How Many Times Can I Write The Same Goddamn Post?
Fuck. I really wanted Vernon to hit a walk-off in the ninth, so I could title this post "Crisis A-Vernoned". Other than that, I'm continuing to have a really hard time giving a fuck about the Blue Jays at the moment. They've really picked an awful time, for my sake (and oddly, therefore, the sakes of all you hangers-on-- weird, no?), to put some of their worst performances of this pitiful season.
And that's saying something.
The reasons for my sudden disinterest-- apart from the Jays' fucktacular play-- are pretty obvious and I'm going to try my best not to get into them, even though Friday is going to be the most fucktacularly awesome day ever. Or perhaps shittastically depressing. (Yes, I know you don't give a shuck.)
Anyway, what should have been a pair of easy series' went the way of blah blah blah the Jays suck blah blah blah blah fuck this team blah blah etc.
And yet, after writing that, I happened to read a bunch of the suicidal comments that people have been leaving on our previous post, and, as usual, it's strengthened my resolve to not go completely mental over this-- because it just looks so beyond moronic to say you're giving up on the team at this point. (Sorry Danimal)
I understand being frustrated, but holy shit... at what point will most Jays fans have finally watched enough baseball in their lives to realize that seasons are long and teams go through good stretches and bad? It's in Revelations, people!
And while that isn't to say that, at this point, I actually think this team is going to do anything this year, there's still no basis to say they can't-- and as far as I can tell, it's got to take some serious plumbing of the depths of frustrated insanity to figure otherwise.
So. What next?
Glad you asked, Stoeten. Evidently the Cubs come to town this weekend, and moron Jays fans will get to show the man-boners in their man-pants for Reed Johnson (assuming he even plays), who our friend Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors basically said was the worst player he'd ever seen (I'm paraphrasing), on our most recent podcast. Oh and fans will also probably pretend that they didn't hate Ted Lilly. (And, of course, if they actually did like Lilly, that's a whole other level of warped that I'm really not prepared, psychically, to get into now. Or perhaps ever.)
Thankfully, I probably won't be there...
What's Wrong?
I know this might surprise a lot of people, but I'm not a doctor. So... I can't exactly say that there's nothing wrong with BJ Ryan. There very well could be something wrong with BJ Ryan. But... a lot of Jays fans seem prepared to believe the worst about the closer because he's cocked up three of the last four games (or whatever it is). Um... that's a bit ridiculous. There are always going to be bumps in the road when a guy is back in the big leagues so soon after Tommy John surgery, and as much as it sucks that he's not been at his best lately, as usual, it's the hitters who are to blame for this most recent soul-crushing defeat.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or a sharp-witted, ruggedly handsome blogger with a heart of gold to figure out this shit! He'll be fine. Eventually. I assume.
Home Cookin'!
Ahhh.... sometimes a dose of classic Griffin is all I need to remind me why I spend so much time writing this blog and following this shitty, shitty team.
Asked in his weekly mail bag what he think of the Jays going after Orlando Hudson in the off-season and switching Aaron Hill back to shortstop, Griff nailed it with a dose of insanity that would make any hysterical chicken little Jays fan proud.
He set things up with this juicy little unsupported York-ian nugget: "Hudson would never consider a return to Toronto unless GM J.P. Ricciardi was gone."
Becauuuuuse? . . .
OK, the allusion to Marty York is a low blow, but seriously, what the fuck? What earthly friggin' reason do I have to believe a statement like this? I'm not saying it's not true, but where the hell is this coming from? Seriously. It would be actually interesting if it didn't come off like a typically petty shot at the GM that probably has no substance to it whatsoever.
And he goes on!
"The other thing is that Hudson was clearly a fan favourite and the Jays for some reason like dumping those guys. It’s almost in the Jays’ world as if nobody should be as popular as the GM."
Now, I realize that this is kind of, almost, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but honestly? Fuck off.
Do I need to do it? Do I seriously need to do it?
Sigh... OK.
Vernon Wells ring a bell? Roy Halladay? Alex Rios and Aaron Hill? Who the fuck are these fan favourites of which Griffin speaks? Carlos Delgado? Because I'm pretty sure he knows exactly how and why Delgado left town. Reed Johnson? Who???? Scott Shoeneweis? Justin Speier? Eric Hinske? Chris Woodward?
Well... sure, there's Orlando Hudson, but even if you disagree with the trade that brought in Glaus (which would make you wrong, FYI), it could hardly be considered a dump. Unlike Griffin's criticisms of Ricciardi here. Zannnnggggggggggggggg!
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46 comments:
Simple Old Testament math shows us that Hudson begat Glaus, Glaus begat Rolen. Therefore -> BEST TRADE EVER.
Hi Mom!
All I know if JP went to the Sox ,the Cubs would have broken their curse first.Many of those game changing moves were made by Theo,JP would have pissed off Manny because Manny is not a good guy.I'd rather have 3 bad guys and 2 rings,then 24 good guys (I 'm leaving out AJ) and showing up in 3rd every year.I wish we could trade Theo for JP and be done with it!
anonymous, I feel the same way dude...
Me too, Danimal.
Hi Anonymous' Mom!
Anon-7:23 you must be the same guy that posted in the other thread.
What game-changing moves are you talking about? Signing Julio Lugo? Trading for Wily Mo Pena?
Sure, Theo has made some decent deals, but no real steals, and you just can't ignore how much of a role money plays in all this. Daisuke? Everyone wanted him, the Sox just had the money to get it done. Beckett and Lowell? That only went down because the Sox absorbed Lowell's contract (the career revival was a pretty big surprise to everyone).
Most of all, when you have the kind of money the Sox do, your busts just don't matter the way they do for a midding team like the Jays.
I'll just add this one thing. If you ask me, replacing JP would be fine, except you're pretty fucking unlikely to find anyone better. Not that he's so great, he's about equal with just about every other GM around baseball - neither great nor terrible. Some of those other guys just happen to have bunched their good and bad decisions together, causing their team to have some great seasons and some terrible ones.
The exception to the rule is Billy Beane, who pretty clearly has a better idea of what he's doing than any other GM in baseball. He somehow consistently makes better decisions than anyone else, and his team manages to compete pretty much every year, often with an entirely remade roster of guys you've either never heard of or were sure were washed up.
Ted Lilly sucked and was a loser. I expect him to be booed, as he should be.
BJ Ryan is hurt. His slider isn't moving at all, and it's caused him to actually give up 2 huge hits to lefties, Giambi and Ibanez. He's also losing his control, similar to just before he had surgery last year. You do not know that he will be fine, that's ridiculous.
Oh and the Jays need to call up Adam Lind. He's fucking hitting .340 in AAA. I know JP made up some pathetic shit excuse that they couldn't afford to wait for Lind to hit yesterday. But what the fuck have they been doing with the 3 shit amigos, Wilkerson/Stewart/Mench. It's time to fucking forget about money and arbitrations years, and actually try to win. Instead of getting Bonds, can't they atleast do this, for fuck sakes?
We're in the middle of the shit storm right now. And I'm not sure I see a way out.
Accardo just started his rehab. Perhaps he can slot in to the closers role and let the beej go on the DL for a month or so. His control won't return immediately anyway... a closer rotation might be in order to give BJ more rest.
We've still got 2 years left on his contract... we don't want to burn him out.
Dr. J, it's equally ridiculous to state categorically that BJ is hurt. None of us really know. We can speculate all we want, but it's not terribly meaningful either way.
I'm with you on Lind.
Wait, so you guys shit on the team in the first part of the post but then immediately flip flop to take the "high road"?
Maybe you forget just how bad Accardo actually was this season.
I liked how John Gibbons rested Alex Rios & Scott Rolen in preparation for tomorrow's off day.
Shaun Marcum, 2008 ALL-STAR!
DT, I can't think of any other reason Ryan would suck this badly. He fucking walked Miguel Cairo and then gave up a 2-2 hit to Raul Ibanez. I mean what the fuck is going on.
My guess is Rios sitting was partly a result of the little injury he's had this week, and that it wasn't planned all along.
I was completely confounded by the decision to sit Rolen AND Barajas on the same day (which clearly was planned). Couldn't you have sat one of them yesterday and the other one today?
I don't have a problem with giving Rod the day off (he's a catcher after all) but if you're going to decide to sit Rios for a minor injury, shouldn't that prompt a change in thinking on sitting Rolen on the same day?
name/url: Rios is battling minor injuries and hasn't had a day off since April. Rolen hasn't had a day off since May 3rd. And it's the Mariners.
Everyone has a bad week once in a while, it might just be that.
Personally, I think his luck has just caught up with him a bit. He was putting a fair number of baserunners on (and consistently falling behind in counts) even through the extended stretch when he didn't give up a run. That kind of thing will come back to bite you eventually.
By the way, Rolen is quietly getting away with a power outage. He hasn't homered since May 7th. But he's hitting .300, getting on base at .390-ish, and saving games with D so I'm not gonna complain...for now.
Probably the only reason no one is talking about Rolen's power outage is that he's hardly alone on this team. Rod is obviously showing great power, and Vernon is right around his career average in slugging, but every other regular or semi-regular is well below their career slugging percentage. That, of course, includes a pile of guys they should be relying on for power, like Rolen, Stairs, Rios and Overbay.
What game-changing moves are you talking about? Signing Julio Lugo? Trading for Wily Mo Pena?
Sure, Theo has made some decent deals, but no real steals, and you just can't ignore how much of a role money plays in all this. Daisuke? Everyone wanted him, the Sox just had the money to get it done. Beckett and Lowell? That only went down because the Sox absorbed Lowell's contract (the career revival was a pretty big surprise to everyone).
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DT ,I've heard Yankee fans who outpsend the Red Sox by quite a bit mention his failures BUT despite that he has two more fucking rings this century than JP has.Only Eckstein on the Jays has as many as Theo!Was Ortiz an expensive move?Kevin Millar?The list goes on.And this was before they won in 2004.How about all these youngsters that they have brought up the last couple of years?Like Masterson,Ellsbury and Pedroia?You mention Willy Mo and Lugo,who won the World Series last year? .In spite of these errors they made it happen again in spite of Nancy Drew and Lugo.
You also mentioned money.THe last time I checked the Jays spend 100 million dollars on payroll!Beane in Oakland spends half of that and has been in the playoffs how many times in the last 10 years?The Marlins won it in 2003 with a 50 million against the 200 million behemoth from
the Bronx.I live in Yankee and Met country so I understand the money thing BUT the Rogers are hardly paupers.The Steinbrenners don't have half of the fucking money that the Rogers do as well as the Wilpons.The Jays have a decent payroll and their owners own the stadium and the team and are their country's only major league team so please don't cry poverty.The Rays spend 42 million and they have a better record than Toronto,etc so on!The fucking Marlins spend 21 and they are a laughing stock like the Jays!
- As I said in the next comment, Billy Beane is the exception.
- If you're at the top of the draft every single year like the Rays have been, you're going to build up some good talent eventually. They've hit and miss like everyone else, but being higher makes their odds better, and it's paying off now.
- The Jays' payroll is middle of the pack. They're 7th in the AL, 12th overall. 100 million isn't what 100 million used to be. Ted could obviously afford more, but that's his choice.
Look, I'm not saying money = wins, but it sure makes your odds better and has a way of making GM's look better. I was responding to the guy who basically implied that Theo is some boy genius and JP is an idiot. I was pointing out that Theo has made his own mistakes, they just don't come back to bite him because he's got the money available to him to patch over mistakes in a way that JP doesn't.
ok, which one of you guys is this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiu1yAt9g7Q
(my favourite: 'hey, quit writing down that percival's kid's birthday is may 9th!')
I missed the first part of your reply when I read it before.
- If you think that Wily Mo and Lugo were somehow intelligent or even acceptable move because their team won, then I can't say much to you. That's like saying the Reds are in last place, therefore drafting Jay Bruce was a mistake.
- Ortiz was obviously a great pickup. Just remember that they picked him up to use as a backup to Jeremy Giambi, so they didn't see his rise coming either.
- They have some nice young players, sure. A few, just like most teams. I'm a fan Marcum, Litsch and Hill, and I'm fairly excited to see Snider in the next couple of years.
dt: you also forgot that teams that go over slot can sign better guys than their low draft order would indicate. About the worst thing that could happen would be for the Jays to use their draft pick on a guy who wanted a $5M signing bonus that they couldn't afford to give him, or who just doesn't want to play in Toronto for 6 years.
Damn Torgen, you beat me to the slot argument as to why the Red Sox can get better prospects with lower picks.
yeah the draft is very broken with the whole slotting system. it makes the yankees and red sox scouting staffs look a lot better than other teams when in reality they're just throwing more money around than anyone else - pretty much the same thing they've been doing in the free agent market since like forever
Ortiz was Pedro's pick up. Theo just decided to leave insulting Pedro till after winning a WS.
And the Beane argument would be more valid if the A's played in the AL East.
And to the guy that left AJ off the list of good guys. The hat tip was awesome. And how do you know AJ is the only "asshole"?
Yep, good point. I was thinking about that the other day. When guys like Rick Porcello from last year or Gerrit Cole from this year become stars, everyone will talk about what great pickups they were late in the 1st round. It's not like their talent was a mystery, though.
Joanna, you don't agree that Beane is a cut above his peers?
I learned a very important lesson at the game today - do NOT go to an afternoon game when you're hungover and it's Teletoon kids day.
Joanna,the hat tip was brlliant but AJ is still an asshole.I loved it,when he said"What fans"!What a slap in the face of the bluebird faithful.BTW,Sabremetric genius Bill James suggested Ortiz from what I've heard not Pedro.
Dt,the Phightin Phils spend 95 million and look at how they are doing.They were missing the playoffs every year by almost one game and then finally they did it.They are not giving out a gazillion dollar bonuses.They got rid of their version of JP,Ed Wade after him missing the playoffs for over 7 years.I live in yankeeland so I know all about this slotting bullshit and the like,but Arizona and the Marlins beat them in the WS.They were not big market teams paying great bonuses ,etc.My point is that Ricciardi has had a long time to get into the playoffs and his time is coming to an end.Ricciardi said that this is a five year plan and where are the Jays.A new guy in the front office and a new manager will be needed as well.It sucks to hear all these pro Red Sox ,Yankee,Met assholes on ESPN comment how great the pitching is then tell you about the hitting....it sucks!
AJ also apologized, which is more than many a man would do. I think that "What fans?" was taken out of context, and that people are just looking for more reasons to hate on him. More.
Beane needs a World Series. That should be the evaluator. But sure, he's a cut above.
As for Pedro and Ortiz. As per Ortiz's book. Ortiz was at dinner with Pedro when he got the call that he had been released by the Twins. He was losing his shit cause he was out of work and had just had a baby. Had lost his mother in a car accident in the same year. It was shitty for Ortiz. Pedro made a few calls, and suggested that the Sox management pick him up. When they did, Pedro requested that Ortiz play first base every game he started. If he wasn't in, Pedro would bitch. Bill James might have told Theo that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, but Ortiz gives the credit to Martinez.
Go Orange.
Stoeten. All I'm getting from this
"Anyway, what should have been a pair of easy series' went the way of blah blah blah the Jays suck blah blah blah blah fuck this team blah blah etc."
and this
"But... a lot of Jays fans seem prepared to believe the worst about the closer because he's cocked up three of the last four games (or whatever it is). Um... that's a bit ridiculous."
is this
Denial, denial, denial.
Joanna, I didn't know that about Ortiz. Thanks for sharing. Just goes to show how success in baseball has so much to do with pure luck as well as the controllable factors.
Anon, I'm not saying that it's impossible to compete on the Jays' budget - of course it's possible. It's possible to compete with much less of a budget too.
But, to address your specific examples
- Arizona wasn't exactly a low-budget operation when they won the World Series.
- The Marlins won their first series with a huge payroll, and their 2nd with the fruits of trading those guys away (along with lots of high draft picks)
- Ed Wade's regime drafted Howard, Burrell, Utley and Hamels. He's got a lot to do with how good that team is now.
Look, I'm frustrated too. It drives me nuts that this team can't make a serious run at the playoffs. I just don't really see what JP has done that's been terrible or what great other options are out there.
Like most other GM's he wins some and loses some, it's just happened that the Jays have had a lot of .500-ish seasons instead of a mix of good and bad. Most teams have years where everything goes right, and others where it all goes to shit, even with substantially the same personnel (see the 05 and 06 White Sox).
If you replace JP, you're not likely to find somewhere a whole lot better, and you run the risk of hiring the next Allard Baird or Cam Bonifay who will completely decimate the organization.
Good call sarah . . .
I like shitting on stoeten too!
we need .670 ball outta this team here on out . . . 2/3+. Possible, but a good time to probably key down the hopes.
Joanna,I've only heard the inside baseball accounts of how the Red Sox and Yanks wanted or didn't want Ortiz.For example,Steinbrenner wanted Ortiz long before he was released and the Yankee brain trust didn't. As for the Pedro-Ortiz story,that's all good BUT the Theo/James /Lucchino brain trust had singled out certain people they could get that were undervalued(Moneyball) like Ortiz.So from what I've heard,they were aware of his existence bigtime before Pedro called .
Dt,I live in the NYC area which is a hardcore baseball area.I have to hear shit from Yankee fans about how they make the playoffs etc so on.You always hear about how great the pitching is but not the hitting.The Mets have more problems than the Jays,so they shut the fuck up only when they give some crazy trade proposal like Reyes for Wells and Marcum,crazy shit like that.It's frustrating because the Jays have so much potential and keep on pissing it away.And I don't think JP and Gibby are helping matters much.
I don't think it's fair to say that anyone's interest in Ortiz was "bigtime" before the Sox signed him. If there was, someone would have traded for him before the Twins cut him loose rather than risking missing out. Like I said before, he was signed to be a backup. I'm sure some people expected something good out of him, but the facts don't really suggest that they saw anything approaching MVP-level numbers coming.
I think you're right that JP and Gibby aren't doing anything especially helpful, but neither are they hurting. I guess I just don't see any great argument for replacing either of them besides "change for the sake of change." If you believe in that kind of thing (i.e. "shaking things up") then yeah, firing them both makes sense. I'm pretty skeptical of that stuff, but I'd be fine with seeing what happens. Like I say, I just don't see how you're going to find someone who really is any better at running things than JP. I really do think that the more you look around, the more you realize that all GM's are pretty similar, with the rare idiot and the even rarer genius.
And you're right that they're missing a great opportunity with this incredible pitching staff, but that staff isn't going anywhere soon, so there's time, and some stuff you just can't hang on anyone besides the players.
If anyone saw this kinda of shittacular hitting from Alex Rios coming, I don't know who they are. This guy was seen all around baseball as an emerging star. Aaron Hill has regressed too, and Overbay and Rolen aren't quite up to what one could reasonably expect from them either. That's just not JP's fault.
Beau and Sarah, honestly, I've barely been paying attention-- certainly not enough to make an about face on whatever bullshit I've been churning out to this point in the season.
Back to the Hudson comment. You guys must really be drunk because you can't remember why J.P. did not like the O-Dog. My brother was an intern with the visiting tv crew that year, so the story made its way around the media circle as the reason why Hudson wasn't up sooner. Remember, that season Homer Bush was released in early MAy and Joe Lawrence (whoa!) was the staring second baseman for a few weeks, shitty times. Go back to Spring Training 2002 here's a snippit from a cbc.ca story.
"Hudson also raised eyebrows earlier this year during spring training when he commented on general manager J.P. Ricciardi's fashion sense.
"When I first met J.P., I thought, 'smooth cat...smooth-looking cat.' He looks like he was a pimp back in his day. He's good dude," the 24-year-old said of his new boss.
The 24-year-old's comments were meant to be complimentary, nonetheless, Ricciardi wasn't amused. Hudson was sent to the minors the next day."
bitch, bitch, bitch
- nice info joanna! that was cool to hear about pedro. As much as I hate boston, that was a sick string pull/humanitarian act by him.
-
Stoeten, actually I remember reading an interview last year with the O-Dog where he basically said he was happy to be gone from the Jays because of J.P. So Dick didn't pull it out of his ass. It probably came straight from the O-Dog's mouth.
It's not Go Orange!
It's Ga Oranje!
and it's the the book of Revelation not Revelations.
de Nederlandse overwinning zal groot zijn en de wereld zal de Nederlanders opnieuw vrezen
Just a point to B.J. ... The problem seems very obvious, and I'm surprised I haven't seen it discussed more in the media, or here, or anywhere.
Remember when Dustin McGowan and Billy Koch had surgery, how all we heard for a year afterwards was, "He's got his velocity back, but he just doesn't have command of the strike zone yet"? Common knowledge suggests that command is the last thing to come back after surgery. McGowan spent a year getting back to the level he had been at before the injury - and he was wild to begin with. for a guy like BJ, who relies on two things - deception and location - wildness can be life or death. He managed to get through April and May on deception alone, but it's become quite clear that other teams have realized that if you wait him out, you're more than likely to either work a walk or get a mistake, because BJ doesn't really know where the ball is going to end up. I wouldn't be opposed to sending him back down to learn how to pitch again, or at the very least demoting him to a LOOGY type role where he's only facing one or two guys an outing.
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