett would look awfully good at the top of the rotation in either Baltimore (near where he resides in the offseason) or Toronto.

In a lot of ways Burnett represents a safe option for any team looking to acquire starting pitching. He has become the rare type of starter who gets both groundballs and strikeouts, and given his performance since 2012, he comes with very few question marks.

Sure, maybe he struggles when not pitching in front of a Pirates defense that gobbles up groundballs. Maybe he can’t pitch in the more rugged confines of the American League. Maybe his age will start to catch up with him. But to me, these questions are far less worrisome than the doubts facing Santana or Jimenez’s future prospects.

In fact, it turns out Burnett put himself into some pretty good company with his performance in 2013. According to Baseball Reference’s Play Index, since 1916, starting pitchers who are 36 or older have posted a strikeout rate above 25% just 22 times. It never hurts to be on a list in which the likes of Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling are prominent:

RkPlayerSOYearAgeTmGSIPERAERA+HRBAOBPSLGOPSOPS+
1Randy Johnson372200137ARI34249.22.4918819.203.274.309.58350
2Randy Johnson347200036ARI35248.22.6418123.224.288.356.64363
3Randy Johnson334200238ARI35260.02.3219526.208.273.346.61959
4Nolan Ryan301198942TEX32239.13.2012417.187.275.283.55756
5Randy Johnson290200440ARI35245.22.6017618.197.241.315.557.44
6Steve Carlton286198237PHI38295.23.1011917.232.288.337.62477
7Steve Carlton275198338PHI37283.23.1111620.258.313.359.67292
8Nolan Ryan270198740HOU34211.22.7614214.200.284.292.57660
9Nolan Ryan232199043TEX30204.03.4411418.188.267.322.59065
10R.A. Dickey230201237NYM33233.22.7313924.226.278..362.640.81
11Nolan Ryan228198841HOU33220.03.529418.227.304.347.65296
12Roger Clemens218200441HOU33214.12.9814515.217.292.329.62164
13Roger Clemens213200138NYY33220.13.5112819246.309.375.68379
14A.J. Burnett209201336PIT30191.03.3010711.231.304.335.63987
15Nolan Ryan203199144TEX27173.02.9114012.172.263.285.54853
16John Smoltz197200740ATL32205.23.1114018.249.293.375.66977
17Nolan Ryan197198437HOU30183.23.0410912.212.286.305.59178
18Curt Schilling194200336ARI24168.02.9515917.230.270.358.62861
19Nolan Ryan194198639HOU30178.03.3410714.188.283.314.59772
20Roger Clemens192200239NYY29180.04.3510218.250.317.397.71489
21Nolan Ryan183198336HOU29196.12.981149.195.300.277.57771
22Steve Carlton179198136PHI24190.02.421519.222.286.310.59670
23Orlando Hernandez164200640TOT29162.14.669622.252.329.445.774102

Burnett’s velocity has hardly diminished, and he finished with the best strikeout rate of his career in 2013, while generating oodles of groundballs. Since the start of 2012, he has a higher strikeout rate than David Price, a better FIP than Yu Darvish, and a better xFIP than Max Scherzer. Add in the fact he comes without a draft pick attached to him, and there is no denying that Burnett is the best pitcher and player left on the free agent market.

. . .

All statistics, including WAR figures, courtesy of FanGraphs.com unless otherwise noted.

Alex Skillin is a writer and editor at Beyond the Box Score and also contributes to SB Nation's MLB newsdesk. He writes, mostly about baseball and basketball, at a few other places across the Internet. You can follow him on Twitter at @AlexSkillin.

Bronson Arroyo rumors: 'Don't believe everything you read'

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Arroyo might have been being a little hyperbolic when he said he didn't have an offer to turn down.

After Bronson Arroyo's comments on the lack of offers he's received, the baseball world responded with widespread surprise that pitcher as reliable as he's been couldn't find a deal in this winter's market. However, sources have told MLB Daily Dish's Chris Cotillo that Arroyo's comments might not be as literal as they sounded, saying "don't believe everything you read."

Arroyo, who will turn 37 next month, is one of the best remaining starters on the free agent market, and is almost unquestionably the most reliable.

He's thrown over 200 innings in every season since 2005 (except for the 199 he pitched in 2011 -- c'mon, Dusty!), and the results over that span have been admirable -- three percent better than league average in terms of ERA-. Posting respectable numbers at the hitter-friendly confines of the Great American Ballpark isn't easy for most pitchers.

Arroyo's advanced metrics could be part of the reason he's not receiving as many offers as he'd like, though that number appears to be more than zero now. In park- and league-adjusted ERA, Arroyo has posted below average numbers every season since 2007.

Rumors have connected him to as many as seven teams at different points in the offseason, but even if Arroyo was exaggerating a little by saying he's had no formal offers, it appears as though he is having some trouble finding one he likes.

More from SB Nation MLB:

• MLB approves padded caps for pitchersCobb will wear one

• Buxton tops Keith Law’s prospect rankings

• Chipper Jones saves Freddy Freeman with his ATV

• Dr. SB Nation: How to fix the Cincinnati Reds

• 2014 MLB salary arbitration tracker

Keith Law's Top Ten Blue Jay Prospects

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Keith Law posted his Top 10 Blue Jay Prospects (subscription required).

His top ten are:

  1. Aaron Sanchez
  2. Marcus Stroman
  3. Robert Osuna
  4. Daniel Norris
  5. Adonis Cardona
  6. Jairo Labourt
  7. Alberto  Tiraro
  8. Franklin Barreto
  9. Dawel Lugo
  10. D.J. Davis

He mentions Tom Robson, Chase DeJong and Kevin Pillar as 11-13.

Law calls Osuna the one that has fallen the furthest, though he still lists him as 3rd, because of his Tommy John surgery. He likely won't pitch during the season, maybe in the Fall League. I'd have him dropping to lower in the top ten.

The only prospects he thinks will make the majors this year are Stroman (who he says we could use in the pen to manage his innings), Kevin Pillar (who he thinks should be our 4th outfielder) and Ryan Goins (who he has as a utility infielder). Apparently he thinks Alex will sign or trade a second baseman.

Keith doesn't mention Mitch Nay, who I think could be in our top 10 or A.J. Jimenez.

He has Franklin Barreto as our 'sleeper', saying he has a good bat, with opposite field power and at least average defense at short.

Law doesn't think much of our system, after trading away Syndergaard, d'Arnaud, Marisnick and Nicolino.

He has us at 24th in his organizational rankings, I would think our system could jump up a bunch of spots, in his ranking, with us having 2 first round picks (presuming we figure out how to sign a first round pick) and if a few of the better looking players in our lower levels take a step up.

Michael Young retires

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The former All-Star has decided to call it quits.

Seven time All-Star and former face of the Texas RangersMichael Young has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his family, reports Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal. The 37-year-old has spent the past 14 years in the majors with the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 5th round of the 1997 draft, Young was sent to Texas in the summer of 2000 for Esteban Loaiza. Young made his major league debut that year, playing in two games, but wouldn't earn a full-time gig until the following year when he was named the team's starting second baseman. Following a disappointing rookie campaign (80 OPS+, 0.5 WAR), Young improved somewhat in 2002. Despite a slight offensive decline (78 OPS+), his defense took a big step forward, as he posted a 1.3 dWAR according to Baseball-Reference.

2003 would be a pivotal season in Young's career as he broke out by hitting .306/.339/.446 with 106 runs scored and a 2.8 WAR. Replacing the departed Alex Rodriguez at shortstop in 2004, he would be even better, as he hit .313/.353/.483 with 22 home runs, 216 hits, 114 runs scored, 99 RBIs, a 109 OPS+, and 2.9 WAR as he made his first All-Star team.

In 2005, Young finally stepped into the national spotlight, as he posted a monster offensive campaign, leading the AL with a .331 batting average and 221 hits, while also posting a .385 OBP, .513 SLG, 136 wRC+, and 131 OPS+ with 24 home runs, 40 doubles, 114 runs scored, and a career-best 4.4 WAR. Despite his offensive prowess, Young's defense greatly hampered him for the 2nd year in a row. After costing the Rangers roughly 27 runs on defense in 2004, he was even worse in 2005 with an atrocious -32 defensive runs saved (DRS). Both totals rank in the top 10 among the worst defensive seasons since 2003 according to DRS, with his 2005 total representing the 2nd worst mark ever.

Young would continue to post above-average offensive production from 2006 to 2008, totaling a 103 OPS+ and 9.9 WAR. In 2007, Texas signed him to an $80 million contract extension keeping him with the club until 2013. He would also win his first and only Gold Glove award in 2008 despite a -4.4 WAR.

With the presence of Elvis Andrus looming in Texas, Young shifted over to third base for both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He would prove to be just as defensively troubled as he was at short, accruing a -25 DRS in those two years. However, he was still productive with the bat, totaling a 7.5 oWAR and 114 OPS+ in that span. His 128 OPS+ in 2009 was the second best mark of his career.

After having played an astounding 1,508 games through 2010, Young's patience with the Rangers finally paid off with the organization's first Fall Classic appearance. The Rangers would lose to the Giants in 5 games, with Young hitting a paltry .250/.286/.250 in 21 plate appearances.

After Texas' acquisition of Adrian Beltre before the 2011 season, tension between Young and the Rangers increased, but the sides ultimately stuck it out, and the displaced Young moved over to the designated hitter position where he responded with a .338/.380/.474 (125 OPS+, 213 hits, 41 doubles, 3.5 WAR) season. Both his OBP and slugging percentage that year were career bests.

Young's production took a nosedive in 2012, his last year with the Rangers. Spending time at second base, shortstop, first base, third base, and designated hitter, he would tally a -12 DRS on defense, with a wRC+ of just 79 on offense. His -2.0 WAR was the 2nd worst total in all of baseball.

Adhering to his wishes, the Rangers traded Young to the Phillies before last year. He would rebound slightly with a 102 OPS+ in 126 games before being dealt to the Dodgers in late-August, where he finished the season by hitting .314/.321/.392 in a 21 game showing. He would appear in 9 postseason games for Los Angeles this past fall, collecting 1 hit in 10 at-bats.

Young finishes his career with 2,375 hits, 1,137 runs scored, 1,030 RBIs, 441 doubles, 185 home runs, 90 steals, 26.9 WAR, and a .300 batting average (well, .299949, but who's counting). In his 14 year career, he made seven All-Star teams (winning the game's MVP award in 2006) while collecting both a batting title and Gold Glove award. He played in two Fall Classics, as well as the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

According to Rosenthal, Young had multiple offers on the table, but preferred retirement to playing another year away from his family. He joins a plethora of former stars to call it quits in the recent months, including Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay, Lance Berkman, Andy Pettitte, Todd Helton, and Mariano Rivera.

MORE FROM MLB DAILY DISH

Blue Jays moving Brent Morel to second base

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In an off-season with very little news, MLB Trade Rumors, pointed us to this:

Because moving third basemen to second has worked so well for the Blue Jays recently. Just kidding.

This move makes sense. We are really thin at second, I'm not thrilled with the Ryan Goins/Maicer Izturis platoon at second. Morel hasn't played second in the majors and has a whole 2 games of experience at the position in the minors, but really it can't hurt to try. Morel isn't going to move Brett Lawrie off third base, but, if Goins doesn't figure out how to hit in the majors or if Izturis has a season like last year's, he might might have a shot at a job in the middle of our infield. Or he could be part of a whole new second base platoon with Munenori Kawasaki.

Not that Morel has a great track record against major league pitching, though before the 2011 season, Baseball America had him as the 85th best prospect in baseball. I guess it isn't only Blue Jays prospect that fail. Here's his MLB numbers:

YearAgeTmGABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSPos
201023CHW2165915303720417.231.271.415.6875
201124CHW126413441011811041542257.245.287.366.653*5
201225CHW351131420200541739.177.225.195.4205
201326CHW12253500011157.200.333.200.533/53
4 Yrs19461670141231135412638120.229.276.333.609
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/31/2014.

The same MLB Trade Rumors story points us to another Blue Jays related Tweet. This one from Jim Bowden:

We keep getting told this, but until we actually sign one of them, I'm not believing.

Community Projection: Colby Rasmus

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I should stay off the site when I have a headache, sorry about posting Adam Lind twice.

Let's do Colby Rasmus instead.

Colby had a pretty good 2013, if we ignore the injuries that kept him to 118 games. He had a slow start, here are his 2013 numbers by month:

April: .238/.297/.440 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI.

May: .263/.330/.463 with 5 home runs and 15 RBI.

June: .224/.313/.459 with 5 home runs and 13 RBI.

July: .371/.413/.588 with 3 home runs and 17 RBI.

August: .231/.286/.359 with 1 home run and 5 RBI.

September: .353/.421/.1.059 with 4 home runs and 6 RBI in 6 games.

July was amazing then he only played 10 games in August and, when he came back from injury, he took the throw from Anthony Gose in the face.

Here are his last 3 seasons:

YearAgeTmGABRH2B3BHRRBISBCSBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSOPS+
201124TOT1294717510624614535250116.225.298.391.68888
201225TOR1515657512621523754347149.223.289.400.68986
201326TOR1184175711526122660137135.276.338.501.840127
5 Yrs689239136459412117983122415233643.248.317.436.753103
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/31/2014.

I like Colby, likely in part because Tony LaRussa didn't like him. I hate managers that let personality conflicts cloud their judgments. No one is going to get along with everyone, but if you are a good manager of people, you'll ignore that you don't like someone's personality, and just worry about how they do their job.

Bill James figures Colby to play 134 games, hit 20 home runs, drive in 69, with a .244/.317/.438 slash line. Love you Bill but I'll take the over.

Zips has Colby getting 536 PA, hitting 23 home runs, 71 RBI, with a .251/.318/.460 line. Not all that much better than James.

I'll guess 145 games, 25 home runs, 80 RBI, and a 270/.333/.475 line. And about 10 insulting tweets from Jon Morosi.

What do you think about Rasmus?

Jason Parks Wanted LHP Daniel Norris in the Baseball Prospectus Top 101

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Baseball Prospectus has a post up today on prospects who just missed the Top 101 list published a couple days ago. If you'll recall, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, and Alberto Tirado all made the grade, while only the first two made Keith Law's list. The "just missed" includes ten players who were in consideration to be in the Top 101, but just missed out in the end. Left-handed pitcher Daniel Norris is included and Jason Parks thinks the 2011 draftee definitely deserved to appear in the main list, saying:

He was as high as no. 80 on a few rough drafts, but slowly trickled down the list before falling off completely so that a few high ceiling/high risk types could get their day in the sun. As much as they belonged, their inclusion shouldn’t have come at the expense of Norris. As far as I’m concerned, this is a top 101 talent.

That's quite a confident endorsement for a pitcher who still has been held back by command and control issues. The stuff is clearly there, though and the solid delivery leads Parks to believe that the command will eventually come around:

...the delivery is actually pretty smooth and his athleticism and overall feel point to a brighter future on the command front.

In his tools ratings, Norris gets 6's thrown on his fastball and slider, as well as a 5+rating on the changeup.Take a look at the delivery for yourself in the video below, which features a look at Norris' fastball and curveball:

Also included on the just missed list are Red Sox prospects 2B Mookie Betts and RHP Allen Webster as well as 2013 draftee crush of yours truly, OF Hunter Renfroe, who was passed over by Toronto in the most recent draft eventually ending up going to the Padres at #13. Renfroe was left off the list for a slightly personal bias for Parks:

I tend to undervalue college bats in favor of higher risk Latin American talent that will probably fail to develop and leave me sad, lonely, and pickling from the inside out.

Book Review - A Whole Different Ballgame by Marvin Miller

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It is hard to think of another person in sports history who never played, coached, refereed, managed or owned a professional team and is as controversial as Marvin Miller. A labour economist from Brooklyn who made his name during the heydays of the Steelworkers Union, Marvin Miller would make an indelible mark on the game of baseball. In his book ‘A Whole Different Ballgame’, Miller outlines the unlikely path to the head of the ineffectual Players Association, the challenges against ownership, and the process that changed baseball players from club properties to wealthy free agents.

“It would destroy baseball if fans were exposed to the spectacle of someone like Stan Musial picketing a ballpark.” – Bob Friend, Sporting News

Marvin Miller constructs the book along the lines of a biography, quickly illustrating his childhood in the Flatbush region of Brooklyn. His upbringing included days at Ebbett’s field with his uncle, watching the great Dodgers teams of Will Robinson and their heated rivalry with the New York Giants. Miller graduated in the midst of the Depression to a job with the State, County and Municipal Workers of America and later the War Labour Board during the Second World War. He quickly established himself as a top labour relations negotiator which led to sixteen years as the Steelworkers Union’s top economist. During the post war era, union strength was at its peak, and labour disputes in vital industries like US Steel were often conducted at the highest levels, giving Miller a level of familiarity negotiating in the White House with top officials. It was in 1965, following a major reshuffle of union leadership that Miller decided to seek a new opportunity, looking at offers to teach at Harvard or join several major economic research panels. Robin Roberts, wrapping up his career with Baltimore, asked Miller to meet with him and several other player representatives about the position of executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

“In 1966, major league baseball was as lawless, in its own way, as Dodge City in 1876. Antitrust laws, laws against discrimination, health and safety laws simply didn’t apply, because they weren’t enforced by the courts or by federal, state, or local authorities. Was it any wonder that the buttoned-down baseball establishment was arrogant?” – Marvin Miller

Much of the book focuses on the first five years of Miller’s tenure and the struggles to set up a proper union. Prior to his arrival, the players had been represented by Judge Robert Cannon, who had been quick to parrot the line of the owners that the players were lucky to be paid at all to play a game. The association was also directly (and illegally) funded by the owners; a majority labour law violation which compromised association officials. Finally, the association had no grievance process, no staff, and very little union mentality to support it. The opportunity wasn’t to take over as executive director as much as it was to virtually build a new structure from the ground up. To top it off, the players had already struck a deal with the owners that the chief counsel for the association would be Richard M. Nixon. Nixon, whom Miller had known well as Vice President, was an intractable foe of organized labour. The situation bordered on the ridiculous and yet, Miller decided to take the plunge.

Both Cannon and baseball ownership moved to try and block Miller’s appointment, which he had demanded be ratified by majority vote from the existing major league players. Coaches and managers were instructed to inform players that Miller would bring in Teamster style goons and the union would be able to demand how and when they were able to play. As a result, Miller first swing through the western baseball teams was less than successful, with 102 players, coaches and trainers out of 119 votes going against Miller. Unfortunately for ownership, they didn’t have decades of experience with the much savvier anti-union forces at GM, GE and US Steel. Miller rallied the player representatives and quickly learned of ownership’s influence on the vote. Teams were sent to neutral grounds to meet Miller and vote, and he was confirmed by a final vote of 489-136.

“Will managers be forced to seek Mr. Miller’s permission to yank a pitcher or send a utility man back to the minors?” – The Sporting News

During Miller’s first meetings with the players, he outlines that at the time, the core focus on the union was the player’s pension plan. It had been agreed on in 1954 and funded by the proceeds of the All-Star Game. Too many players had seen former greats reduced to scrounging work once they were no longer able to play, and the pension plan was one of the few areas in which they were willing to go to war with management to preserve. Miller articulates carefully that many of the elements that the union would later revolutionize were never on the original agenda when he came on board.

The first order of business involved the proper funding of the union and the pension. The owners had tried to omit the television profits from the All-Star from the pension plan, leading them into their first showdown with Miller. While the owners blustered, it was their own original contract wording that trapped them into providing the players a percentage of the television revenue, defusing the most trenchant opposition from the owners. It was also the beginning of the end for the current Commissioner, Spike Eckert, as the owners prepared to bring the union to heel before it could develop further.

“To paraphrase Voltaire on God, If Bowie Kuhn had never existed, we would have had to invent him.” – Marvin Miller

The first Uniform Players Agreement was developed between the 1967-68 offseason, which included threats by ownership to dismantle the pension altogether. However, compared to the following year, it was a mild negotiation. As Miller explains, there was such a dearth of fundamental legal structure, with so many teams operating as independent fiefdoms that much of his early work involved basic education and drafting of contract and labour language which would eventually become the bedrock of the each continuing agreement. Following 1968, ownership was adamant that no further concessions would be given to the MLBPA. Their initial position demanded several roll-backs from the players, claiming that baseball’s financial situation was precarious. They also eliminated Eckert, seeing him as not be sufficiently motivated to defend the status quo, replacing him with Bowie Kuhn.

If anyone wears the mantle of villain in the book, it is Kuhn. Although in this case, his form of villain is that of a sad and tired jester, unctuous and servile in the face of his master. Miller’s contentions with Kuhn obviously colour his memory of Kuhn’s role, but history is on his side with the perception that Miller outpaced, outmaneuvered and outthought Kuhn in each stage of their relationship. Each time Kuhn tried to expand the powers of the Commissioner, Miller would use the pretext as a way to push another facet of standard labour relations practices into the agreement. These elements gave rise to the modern arbitration system, baseball’s grievance process, funding and licensing deals for related products like baseball cards, and most significantly, the end of the reserve clause. It’s unlikely that Kuhn was truly as buffoonish as Miller shows, but his office and ownership made major missteps from 1969 to 1980, during which each attempt to break the union would end in lost revenues for the owners and concessions to the players.

“Players come and players go, but the owners will be here forever.” – Bowie Kuhn.

Perhaps the strongest elements in Miller’s book are his remarkable sketches of the people around him at the time. Players, coaches and owners who loom large in baseball history are humanized in small asides and reminisces of his time amoungst them. Miller recalls speaking to Mantle on the eve of the players contract hold-out in November 1968. The Yankee great had decided to finally retire, but offered to delay the announcement several months to add his famous name to the hold-outs. Charles Finley, the snake-oil like owner of the Oakland A’s was occasionally an ally of Miller’s when their attempts to break the outdated modes of current baseball operation aligned, and he is described with the fondness of an old foe in a war long over. Three players weigh strongest in the book; Robin Roberts, Curt Flood, and Alex Johnson.

Robin Roberts had a remarkable career for unremarkable teams and was Miller’s first advocate. It is clear the two men were close, and much of Miller’s exploration of free agency and the end of the reserve clause focused on what it could have done for a great pitcher like Roberts, if he’d been able to move to a team with realistic playoff chances and be paid as the star pitcher he was.

Not surprisingly, Curt Flood plays a prominent part of the second half of the book. At the time of Flood’s challenge to the reserve clause, the union was still on tenuous ground despite their victory in 1969. That hesitation made is impossible to bring to bear the solidarity that Flood’s challenge needed from the rest of the players, and early mistakes with the legal team damaged their argument. Ultimately, Miller believed that the court had ruled against Flood before the trial had even begun and his frustration at being unable to use the normal legal tools other labour organizations had soaks through the pages.

Alex Johnson was a talented outfielder who had two strong seasons in Cincinnati before being traded to California in 1970. He didn’t disappoint, winning the batting title that year. But Johnson suffered from anxiety and depression issues and those issues in 1970 grew worse in the spring of the 1971 season. Johnson was placed on the suspended list by GM Dick Walsh and later moved to the restricted list by Commissioner Kuhn at their request. Miller met with Johnson and quickly filed a grievance. Through the use of several specialists before an arbitrator, both actions were rolled back and baseball was ordered to place him on the disabled list with backpay. He would set the modern prescient for handling non-physical disabilities in baseball. Miller notes that the union`s backing of Johnson did a tremendous amount to bring black and Latin players around to support and participate in the union, few having been player representatives before the 70s.

"I find myself unwilling to contemplate one more rigged Veterans Committee whose members are handpicked to reach a particular outcome while offering a pretense of a democratic vote. It is an insult to baseball fans, historians, sportswriters, and especially to those baseball players who sacrificed and brought the game into the 21st century. At the age of 91, I can do without farce." – Marvin Miller via Boston Globe

‘A Whole Different Ballgame’ was published in 1991 and ends with Miller discussing the collusion of the baseball owners in the 1980s and the change in American culture towards unions. There is a tinge of bitterness to his writing; the Reagan era was devastating to American union culture and the manufacturing industries they ran through. As many of the players who became the first free agents were now being inducted into the Hall of Fame, the MLBPA was rarely mentioned as a key part in their wealth – gratitude that would be saved for the owners. Still, if bitter, it is also balanced by the acknowledgement that the explosive popularity of the sport in the 70s and 80s was influenced by their success in free agency.

Miller left the MLBPA in 1981. He died 31 years later in 2012. As he mentions in his book, the defacto minimum salary for a player in the MLB at the time of his appointment as executive director of the Players Association was $6,000, about the national average household income at the time. In 2013, the minimum salary for a MLB player was $490,000. For those counting, the average household income for 2013 was $51,066. The value of a major league franchise has never been higher, even in relative terms.

To this day, Miller has not been named to the Hall of Fame. In 2008, he dismissed any chance as part of the animosity still held by ownership against him and requested his name be no longer considered. Following his death, there was a groundswell of support from the players and the sporting press regarding Miller’s place in baseball history. His candidacy fell short behind that of Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, and Tony La Russa. He will be next eligible in 2017, although his children have made it clear that their father’s legacy is the success of the union and not the notice of Cooperstown.

Regardless of the decisions of the Hall, Miller’s impact on baseball is as great as that of Ban Johnson or Branch Rickey. His stewardship of the MLBPA did for the players what 80 years of efforts could not; eliminate the reserve clause, free the players to benefit directly from the huge revenues they generated and own their labour in the same way as any other worker. Along the way, it helped professionalize baseball front offices and organizations, force them to recognize labour practices and standards, and brought proper medical and legal oversight to their businesses. In that time, baseball has flourished tremendously. Red Barber, the original Dodgers and later Yankees broadcaster, watched baseball evolve over six decades and singled out Miller’s contribution, opining that: “Marvin Miller, along with Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson, is one of the two or three most important men in baseball history." Cooperstown would be hard pressed to beat that.

Saturday Open Thread

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I have a busy day ahead (among other things, I'm going to the Flames game tonight, I haven't been to an NHL game in years) and there isn't anything I particularly want to write about....so let's have an open thread. Use the thread to talk about anything, baseball related, that you like.

I guess there is the news that the Royals have DFAed our old friend Emilio Bonifacio. Odds against the Jays picking him up? Roughly a billion to one. There was this tweet from MLB radio's Mike Ferrin:

The turf 'freaked him out'? Oh well.

As much as I'd like us to pick up a second basemen, I can't imagine anything worse than watching him ever again.

Speaking of Ferrin, MLB Radio has disappeared from the XM Canada online listen guide, which has me worried that they are going to take it away from my car radio too. Most of the reason I have XM radio is MLB Radio and that they carry every MLB game. Without that, I'd cancel my subscription.

Enjoy your Saturday.

Second Annual BBB Super Bowl Prop Contest & GDT

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It's Super Bowl Sunday, which is just another day closer to Spring Training for most of us, but we might as well have some fun with it! Last year we had a prop contest that was won by yours truly, but we're hoping for a few more entrants this year. The rules are simple: make a comment that has your picks for each of the props listed below and if you get the most correct you win. The prize is the right to add the title to your signature as well as site-wide bragging rights. Without further ado:

National Anthem

Over 2 minutes 25 seconds

Under 2 minutes 25 seconds

How many times will Peyton Manning say "Omaha" during the game?

Over 27.5

Under 27.5

Score in the first 90 seconds of the game

Yes

No

Richard Sherman gets a taunting penalty during the game

Yes

No

Will the score be tied AFTER 0-0?

Yes

No

Will any Red Hot Chili Peppers member be shirtless during the performance?

Yes

No

Will Bruno Mars sing "Locked Out of Heaven" first?

Yes

No

Marshawn Lynch Rushing Yards

Over 90.5

Under 90.5

WHO WILL WIN THE SUPER BOWL

Seattle Seahawks

Denver Broncos

Join us in this thread for the first (unofficial) game thread of the year!

Is the Rogers Centre getting new turf for the 2014 Blue Jays season?

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It won't be natural green grass--yet--but it appears that the Rogers Centre might make a major improvement to the baseball playing field before the Toronto Blue Jays return home on April 4, 2014. Two Blue Jays fans who spoke with Paul Beeston, President & CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre, tweeted that there will be a "new turf" for the Blue Jays in 2014. Bluebird Banter cannot independently verify this story; we have reached out to the Blue Jays and Rogers Centre for comments and are waiting for their response.

Generally, during the annual State of the Franchise event, the Blue Jays would re-assemble the entire baseball field as a backdrop; however, fans attending the event just found bare concrete and spindles of turf. Could this be a hint of some sort of upcoming change?

The idea of installing an interim turf surface before grass is eventually planted was first mentioned by general manager Alex Anthopoulos at the Buffalo Bisons Hot Stove Luncheon back on January 16, although he seemed less-than-certain about when such plans will roll out, saying that "in a year or two maybe we'll have new turf, but again, it hasn't been finalized."

It is unsure whether the "upgrades" Paul Beeston was speaking about referred to a brand new turf, or just replacement of certain portions of it.

Beeston also told the fans that, unlike the design at Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field, the new turf will continue to not have a dirt infield in order to expedite the field conversion from baseball to football (and back). One of the two fans, @GTAdross, spoke with Beeston last year as well and broke the news that Windows Restaurant was being renovated into a centre field porch for fans to hang out on. Of course, that turned out to be true and it certainly was a great new addition for the fans, allowing those with upper deck tickets to watch the game from a lower perspective.

Tumblr_n091rqri7o1qbj4v1o2_1280_medium

John Gibbons, Alex Anthopoulos, and Paul Beeston answering fans' questions on top of the Blue Jays dugout in front of a concrete field with rolls of artificial turf; probably not an homage to the Canadian prairie landscape. (Photo from Inimitable Appurtenances, used with permission.)

Last year, Beeston mentioned that Rogers had committed to spend $250 million in retrofits and renovations through the next decade--ten times what the company paid to buy the property. The bulk of that cost would probably be devoted to the installation of a grass field, which will require a tremendous amount of science and engineering, from selecting a species of grass that will grow indoors to moving the seats to installing a new ventilation system to lowering the concrete floor of the stadium in order to install a drainage system and a thick layer of soil. However, the Rogers Centre's commitment to the 2015 Pan Am Games and the Toronto Argonauts (and monster truck rallies?) means grass will not be installed until at least the 2018 season.

In baseball during the past two decades, there has been a major cultural shift away from artificial surfaces back to natural grass, which is believed to be more aesthetically-pleasing, more traditional, and better for players' health. Just to show how much has changed since 1989, 10 out of the 26 major league stadiums had turf when the SkyDome opened (Astrodome, Busch Stadium, Riverfront Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, Veterans Stadium, Kauffman Stadium, Kingdome, Olympic Stadium, Metrodome, SkyDome), but right now only two out of 30 do (Rogers Centre, Tropicana Field). Even Paul Beeston, whose ballclub has played on artificial turf since its founding in 1977, is now fully committed to putting in grass in the Rogers Centre, telling Richard Griffin that "the game of baseball is played on grass [...] we’re going away from the turf and onto the grass."

Meanwhile, the current turf looks painfully atrocious, and probably isn't much better to play on either (it "freaked out" Emilio Bonifacio, apparently). The playing surface, officially called "AstroTurf Gameday 3D", is actually just three-years-old but it has aged very quickly, especially the centre strip which is shared with the Argonauts and the Buffalo Bills. The seams and the wrinkles from the storage process are very obvious, football yard markings are faintly visible, and there's something about that satin-like sheen that makes it look especially horrible.

Panorama_medium

Minor Leaguer photo.

In 2010 AstroTurf had offered the Blue Jays a large discount to install the GameDay 3D turf as the artificial grass manufacturer wanted to regain the college and high school market, although it still cost "well over $1 million"according to AstroTurf president Bryan Peeples. Prior to that installation the Blue Jays used a FieldTurf surface from 2005 to 2009, which was put together from over 1300 trays, creating a significant amount of bad hops, caught spikes, and puffs of rubber pellets. The FieldTurf, which cost $2 million, replaced the old AstroTurf field--basically just green felt on concrete--which was installed in 1997. When that 1997 AstroTurf, which also carried a $2 million price tag, was installed to replace the original turf from 1989, it had an estimated 14-year lifespan since it would be used for baseball only (the Argos continued to use the 1989 turf). The major difference between the 1997 and the 1989 versions is that the 1997 version used velcro to connect the sections while the 1989 used zippers.

Replacing the current surface is probably a sound idea--it would be even the better if the Blue Jays got new turf and the Argos kept on using the old one. However, if this story is true and the interim turf will be ready by the first home series, the Blue Jays will have very little time to get used to their new turf, as there will not be any off days between the season opening series in Tampa Bay and the home opener against the Yankees. It would be interesting to see both teams testing out the turf in that first weekend of the season.


Today in Tortured Metaphors

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Baseball is like a box of chocolates. No sorry, baseball is like an onion. No, baseball is like beer, hmmmm beer.

I love tortured metaphors as much as anyone, but this one, by Buster Olney is just strange (subscription required):

:• The Blue Jays appear to hold the commanding position in the free-agent pitching market that remains, to the degree that Toronto is like a beer vendor inside the Super Bowl site.

If anybody wanted something to drink at MetLife Stadium, they had to deal with the vendors' terms. Similarly, Toronto can just sit back and wait for one of them to agree to its terms. The Blue Jays need a starting pitcher and are willing to pay, and because there are so many free-agent starters available, one of them will need Toronto, whether it's Santana or Jimenez or A.J. Burnett.

I'm guessing what he means is the Blue Jays have told each of the three free agent starting pitchers what they are willing to pay and they figure that one of them is sure to take the deal because there aren't that many teams still looking for pitching. Personally, I suspect that there are more than 3 teams after a starting pitcher.

If we are using the beer vendor analogy, the Jays would get all three pitchers, because everyone buys beer at the park. We might complain about the price but we still do it.

And, of course, the Jays are setting a price lower than what those free agents would like, unlike beer vendors who would be setting the price higher than what we'd like to pay.

Maybe the pitchers should be the beer vendors, pricing themselves like premium import beer and the Jays want them to price themselves like no name brands.

Or maybe we could skip the metaphor. If you have to explain a metaphor, you shouldn't use it.

Anyway, Alex, sign someone so I don't have to keep reading about rumors.

Monday Mid-afternoon Media Mashup: Blue Jays in command edition

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This preamble was supposed to be me writing about Buster Onley's weird (read: horrible) metaphor that involved the Blue Jays and Super Bowl beer vendors, but Tom did it for me already. Neat.

Are the Blue Jays Getting a New Turf This Season? - The Blue Jay Hunter
Yesterday afternoon I wrote about how the Rogers Centre may be furnished with a new turf. This morning Ian revealed that he also heard that something is happening with the turf, specifically that the groundscrew are replacing the sand layers with rubber in order to soften the field. Intriguing.

John Robertson, former Star Blue Jays columnist, dead at 79 - Toronto Star
A particular sad line in the obituary reads "Robertson led a campaign in the late 1980s to see real grass installed at the "domed stadium" that would become the SkyDome." Sigh. How many more men must die before it gets grass?

Blue Jays' president Paul Beeston unplugged - Toronto Star
Paul Beeston willingly allowed Richard Griffin to sit down in his office to have a chat about the Blue Jays last Friday. Among the usual stuff that we've already read millions of times this offseason, Beeston does a good job pissing on MLB Advanced Media's inane blackout rules (and indirectly endorses people to watch Blue Jays games in their offices).

Can Brent Morel (Or Is It Brett Morel?) Be A Poor Man’s Mark DeRosa? - Drunk Jays Fans
Stoeten gives some of his (somewhat long-winded) thoughts on the Blue Jays' waiver acquisition Brent Morel. I like his take of how he's a nice lottery ticket that can prove to be a good platoon partner for Ran Goins. Even if Morel does not make the team out of spring training, he's a good player to have on the 40-man roster as he still has an option year remaining.

Blue Jays likely to keep Dunedin as spring training home - Toronto Star
A largely unnoticed story from last week: the Blue Jays and the Astros are no longer looking to move in together probably because one of them figured out that the other steals food and never cleans the bathtub... Actually, the move was Nixed (in reference to Jayson Nix screwing things up) after Palm Beach Gardens residents complained about the traffic, construction, noise, light, kids, teens, adults, baseballs, and fun that would've come with a spring training complex. Going back home to Dunedin is not necessarily a bad thing for the Blue Jays--the threat to leave may be impetus for local politicians and business associations to make improvements. Dunedin is a really nice little town but Florida Auto Exchange Stadium needs major work to bring it up to modern standards.

Managing Replay: The New Market Inefficiency - Blue Jays Plus
Joshua from Blue Jays Plus writes about the use of strategy in manager's challenges and how John Gibbons's apparent "inherent understanding of run expectancy" could point to the fact that the Blue Jays might be able to take advantage of the new baseball rule, but somehow the lack of defensive shifts makes him unsure. I think this is a good piece for consideration but I don't think there really is too much to worry about with regards to the infield shifts hampering Gibbons's ability to toss the challenge flag at the right time.

Also: I am not 100% sure but I think the article's statement that "manager challenges are only allowed for the first 6 innings, after which point all replays will be at the umpires’ discretion" is incorrect. From all my readings of articles explaining the rules (I haven't seen a copy of the 2014 Official Rules online), I've interpreted it as saying that umpires can start to initiate a challenge of non-home run calls only after the sixth inning; managers who still have challenges left can challenge at any time (ie. their challenge does not disappear after the sixth).

What NFL coach challenges tell us about MLB - Sportsnet.ca
Also on the topic of challenges, Ben Nicholson-Smith writes about what baseball managers can learn from NFL coaches. Nicholson-Smith points out something important here that Joshua's article missed: the human factor. No manager would want to get on an umpire's bad side by repeatedly challenging routine non-game-changing plays just for the heck of it.

Is Blue Jays Colby Rasmus Worth Adam Jones Money? - Jays Journal
Kyle Franzoni compares A.L. East centre fielders, looking at whether Colby Rasmus is worth the six-year $85.5 million contract handed to Adam Jones in 2012. Rasmus has had his ups and downs but when he's on he's well worth a contract well north of Jones's. I didn't think there was too much of a chance of a contract extension happening this offseason--both Alex Anthopoulos and Colby Rasmus are probably interested in seeing what results come from the 2014 season. Unless Rasmus is expecting a big down year or the Blue Jays offer him a lot of money over a lot of years, he really has no reason to sign an extension now.

Jose Reyes Throws in the Snow - MLBFanCave.com
Who let Jose Reyes out of the solid carbonite block he was being stored in for the offseason to prevent freak injuries?

The Suddenly Popular Emilio Bonifacio - FanGraphs Baseball
We have not one but two Emilio Bonifacio articles this afternoon. Here Mike Petriello discusses how there is really a league-wide glut in middle infield depth two weeks from the start of camp and how Bonifacio may be most useful on the basepaths.

The Emilio Bonifacio Conundrum - Getting Blanked
Over at Getting Blanked, Jack Moore writes that while Bonifacio is deeply flawed, he can be useful when used in--and only in-- the right situation like as a pinch runner who can stay in the game to field. Also: did you know that Emilio's brother, Jorge, is a prospect in the Royals system?

Jeremy Hellickson Undergoes Elbow Surgery, Out Until May - Getting Blanked

Also from Getting Blanked, Drew Fairservice writes about the injury sustained by Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson, who just got skeletons loose bodies removed from his closet elbow.

Tracy McGrady may try second career as pro baseball player - Larry Brown Sports
Former Toronto Raptor Tracy McGrady is considering playing baseball now that his basketball career is over, and apparently has drawn some interest from the independent league Sugar Land Skeeters. The 2013 Skeeters had several former Blue Jays (or Jays prospects) on their roster: Ryan Langerhans, David Pauley, Jason Lane, Clint Everts, and Koby Clemens.

It's Officially Ours! - Left Field Brewery
Mark and Mandie, the husband-wife duo who own and run Left Field Brewery, are now officially owners of an old warehouse in the east end of Toronto where they will be building their new home. They will be showing off their space on February 22 with an Open House that will run from 2-8 pm. Anyone can attend for free, and they'll offer three of their delicious brews at $5 each. I hope to see you there.

Adam Lind and Rajai Davis: Separated at Birth

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On a surface level Adam Lind and Rajai Davis don't have a lot in common. However, if you are willing to ignore a lot of obvious differences they are essentially clones.

To say that it has been a slow offseason for the Toronto Blue Jays would be much like saying that the world is round, the sky is blue, or that the Seattle Seahawks are a pretty good football team. It is quite simply undeniable. There are scenarios where such a lack of moves would be completely and utterly justifiable, but considering the holes on this roster the silence of this offseason has been both tense and deafening. Alex Anthopoulos made a minor upgrade at the catcher position, but beyond that he has left Blue Jays fans, and anyone who writes about the Blue Jays, praying for a free agent signing or trade. The transaction waters around these parts are so stagnant that in Jay Jaffe's winter report card for the Jays he had to include Brent Morel, Tomo Ohka and Chris Getz under the category of "Key arrivals".

We are coming to the point where it is no longer novel or interesting to moan about the lack of players the Blue Jays have signed in the run up to the 2014. That does not mean that it's not worth moaning about subtractions from this roster. Unfortunately for prospective moaners not a lot has been lost, at least in the way of useful players. Losing J.P. Arencibia was cathartic, losing Josh Johnson was inevitable and not many will cry over the losses of the likes of Brad Lincoln, Mark DeRosa or Darren Oliver. However, one loss that might be of significance to some is the loss of Rajai Davis. Objectively speaking Rajai Davis is not a very valuable player, but he is an extraordinary one. Davis has incredible strengths and glaring weaknesses and the resulting package is a player who does not deserve to start but is very entertaining to watch. You may or may not disagree with that assessment, but if you are a Blue Jays fan you've heard statements like that about Rajai Davis before. What you might not have heard about Rajai Davis is that he is actually a clone of bearded woodsman/occasional first baseman Adam Lind.

On the surface that is obviously a ludicrous statement. Adam Lind is a 6'2" immobile first baseman with a good 25+ pounds on the diminutive and lightning-quick outfielder. Basic biographical details from ethnicity, to home state, to year of birth reveal two humans who are most definitely different one another. That's what makes their cover so brilliant. The fact is when you look at the stats the resemblance is uncanny. The thing that ties these two players together so strongly is their massive platoon splits. It is a well-known fact that Adam Lind and Rajai Davis are more or less hopeless against same-handed pitchers and excellent when they have a platoon advantage. It's a less well known fact that the platoon splits they show are virtually identical. The following chart shows Davis and Lind's splits against same-handed pitchers since Rajai Davis joined the Jays in 2011:

Player

BB%

K%

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

wRC+

Adam Lind

4.3%

24.3%

.222

.258

.338

.263

59

Rajai Davis

4.1%

20.1%

.232

.269

.329

.263

59

Lind strikes out a little bit more and shows a bit more power here but as stat lines go it would be hard to find two that are much more similar than this. The strangeness continues when we look at the two hitters when they hold the platoon advantage:

Player

BB%

K%

AVG

OBP

SLG

wOBA

wRC+

Adam Lind

9.1%

17.5%

.280

.344

.493

.359

125

Rajai Davis

8.4%

18.5%

.297

.363

.455

.358

124

Lind is very slightly better here and the differences in the two players' styles are more apparent, but the final results in terms of wOBA and wRC+ are once again remarkably similar.

If we phase out of joke analysis and into real analysis for a moment it's pretty clear that it is criminally unfair imply that these hitters are equals. The sample size for both players against right-handed pitchers is far larger than against left handed pitchers, meaning that more than anything we can be confident in Lind's excellence against RHP's and Davis's helplessly against them. The fact that there are far more right handers than left handers in the league also makes Lind is clearly more useful at the plate going forward than his speedy counterpart. What the numbers do show us is that the Lind/Davis platoon could have been a brilliant one over the last three years. Although it was used sporadically, it probably should have been a staple like the Frank Catalanatto/Reed Johnson timeshare of yesteryear. Neither player is effective in the field making them an ideal DH tandem even if Rajai Davis doesn't fit the profile of a stereotypical DH.

Unfortunately, injuries have pressed Rajai Davis in to regular duty too often over the past three years and Adam Lind has been stubbornly left in to face southpaws far too many times. As a result, the Lind and Davis never became the dynamic duo that they might have been. Ultimately the numbers above amount to not much more than a statistical oddity. This post outlines something quirky rather than illuminating anything of real importance. However, as Rajai Davis heads for greener pastures in Detroit the missed opportunity for this pairing is most definitely real.

Tuesday Bantering: Jeff Baker signs, Ervin Santana's price drops

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One more name to cross off your 'I wish the Jays would sign him' list:

But maybe another one is dropping into the Jays price range:

Sanatana isn't my first choice in the Jimenez/Sanatana battle, but I would like to be going into spring training knowing we have someone.

MiLB.com has a nice interview with Marcus Stroman. Speaking as an Newcastle United fan  'arsenal' too much for my liking.

And Richard Griffin has an interview with Paul Beeston. Beeston gives all the right answers, he's a born politician. The interesting answer to me was:

When we need to go in the international market to sign a player. They (Rogers) signed off on (Aroldis) Chapman, OK. It was us that made the decision not to get Chapman. We didn't see him well in a workout, but they signed off on Chapman.

New artificial turf for Rogers Centre in 2015, Blue Jays to play on refurbished AstroTurf in 2014

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In an attempt to improve the playing surface in the Rogers Centre before natural grass is installed in 2018, the Blue Jays are refurbishing the current AstroTurf by replacing the infill layer in order to soften the turf. Infill is basically artificial soil, giving the turf a bounce, assisting with drainage, and supporting the vertical plastic blades. The process is expected to be complete by the time the club returns for their Friday, April 4 home opener against the Yankees. Although I noted rumours of a new turf arriving this year, the current plan is to have the Blue Jays play on the refurbished field for the 2014 season only, as a brand-new artificial surface will be purchased installed for use in the 2015, 2016, and 2017 seasons.

As first reported by BlueJayHunter.com, we can now confirm that Rogers Centre groundskeepers have been working on making improvements to the current AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D turf this offseason. That turf is composed of five principal layers—as shown on the diagram on the AstroTurf website—a base layer, several backing layers, the infill layer, a "RootZone" layer which keeps the infill from splashing up, and the polyethylene "blades" layer.

The original infill layer was composed of a mixture of sand and finely-grounded rubber, which is now in the process of being removed in favour of a new infill which will either be pure or a very high concentration of rubber in order to soften the feel of the field.

Bluebird Banter was able to discuss the project details in a telephone interview with Stephen Brooks, the Blue Jays’ senior vice president, business operations.

"We are doing a bunch of things now as we speak; which is why you saw the field the way it was on the night of the State of the Franchise," Brooks explained to me, "we’ve been replacing all the sand and the rubber that’s in the turf, and sort of an overhaul of this turf."

"So right now what you see is sand and finely-ground rubber mixture. We’re pounding all of that out and the goal would be to replace that with a higher content of rubber—just rubber or a lower sand content if any sand at all. Likely an all-rubber infill."

The Blue Jays won't get much time to try out the turf due to the tight spring training schedule, which leads right into exhibition games in Montreal, before bringing the club back down to Florida immediately to begin the regular season against the Rays. That leaves no time for them—especially infielders who have to deal with bouncing grounders—to acclimatize themselves to the particulars of the renewed surface, but Brooks is less worried about that than I am.

"I don’t know if we’ll get any of our current players to test it, but, the [groundskeepers] have done this for long enough now that they know the drill. Our groundskeeper is very good about knowing how the field should play," Brooks continued, "I don’t know if the field would necessarily play differently; but in terms of the softness of the turf, I think that would be improved. We will certainly, through our groundskeepers, test it out to make sure it doesn’t affect play in any way."

We will all have to wait until the home opener to see the effects of the infill on the way the turf plays and whether Blue Jays fielders can adapt to it to give themselves a real home-field advantage.

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Minor Leaguer Photo.

However, this overhauling of the turf will only give the 233,039-square foot AstroTurf an extra season of lifespan, so the club is looking at options at installing an interim turf between 2015 and whenever a natural grass field can be installed. There are two main competitors in the field of artificial playing fields: AstroTurf and FieldTurf. The Rogers Centre switched from FieldTurf—the one which was held in trays—to AstroTurf in 2010 because the latter company signed a three-year licensing deal with Major League Baseball, making AstroTurf the league’s Official Synthetic Turf. I cannot find any mention of an extension of the deal, so it might means the Blue Jays will be free to shop around to find the most suitable turf on the market.

Various sources point the cost of a new turf to be in the ballpark of $2 million, which is just a small fraction of the $250 million Rogers Communications, who own both the Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre, have committed to renovations of the quarter-century old stadium. The current AstroTurf cost the stadium either over $1 million or nothing, depending on the source. The biggest portion of the budget will likely be dedicated to re-engineering the stadium to be able to grow grass.

"We are currently going through a process investigating that, although the logistics for that—things like lighting, humidity levels, airflow, and the engineering of the stadium that would need to be done to address any issues that may arise as we proceed with our investigation," Brooks said, "the goal is 2018 season with the end of the Argos lease at the end of 2017."

What Blue Jays fans can take away from this is that the installation of a real grass field is not just lip-service for fans, as the club is spending time, money, and energy to figure out how it can be done.

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