Roster Maneuvering Brought To You By The Rule V Draft
How does it feel to be Les Walrond?
Imagine going from a World Series winning organization to a waiver pick up of the Toronto Blue Jays, and now being sold into indentured servitude to a Japanese baseball sweatshop. Enjoy pitching on three days rest while trained assassins keep their nun chucks and ninja stars targeted on you as you attempt to use the miniature urinals. And don't even think about asking out the manager's daughter. Big mistake!
Walrond and fellow curious waiver pickup Angel Sanchez were removed from the Blue Jays 40 man roster yesterday in order to clear room for a trio of pitchers: left-hander Ricky Romero, right-hander Robert Ray and southpaw Luis Perez.
San Diego Padres front-office assistant Paul Depodesta writes in his blog that the large amount of roster movements across MLB the last few days was the result of yesterday's deadline for protecting players from the Rule V Draft, which takes place next month.
Depodesta goes on to explain some of the thoughts that go through the minds of front office staffers when deciding on a 40 man roster this far away from the start of the season. Like the rest of his blog, it's an informative and excellent read.
Imagine that. A truthful, non-condescending outreach to local baseball fans that's not full of ulterior motives or personal agendas.
Potential blog titles for J.P. Ricciardi's version: Blue Birds and Silver Tongues, Snake Oil, Ain't Lying If You Know The Truth and Drunk Adam Dunn Fans.
Posts
92 comments:
MORE WALROND!!!
Depodesta is nails. And he doesn't get enough credit for the success of the Dodgers. Worst firing ever.
I think you guys should do a spinoff site called Drunk Adam Dunn Fans that a fictional blog from the voice of jp ricciardi.
I kinda like the new PR Ricciardi name.
JP is weird. He thinks that AJ is going to be a worthwhile investment over 5 years. Or maybe he's just smart and he knows that he won't be here in 5 years, and if he doesn't sign AJ he won't even have a GM job in '10.
On spinning JP's decisions in a more positive light, the reason why he's considering reducing payroll is because with the economic downturn there will be less fans coming out to see the games
Even if they sign a relatively big name free agent (ie not Ramirez), that wil probably just bring attendence back up to the '08 numbers, which won't be high enough because of the decline of the Canadian dollar
And by the way, since Rogers is multimedia conglomerate who host an internet service, how are they such fuck ups that they can't even figure out how to get their own websites, fan590 and maclean's, to load up at a normal website's speed ?
Let's bring Depodesta here.
Long live the Japan Samurai Bears. That is one bad-ass logo.
Obama's transition advisor has a baseball blog?
It's not like JP is the one deciding to lower payroll.
What are you referring to, Torgen?
I highly doubt Depodesta would leave his job in San Diego to come here, even for the GM position.
Ok, good point Torgen
Back to the Ordonez Ryan talk from yesterday. I don't care if you believe me or not but I live just outside of Detroit and I've got a couple of friends who work in promotions for the Tigers. They're both originally from Windsor and are big Jays fans. This is like third or fourth hand knowledge but they say that talk around the office is that Jays and Tigers are close on a deal involving John McDonald, a reliever and a prospect. They don't know who is going from Tigers but there are lots of fans of McDonald in DD's office and its all they've been talking about. I don't know how true it is myself but thought I'd pass it on after yesterday's post.
According to the Toronto Sun (which quotes JP), we're willing to give AJ a 5 year deal.
But we're still not willing to sign Manny or any other FA.
I don't get it...
McDonald has been traded to the Tigers from here before.
"The Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles turned down a proposed Khalil Greene-for-Garrett Olson trade."
Why aren't the Jays in on this?
I hope you mean why aren't they after Garret Olson, because Khalil Greene is a worse option than Scutaro
"I don't get it..."
Did you read the quote? What don't you get? Did he say they were going to offer AJ a five year contract? NO. Did he say they probably wouldn't be a factor for Manny? YES. This seems consistent. In fact, JP said that they have no offer for AJ on the table, length or $$$.
All JP said was that a five year committment wasn't a reason to avoid AJ, and why wouldn't he say that since he was the team that went 5 years on AJ last time he was a free agent.
Khalil Greene is a complete turd.
That's the coolest name you're going to get on a white guy.
Don't forget J MAC got traded back to the Jays for himself basically.
What I wonder about is whether Vernon Wells should be taken off the 40-man roster for the Rule V.
It frees up a spot and chances are excellent that nobody would want to touch that contract. If somebody does grab it, then you've divested yourself of a bad deal and created some major payroll flexibility.
I'd hate to lose V-Dub but I can't help but think the Jays would be better off with an OF of Lind/Rios/Snider and the extra money for a SP or a DH.
Wells might hit 30 HR and bat .280/.330/.500 but is that worth what he is getting paid considering he could just as easily go .260/.315/.460 with 20 jacks?
For that matter, why not make Overbay and Ryan available for the Rule V for the same reason--Lind shifts to 1B and platoons with Bautista against tough lefties (assuming they're claimed) and there's a bunch of guys who can close at a fraction of the cost--you don't lose any (or very much) production and the money saved could used for major upgrades while protecting some of the kiddie corps.
Best Regards
John
Parkes,
DePodesta would take the GM job for a team with the Jays' payroll and the ability to be left to his own devices by ownership in a heartbeat. The fact that Toronto is not a baseball city is gravy. That he didn't take the job years ago when he was still Billy Beane's golden boy is less than completely irrelevant today. That being said, if JP were to get axed, the chances that they hire someone who was brought up in the same system as JP is very very slim. If JP goes, the team is far more likely to move in. a more "classic" direction (read: someone that would get the Richard Griffin seal of approval).
I'm no blanket defender of Ricciardi, but you have yet to come up with a valid reason why JP's lies to the local media are important, especially considering the fact that the site spend a great deal of time mocking the same local media's overall knowledge and opinions about the team and the sport.
Focus on the direction the team is headed - the players that are on the roster and in the system. Its far more important than whether the GM lied or misdirected the local media. And until you guys start recommending that JP stop his current MO of being more accessible to the fans than any other GM in the league, quit bitching about what comes off the tip of his tongue in some isolated incidents. It just makes you sound as ignorant as Stoeten is overweight.
Khalil Greene has a career .802 OPS away from Petco.
^^burn.
"Did you read the quote? What don't you get? Did he say they were going to offer AJ a five year contract? NO. Did he say they probably wouldn't be a factor for Manny? YES. This seems consistent. In fact, JP said that they have no offer for AJ on the table, length or $$$."
I don't get why they are possibly willing to give an injury prone pitcher a 5 year deal (for what will be over 65M atleast), instead of taking the draft picks, and then signing a guy like Manny (who would probably cost only 5M more per season, and would take less years).
My guess is that the Jays aren't really going to try for Burnett at all. JP is just saying the same thing he did with Escobar and Delgado.
Hey Fuckface Mike,
This site is as supportive of Ricciardi as any other. What gets my panties in a knot is the reputation he's gained for singing songs to the local media that are so obviously bullshit to the point where nothing he says can be taken at face value.
His lies are important because they're being used to trick and manipulate the idiot fan base into buying tickets, watching games on television and purchasing merchandise. That makes me angry.
The thing about DJF is that this isn't merely a team site. It's a fan site as well. That being said, at least half of the posts are about the perspective of being a fan of the Toronto Blue Jays, and from that perspective, Ricciardi's comments to the media are noteworthy.
You, on the other hand, likely live a very un-noteworthy existence.
Say hi to your mother for me.
Interesting idea on V-Dub, but do you think anyone takes him? I'm sure he cleared waivers without a problem at the end of last season.
Ryan and Overbay are a bit different because those contracts are at the very least tradeable, if not tradeable for actual assets. No?
No, but you get to protect another player.
Fuckface Mike is also wrong about DePodesta. He really likes San Diego and apparently has turned down interviews for other positions.
Are we really losing out if Angel Sanchez gets picked up? Isn't Russ Adams still on the 40 man?
I've heard that about Depodesta as well. Fuckface Mike is just looking for something to be a dick about.
fuck.. i just did what mike said.. and focused on the direction that this team is going... now i wanna blow my head off. or atleast.. go to the bar, drink 30 beers, stumble home and cry myself to sleep. fucking jays.
quote from JP in McLeod's column:
"I don't think we're ever going to look at ourselves as not being competitive,” he said. “I think we'll have a good club. I think our offence will be better. I think our pitching will be good."
Q: where is the improvement in the offence going to come from if the '09 starting line-up closely resembles that of most of '08?
You can't appeal to injuries because there is no reason to suppose that you won't have injuries in the coming year ... those are a constant.
You can't appeal to player improvement because, other than Lind, these guys are all known quantities.
You can't appeal to internal promotions because Snider is the only guy who is poised to jump up, and it is unreasonable to expect him to carry the offence next year. How many guys come in and hit 30 HRs and get on base 40% of the time in their rookie season?
Seriously, JP, justify the claim that the currently constructed offence will improve?
Hey Mike (fat tits Mike, not Mike in Boston-- more on that in a moment), for the record, I think your first paragraph was bang on, fat tits. I guess Parkes has already served you your shit sandwich, you poor insecure desperate thing, but I'd also like to point out that it's absolutely not too much to ask that JP be accessible to fans while not saying something so fucking dumb that it's possibly going to negatively impact the team (i.e. the Dunn comments). In fact, that's really not difficult at all. So yes, we will shit on any comment he makes that deserves shitting on, while fully commending him and encouraging him to maintain the current level of access. I'm sorry to point out yet another thing you've failed at in life, but there is no contradiction there.
Exactly. And I think Depodesta is the perfect example of that. I still disagree about him coming to Toronto, but if Ricciardi is dismissed I can agree that whoever the new GM is, they will have no idea what OPS+ is.
You can't appeal to injuries because there is no reason to suppose that you won't have injuries in the coming year ... those are a constant.
Full seasons of Wells and Hill, though...
You can't appeal to player improvement because, other than Lind, these guys are all known quantities.
Overbay and Rolen can definitely be better.
You can't appeal to internal promotions because Snider is the only guy who is poised to jump up, and it is unreasonable to expect him to carry the offence next year. How many guys come in and hit 30 HRs and get on base 40% of the time in their rookie season?
Longoria, Evan (OK only a .343 OBP)
Ryan and Overbay are a bit different because those contracts are at the very least tradeable, if not tradeable for actual assets. No?
I guess it depends on what has more value--what they would fetch in a trade as opposed to what the freed up money could get you in terms of FA or taking on a contract in a trade.
Best Regards
John
If you eat enough of Ryan's contract to make him look like a bargain on a short term deal compared to some of the free agent closers out there, maybe you can get a 4/5 starter, and add $5M to your budget, without really taking much of a hit to your bullpen. No?
Jose Guillen is available, the Royals want to dump his 2/24 contract. I wonder if they would take BJ Ryan's contract either to close for them or to flip him themselves for prospects. Either way they save money and get rid of a player they don't want. The Jays pick up some pop and at the very worst are on tap for 2m more in 2010 than they are now. If Snider showed he was ready and Lind and Overbay still prove they deserve everyday jobs (and thus you need to move Gullen after 2009), it might not be such a problem. Guillen right now is a type B FA (not far from A) and didn't have a good year at all in 2008 and hit in a bad lineup. A solid year in Toronto and he could gain Type A status, which might give him some trade value for a team to pick up the 1/12 left. And again if not you've improved your offense for the actual cost of 2m and the opportunity cost of going from Downs-Ryan to someone else setting up Downs.
Gigantic risk that he will be Mencherson-awful, though, isn't there?
If the Jays left Wells unprotected, the Yankees would definitely take him, is my guess. That's not to say they should or shouldn't do it, but I do think the Yankees would jump on it. They're pretty desperate in center field and Wells is still a good player - they won't blink at the contract.
Ryan, I think it would be a bad idea. With only 2 years left on his deal, my guess is that he will become tradeable at some point - if not by the beginning of the season, then when someone's closer blows up or gets hurt. So why let him go for nothing now when all indications are that he will help the team?
I really don't think the Yankees would-- but if they did... fuck 'em. Wells hasn't even hit the shitstorm part of his contract yet: 10:$12.5M, 11:$23M, 12:$21M, 13:$21M, 14:$21M
Love the guy, but he's going to be such a fucking albatross...
Wilkerson and Mench both fell off a cliff at age 28. Guillen's down year last year at 32 still produced 20hr-97rbi. And maybe since we are picking up more salary and the older, less valuable player that means the Royals will give a legit prospect to get this done. Just bringing up an idea, cuz I think no matter because we have Snider in the system basically read to be in the bigs that the most we could lose on this trade is some bullpen strength. With the amount of arms we have in the system at both the minor and major league level, that doesn't worry me.
If you eat enough of Ryan's contract to make him look like a bargain on a short term deal compared to some of the free agent closers out there, maybe you can get a 4/5 starter, and add $5M to your budget, without really taking much of a hit to your bullpen. No?
Indeed.
A lot such a question is simply context--what do you need, what is available and what is the most likely avenue of acquiring it. What the Jays need can be found on the FA market more than in the trade (market) since teams are hanging on to SP (for the most part) and the easiest way to get that is to throw money at a FA.
Were the FA market full of things the Jays didn't need then you'd probably want to hang on to tradeable commodities since that's the avenue you need to go down to get what you need.
Best Regards
John
Ryan, I think it would be a bad idea. With only 2 years left on his deal, my guess is that he will become tradeable at some point - if not by the beginning of the season, then when someone's closer blows up or gets hurt. So why let him go for nothing now when all indications are that he will help the team?
True enough, but that has to be weighed against the fact that what you wanted to spend the money saved on would no longer be available.
Best Regards
John
Jose Guillen hit for a .656 OPS agaisnt righties last year (.752 career).
Pass.
Oh, and I'd get rid of Wells' contract in a second. It's going to kill this team down the road.
let's play a quick game of better or worse offence in '09:
- Overbay = if you believe the wrist injury excuse then maybe better, if you don't then the trend is not good
- Glaus = no reason to think he will be any better or play more games than this past year
- VW = full season at last year's pace would be great
- Rios = is he suddenly going to learn how to hit for power? Probably not.
- Lind = could go either way, depending on which months you focus on
- Barajas = he is what he is. Fat.
- Hill = should be back to his old self
- the SS position = it hurts just to think about it
- the DH spot = couldn't be worse so it should be better
does a full season of V-Dub and Hill plus anyone not named Mencherwart at DH really count as an improved offence, even assuming no major injuries to anyone else?
JP makes it so hard to take him seriously when he speaks.
Aren't rule V eligible players also players who have to go through waivers to get removed from the 40 man roster? So taking Wells off to give them a spot doesn't actually help, because they'll just get claimed when you put Wells back on.
remember the wells contract is heavily backloaded so don't get too pissed at wells, annualized it's a pretty reasonable contract.
If they left him unprotected I can almost guarantee the yankees would grab him. Money is no object this year.
Jayson Werth had a .767 OPS vs RHP, but destroyed LHP to the tune of a 1.020 OPS vs LHP. He was a massive part of the Phillies success, because he brought RH balance to the lineup with Burrell. The Jays lost all the guys that made them crush LHP - Glaus, Thomas, and Johnson, and the team had a pathetic .695 OPS against LHP. Guillen will help that.
Who knows, maybe if the Royals are desperate enough to save 12m they would send Billy Butler our way with Guillen, knowing how easily they can flip Ryan to another team if they don't have outrageous demands (one solid prospect should do). There's stuff you can tweak to get it done, and there's more to this than just platoon splits.
I happened to like Brad Fullmer too. He was a solid DH.
mike in boston:
"- Glaus = no reason to think he will be any better or play more games than this past year"
Rolen? What about his dropped hands - he did hit .298/.350/.532 in 103 PA once he came back from his final DL stint.
I doubt you can flip Ryan without eating salary.
Anyway, interesting idea, I just think you can do a whole lot better flipping Ryan for a potential starter, eating some salary, and putting that towards a free agent hitter, if there's one out there you think will be better than Lind.
remember the wells contract is heavily backloaded so don't get too pissed at wells, annualized it's a pretty reasonable contract.
If they left him unprotected I can almost guarantee the yankees would grab him. Money is no object this year.
Oh, I'm definitely not pissed at Wells-- players earned their rights to the salaries they get. I think it's dumb that the Jays didn't trade him for a boatload before his walk year, but that's not his fault-- good for him. And I really like him, it's just he isn't good enough to carry that salary on a team with this kind of payroll limitations. I still highly doubt the Yankees would pick him up, but if they did, it would be, unfortunately, really, really great for the Jays.
I agree Stoeten, I'm a huge Wells fan. He's a good player with a great personality, and he's homegrown and all that good stuff.
I also strongly advocated trading him after his big '06, a year before he hit free agency. I didn't predict a bad year in '07, far from it, but I just thought that the Jays would get more value playing Rios in center, saving the money, and getting probably quite a bit in return as opposed to paying Wells free agent market value to play center into his mid 30s while keeping Rios in right.
Wells' deal definitely hurts the Jays' payroll flexibitlity but if he continues to perform well, the deal hopefully won't hurt the team too much because our farm system has been improving enough to where it can provide us (theoretically)with a lot of what they need on the cheap in those seasons where Wells will cost $20 million. They may well be able to afford to pay Wells, Halladay, and one or two others big money when the rest of the core players are cost-controlled and effective. I wouldn't have done the deal, but I wouldn't be totally shocked if it works out for the team.
Imagine... a world in which the drunk-jaysnation got the surprise of a lifetime:
Burnett goes to NY and gets injured in spring training
Manny signs for 2 years $50mil, hits 45 HR
Wells hits 32 HR, drives in 120 and wins a gold glove
Halladay wins 22 games and a cy-young
McGowan comes off the DL in May and posts an 18-8 record with a 3.22 era
Alex Rios hits 60 doubles, 25 HR and steals 40 bases
Adam lind bats .313 and hits 28 HR
Travis Snyder hits 18 HR in 200 at bats off the bench
Rod Barajas hitS 20 HR and 78 rbi
Overbay hits .280 with 88 rbi and 17 HR
Aaron hill hits .300 with 15 HR and 45 doubles
Rolen wins a gold glove, hits 15 HR and 45 doubles
Johnny Mac and Scutaro share SS, combing for a .999 fielding average, 12 Hr and 55 rbi
Purcey goes 10-11 with an era of
4.81
Litch goes 11-11 with an era of
4.55
Cecil goes 8-11 with an era of 5.12
Tallet, as a starter, goes 8-8 with an era of 4.66
Carleson wins 8 games and posts a 3.11 era
BJ saves 40 games
Downs posts a 1.11 era
Jays win the wild card...
HOW MUCH MORE MONEY WOULD THAT MAKE ROGERS CORP.?
COULD IT HAPPEN?
WHY NOT?
There's no way the club stunts Snider's development by making him a bench player. Maybe in the NL, where you have pinch hitters and double switches all the time, but not in the AL.
The Wells contract won't be as monstrous a problem if Rogers does the sensible thing and increases payroll significantly within the next couple of years. Paying Wells $21M would be less painful if the team payroll is around $140M. Of course, there is virtually nil chance of this happening, but allow me this pipe dream for now. But the front office really should have thought of this when they signed him: "do we really want a 30-something V-Dub eating up a fifth or a sixth of our payroll in a few years?"
I think an outfield of Lind/Rios/Snider could be a bit thin: Lind is still unproven (as is Snider) and Rios is up and down. But I can see the logic behind trading Wells and starting these three. How much is the marginal gain in offense/defense (with Wells) worth? Probably not $21M. In any event, the team would still need to address lots of other issues: DH, SS, C, 3B, starting pitching - to name a few.
@ari: losing some guys who had extreme platoon splits doesn't explain why a bunch of our guys who had always had regular platoon splits suddenly developed reverse platoon splits.
Anon, I'm sure they thought of it, but they thought this was the only way to keep him, and, I suspect, that it would be too much of a PR hit to lose him. I also suspect that this deal has the hand of God...frey all over it. For a while there it was the only deal that went beyond JP's, wasn't it?
I don't disagree that the OF would be thin like that, but it's a lot easier to find a league average addition to that group than it is to shed that insane Wells contract.
Fuck off Parkes, you happy meal loving, Tom Cheek hating fuck!
Mmmmm...happy meal.
You know how Godfrey said his mother taught him that it's better to quit years too early rather than a day too late (or something like that)? Well, I think Paul saw the writing on the wall; ie, that the competition was getting stiffer in the AL East, and that the new economics of baseball (and Rogers' approach to payroll) didn't favour the Jays going forward.
On DePodesta: That DePodesta said that he's happy with his current position to a blogger is as meaningless as a cell number given to Stoeten by a chick weighing less than 150 lbs with no prior history as a man. When a professional is asked "are you happy with your current job" by someone who isn't in a position to offer a better one, "I love what I'm doing" is the ONLY response. But that's not something you guys would know much about so don't worry about getting it wrong.
On lying to the media: JP did what was in the best interest of the ballclub (read: his employers) by his statements. Whether it was for increased ticket sales (which I think had very little reason to do with the fib - shit simply doesn't work like that in Toronto) or to keep the asking price for a replacement low (far more likely), matters very little. There's no reason for the team to announce that they might be in the market for a replacement in the bullpen. Sort of the same way a football coach doesn't tell the media about where certain players are injured or whether they're healthy enough to play.
So get over it. It's totally not a big deal to lie to a bunch of incompetent fools like Marty York and Richard Griffin. If that results in a competitive edge that leads to a better team, the fans are much better off. JP's responsibility to assemble the best team far outweighs his responsibility to be truthful to the fans about player injuries.
On JP's off-the-cuff-comments on his Wed. show: Why the hell would JP agree to do something that no one in his profession does if he's going to be held fully accountable by his bosses for any snafu should he screw up?
His lies are important because they're being used to trick and manipulate the idiot fan base into buying tickets, watching games on television and purchasing merchandise. That makes me angry.
LOL, complaining about a GM "lying" is just insane. Acting as if those "lies" ever affected anything is even more insane.
Anyway, did anyone see that Raps-Nets game? Classiiiiiic
As everyone bashes the Wells contract into pieces, I recommend checking out this post at the Southpaw that could make you view it in a whole new light.
Neither Wells nor his contract are as bad as you think.
yeah . . . i'll read the southpaw as soon as they learn to use grammatically correct terms . . . otherwise they refuse to be respected.
Why will the offense be better? It will be because Mench, Wilkerson, Eckstein, and Stairs are off the roster. They were all near the bottom of the team for WPA. http://www.fangraphs.com/winss.aspx?team=Blue%20Jays&stats=bat&qual=0&type=0&season=2008&month=0
That is a big part of why they started winning as soon as those players stopped playing and killing the offence.
-brent in Korea
vc sucks
Anonymous Fuckface at 3:17 for Editor of the Year.
Southpaw is a great blog. Fuck off.
"otherwise they refuse to be respected."
This is pretty shoddy construction itself (awkwardly phrased and written in the passive voice). 3:17 could use a good editor.
"until then I refuse to respect them" would make more sense.
Regarding rule 5 draft. To unprotect a Vernon Wells to protect somebody else, they would have to remove Wells from the 40 man roster.
He would then go onto waivers, where other teams could either
(1)claim him, pay his contract, and provide the Jays salary relief. or
(2)hope that the jays are willing to take a huge 9 figure contract dump, then sign him for the league minimum once he clears waivers and refuses to report to the minors. or
(3)work out a trade where you give the Jays salary relief in return for some prospects or a discounted VW.
Option 1 actually isn't that unreasonable. If a team has payroll flexibility, an outfield hole, all the other free agents have signed, they have a crazy owner, and feel a need for someone to hit into some poorly timed double plays, then the Jays might find someone to help them out of their bind. I wouldn't bet on it though.
Option 2 just plain will not happen, at least until the contract is a less messy 7 (or low 8) figure dump. Probably mid 2014 if anything.
That leaves option 3. Too bad for that full no-trade clause though. I mean, they could just gut the team fully and hope he demands a trade, or try the always classy play-head-games-and-hope-he-breaks-up-with-them-first strategy. I dunno though, I'm thinkin Vernon either stays healthy and opts out after 2011 or he gets hurt and paid well into his retirement like his name is Albert Belle.
I think none of the above options are likely however, because Vernon is gonna work up the nerve to ask Cito for Devon White's phone number. Then he is going to call him up and get some tips on becoming a wicked leadoff hitter, solving the Jays offensive woes and bringing the World Series back home to Canada.
Anyways back to the Rule 5 topic. I've made a guess at the Jays potential Rule 5 losses, and you can see that there should be minimal excitement for this draft. Jays don't even have room to make a pick anyways, so even less than minimal excitement.
As far as I understand, college players that were drafted in 2006 or later are protected. Players drafted out of highschool or signed internationally in 2005 or later are protected. Players on the 40 man roster are also protected.
And that leaves the Jays in the ultra vulnerable position of potentially losing these guys:
Sean Stidfole, Mike MacDonald, Chip Cannon, Kevin Melillo,
Anthony Hatch, Ryan Patterson, Kyle Phillips, Reidier Gonzalez, Cory Patton, Brian Dopirak, Celson Polanco, Connor Falkenbach .... not much doin' here....
The really big names are in the new minor league free agents list. The following guys are not interested in playing their minor league ball in Vegas and will try to get a contract in another organization....
Erik Kratz, Jordan De Jong, Wayne Lydon, Danny Sandoval, Pedro Lopez, Rick Bauer, Jonah Bayliss, Mike Gosling, Matt Watson, Hector Luna, Chad Blackwell, David Smith, Julio Pinto, Gustavo Chacin ... again, not much doing, but sliiiiightly more interesting than the Rule 5 list.
Anybody else thinking the Jays might actually be able to sign AJ? Seems like neither the Yanks or Red Sox will give a 5 year contract... JP seems to have said he might give a performance-based 5 year contract.
Southpaw is awkward reading to say the least. Good ideas but the presentation is terrible.
My complaint revolves around the fact that a guy like Depodesta can create good public relations without being a lying piece of shit. In the long run constant lies to the media can have a negative impact because reporters will ultimately stop reporting on what is being said. Look at the difference between Blair and MacLeod. Blair rarely reports on what Ricciardi is saying because he's been there long enough to know it's 50-50 if it's true or not, whereas MacLeod, who's relatively new to the beat, will often incorporate quotes from Ricciardi.
SP, It's far more complicated than lies are good/bad/don't matter.
To anyone who'd say that Ricciardi's lies don't influence the fan base, I'd point to the fact that Toronto is the only MLB city that honestly believes eight games back in September is still in the race.
Back to Fuckface Mike, what the fuck are you talking about? Depodesta didn't say anything to bloggers. There were rumours that he turned down interviews for GM positions because he likes what he's doing in San Diego.
As for Southpaw, I check it out once in a while. It's pretty good. Like most blogs, they could benefit from a copy editor.
http://itsaboutthemoney.blogspot.com/2008/09/iiatms-exclusive-paul-depodesta.html
Oh, sorry - did I just get tied down in the minutiae? Wouldn't want to do something like that!
You guys act like Southpaw is written by Terry Schiavo or something. What the fuck is wrong with their writing? And who copy edits DJF?
Oh and of course 8 games back in September is very much in the race, are you kidding? And what does JP have to do with an entire fanbase being 99% stupid? Jesus, some of you JP haters are really reaching for material.
Southpaw never has to worry about accusations centred around being enticing. Snoozefest.
8 games back in September is out of it!
My ears are burning...
I really don't know why so many commentators get uppity about the *free* entertainment you're being provided by various Jays blogs. If you don't like us or DJF or whomever, don't waste your time, go elsewhere and move on with your life. I really hate to deny you satisfaction, but no one really gives a shit about your witty little anonymous barbs.
To anyone else who bothered to have a look and debate ideas or offer constructive criticism, thanks for stopping by.
-- Johnny Was
Yea seriously, complaining about free blogs is insane enough but grammatically incorrect editing, bad presentation, needing a copy editor??? WTF.
Don't let the anonytards get you down Johnny. Keep the goods coming.
Fucking internet,
This conversation is so stupid I should cancel it
For the record, I didn't mean "they could use a copy editor" to sound negative. I meant it in the sense that bloggers don't have the luxury of copy editors and that was to explain the complaints away of the early morning complainer who found some sort of grammatical errors in the Southpaw's work.
One thing that I don't understand is talking about the "free" content thing as a way of avoiding hate. Why is it that people can only write vile comments about something that they've paid for? I think we host a fair level of corrosive cynicism on this blog, and it would be unfair to criticize or lecture people who do it to us in response.
Maybe you guys could focus on hating us though instead of our blogging buddies. That's what their comments sections are for.
the superficial, now that's a shitty blog
this internet thing is a fad, won't last too much longer so the anony's can go fuck themselves
I will say this about The Southpaw. It's better than the Score.com's blog. Holy GEEEEZ.
Parkes, what the fuck I think u have been doing less drinking because you have become a hot stripper with your last few comments.
Very true, the majority of 'Jays Fans' were stupid enough to believe that they were still in the race. That September winning streak and every 'good' September they have had in the last few years has amounted to complete bullshit and allows the team to sell false hope to every stupid fuck every offseason.
THAT SUCKS like VW chasing and popping up every first pitch.
In 2006 when the RED COX knew they weren't going to catch the Yanks, they just shut that shit down and didn't give a shit what place they finished in. Do you think they cared the Jays played well enough to pass them and finish second, 10 games back of NYY.
No, they just let everyone have an extra month off, lit a fire under their dickhead fans asses and got ready to reload and what do ya know won the fucking '07 World Series.
When in dumb Blue Jay land everyone thought the '06 2nd place finish meant it was time to plan the parade for next year. well that was so much fun I passed out in a gutter at Yonge and Richmond in October of '07 and '08. AND SP SHUT THE FUCK UP, ALL YOUR SHITTY COMMENTS ARE REALLY FUCKING STUPID. YOU ARE NOT COOL OR SMART ENOUGH TO HAVE THAT PICTURE OF CITO AS YOUR AVATAR.
Pretty sure we can all agree that SP is a fucking moron or moran if you prefer.
Southpaw isn't aimed at the basest primate emotions. From what I can tell it's more for statheads and people who are enticed by specialized obscure info and analysis
Some of you anonymous are embarrassing the rest of us. Find something better to bitch about, or you're going to get bitch slapped back to anonymous school
That DePodesta said that he's happy with his current position to a blogger is as meaningless as a cell number given to Stoeten by a chick weighing less than 150 lbs with no prior history as a man.
BURN! That's the comment of the year!
"To anyone who'd say that Ricciardi's lies don't influence the fan base, I'd point to the fact that Toronto is the only MLB city that honestly believes eight games back in September is still in the race."
I think we know that I don't believe that.
Anonymous (those of you to whom it applies):
Not to give too much credence to critics who can't be arsed to attach a name to their views BUT
Feel free to comment on any post I make with your grammatical criticisms (or any other criticisms).
I am not threatened by being criticized...but likewise I find it hard to take seriously sniping from people who won't put their names to their views.
In any case, as long as my information can't be shown to be flawed, I can live with literary disagreements. I, for one, don't see Grade A prose on ANY blog I ever read - and that's not a criticism of other blogs.
Rather, I think it's best to remember that blog writing is not SUPPOSED to read like an article in SI or other "professional" journalism.
~Will
"AND SP SHUT THE FUCK UP, ALL YOUR SHITTY COMMENTS ARE REALLY FUCKING STUPID. YOU ARE NOT COOL OR SMART ENOUGH TO HAVE THAT PICTURE OF CITO AS YOUR AVATAR."
"Pretty sure we can all agree that SP is a fucking moron or moran if you prefer."
Thank you. I will gladly keep the Badass Cito Shades avatar.
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