KingKat

He had full no trade and told Ricciardi he would block any move as was his right. JPR was afraid he would accept arb so the Jays couldn't get compensation either. The part that sucks for J.P. is that it was a Gord Ash signing. His hands were completely tied. The only thing he could have done is try to re-sign him but he probably wasn't give enough payroll flexibility to do that either. It's a real shame because the club did end up opening the purse strings for the vastly inferior Vernon Wells later on.

KingKat does not approve.

Look I like Delgado too but there's just no way you can make that assumption about him or really about anyone from his era.

See above.

You should probably look into tickets sooner rather than later. All the goods were gone when I bought mine and that was awhile ago.

Wikipedia is updated: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Fame_balloting,_2014 [TABLE=width: 100%] [TR] [TD][TABLE=class: wikitable] [TR] [TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]Player[/TH] [TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]Votes[/TH] [TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]Percent[/TH] [TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]Change[/TH] [TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]Year[/TH] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #CCFFCC] [TD]† Greg Maddux[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]97.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #CCFFCC] [TD]† Tom Glavine[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]91.9%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #CCFFCC] [TD]† Frank Thomas[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]83.7%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Craig Biggio[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]74.8%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]2nd[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Mike Piazza[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]62.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]2nd[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]Jack Morris[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]61.5%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]15th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Jeff Bagwell[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]54.3%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]4th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Tim Raines[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]46.1%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]7th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Roger Clemens[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]35.4%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]2nd[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Barry Bonds[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]34.7%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]2nd[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Lee Smith[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]29.9%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]12th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Curt Schilling[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]29.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]2nd[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Edgar Martínez[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]25.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]5th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Alan Trammell[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]20.8%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]13th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]† Mike Mussina[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]20.3%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]† Jeff Kent[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]15.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Fred McGriff[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]11.7%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]5th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Mark McGwire[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]11.0%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]8th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Larry Walker[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]10.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]4th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Don Mattingly[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]8.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]14th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [TD]Sammy Sosa[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]7.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]2nd[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]Rafael Palmeiro[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]4.4%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]4th[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Moisés Alou[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1.1%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Hideo Nomo[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1.1%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Luis Gonzalez[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.9%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Éric Gagné[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.4%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† J. T. Snow[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.4%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Armando Benítez[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Jacque Jones[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Kenny Rogers[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.2%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Sean Casey[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.0%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Ray Durham[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.0%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Todd Jones[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.0%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Paul Lo Duca[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.0%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Richie Sexson[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.0%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [TR=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [TD]† Mike Timlin[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]0.0%[/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]1st[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [TD][TABLE=class: wikitable] Key[TR] [TD=bgcolor: #CCFFCC] [/TD] [TD]Elected to the Hall of Fame on this ballot (named in bold italics).[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=bgcolor: #CCCCFF] [/TD] [TD]Elected subsequently, as of 2013 (named in plain italics).[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=bgcolor: #FFFFCC] [/TD] [TD]Renominated for the 2015 BBWAA election by adequate performance on this ballot.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=bgcolor: #FFCCCC] [/TD] [TD]Eliminated from annual BBWAA consideration by poor performance or expiration on this ballot.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]†[/TD] [TD]First time on the BBWAA ballot.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=align: center]*[/TD] [TD]Eliminated from annual BBWAA consideration by poor performance on this ballot (not expiration). [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Anyone else have tickets to the games at the big O? That seems like a great time to have a Board meet-up.

Both Stieb and Brown were one and done I believe. Also, Stieb is just awesome. Halladay will be the first Jays pitcher in the HOF but he might not even be the best Jays pitcher for his career.

As far as I'm concerned, it's completely useless. We have analytics now that help us measure value across different positions and different eras. Those tools are far from perfect but it's infinetely better than the voting process of a an annointed group of so-called experts many of which don't even cover the game. Even if HOF voting wasn't such a farce, the HOF would still be irrelevant in my mind because it's bascially obsolete. I'd rather look at a WAR leaderboard.

Here's a question... Is there any actual reason to like Tanaka? It seems like most people on the board have him as the bar none best pitcher available but I'm not sure why exactly. We all know how great Darvish is and with the benefit of a lot of hindsight, it's clear that not signing him was an opportunity was wasted but that's water under the bridge. Signing Tanaka won't fix that and maybe this is just me being pessimistic but I wonder if signing him might actually be compounding the mistakes. I mean what do we even know about him? He has nice stats but the scouting reports and the statistical profile all indicate that he's not in the Darvish tier. Do we even know that he's better than Garza or Jimenez or even (gasp) Santana? The only thing we know for sure is that he'll probably cost more. It seems like the main selling point for Tanaka is that you can wish cast on him. We know about the limitations of the other free agents. Just because we're less familiar with Tanaka's limitations doesn't mean he necessary has less of them and he certainly has cost going against him. It's kind of like how it's way easier to like prospects when they are really young then when they are in AAA and they have less projection (there's even one idiot poster on this board who votes for Miguel Castro in every single Blue Jays prospect pool).

That's a good suggestion but my number one change to the rules would be to modify the Super Two. Make the cutoff a set date and make if fairly late in the season so there's more incentive to break camp with your prospects if they're ready.

That's really only one blog with the other relaying what the other is reporting.

Three wins is exactly where Oliver has him but it would also mark a career high. Yep, probably time to stop dreaming on him as a 5 win player. In a vaccuum, it's not necessarily a big deal but it's bad when you're consider how many extra wins this teams needs to find.

You have no idea how hollow this rings to me right now.

This bums me out and I didn't even think I could get bummed out about this team anymore.

I have to admit he was overrated by me. I thought his defensive value was something you could take to the bank. I figured that cancelled out how overrated he is offensively but damn...

I mean holly crap. I just freaked myself out a little. I know a lot went wrong in 2013 so it's easy to miss some but this is not good.

I was going to argue with you but then I saw what little defensive value he provided last year. Only 0.1 Runs on defense over 888.2 innings? Is that a typo? Why isn't this talked about? That's a terrible defensive season from a player who provides the bulk of his value that way.

It's crazy what one season can do for baseball player's reputation. Joe Carter had that one truly great season in Cleveland and he was basically annointed cleanup hitter for life from that point onwards.

What's wrong with people?

So basically if AA signs this guy, we have to assume he's going on outdated scouting reports and reputation.

Just goes to show how long perceptions stays in the mind. I remember the highlight plays from his early days and just assumed he was still saving runs and read the numbers backwards.

Oh crap.. I totally read his numbers backwards. He was a +7 run defender (and a staggering -10 offensively) in one legendary season and pure s*** defensively since. This is beyond dumb.

Am I reading his page wrong? Does the minus indicate runs saved or runs he costs? http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=8585&position=SS#fielding

Oh he's an absolute joy to watch on the field. There's no doubt about that but Kawasaki and a platoon partner would provide much better production. It's especially strange given that Goins is a cost controlled, option friendly version of him anyways.