GDT(3/3): Your Toronto Blue Jays @ Tampa Bay Rays - Buehrle vs. Archer - 1:10 PM ET

[o2cui2i]

A drink the next time I'm in Sweden

 

you come to Sweden I have booze. lol

[havok24]

I give the Rays credit for doing what they can with what little they had and their prospect development, but until they actually win or make multiple WS appearances they can't be looked at as a success story yet. With no chance of a new stadium, and both Maddon and Friedman walking who knows what's going to happen with the Rays

 

Under Andrew Friedman, they won 90+ games multiple times which included a few playoff berths. That and they won a pennant in 2008. All that while operating under an extremely tight budget. Fantastic F.O. team in Tampa Bay. Matt Silverman seems like a smart guy, so I think the Rays are in good hands.

[glory]

Yep, this team is going nowhere with Alex. Time to pull the plug. They had a chance before Stroman's injury but they are f***ed now and Gibbons is a clown.

 

They will hover around .500, like always.

[o2cui2i]

Were people really expecting more?

 

didn't expect them to beat themselves like this.

 

Didn't expect Jose and Ed to be hitting under .200.

 

expected Reyes to find a way to get injured.

 

was super surprised that they started the year with all of Osuna, Norris and Castro on the team. I could see bringing 1 of them maybe, but burning all three was a surprise.

 

Didn't expect Travis to be this dominating.

 

didn't expect Martin to look so bad receiving the ball

[LTR]

didn't expect them to beat themselves like this.

 

The close game losses have got to stop, it's getting ridiculous. Not many teams are going to make the post-season losing so many 1-run games.

 

Didn't expect Jose and Ed to be hitting under .200.

 

Edwin's in a funk but if recent history has anything to say about it he'll snap out of it and then some. Bautista is still putting up pretty good offense despite the poor BA.

 

expected Reyes to find a way to get injured.

 

No-brainer.

 

was super surprised that they started the year with all of Osuna, Norris and Castro on the team. I could see bringing 1 of them maybe, but burning all three was a surprise.

 

I'm still glad they did and I'm not thinking about the distant future at all.

 

Didn't expect Travis to be this dominating.

 

Unanimously agree.

 

didn't expect Martin to look so bad receiving the ball

 

Agreed, on the bright side he should regress to career normal levels eventually. But as I pointed out in this post, he's barely a top 15 framer based on his rate stats: http://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/threads/4504-Catcher-framing-redux

[CJ-Freeway]

He also completely gutted the farm systems for those incremental improvements.

 

The Colon trade was terrible but considering that the team was going to move, it was a good deal at the time.

 

What trades did he do in order to gut the Mets' farm system?

[o2cui2i]

The close game losses have got to stop, it's getting ridiculous. Not many teams are going to make the post-season losing so many 1-run games.

 

 

 

Edwin's in a funk but if recent history has anything to say about it he'll snap out of it and then some. Bautista is still putting up pretty good offense despite the poor BA.

 

 

 

No-brainer.

 

 

 

I'm still glad they did and I'm not thinking about the distant future at all.

 

 

 

Unanimously agree.

 

 

 

Agreed, on the bright side he should regress to career normal levels eventually. But as I pointed out in this post, he's barely a top 15 framer based on his rate stats: http://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/threads/4504-Catcher-framing-redux

 

they need to stop pitching Castro every other game. his arm will fall off by june at this pace. Gibbons is abusing him and Cecil at the same time. Just in different ways.

 

I agree that Martin "should" get better behind the plate. he's been a stud throwing out runners.

 

Ed is lost, but he's come around and gone off before, so lets hope it's soon.

 

Osuna has been lights out. He's so composed for being 20. You can tell that Castro is just too pumped. get him some innings with less leverage and work with him on his release.

[LTR]

they need to stop pitching Castro every other game. his arm will fall off by june at this pace. Gibbons is abusing him and Cecil at the same time. Just in different ways.

 

I agree that Martin "should" get better behind the plate. he's been a stud throwing out runners.

 

Ed is lost, but he's come around and gone off before, so lets hope it's soon.

 

Osuna has been lights out. He's so composed for being 20. You can tell that Castro is just too pumped. get him some innings with less leverage and work with him on his release.

 

I doubt Gibbons will use Castro in the same way he has been. He might still be closer but I bet he doesn't bring him in to try and inherit runners again.

[o2cui2i]

After the bad start, Martin already above average again.

 

I have no idea of course, but you can only imagine how badly he wanted to just be the super hero that so many casual fans thought he was going to be. He's going to settle in, learn the staff and play like he was paid to play. nothing I'd worry about. especially when there are other things to worry about that are actually problems.

[glory]

Were people really expecting more?

 

We probably shouldn't have, but yes.

 

Estrada in the rotation, Sanchez in the pen, Guilmet/West in the pen instead of Castro/Osuna, and Navarro on another team would have made me more comfortable with exceeding expectations.

[fatcowxlive]

Under Andrew Friedman, they won 90+ games multiple times which included a few playoff berths. That and they won a pennant in 2008. All that while operating under an extremely tight budget. Fantastic F.O. team in Tampa Bay. Matt Silverman seems like a smart guy, so I think the Rays are in good hands.

 

We'll see what unfolds then

[Boxcar]

... How many rings to they have again? To my knowledge they Rays have none and therefore you can't claim that they accomplished much at all, maybe in prospect development sure, but overall as a franchise you're supposed to win titles and all they've done is go the the WS once and lose it.

 

Jesus

[jaysfan2014]

We probably shouldn't have, but yes.

 

Estrada in the rotation, Sanchez in the pen, Guilmet/West in the pen instead of Castro/Osuna, and Navarro on another team would have made me more comfortable with exceeding expectations.

 

Estrada is better suited for the pen (ask Brewers fans), West has not reached AAA yet this season and is not an option right now, and Guilmet isn't striking anyone out in Buffalo and is a depth arm at best.

Sanchez to the pen will only happen if we get another starter..

 

BTW, Felix Doubront could be an option soon.. he's getting close to being assigned to Buffalo, and could be considered if he does well there. Remember, he had some success in Boston.. still waiting on Johan Santana though.

[KingKat]

Estrada is better suited for the pen (ask Brewers fans), West has not reached AAA yet this season and is not an option right now, and Guilmet isn't striking anyone out in Buffalo and is a depth arm at best.

.

 

Guilmet has 5 strikeouts in 8 innings. Small sample size but that's not that bad. Combined with only 2 walks and 5 hits and he's doing quite well. I think you're reaching a bit for a reason to dismiss him. Estrada was an effective starting pitcher in Milwaukee until last year and West doesn't need to reach AAA to be called up. Plenty of people get called up directly from AA as you probably know. I think you're reaching for reasons to dismiss people here.

[jaysfan2014]

Guilmet has 5 strikeouts in 8 innings. Small sample size but that's not that bad. Combined with only 2 walks and 5 hits and he's doing quite well. I think you're reaching a bit for a reason to dismiss him. Estrada was an effective starting pitcher in Milwaukee until last year and West doesn't need to reach AAA to be called up. Plenty of people get called up directly from AA as you probably know. I think you're reaching for reasons to dismiss people here.

 

Didn't Estrada give up a ton of HRs last year as a starter? As for the other guys, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

[MatBarnes]

Didn't Estrada give up a ton of HRs last year as a starter? As for the other guys, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=estrada+fangraphs+splits

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

What a pitcher did last year matters? Morrow sucked ass the last Two how's he doing? Just win baby is all that matters in the here and now is what counts not the history on thier past resume of or body of work.

[Spanky99]

If I was wealthy I'd fund an academic study into mental illness and posting on blue jays forums. There's some seriously ill people in this thread.

 

lol

[Spanky99]

2 against Boston, 2 against Miami, and 1 vs. Baltimore. Too small a sample size. Let's see where the Rays are by June 22, when we see them again. And BTW, we have 5 of our 9 wins vs. the O's. So no real difference. Besides, we've dominated the Yankees as well.. but our early schedule has been tough. Thank goodness it gets easier from here.. Boston's a mess and Cleveland has been awful so far..

 

Really man, really???