JP Has Downs Syndrome!
If you're a regular reader of this site you probably recognize that it's rare when I'm wrong-- and if you're like me, you'll be saddened to learn that I'm actually going to have to own up to something tonight that didn't quite go the way I saw it. On Thursday the Jays avoided arbitration with five players, notably signing Scott Downs to a three year deal worth $10 m.
I realize that saying this is kind of "typical Hall-of-Fame-voter fuckface" of me, but I just don't FEEL like Scott Downs is a great reliever. I see all those nice numbers and everything, but I can't shake the feeling that underneath that emo haircut and that 2.17 ERA is a truly shitty pitcher yearning to break free.
In fact, I was so sure of my instincts about Downs that when I saw in October that he'd been rated a Type A free agent, I wrote that "if he has another stellar year and maintains his status, you can bank on the Jays GM-- JP or otherwise-- letting Downs walk and taking a couple of picks."
Like just about everything else that I say, I didn't actually have anything to base that on except the statement's own overwhelmingly obvious correctness. Usually that's as bulletproof as it gets, but in this case it seems JP doesn't quite see things my way.
Now, I'm not saying this is a bad contract or anything. It looks more like an average, or even under-market deal for a guy who was excellent last year. I do like Scott Downs and am comforted by the fact that the deal pays less per year than what a bag of shit like Luis Vizcaino just signed for-- and it's only one year longer. I'm just saying that I'm surprised the front office thought Downs was so irreplaceable that it was worth forgoing the two draft picks that would likely have been coming to them in '09.
Am I wrong? Like... that's retarded, right?
As Parkes has apparently already mentioned, the Jays also signed one-year deals with Scutaro, Frasor, Chacin and Tallet-- meaning that only Rios is left to figure with. Teams and players exchange figures on Friday.
On a Completely Unrelated Side Note: I Might Be Pathetic
It goes against my better instincts to tell this, but... so my band practiced tonight and during that time I might have had a couple of beverages and smoked a thing or two. Afterwards we may have caught a friend playing a set at a bar nearby and I might have had a couple more beers there. When that was over, I may have altered my route home just slightly so that I'd walk past McDonald's. I may have stopped in and ordered a pair of double cheeseburgers. I may then have stashed them inside my coat to keep them warm while I walked the rest of the way. THEN I might have come in the door, gone straight to take a piss, finished, inexplicably continued standing there as I unzipped my coat to take it off, and then watched helplessly as my bag of burgers fell out of the coat and dead centre into the unflushed toilet.
My analysis is that this was a shitty deal.
Posts
28 comments:
It almost sounds like had the toilet been flushed, everything would have been fine..
I guess I hadn't thought of it that way. Yeah, I probably wouldn't have eaten them regardless of the status. PROBABLY.
I'm not going to lie to you-- I almost wept when this happened.
I tell you what, the unflushedness did make it a little more annoying to have to pull the bag out and dispose of it properly (thrown into the neighbours back yard).
This is why Scott Downs is a better pitcher than you think.
In the last 3 years as a Jay, he has pitched 144.2 innings of relief for a 2.80 ERA. In those 3 years, he had about 18 spot starts, many of which were shitty, inflating his stats. So, I would say that in the last 3 years a 2.80 ERA out of the pen, his primary role, is pretty fucking sparkling (in the AL East no less). He's a lefty with a good curveball and decent velocity. He had 1 year of arbitration left - so the contract is like giving him 2 years of Free agency. So even at a fair market deal, only having to go 2 years is a good thing. Also, he's not as replaceable as you'd think. Lefty's are hard to come by and are important in a division against the Yankees, and its not like we have tons of them in the farm system.
Oh, makes sense. See, I wasn't even thinking about the removal part.
But do you FEEL he's any good? Do opposing managers sit in the dugout before the game trying to figure out how they're going to get on base against Downs?
Yes I have decent confidence in Downs.
Now Accardo makes me shit my pants. He did a good job and all that as a closer, but there were a handful of losses that not even the Marx brothers could have written. He FELT shaky.
Really? Maybe at the end he was a bit tired. Even as the season played out and it was clear Downs was more reliable, I was much more confident in Accardo.
But I mean, if we survived Batista and Billy Krotch, we can survive these guys easy.
Hey, and give me a minute on this post, there are like seventeen errors I have to fix.
At least Accardo has good stuff. Shutter Downs is proof that you can't teach being left-handed.
Had I not ordered our THIRD plate of Sneaky Dee's nachos tonight, I would be a lot more sympathetic to your cheeseburger cause. As it stands though, I'm so full of cheese and salt I called in sick tomorrow in preparation for my inevitable heart attack. My view from death's door makes such burger loss seem minor.
Regards....
PS. here's hoping the urine tag works overtime this season.
when u look at comparables like jc romero getting 3/12, this is a good deal. woulda been nice to have the picks though!
Do we need to go any further than to say the following: if they don't lock up Downs, Tallet is their #1 lefty.
It's hard to find a lefty on the market. Tallet is shit.
Let me expand on that a bit:
beginning in 1940 MLB had an overwhelming concern for . . . Tallet is shit.
David Purcey?
you mean the 25 year old who has never really pitched yet at aaa and dominated hitters 4-7 years younger than him for 2 weeks in the afl? lets not get too excited. this team needs downs
i LOVE downs in a non-homo way, and TALLET IS NOT SHIT.
this is the second time i'm forced to say that tallet did a pretty damn swell job last year...
and downs, along with janssen and accardo, were a huge reason the jays had such a great 'pen.
love the downs, and love the tallet. stop hating.
and that story about the cheeseburgers was gold, jerry, gold!
I really like Downs too,... meaning, I'm pulling for him and all. I just don't really think he's as good as last year's numbers show.
Purcey, I just meant, could possibly fill the role if he shows enough this year. I guess I just don't understand the need to spend $3.33m every year just for a guy who gets lefties out. Especially when losing him would mean high draft picks.
I think it says a lot about how secure JP thinks his job is, actually.
I think the cheeseburger thing was no accident, that stuff belongs in the toilet. The only McDonald's buns I'd let anywhere near my mouth are Johnny Mac's.
I think it's good if JPeezy's a little worrid about his job. I think we would all agree that the starting rotation and the 'pen were huge - HUGE - last year, and I think they all deserve another kick at the can. Except for Chacin, that bum.
I'm getting excited.
Well... they could have given him another kick at the cat. What they did was give him three more kicks at the cat.
truth is there. 2 years woulda been beauty. 3 years is pushing it. but i still got man love for downs.
If he weren't a Type A, I'd think it was a great deal. Even still, I think it's good. Like I say, I'm mostly surprised that they think so highly of him as to forgo the two picks for letting him walk. The pre-money JP wouldn't have thought twice about taking those picks, I figure.
Isn't it better if the opposing manager isn't thinking about how they're going to get on base against Downs? He's like the secret weapon you can use in half your games and he'll still be a secret!
Re the cheeseburgers: just think of it as cutting out a middle step. You were being efficient.
Oh yeah... the Beej will be the first lefty out of the 'pen for a while.
Right?
my deepest condolences about the burgers. t'was a sad day for every drunk jay fan to see one of our own's intoxication get the best of him.
"It's a big shock and I'm still kind of in awe with the whole thing," said Downs, who turns 32 in March.
HAHAHAHAHHAHHHAHHAHHAHHAHH
Post a Comment