DustyBaker

Hah fair enough, but they didnt. Do you think teams were unaware of how amazing he still was? or was it just a league wide blackball? I guess the point of my post was a mix of A) holy s*** Bonds was still amazing how did he retire, and goddamn the 2008 Jays were so close. Merge those two ideas together = profit?

I recently pulled up Barry Bonds Fangraph page, just to take a quick peak at his ridiculous numbers in light of all the historical talk surrounding Trout. Scanning across the years, I finally came down to his final year, 2007. Now, going off my memory (I was 19 at the time), I recalled him having a decent year; however all the hoopla surrounding his PED usage/douchebaggery outweighed his production, and he was considered untouchable going into 2008. Actually looking at the numbers now though, he was still phenomenal - .276/.480/.565 / 157 wRC+ - good for (T)6th in the league. To further put that into context, Edwin currently has a 145 wRC+. Now, I'm sure most everyone remembers the 2008 Blue Jays; top pitching staff in the league, anemic offense, and finished at 86-76. The closest season we have had in a long time to achieving great (any) things. During that year as our offense struggled, there were some people, including people on the old board, calling for Bonds to support our offense. Instead, JP settled for the remarkably uninspired duo of Kevin Mench and Brad Wilkerson - who promptly put up a 63 and 77 wRC+ respectively. So, with the metrics we currently have (WAR, wRC+), do you think we would have made a move for Bonds? And subsequently, won an additional 4 games for the playoffs? While we'll never know how much collusion among the GM's actual took place to not pick him up, I was always of the (perhaps misplaced) belief that no one grabbed him as a .276 BA and 26 HR's didnt justify the circus surrounding him. But with what we know now, I think just about anyone would inherit a circus to have the former 6th best hitter. Now before people jump on me, I would like to acknowledge that I understand revisionist history is a flawed exercise, and you never know what would have unfolded otherwise. I just thought I'd share, as when I looked at Bonds 2007 numbers I was extremely surprised how great he still was - and the Jays easily could have had him. Especially considering our best hitter was Wells with a 118 wRC+, that upgrade easily could have turned the Jays into a 90 win team- and with that pitching staff who knows how far that could have taken us (and what Ricciardi's reputation would now be)

I hope his first move of the offseason is to make a trade for my namesake. That would be the craftiest 1-2 punch in the league. Instant World Series.

Thats a savy baseball move

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jonathan-lucroy-on-the-art-of-receiving/ Decent (and quick) article on one of, if not the best in the league at framing- although he apparently doesnt like to call it that. We need to get this Charlie Greene working with our guys. In his words, the most important things for a catcher, in order, are : “receiving, blocking, throwing… and then hitting.” As opposed to our current mindset for catchers of "Dingers, Ribbeys, Twitter..... and then throwing"

..... to be honest, I kinda do think NYC is the greatest city in the world haha although i guess thats contingent on having money - being poor in NYC would be pretty s*****.

Or even just referencing The Economists yearly livability rankings, in which Toronto is 4th in the world and there isnt a US city, let alone OKC, in the top 20

Haha yeah, I was chuckling to myself for a while there with a thought of a 10 year old - with a 1000 OPS no less- in A ball. But to your actual point, yeah that would have been a great way to put our surplus of relievers to use.

I'm fine with any 10 year old shortstop in A ball.

Good point, I didnt consider well have a qualifying offer. My rationale to the one year was that he wouldnt be interested in a 3 year deal, as he will coming off that contract at an awkward age. I figure hes either going to go big, or go small and hope to get the big one next year.

Any one think its possible we sign JJ to a 1-year deal worth sizable money? I'm not sure what the market would be like for him, but it gives him the opportunity to have a bounce back year to parlay into a multi-year big money contract, and it gives us a good starter to try and make the playoffs while allowing the prospects to develop. Considering our window of opportunity is essentially next year, it could be worthwhile for both sides.... then again, in a thin FA for pitchers, he may get the contract he wants regardless.

For what its worth, Colby currently ranks 21st (3.5) in the league on the WAR leaderboard- ahead of such notables as Bautista,Beltre and Ortiz. He also only sits .2 behind Votto, Cano and Pedroia. He holds a sizable lead in Chin-beards though.

Absolutely agree. Lets just hope as hes rounding into his peak years, it translates to a full year of productivity. A ~5 WAR player would be a preeeetty great addition moving forward.

Hitters generally peak in their late 20's Edit: That was based on memory, but on second inspection, it appears they generally peak 26-27...

Yeah, there's really no way AA is gonna DFA Boni.... especially considering he was the "key" to the blockbuster. Hopefully he spins the 70 stolen bases in the past two years angle to get something of (slight) value...

I don't understand. I like IP, I have many friends who can vouche for this

IP are good, but saves are better

I think Colby answered that question for you

I doubt that would ever happen- Melvin likely values Lucroy much higher than AA does, purely because AA woudnt recognize his pitch framing/defensive abilities.

You guys are too hard on him, he's clearly biding his time for the perfect walk. One game out of the wild card, Bottom 9, bases loaded, full count - takes his third walk of the year to drive in the winning run. The guys a hero and you'll all see his true genius.

Johnson's really sticking it to us... throws out both edwin and bautista, to go along with a homer.

LOL great point, I guess I got a little ahead of myself

LOL "Strong Face" Why do I have the sinking feeling we still have scouts like this in our ranks. Mark Derosa "Clubhouse leader. Strong facial hair."

I know this forum has been on board with this for a while now, but its slowly starting to creep more into the mainstream (if you consider Grantland mainstream). While this article references a lot of information one would already know through baseball-prospectus or fangraphs, I found it interesting how invested specifically the Yankees were in this concept. Makes you wonder if our FO gives a s*** about any of this.... and if thats trickling down to JP. It talks about Russel Martin and Cervelli being students of this idea, and actively trying to improve themselves (and that it is easier to improve the basics of this skill, then say, hitting dingers) whereas I really can't picture JP putting hours (or minutes) into this. Its a little frustrating reading about other teams trying to be on the cutting edge to gain a competitive advantage,.... and were throwing out JP day after day. Then again, chicks dig the long ball, so I guess hes got that going for him. Anyways, just thought I'd share. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9275754/studying-art-pitch-framing-catchers-such-francisco-cervelli-chris-stewart-jose-molina-others

Wow you're not messing around here