glory

Yeah I would bet that Tanaka goes Friday against the Mets so he can pitch Wednesday against the Jays.

Yes. He is a less stubborn, more redneck version of Cito. As long as the Jays roster is this talented, he won't hurt them.

Good god, no.

Are they really doing the double header 30 minutes after the first game? With minimal rest in between that's basically an 18 inning game. That off day Monday will be very helpful. A day/nighter would have been better, I think, but the weather might play into that.

Lol, I think the Jays are winning the division this year. That doesn't have anything to do with that I wrote above. I like the thought of creating a front office that has a consistent plan as far as player development and how they value talent. I want the president, GM, and manager all to see eye to eye on that (similar to the Rays of years past). With the Jays payroll and resources, they could create a monster if executed properly. I don't see that happening with AA.

Am I the only one who wouldn't mind if Shapiro blew up the entire front office and started fresh? That's my hope, but I'm afraid Rogers might force him to bring AA back. Shapiro is a smart dude, and is someone who could build the organization the right way from the ground up. I don't want to keep AA based on this season and then go back to the same old s*** in 2016 when they have 2 starters under contract in MLB/AAA combined and the 30-something core is a year older/more expensive.

Gibbons pulling a Cito by playing the scrub over the young prospect. That can't be right. He's so much smarter as a manager. That's what people told me.

Gibbons goes by the same old school thinking of the 8th inning reliever has to pitch in the 8th inning regardless of the situation. He doesn't believe in the theory that when a starter is facing a team the 3rd or 4th time through the order that the starter is less likely to perform at a high level. He couldn't tell you who his best relievers or worst relievers are because he uses them based on gut instead of performance (hence why Sanchez, Hawkins, Schultz, Tepera, Loup, etc, are or were all ahead of Hendriks, Cecil, and Lowe in his depth chart). He couldn't care less about defence as witnessed by the video game lineups he put out early in the season, focusing on getting the best bats in the lineup rather than saving runs on the other end. He is 100% an old school manager. Maybe not identical to Cito or Farrell, but not exactly the opposite either. If you want forward thinking, looking at guys like Cash in Tampa, or Girardi, and so on. The difference between managers like that and Gibbons are far more noticable than the difference between Cito/Farrell and Gibbons. So if you're going to bash Cito/Farrell, then make some room for Gibbons on the hate train.

They all did stupid stuff. None of them were forward thinking managers. I don't know why Gibbons is put on a pedestal while the others are trashed when they all practically managed the same way. "Old school" managers are a dying breed, and Gibbons is one that won't go away until Alex does, which means other teams (including the Yankees with Girardi) are going to be run smarter and better despite having an inferior roster.

Then anyone here who has bashed John Farrell and Cito Gaston must apologize. Those guys were not bad either. They just played the percentages and did what every other manager would have done.

I know how great he is/was, but my fear is whether he'll ever reach that level again at his age and with his injury history. I'll change it up though, I'd hold on to him for one more season since Bautista and EE are locked up for 2016, and then determine the direction from there.

Honest question: is trading Tulo a consideration after this season? I know people are going to flame that, but it has nothing to do with his performance right now. It has everything to do with potential roi for the remainder of his deal. When you pay a player for his twilight, you're not going to get maximum value. Trading him now (after 2015 season) means you still might get a good haul in return and you don't have to worry about paying $100m to a shortstop in 30's with a history of injury problems and a reluctancy to change positions ever (he said he'd retire before he moves off short). I was always against this trade, and while his defense has been great, and his offense should improve, it's the future seasons that I'm worried about. Trade him to Seattle for Brad Miller and whatever else you could get (assuming Seattle still wants short-term big names) and use the difference to upgrade elsewhere. He'd accept a trade out of Toronto, I would think. He's not someone who has spent many years here like Edwin who would likely block a move.

Stroman is the best starter on the team not named David Price. If he's healthy and good to go, then start him. Results in a rehab game are pointless. Was he healthy? How did his pitches look? Velocity? If everything checks out, then start him at Yankee Stadium and live with the consequences. If he's not right, then go a different route.

On that note, Osuna hasn't pitched in 20 hours, so throw him in there to keep his arm loose.

Buehrle is a veteran so keep him in until the game is out of hand. /Old School Managing.

In Gibby's mind, if someone doesn't pitch for 3 days, he'll lose all ability the next time he's used.

And they kept all their best prospects. The roles reversed. The Jays did the big market trades and the Yankees did the smart long-term move. And they still might catch us. Jays really need to win those head to head games.

Archer will shut the Jays out in his next start, while doing his best Hutch impression for the Yankees.

f*** you, Archer.

I want a manager that knows who his best players are. That's all. Everything else is related to overall talent, luck, etc. When you start a s***** DH in left, bring in AAAA fodder out of the pen in close games, put one of your best hitters who can't field at 1B to get a backup catcher's bat in the lineup, and so on, and you lead the league in one run losses, at some point you have to not put everything on bad luck and start realizing that runs are being sacrificed by the manager. AA's moves at the deadline not only added talent but 'dummy proofed' the roster. Even Gibbons is not going to mess this roster up. Much like Cito was given that type of roster in the 90's.

Except all my criticisms were valid. The garbage relievers used last night were pitching the 7th and 8th innings in high leverage spots two months ago. When I said Gibbons is not using his best talent, I was blasted as a hater. Funny how my main criticisms, mainly pen use, Navarro at DH, Mushroom in the outfield, and Smoak riding pine are no longer being done.....and the team is winning. What a f***ing shock. It's like if you play your best players, your chances improve. Crazy.

Hutchison was bad, and Gibbons rightfully used his worst relievers in the final innings to save his good ones. Why would you expect negativity when he did nothing wrong? People need to realize; not everyone who bashes Gibbons is doing it to vent or whatever. Maybe just maybe we disagree with the man's moves from time to time. He's pretty much the hick version of Cito Gaston, but yet everyone rags on Gaston while rushing to Gibby's defence. It's weird.

Dude, you have Gibbons in your avatar. I can spew the virtues of batting average and wins/losses and still not come off as bad or biased as you. The last three pitchers used in tonight's game were high leverage relievers a couple of months ago. You know, the same guys who used to pitch in the 7th and 8th inning of close games while you came rushing to the manager's defence when they blew it. Now they are mop up guys like they should have been used to begin with. Funny how that works.

Going with Price, then a knuckleballer, then another flame thrower in Stroman, and then Papa Buehrle might work better in keeping the opponents off balance. Also sets up Stro for a potential Game 7. I don't like the idea of Dickey and Buehrle pitching back to back.

Price, Dickey, Stroman, and Buehrle in that order in a five or seven game series. Martin catches everyone.