TDotttt2005

This guy does a great parody. Wilner Is it Early? ‏@Wilnerisitearly 2h2 hours ago For those calling for major overhaul of #BlueJays bullpen, facts show it had a WHIP UNDER 1.00 for a full month. That is really really good.

OF for the Marlins.

You can fault him though if he's toeing the line but trying to pass it off as objective journalism, which it seems he is , since it looks like blocks/cuts off anyone who questions his objectivity. As I said before, if his job was to promote viewership by defending everything they do, so be it. Just don't act holier than thou when called out for it.

This is exactly it. He used to be more objective, and I remember him actually questioning JPR moves with JPR was ON the show with him. Since he got suspended for questioning Cito he's been pretty much intolerable with his steadfast defense of the Jays. Blue Jays Talk should be renamed Defend the Blue Jays Talk, because his natural instinct now is to find whatever facts he can spin to use to defend the players, Gibbons, AA, without giving any real objective thought to it. If that is his job description, to defend the Jays and promote viewership, then thats fine. He has a family and needs a salary, and the cito-induced suspension made him fear he could lose all that. Just don't hide behind objective journalism, and say that youre speaking facts, when youre really spinning facts. The epitome of Wilner was Russell Martin comments last Oct/Nov, when a caller asked him if the Jays should sign Martin because he was Canadian, a winner, a good leader, good defensive catcher for the young arms, decent bat, etc. Wilner went into his usual diatribe reserved for any one who isnt associated with the Jays, saying he had a low OBP the few years before last, he would cost way too much, he would want way too many years, leadership and 'winnership' are overrated and there was no such thing, we had Navarro, being canadian is irrelevant, etc. etc. etc. Now we hear the exact opposite: He's a winner, great leader, great framing skills, helps the young arms, Navarro only had one year left and is a valuable backup/DH, brings out fans because hes from Toronto/Montreal. etc etc. etc. When that same caller called this May, too call him out on his hypocrisy, Mike was like Well....Hes a Blue Jay Now!!! What a joke.

Theres talk of a dirt infield coming earlier than 2018. I'll believe it when I see it, same goes for natural grass...but the dirt infield would be a great upgrade to the stadium if they could get it in for 2016 or '17.

Says a lot for AA's scouting ability, or ability to listen to his scouts. Also the fact they were all traded for win-now pieces, when we didnt 'win-now', speaks to the fact that AA should be fired.

Agreed, although I don't know what the answer is then to fixing this pitching staff this year other than a prayer and a hope. I always wonder what happened to AA during the Marlins deal. Given how basically every free agent does not line up on the basis of $ and Term, and I dont remember specifically, but I bet when asked in the winter of 2011 why Reyes and Buehrle werent targeted more by the Jays, i'm sure he gave his typical value didnt line up response. Then all of a sudden the next offseason, not only are you picking up those contracts (less the bargain first year, at that), but you're also giving up huge prospects for them. I get that Bonifacio and Johnson came back as well and they were supposed to be HUGE parts of the deal...but still, principles are principles, and as maddening as it is when we see free agents sign elsewhere while the Jays mostly sit on the free-agent sidelines, I still cant get over how AA not only gave up on his principles with the long term, high $ contracts of Buehrle, but also traded a lot of his top prospects to get them.

The issue is timing mismatches all over the place. The last batch of pitching, Romero, Morrow, even Johnson for a year, flamed out and never supported the bats of EE and Joey Bats, how we thought they would. Timing mismatch. Now that we have more young talented pitching coming around, as much as they want to push them, they wont be hitting their stride until 2016-17. Timing mismatch. Now if the Jays are out of it by July, and theres probably a 50/50 shot at that, will Gibbons and AA still be around? I don't see Beeston firing AA, and with his own 1-year deal and all the drama, I don't see Rogers going over his head again, and firing AA during the season. The proper, most likely way, would be to wait till the end of the season when Beeston retires, and let AA and Gibbons and a lot of the staff go. Clean House. The problem with that, will AA trade EE and Bautista this July if we're out of it, when their value's will arguably be at their highest points? Will AA commit to tearing this down, knowing he won't be around to build it up? That remains to be seen, but that too, ironically is a timing mismatch. Lets hope this is a moot point, and they can pick up some sort of serviceable pitching in the interim and stay in the race enough... but if not, trading EE and Bautista will be the way to go.

Was at Wrigley last night for Noah's debut. The Good: He got out of a few jams with pretty good power stuff, and getting ground balls when he needed. The Bad: Like we've seen with our own young pitchers, particularly Sanchez early and Norris before he was sent down...going way too deep in counts, wildness, trying to make the perfect pitch. I may rewatch some of it on MLB.TV to really see how his movement and his stuff looked on TV

Castro for Cy Young!

Just got Tix to see Syndergaard's debut at Wrigley tonight. Dude had a 1.82 ERA in Vegas...SSS but for those who remember when the Jays had their Triple-A team there, that league/stadium inflates pitcher stats like crazy, so that sparkling ERA is even better than it seems.

No reciprocal move reported but maybe Jenkins down? Gives us additional help as he can play Corner OF spots. Apparently they've decided a Goins/Valencia corner outfield combo was not ideal. Seems like Bautista / Saunders are delayed too.

There is no way this pitching staff can be fixed from within.

To answer your first question, I do not think Mozeliak and Friedman/Zaidi are terrible because their teams are in first place.

Counter intuitive, but I think Stroman coming up and having the success he did last year, Sanchez having 30 good innings out of the pen, and Norris moving up as fast as he did through the system was a curse in disguise. AA, who always preaches patience, who always says young guys have to be sent down 80% of the time before they stick, somehow fooled himself into thinking that rookies could come up, stick, and contribute. Somehow fooled himself into thinking and hoping, without a proper safety net, that the 4 rookie pitchers could be in that 20%. Sure, the Stroman injury was huge, and caused a domino effect, but that just speaks more to the need of depth and a safety net. If Stroman was shaky, Sanchez didnt contribute at the big league level, and Norris topped off in NH last year...AA wouldnt have had the thought to even let Osuna or Castro near the big league level, wouldve had a serious safety net if he was thinking Norris and Sanchez would play bigger roles, and hopefully wouldve gone out and got major league experienced arms with a recent track record (ie. not Francis, Wolf, Santana). I agree that it isn't fair to blame Gibby on the x's and o's here, because its not his fault a SP cant go 5 innings, but the blame must be placed on AA for this current mess.

Bet Norris is going down, or DL.

But...but...Wilner says the pen will be ok.

If only the US had a black leader in a position of prominence that could help quell the violence like MLK did.

Theyre probably going to move the games to Nationals Park. I don't think it would be uncouth for the Jays to send an invitation addressed to Showalter offering Rogers Centre as a possible future venue for the Orioles to play their games should these hooligans continue to ruin their city.

If Jays were to claim him, would he have to go on the 40?

I cant speak to the interpretation of the rule, but this gif is making me nauseous.

From a viewer standpoint, its more the lack of a dirt infield than the lack of grass that makes the Rogers Centre look so off to me. The new turf looks good enough, even though if it looks like Kermit the Frog's color. Getting the dirt infield in there would be key...but the same issues that prevent them from having grass (being a multi-purpose entertainment center) prevents the dirt infield. I actually dont believe Beeston (shocker) that there will be grass by 2018. He'll be long gone by then, but even if the Guelph University study shows it is feasible, the costs to dig up the concrete, add in the airflow, etc., not to mention the opportunity cost of not being to garner the additional revenue from the motocross/monstertruck/icecapades/circus/whatever the hell else they have in there...I just dont think Rogers will do that. From a baseball standpoint, it makes total sense, but for Rogers' bottom line, it doesnt make dollars.

Orioles aren't a fluke. Since 2012 they've averaged almost 92 wins. Much of the credit has to go to Buck Showalter who gets more out of his talent than almost any manager. Its impossible to really quantify, which makes sabermetric/analytics savvy fans like many of on these boards skeptical, and its everything the Jays need out of Gibbons, but doesnt get, which makes the Gibby Apologists in the Toronto media cringe, ...but I really believe with Showalter instead of Gibbons, we wouldve made the playoffs in AT LEAST one of the last two seasons.

Going 'no-closer' / committee after 2 games. If only AA knew we needed bullpen help in the offseason. These holes just sprung up on him all of a sudden.

He's living off his wife now. Should just focus on getting into coaching or something.