EMK19

Pirates would have been perfect for him, he would have had his former teammate and countryman Kang help him adjust to the MLB and life in the USA. But I guess it's not like Park had any control in the matter of who bids the most. Playing at Target is definitely not going to help his HR numbers, but apparently he still would have hit 44 homers at Jamsil Stadium (which is the biggest stadium in Korea and has approximately the same dimensions as Target field) last year based on his HR distances... if he can adjust as well as Kang did then I'd expect HR numbers in the low to mid 20's from him. Ironically, Park started his career playing for the Twins... the Seoul LG Twins in KBO that is. Now he's back to being a Twin. lol.

I do think he'd be a solid reliever here, his two pitches are good enough and his delivery has great deception vs. lefties. But I guess his pride as a starter wouldn't allow it as he's been top of the rotation guy at KBO for years. I think it also had a lot to do with another Korean pitcher Yoon Suk-Min few years ago who was an ace level starter at KBO but failed miserably in the minors after he signed with the O's and never got the bigs. Park went 2-4, his double vs Otani was a lucky blooper but he did have a solid single in the 8th.

That Korean pitcher, Kim Kwang Hyun, is pretty much a two pitch pitcher, fastball and slider, so yeah he's somewhat like Chen but he is also pretty frail mentally under pressure and inconsistent. Having watched him over the years IMO he's not that special of a pitcher, nowhere near the quality of someone like Ryu. I believe Kim went on the posting market last year and only the Padres showed any real interest in him, and wouldn't guarantee him a spot on the MLB roster, so he stayed put. Overall he's a reliever at best at MLB level IMO. That Otani sure looks a real deal though, electric arm and a plus splitter.

I keep tabs on the KBO and IMO Lee Dae Ho is a much better overall hitter, and has proven himself more with his successful couple years in Japan. Park's power won't transition over here as a 1B IMO, Nexen's now former home park Mokdong stadium (used to watch games there often when I teached there) is known to be incredibly HR friendly. Both are liabilities in defence though, especially Lee. I don't think either will adapt to MLB as quickly and as well as Kang did. Park does have the age advantage though, Lee will only be good for couple years or so. I personally see no reason why Jays would get either player, our 1B/DH spot is already crammed as it is.

I used to have a teacher in Jr. High who's last name was Shapiro and everyone always called him Sha-pee-row.. Not sure if that was the actual correct way of saying it but He never corrected his students on that matter so... This Sha-pie-row thing is really odd to me, lol.

It seems like a new Domed Stadium in Korea have now taken the "Skydome" name. Thanks Rogers. http://photo.isportskorea.com/photo/images/2015/09/20150915180825963.jpg http://www.dynews.co.kr/news/photo/201509/277923_21420_3340.jpg

Theo Epstein? But totally different set of circumstances, etc.

I'm still hoping that one day Sanchez will figure out his command issues enough and also learn a legit secondary pitch that gets consistent swings and misses.

Just give it a couple weeks. Then we can ask him how he feels to be a silver medal for two years in a row.

THe journey of the team here in 2015 somehow reminds me of the 1991 team. The team took a new direction with the roster and made some big trades both on and off season, winning the East only to perform well below their capabilities in the ALCS. Coincidently, a knuckeballer doomed us in the ALCS in both series, lol. Like in 1991-92 period, most of the pieces will remain intact for next year (on offence at least) so I have this feeling that if they add a few proper pieces they'll get over the hump next year and take that next step to the WS.

They're in here July 4-6 next year. Hope he pitches, if he does then let's take that opportunity to waste his sorry ass.

Depends on where they place him on the rotation... if they set him up to go Game 2 then he'll miss those New York away games. And that's probably what they're going to do.

Yeah, I don't think Bautista would take too lightly to any suggestions of a positional change... he probably sees that cannon arm of his as part of what makes him a perennial all star player and a source of pride for him... but IMO it needs to happen for the long term due to his declining range and his chronic leg/back issues. I have a feeling if Jose does leave the Blue Jays after 2017, then this would be the main issue that causes that divide.

He really has.

I think Tepera, Smoak and Hawkins are solid F candidates, I think F should be reserved for guys who made no contributions whatsoever and was nothing but detrimental to the team.

I've slept it off (though i admit I had trouble getting to sleep and had to use a sleep aid) and I have now come to acceptance with the end of the season this morning. In the end, no bitter feelings and really proud of these 2015 Blue Jays. Thinking about it, we had a lot of adversities to overcome in these playoffs and did well to even make it to the ALCS to fight the Royals as hard as we did to the end. For one, I think most of the players were playing with some sort of injury/or really banged up... Revere's back problem, JD had clearly been worn and torn from the season, JB and Martin had their constant hammy issues, EE's finger problems arose constantly, Tulo played with a cracked shoulder blade. Guys like Estrada, Sanchez, and Osuna had to deal with logging more innings than they ever had to in their MLB careers and the two latter guys had it tough for having to endure such a heavy pressure playoff situation constantly at such a young age. Guys like Buehrle and Hawkins were clearly at the end of their road and had to battle their way through to the end. Then we had that most devastating loss of Cecil to a freak injury then having to deal with that mysterious Loup situation on top of it... Despite that, we came back from a 0-2 deficit vs. the Rangers in such a dramatic fashion then fought the Royals hard till the end in the ALCS. Very proud of how they battled through till the end despite having to play catch up for most of both series. Who would have imagined we'd have all this drama back before the trade deadline? We're all fortunate to have experienced this quite a memorable pennant race and playoff run. I really do hope that Sportsnet or the Blue Jays make some sort of a Season review show/DVD soon so we can relive this memorable season for many years to come. http://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/sports/bluejays/2015/10/15/sidney-crosby-approves-of-jose-bautistas-bat-flip/joey-bats.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg

Ben Revere: C+. Had a decent ALDS, then went quiet for much of the ALCS. Probably our best player in that final game though. Josh Donaldson: B-. Numbers wise he did alright. But as the potential MVP and best player you expect an A performance which we never got. Jose Bautista: B+. At the plate, Jose did what Jose does best in getting Key HRs and drawing many walks. Unfortunately, his atrocious Defensive performance drops his overall to a B+. Edwin Encarnacion: C. Never really got into that August type groove that we were hoping for... couldn't perform consistently. Not sure how much his finger played into his struggles.. Troy Tulowitzki: B-. Had the most RBIs, and next to Jose, had our most clutch hits. But again, lack of any real consistency with the bat except in few patches and an awful start drops his grade for me. Chris Colabello: A-. Did well enough to take over as the full time 1B during the playoffs. Hit consistently and played surprisingly decent D as well. Just wish that he could drop his K rate. Russell Martin: F. By far one of the biggest disappointments with his horrible hitting and as some might see it, some poor pitch calling. Just was never that same after that hamstring injury back in reg season. Kevin Pillar: A-. Considering that he's Kevin Pillar I felt that he hit much better than expectations as a lower lineup guy and as always playing a stellar D. Ryan Goins: C-. The good plate discipline he had during the regular season was totally lost and was overall brutal at the plate. Good D as usual and that one redemption game he had prevents his grade to dropping to D but that game 2 mistake will forever linger in our minds. Justin Smoak: F. He never played much after the first few games of the ALDS, but was a total fail, thus he was replaced full time by Cola. Even as a defensive replacement he made an error and didn't do anything when he pinch hit. Cliff Pennington: B-. Drew a walk in a plate appearance and also pitched in emergency. Was not called on much but did the littlest of jobs he was called on to do well enough. Dioner Navarro: D-. Called the game well for Estrada which brings him out of an F but that's about all he did, he was just as bad as Martin at the plate. Ezequiel Carrera: INC. Did he even play? Dalton Pompey: A. He only had one role, as the designated pinch runner. As far as that goes he was stellar. Even had a hit in his only plate appearance in a blowout. David Price: C+. We never got that true complete "Ace" performance from him which was a huge disappointment. Was especially crappy in ALDS but did a bit better in ALCS to keep us in those games. Marcus Stroman: A-. Kept us in the ballgames in the ALDS with some gutsy performances, but had only a so-so ALCS outing. R.A Dickey: D+. Only had two starts, one of them was great but then the other was arguably the worst Blue Jay starter playoff performance since Stottlemyre in WS '93. Marco Estrada: A+. IMO only guy in our team that deserves an A+. A guy who is basically our fourth starter carried us in every game and had those ace calibre performances we wanted from Price. Even in that lone loss, he still kept us in the ballgame with a quality start. The ALDS start as well as his final ALCS start was masterful. Aaron Loup: C. Not for his disappearance which wasn't his fault... but even when he did pitch he only performed at his typical Loup 2015 levels. Brett Cecil: B+. Only had two appearances before he ripped his calf. First one was flawless but he did blow that save in the second outing. Still, he was dearly missed the rest of the way. Ryan Tepera: F. Really should have never been called to replace Cecil. Blew up as all of us expected in his only appearance. Fail. LaTroy Hawkins: F. Very disappointed in him as the veteran anchor to this pen, every single one of his appearances was disappointing. Probably was running on fumes though. Happy retirement, LaTroy. Liam Hendrix: B. Played a part in that game 2 loss in ALDS, did get hit around in game 3 ALCS but in both games there was some bad luck involved. He then had that masterful game 4 to keep us in that one for a bit. Mark Lowe - B. Had a good ALDS then allowed some runs in the ALCS. Should have been utilized more often and higher leverage situation as the veteran. Aaron Sanchez - B. He started off spectacularly in the playoffs but then the Royals got to him in predictable fashion as the ALCS went on. Was overused IMO. Roberto Osuna - B. Same as Sanchez... looked great in the ALDS and then again for early parts of ALCS, but blew up in our most crucial game in game 6.

I think that situation you are referring to in game 2 was with us down 3 runs with runner on 1st, in which case his goal would have been to get on at all costs (that includes working a walk, which would have been useless in tonights situation) rather than drive in that runner on base, not to mention that Navarro in that same situation would have had a huge DP risk. Pennington was also 4-9 lifetime with a HR vs Davis so that might have gave him a bit more assurance in that situation also (although those numbers were from many years ago when Davis wasn't a closer and Pennington was a better player). Tonight we were down only a run with no outs and runners on first and third and you want to put your best contact hitter on to put it in play, which was Navarro.

Royals can enjoy their ALCS win right now, since I can't imagine how bad a WS defeat in two straight years would feel.

This ALDS certainly hurts as this is the only Blue Jays team that I've seen personally that experienced a heartbreaking loss in a series. I was not around for the 1985 heartbreak, 1989 and 1991 ALCS's were never in the grasp, and we had won all the 92/93 ALCS/WS in six games. Ironically, we get to experience a bit of how the 92 Braves and 93 Phillies fans probably felt after their game 6's of the World Series; on both occasions they had won Game 5 to get it to game 6, tie it/take the lead late in the game in game 6 only to fall short in the end, kind of like us here. But hey, winning wouldn't feel so good if it was all that easy. Sweet ain't sweet without the sour. Let's hope for bigger joys ahead for the 2016 and beyond.

Yeah, can't ignore the go ahead run in that situation with the out count in our favour. Especially with a high contact player at the plate with the infield in.

We didn't have too many reasonable choices at that Goins PH spot other than Navarro. Even if it was Justin Smoak, he would have seen nothing but breaking balls from Davis and would have been even more sure of a K candidate. Carrera wouldn't have been available as he's the next in line as the pinch runner after Pompey. Although granted, Cliff Pennington was 4-9 lifetime vs. Davis but those numbers were obviously from the days where he was a starter more than a few years ago. Also, it's Cliff freaking Pennington.

He stretched over so hard to reach for that ball that it would have done this guy proud: http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/12/123441/3563900-dhal-sf2-a3.gif

I think I agree with other that have said that absence of Brett Cecil pretty much doomed us this series. I feel that if he was around the game 2 would have probably been won. Game 4 may have stayed closer than it was. And certainly, he would have came in tonight in the 7/8th inning.... but instead, we were doomed to having to rely on couple early 20 year old relievers with little experience. One of very few things that AA overlooked in the trade deadline, the depth of reliable lefty relievers in the pen, really cost us in the end. We basically had to hope that either Loup all of a sudden turned things around (didn't happen) or Cecil stayed healthy throughout till the end, and when he went down, it just made things so much more difficult for us.

I really felt it for Revere watching his blowup in the dugout after his strikeout... he must feel so, so awful, and cheated at that.