JP Believers and Home Coming Queens

by Tom Dakers on Nov 29, 2008 2:30 PM EST in Toronto Blue Jays News

Are newspaper reporters the only people left on earth that take anything that JP says as the truth? The Globe has not one but two stories about how the Jays ought to trade Halladay because JP isn't going to sign any free agents. Why do they think JP isn't going to sign any free agents? Because JP says he's not, that's why. Course they also think that JP isn't going to trade Halladay because JP says so.

So they figure the only way a team that had a pretty decent second half of the season could be competitive is to trade their best player. For what? They have no idea.

I don't share the world view that the Jay's will not be able to compete next season. The Jays competed pretty well in the second half of last season, with a several players having an off year and with a black hole at DH. Next year at worst Snider will fill the spot and he would have to be better than the mess we had last year.

Yeah the Rays are a good young team, but good young teams regress sometimes. Especially ones that leap from last to first. Yep the Yankees and Red Sox can spend and spend, but with the age of most of the free agents out there there is no guarantee that spending a fortune will make for great teams.

One line in Jeff Blair's column interested me:

The guess here is that hasn't changed. The 2009 Blue Jays won't likely be better than a fourth-place team and god help them if McGowan or Janssen has a setback or other guys regress to the mean.

What Jay player was so far beyond the mean that regressing is a worry? I don't think there was an offensive player that was even 1% better than we could have hoped. Well maybe Inglett. And it looks like he won't be allowed to regress.

Anyway since there is no real baseball news at the moment I can understand, truly understand, the need to write about anything that might almost be news. But reporting things that JP says like they have some sort of grounding in truth....well won't you feel foolish when it turns out that he was lying yet again.

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it seems like there are too many top pitchers on the market right now

both on the trade market and free agents, for the Jays to hope to get Halladay’s worth in a trade. It’s not a bad idea to explore the possibility, but I don’t see the Jays getting full value for Doc just now. I’d rather see the Jays make some smart moves going into 2009, and they can always look to trade during the season if they are as bad as people seem to think they will be. Personally, I think if they add a bad and an arm they will be contenders, but even if you don’t, if their moves are smart they will actually arguably put the Jays in a better position to go into rebuilding than if they do nothing or try to trade guys for pennies on the dollar just to shed salary.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Nov 30, 2008 7:01 PM EST reply actions

Even just having Cecil and Snider up for the season could be enough

but it doesn’t leave any margin for injury.

"He almost has to start. Do you believe in miracles?"

by Torgen on Dec 1, 2008 5:56 AM EST up reply actions

Snider, certainly

With Cecil, durability is a big question. He was on a strict pitch count this season and didn’t often make it deep into games. My guess is that he will start in the minors as a starter but if he makes the majors this season, it will be in the bullpen, similar to how Price was brought up by Tampa last season, as he is still building up his durability. He might make a couple of starts, but I don’t think it’s realistic to think he will be in the rotation on a regular basis. Between his durability questions and Cito’s propsensity to lean on his starters, that’s likely for the best.

Romero and Mills could pitch their way into Toronto’s rotation, but neither has the ceiling that Cecil does.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Dec 1, 2008 2:09 PM EST up reply actions