glory

The Indians are 3 back of the 2nd Wild Card. They could be the Mets of the East if they make the playoffs, even if they had to burn Kluber in the one game. Still a long shot for them since they have to pass 3 teams in 16 games, but when those teams are mediocre (Twins/Angels) and free falling (Houston), anything is possible. I wouldn't want to face them in the ALDS. My hope is for a Jays/Twins ALDS. Is that too much to ask for?

That's the tragedy in all of this. Well, if Clint Hurdle can be developed into a smarter manager, then maybe Wobbles is open minded enough to buy into an organizational shift in philosophy. Of course, that means AA would have to believe it as well. Maybe he does based on the type of talent he's acquired since November of last year, but telling an old school manager to execute that plan is going to be tough. Guess we have no choice.

Extend Alex, and Gibby stays forever. Just remember that. Do the right thing, Shapiro.

Nah, I called Gibbons an idiot for taking Buehrle out before the pinch hit even took place, it's not hindsight. Of course the Jays pen is super duper now so they should shut down the Braves lineup barring some bad luck. I just wanted Buehrle to get to 200 ip. Is that wrong?

The Braves suck. Buehrle could have hit there, made an out, and finished 7 IP and the Jays could have still won the game. Now they have the pen throwing 4 innings (at least) for no reason.

Manager of the Year, John Gibbons. Thank goodness the Jays don't play in the NL. Geez. This doofus would get outmanaged every night.

Wow, Buck can't read a flyball at all.

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.