John_Havok

I R also staff now, in case anyone was wondering how I got access to the blog

Usually 1 or 2 days later

Burns is a hard read, always a bit old, but not too much for his level until the last half of last season, and he showed well in the AFL. Bit of a defensive mystery as to where he'll play since he's not playing 3B as long as Lawrie is around, no chance at SS if he's already playing 3b in the minors, but maybe they really try him at 2B this year and see if he can cut it defensively. Here's a Q&A with him from fangraphs from early December 2013 http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/qa-andy-burns-toronto-blue-jays-infield-prospect/

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/1/14/5306854/toronto-blue-jays-preliminary-prospect-list For those unfamiliar with mr. Sickels, he doesn't rank on a 1, 2, 3 scale, but rather A+, A, A-, B+ B etc etc on down the line, and will post what he feels are the top 20 in the Jays Org. Notably absent from his preliminary list of 35 there is Urena, but I think the crowd will win him over and get him in there somewhere.

I don't think it's about money right now, the Jays and every other team in mlb need the Tanaka domino to fall, at which point the rest of them will sign probably within a week. I'm sure AA has many fall back trades set up to lose once other teams finish up with the free agent market.

I can give the odds of me not giving a flying f*** about where this thread is going.

Those who can't do, teach.

Per Twitter feed from New Hampshire Fisher Cats and Toronto Star Brendan Kennedy: Bisons new Manager is Gary Allenson, who was Fisher Cats manager last year Randy St. Clair is new Bison's pitching coach replacing Bob Stanley, now with the Jays MLB club. Fisher Cats new Manager is Bobby Meacham - up from his role as Manager of Dunedin Fisher Cats new pitching coach is Jim Czajkowski - up from his role with the Vancouver Canadians after 3 championships in a row Fisher Cats new hitting coach is Jon Nunnally, was with Buffalo in 2013 and the Fisher Cats in 2012. Edit: Ah screw it, here's a better link that has all the main jobs announced for the 2014 affiliates: http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?c_id=tor&content_id=66533844&partnerId=as_mlb_20140113_16994854&vkey=pr_tor&ymd=20140113

GD was the one thanking, so... there ya go.

There was already progress on this last season with murphy, there's no reason to believe that he'd think it's suddenly not something to improve.

Shots fired.

I just have no faith in AA's ability to play in the free agent pitching market. He either doesn't understand that you have to pay a premium, or the valuations he uses are way too low.

I don't know for sure, but logically I think there would only be a marginal adjustment if Vernon gets picked up, since the Yankees and Angels are still paying the same amount of his salary for 2014, except the Yankees get the league minimum picked up by the team who signs him.

One thing I've noticed, in previous years and even earlier this year, as soon as the team went down by 10, you could just them shut down, no push back. Now, they get down 10, they push back, tighten up the D and get back in the game.

True, but I think the major problem is deciding what is "materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of Baseball including, but not limited to, engaging in conduct in violation of federal, state or local law." That's an incredibly broad statement. Why is A-Rod obstructing the gathering of evidence against himself considered so much worse than DWI or Domestic abuse?

Fangraphs article from Wendy Thurm: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/arbitrators-decision-on-rodriguez-suspension-leaves-bad-taste/

Might I also request this for the FC league. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

Yeah I red the JDA pretty thoroughly yesterday, and there is language in there to suspend for possession or selling of PED's or other drugs as well. But they also provide actual suspension length numbers. The reason it's up to 162 games is under the Basic Agreement, where allegedly a-rod tried to obstruct their investigation. Under the Basic Agreement ARTICLE XII—Discipline "B. Conduct Detrimental or Prejudicial to Baseball Players may be disciplined for just cause for conduct that is materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of Baseball including, but not limited to, engaging in conduct in violation of federal, state or local law. The Commissioner and a Club shall not discipline a Player for the same act or conduct under this provision. In cases of this type, a Club may only discipline a Player, or take other adverse action against him, when the Commissioner defers the disciplinary decision to the Club." I looked through pretty thoroughly though, and nowhere in the Basic agreement does is say how long or short suspensions could be if someone is suspended under this clause. It's incredibly broad, basically just means if the Commissioner thinks a player has done something bad, he can suspend them as long as the team has not taken any action.

and today's winner for the "Best Dirty Quote Taken Completely Out of Context" goes to connorp!

Oh and A-Rod can still go to spring training since he's still under contract. Imagine the circus that's going to be.

From all the opinions from the legal beagle's the mlb network on Sirius has run through today, they think A-Rod doesn;t have a snowball's chance in hell of getting his case heard in federal court. One lawyer described it as "I, a 55 year old fat, out of shape lawyer who's never played baseball has a better chance of getting a hit of Clayton Kershaw." They say that federal court rarely gets involved with this kind of collectively bargained arbitration decisions, unless the person can prove their due process was violated , or there is massive evidence of bias or corruption in the decision.

I'm between group 2 and 3. I realize I don't know the facts, but I know enough to know that the two parties who are clear winners are the Yankees and Selig's ego. This makes me feel there is probably way more to this story than a simple drug and obstruction offense when there's so much for the Yankees to to gain to have Arod go away and not have to pay him the contract they signed him to, even if it is just for 1 year. This alone would save them over 50 million dollars once you take the savings of his contract and the penalties for being over the luxury tax. Don't tell me they don't have a vested interest. Follow the money

The legal guys were saying that if federal court agrees to hear the case, A-rod could get the suspension to be wiped out while the case is being heard, allowing him to okay. The real question is whether or not federal court agrees to hear the case

In a statement released Saturday morning, before MLB announced the decision by an independent arbitrator, Rodriguez said, "I will take this fight to federal court." The statement read, in part, "This is one man's decision, that was not put before a fair and impartial jury, does not involve me having failed a single drug test, is at odds with the facts and is inconsistent with the terms of the Joint Drug Agreement and the Basic Agreement and relies on testimony and documents that would never have been allowed in any court in the United States…" The statement also said, "This injustice is MLB's first step toward abolishing guaranteed contracts in the 2016 bargaining round, instituting lifetime bans for single violations of drug policy, and further insulating its corrupt investigative program from any variety defense by accused players."

This has been the topic on mlb radio on Sirius since the story broke for obvious reasons, they've already had multiple legal sources checked since A-rod is saying he will take the case to federal court. According to federal arbitration laws, when there's a third party arbitration process that both parties have agreed to, that decision is only reviewable for pretty serious reasons, like the arbitrator being suspected or proven of being corrupted by one side. That's only one of the list of reasons, but it sounded to me like the legal guys thought Arod would try yo challenge it based on providing a decision that isn't within the scope of his ability, basically saying there's no basis for a 162 games suspension in the joint drug or mlbpa basic agreement