Smokey

After the Dickey trade he emphatically claimed... "Right now we feel we're so close to contention that this was a deal we needed to make because it's not just about one season. This allows us to put a contending team together for an extended run." AN EXTENDED RUN!!! So now almost 3 years later, you approve of what he's done despite not being remotely close to delivering on his own words?? It's pretty clear at this point that after so many years of failure some of you passive putz have completely lost all perspective!

That's pretty much saying the same thing again and it's still illogical. I don't want to get into what it'll take to land Hamels but to argue that aquiring someone like him is not necessary because the offense is so great doesn't make any sense. Nice try but you fail again. I found your statement just as stupid 2 weeks ago as I do today. I was just hoping that you've come to your senses after watching the team get shut down by some good pitchers (last night not included) but I guess I was wrong. LOL "what difference does it make if they win 8-1 or 8-4, a win is a win"

Do you really need me to explain to you why comments like "we don't needs an ace because there's no difference if they win 8-1 or 8-4 since a win is a win" is completely illogical??? Haven't the last couple of weeks shown you that the offense isn't going to score 8 runs every game??

LOL If I have to tell you which nonsense then there's just no hope for you. I find it pretty funny that you're agreeing with me because you translate my post to mean "the sky is NOT falling" when in reality I'm just questioning the logic of fans such as yourself who can't seem to get a grasp on reality.

That's wishful thinking. As far as I'm concerned, he's never rounded out any of his rosters and most of his success has come from trades that were more focused on upgrading assets rather than addressing a specific need. The Travis trade is the only one that comes to mind in which he actually addressed a need and even that came at the expense of weakening the OF depth. Now being able to make a solid mid season move when he's in competition with so many other teams will be a tall order for a guy who has a history of sitting on the sidelines in similar circumstances in the past.

You do realize that the nonsense I was quoting to illustrate the overreactions were from your posts, right?

The logical thing would be to not overreact so strongly to the ups and downs that a season carries. There seems to be tendency around here to read too much into what is happening at that moment and lose perspective of the bigger picture. The offense starts off really hot and suddenly we "should be leading the AL" and we don't need an "ace" because "what difference does it make if they win 8-1 or 8-4, a win is a win"... Then the middle of the lineup struggles for a few games and now half the board wants to blow it up because we're just not good enough. The way I see it, nothing has really changed since day one. The offense was always thought to be elite and they've proven to be just that despite the recent struggles. The rotation has actually managed to underperform but it's very possible that we'll see a better second half from Hutch and even Dickey. The problem with this team has always been the same and that's the fact that they were going into the season with Stroman as the only front of the rotation type arm. It was never a good idea to lean so heavily on a 23 year old with only 130 MLB innings under his belt. At the end of the day this is still a 83-85 win team that could go on a hot streak and win close to 90 games and possibly make the playoffs. The chance of that happening is obviously significantly improved if they can improve the pitching staff. So far Alex has never made a mid-season trade to address any of the team's needs so we'll see if he can manage to pull off a move or two without getting completely bent over in the process.

#PavementLogic

Interesting... Random chance... Luck... No question!

Can't wait for the offense to put up 10 runs tomorrow and have some clown jump in here and rave about our league leading RD!

1. 19 2. 1 3. 0

I don't have a huge problem with giving Reyes a bit more rest but not because "the Jays are a few games over .500" when Goins starts. If we used that logic, then Travis should be on the bench full time since the team is about 10 games below .500 in the games he's started.

So what you're saying is that winning isn't a priority for the ownership and that you fully support a puppet GM who did EXACTLY what was needed to deceive the idiot fans?

Record as the GM --> 440-456 (his best year so far has been the 2010 team which he adopted) Record since declaring the team all-in --> 201-209 I really can't understand why such a genius is still a lame duck GM. He's done EXACTLY what's been asked of him and he ABSOLUTELY should be extended forever!!!

I think the decision to trade Edwin ultimately comes down to the state of his health. His value isn't very high right now as he's having a hard time catching up to the inside FB and that could be directly related to the reported shoulder problems. If that's the case, I'd hold on to him and keep him off the field as much as possible. He could also just be regressing which would make trading him a lot easier but I doubt that is the case. If I had to trade players from the roster I'd look at moving guys like Pillar, Sanchez and Estrada before selling low on Edwin.

But you're wrong!

Not really. If anything, he's lost a lot of confidence in his secondary stuff to a point where he almost abandoned them in his last few starts. If you think he can be effective going out there for 6-7 innings every night relying solely on one pitch, then I guess he's "right where he should be"...

I didn't say anything about "luck". I said that he hasn't really provided much value unless you want to praise him for his low ERA after being effective in a handful of starts and ignore the fact that he's already missed 1/3 of the games played. That's not my definition of getting it done and it doesn't really have much relevance to what was being discussed... North made a point that his secondary stuff needs work and that he doesn't have the skills to succeed as a starter and I agreed and stated that the majors is not the place for him to learn on the job... Hence the "this isn't the 'try' league, it's the 'get it done' league" comment.

That depends on your perspective I guess. He has performed at a slightly below replacement level so far and has already missed a chunk of the season with an injury. He does possess a lot of movement on his sinker that's been hard for hitters to square up, but his over reliance on that pitch is not conducive to future success as a starter. In fact, I think if he keeps throwing that pitch so frequently, he will also experience further health problems down the line.

I'm not sure why people are failing to see this. It's kinda like the Goins love fest from last year where people fall in love with a one trick pony and dismiss all the short comings. "But who is to say he can't improve with the bat?".. Now it's "if only Sanchez could improve his secondary pitches, he'll be great"... Well, that's what the minors are for. This isn't the 'try' league, this is the 'get it done' league.

Interesting... Just a couple of weeks ago you were saying things like... So how is it that such a great team is suddenly unlikely to overcome a 2 game deficit??

http://i.imgur.com/7NswLhq.gif

"It comes down to how you evaluate R.A. and that is going to define the results of this trade. We see him as a front-of-the-rotation starter, He's won the Cy Young and he's pitched like one the past three years. He doesn't get the credit or respect he deserves because of his age and because of what he does throw. It's so rare. "There's just so much overwhelming evidence and data that points to him continuing to have this success. He's gotten better every single year. His walk rate has gotten better, his strikeout rate, he's had ERAs below three two of the last three years. "Right now we feel we're so close to contention that this was a deal we needed to make because it's not just about one season. This allows us to put a contending team together for an extended run." http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img853/698/rvcl.gif

In case my point went over your head; none of the internal solutions could get Alex out of this mess.

Not sure, maybe the good looks? Seriously though, I actually think he has a high chance of making the rotation sometime soon but I don't see him as a front of the rotation arm and definitely not someone who should be counted on this season.