ElNik2013

Gibbons has been bad at managing the bullpen all year and maybe since last year. First off, Hendriks has been better than Schultz and over a longer sample size. Secondly, even if Gibbons thinks Schultz is better despite the facts, why use him, not only up by 4 runs, but for 2 innings yesterday? Thirdly, using Tepera today over Hendriks confirms either Gibbons and/or the team don't know Hendriks has been almost as good as Osuna.

Or why wouldn't the batter just pop one over the fence at will? Or why would they pop one too shallow to score the runner?

I remember someone posting pictures of Stroman, Sanchez and Archer together at various places, including Raptors games. That's right, this is all thanks to Stroman.

You be wrong: https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/541636715006283776

Read again kiddo and tell me where I said I want him. He was Rogers's first choice to replace Beeston so I'm just pointing out that White Sox may let him go after a disappointing season.

Kenny Williams has made the playoffs so it makes sense Rogers has him at the top of their list. It's also more likely that the White Sox let him go after this season.

Just For a Smile: http://www.tsn.ca/papelbon-to-phillies-s-t-or-get-off-the-pot-1.330739 No thanks, Jays' bullpen has been good and unlucky, it's not likely to continue to be unlucky: http://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2015/7/13/8945405/the-2015-bullpen-when-things-go-wrong-at-the-worst-time

First choice was Kenny Williams though and reportedly, part of the reasoning for going after Duquette was because he worked in Canada before. I wouldn't have traded Hoffman for a GM. There simply isn't any precedent for it. Friedman's another story though...

I'm sure he tried trading Escobar for a comparable package, he just couldn't. And why couldn't the Marlins get a comparable player for him? It's likely everyone around baseball knew or at least suspected that AA was told to get rid of Escobar at all cost. I think you're forgetting how big of a PR hit they took. Wasn't Rios given away for PR as well? . I never said to let him off the hook for the Marlins trade. The Marlins had no reason to demand Escobar since they were getting a young SS in Hech. AA was probably told to get rid of Escobar and the Marlins were willing to take him and his contract (as team-friendly as it was) instead of sending more ca$h over to the Jays. This is one element of that trade. It's still a bad trade without accounting for Escobar. Also, are you willing to give AA credit for getting Escobar in the first place? If you are, then you have to think he knew to some extent what he brought to the field. How is trading a guy wanting out of a city the same as trading a guy for writing a homophobic slur on his face on TV? I think you're under-estimating or forgetting the s***-storm that the incident caused in Toronto, a city with a lot of pride for its tolerance and openness. PR is very important to this franchise as is tv ratings. I gave you above the Rios example as a comparable situation to the "tu eres maricon" incident. Let me remind you that Rios put up 3.5 fWAR in 2006, 5.2 in 2007 and 5.5 in 2008. He was waived in 2009. And, I'm not letting AA off easy, I just think it's fair to point out the reality of the Escobar situation.

For the umpteenth time, AA was ordered to get rid of Escobar. This is a franchise that operates this way. Take the 5-year policy on contracts? Does anyone think a GM would announce such a policy to the FA world? How about not dealing with one of the most prominent agents in MLB? Why would a GM limit himself like that? There are bigger issues than the GM. This is not to say I think AA has done a great job, but this franchise has bigger problems.

This is why I wonder if it's something that happened in the club house or some thing. For the record, this is pure speculation. I mean, like you said, it's not like other players haven't made errors or misjudged flyballs. Same applies to Norris. Some of these vetrins have also made mistakes and they stick with them, like Colabello. Anyway...

Gibbons was supposed to be good at managing the BP, which is said to be one of the few areas a manager can actually impact and I think he's impacted it the wrong way. It seems that he doesn't know that Hendriks is actually pretty good and might be his 2nd or 3rd best reliever. He's using him more as a mop up guy than as a top reliever. The other guy he's mis-used is Smoak. He has really had a short leash with him. Having said this, even AA acknowledged the team has roster issues. I do give credit to AA for standing by Gibbons. The fact that he has stood by Gibbons shows you that the F/O knows that it is them and only them who can address the team's issues. Why they haven't addressed said issues is another story. I also wonder if something happened with Pompey. They praised the way he went about his business at the end of last year and in ST and for them to send him down after 22 or so games seems rather odd.

I'm generally happy with what's in the farm and at the MLB level. If he were to be fired now or in the offseason, I think he'd be leaving a better franchise than when he took it over. It's interesting that Bautista's emergence may have changed this F/O's plan to do a major tear-down, but who really knows.

I voted for neither approve nor disapprove. I'm really more concerned with those above him. Just look at that gong show last off season in trying to replace Beeston. I mean, that was incompetence and trust me I know because it takes one to know one. I really just hope he doesn't do something dumb to try to save his job. I'd hold him in higher regard if he left the team as is and was even able to get a couple decent prospects for guys like Buehrle, Cecil, Loup and maybe a couple others.

I was against that trade at the time, but in the interest of fairness, I do give AA a break on Escobar since he was likely ordered to release him and he tried to at least get rid of his contract. Why? Because of the homophobic slur. The fact that the Marlins got rid of him almost immediately tells me they only took his salary off the Jays's hands instead of sending more cash over.

When did I say it was WAY HIGH on my list of things to worry? Lol, over-react much? Self-ban appropriate?

It's looking like an easy call right now to qualify him. On the other hand, if you can get a more advanced prospect in the next week or 2, you do it.

I'm not saying he's ok with missing games, I just wonder if he'll have enough time to recover by Friday if he participates in HR Derby and ASG.

But will be good enough to participate in HR Derby a day later and in the ASG 2 days later? At this point, I'm expecting him to pull out any minute now.

A strong argument has been made that the East is not weak, it's just that the talent is spread around the 5 teams instead of the Yankees and Red Sox being loaded. Here's one guy's take on it: http://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2015/6/28/8850385/time-to-put-this-the-al-east-isnt-good-this-year-narrative-to-rest

So Donaldson wasn't even with the team today, but will participate in HR Derby? This would seem odd.

Hendriks has been one of the team's best relievers and is now relegated to blowouts. He had a bad outing the other day, but if you look closely, it was marred by bad defence in LF. Anyway, lots of blame to go around. First thing this team should do but won't is to bring up their 2 top prospects to improve the team, I'm talking about Randy Wolf and Munenori Kawasaki of course.

He's a great leadoff hitter though, #.300 OBP.

Gibbons will crack a couple of nice jokes after the game to reporters and all will be forgotten.

Hendriks in the doghouse again. No matter what, Gibbons will choose offence over defence, I think this is clear. Anyway, I hope AA doesn't f*** up and trade more prospects for pitching when he's traded away so many for guys like Buehrle and Dickey.