Good news: we have a great new closer. Bad news: he wasn't good enough to play shortstop for us. 2012 Blue Jays thread

everyone else is starting the 2012 team threads today, so why not join in.

I would like to go into September playing games that mean something. I dimly remember that that was fun.

2014, my friend. 2014.
maybe 2015.

i think the two most important things i'd like to see this year is for Lawrie to keep hitting like he did in 2011 and for Rasmus to hit like, well... better.

maybe a rebound from at least one of Snider and/or Drabek (esp Drabek). Snider is probably on his last legs with this franchise if he can't turn things around. if Thames builds on his season last year, Travis is def in some serious trouble.

Yeah, Lawrie's the big attraction this year. Is he still eligible for ROY? Anyway, I thought the extra wild-card spots go into effect this year. If you can have both wild-cards from the same division, surely the Jays could conceivably contend. But maybe they have to come from different divisions. And maybe it doesn't happen this year. Maybe I need to read up on all this.

The BP podcast guys were drooling all over the Jays' system a couple weeks ago... "8 million teenage pitchers with high ceilings," Travis d’Arnaud is the best catching prospect there is, etc.

Klaw is all over them too.
it's amazing what i'm reading about their system - considering it was in the dregs three years ago.

Lawrie no longer eligible for ROY btw

can't believe how fast home opener tickets sold out! going to have to dish out for some on a reseller or somesuch.

$45 to sit in the 500's? nevermind.

i can still get tickets in Clevelend for the season opener tho!
not sure i really want to go back to that town ever again tho.

What happened to you in Cleveland?

nothing awful.

city's just kind of run down and there's mot much at all to do. i had a hard time buying beer too, as no one there apparently knew what a passport was.

(apologies if you're form there or anything)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s983TpLdTdU&feature=player_embedded#!

The new wild card spot has our name all over it.

we still need to pull ahead of one of the yankees, bosox or rays to do it tho.

We let them beat up on each other while we sneak in through the back door. (What's that you say? Oh--we have to play them too? Never mind.)

I read today that Farrell plans to bat Lawrie seventh, to keep the pressure off. When he was brought up last year, sure, that made sense. But can't you at least start him off at fifth and see how he does, with an eye towards moving him up to third? Were not in New York here; I'm not sure how much pressure has been involved playing with the Jays for the past 10-15 years.

also he is killing it in spring training, for whatever that's worth

I see what you mean (Bautista, too). And to state the obvious, they've got to get the most out of Lawrie from a marketing standpoint.

Snider's been killing it too.

team canada 2, blue jays 0 after one inning, after bc's own scott richmond yields two doubles and a single

Has Paul Henderson done anything?

i think he's done enough already

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIMra-7MsgM

Vizquel on board

http://espn.go.com/mlb/spring2012/story/_/id/7748625/spring-training-2012-44-year-old-omar-vizquel-added-toronto-blue-jays-roster

bless

Only two teams in the past 20 years played as well as the Jays have this preseason, and both went on to have great years:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/22220/do-spring-training-records-mean-anything

I've been wondering if there's a point where a truly dominant preseason might portend good things ahead. I was extrapolating from an old Abstract piece the year after the Tigers started 35-5; I remember James wrote that by the time they got to 7-0 or 8-0, the mathematical chance that is was a fluky start was extremely small. On the other hand, I know--spring training.

brett cecil sent down

thanks to prince fielder's dad, every time i encounter that name i have to stop and think about how it's pronounced

I used to have the opposite problem with Prince Fielder's dad, thanks to many years of Cecil Cooper.

wtf? McGowan out - who in? Drabek and...

so the rotation shall go thusly: Romero, Morrow, Joel Carreno, Henderson Alvarez and Kyle Drabek.

Jeoy Bats getting a head start on the HR title!

*Joey

on pace for 350 homers

wow, heading to the 15th inning on opening day ... pretty sure this is the longest opening day game in Jays history.

loved the insertion of vizquel as fifth infielder and the resulting double play in the 12th

rajai davis needs to run tho

how's that larussa free colby looking

just as well arencibia can't bunt, i guess

Good thing Farrell held off on using Santos until the 16th. Whenever you can trot out less than your best relievers in a marathon tie game on the road and have the option of sitting your best reliever for the save situation that might come about, you have to do it.

might *never* come about, that is

hadda loosen up the whole pen

oh well - it's not like the rest of the pen are scrubs.
honestly, i trust Santos about as much as Jansen and Cordero (not saying i don't see your point tho)

omg. END!

thank you.

This is quite the memorable start to the season.

I don't foresee following this myself, but a Jays blog has been added to ESPN's Sweet Spot: http://mopupduty.com/.

santos filling up the BS column

dont make me search.

here's a hint: the ball off his head did not count towards his total that year.

lmao

@stats_canada
87% of baseball games broadcast in Canada are just reruns of the 1993 World Series

lol

http://www.flickr.com/photos/james_in_to/7997101156

If that image is real, Yunel should be suspended for the season. "@wheeler_josh: @keithlaw thoughts on this? flickr.com/photos/james_i…"

— keithlaw (@keithlaw) September 17, 2012

Totally unsurprising from this guy.

3 game suspension.

Hey, you got your wish--Buffalo into the fold.

Fuck ya! AAA game next season?!

Absolutely. The classical beauty of Buffalo is worth the trip in and of itself.

I'm not even sure what to think about Escobar's suspension, the whole thing is too weird. In a way it's like Ozzie Guillen's "I love Castro" comments. He's free to say whatever he wants (including writing stupid and offensive things on his face), and the team is free to do what's right for business and suspend him for being a dumbass.

Maybe you guys already saw this, but I just stumbled onto this interview with Travis Snider:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2012/09/25/travis_snider_saga_clashes_with_cito_gaston/

Summary: they ruined him. Or rather, Cito Caston ruined him, yet another casualty in the long list of young Jays players that that idiot manager fucked over.

E-mail an hour ago: "2013 Spring Training Flex Packs on sale now!" Probably was going out today regardless, but they added the exclamation mark this morning.

does that include some free flexing from Bret Lawrie?

Continuing to move ahead...John Gibbons?

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/blue-jays-bring-john-gibbons-back-on-as-manager-1.1045693

I didn't pay much attention during those years--is he any good?

early predictatron: phillies eat shit in the first half and get d'Arnaud returned with a few other pieces for Halladay shipped back to TOR.

Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi
I have been saying the #BlueJays needed a manager with presence. John Gibbons has that.

GREAT WORK JON, JAYS.

Unfortunately not every team can afford the luxury of having a manager with that quality.

You can guarantee that John Gibbons will be wearing that uniform for 162 games a season and be in the clubhouse and dugout, even when it seems like he is not really there.

only a matter of time until buck martinez gets the job

I actually always was a little surprised they never gave Ernie Whitt a shot. Think he coached the national team for a while.

I'm glad Gibbons has Presence, but what is his opinion on Physical Graffiti?

Billy Martin = In (and Out, and In, and Out, and In) Through the Out Door

Gibbons plays unexpected career CODA

jays managerial position = carouselambra

Bobby Valentine = The Mother of All Communication Breakdowns

Tim Johnson = what is and what should never be

Gibbons' record as Jays manager was fairly good, but didn't the players get sick of him and his meddling, confrontational approach? I think that was the main reason he was fired, not because of his W-L record. Which is also why they did a 180 and replaced him with the ultimate potted plant, Cito Gaston.

Anyway, new players, new GM, etc. so he's (re)entering a completely different situation. I'm not sure there were any better choices out there.

This makes a good case for Gibbons:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/30984/blue-jays-make-safe-move-in-hiring-gibbons

Basically, with so much happening at once, throwing a first-time manager into the mix complicates things.

Tom Cheek gets the Ford Frick Award (is that the broadcast equivalent of being inducted into the HOF, or is it something separate?):

http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/mlb/article/1297899--tom-cheek-long-time-blue-jays-broadcaster-honoured-with-frick-award

I was never crazy about him--found him a little bland--but the 4,347 consecutive games is pretty astounding.

i always liked him - probably because he was the voice of the J's for me from before i was born until i was 28.

WTF, Cheek was great!

Not "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" or "Go crazy, folks!" or "We'll see you tomorrow night!" great--I find his Carter call relatively subdued, considering the circumstances.

"We'll see you tomorrow night!" is really subdued ... the other two calls are more the exception than the rule, especially for radio announcers. But I can see why you would prefer the exceptions. Those calls are special *because* the usual decorum breaks down and the announcers get caught up in the excitement of the moment. I have no idea how Cheek, or any Jays employee, could be so calm and eloquent at a moment like that, but that's the radio announcers' disposition I guess.

I think there might be two famous "We'll see you tomorrow night" calls--Game 6 of '91, after Kirby's HR (the one I had in mind), and again in 2004 after one of Ortiz's game-winners.

i do not like this trade.

Win-now means win-now. How many Wins are TDA or Syndergaard going to bring the Jays in the next 3 years?

It's not a steal as us Jays fans have come to expect, but it works...Dickey's been a very, very good pitcher over the last 3 years.

I'm excited to watch him; my main concern is how his name will add to the exasperating I <3 BJ'S trend

Of course, the full details are only known if and when an extension gets worked out.

well - our staff is good enough without him... why not just spend more money on a FA signing like Marcum or Jackson (i realize they're not the same caliber as RA) if we still need another starter and keep our prospects? i think, or i was expecting, D'arnaud would have been up this season at some point - i think he very easily could have been an impact player very soon.

aaaand it looks like this might be official now :s

C'mon now, who's been better for us - can't-miss prospects (like Snider/Lind/Rasmus/Drabek) or low-cost Major League guys the Jays see potential in (Bautista/Morrow/Encarnacion)?

Obviously I'm cherry-picking here, but my point is the Major Leauge is elite and not everyone hacks it/can make adjustments - also we don't have Buck OR Mathis anymore, so that's a huge boon to the backstop potential.

Can you tell I'm trying to convince myself of all this?

I miss winning so much, I'm ready to mortgage the next 20 years for a wild-card spot.

i presume you guys would be overjoyed with two years of clayton kershaw at this price? stop disrespecting robert allen dickey

"I can't believe [Anthopoulos is] thinking about doing this," said one AL official Saturday, before the Jays and Mets finished the structure of the deal.

"He's out of his mind," said another.

Our pitching staff was far from a sure thing, Buerhle was the only consistently good and healthy starter.

In terms of salary, I don't think we're overpaying any of the players we've added this offseason (maybe Reyes). Encarnacion and Bautista are earning way less than market value. We're getting a bargain for this supposedly "win now" team, look at what the Jays have spent compared to the Dodgers and Angels for instance.

Would be weird if the Jays rejected his physical and kiboshed the deal because he's missing a UCL ligament.

I'm sure they saw the documentary.

http://i.imgur.com/MbYee.gif

otm