No News is Good News?

by Tom Dakers on Jan 5, 2009 11:45 AM EST in Toronto Blue Jays News

No, not really. No news is boring. and there is very little out there for Jay fans. To fill space, non-Hall of Famer Bob Elliot has a list of 'The 100 Most Influential Canadians in Baseball in 2008' and surprise of surprises, we aren't on the list. I'm hurt. Actually what does surprise me is that no writers are on the list, neither internet writers or newspapers writers. And considering how far they had to reach to get to 100 Canadians you would have thought there would be the odd writer.

There are a bunch of TV types, a couple of radio guys and a couple of dead guys but no writers. Paul Beeston is at the top of the list, Pat Gillick 3rd, Justin Morneau 4th and the late Ted Rogers 5th. Larry Walker 17th. Jacques Doucet 30th, he was the French voice of the Expos, the Expos have been gone for a while now, I'm not sure how he influences baseball now.

Brett Lawrie 9th, drafted by the Brewers in the first round of last year's draft. Not sure how that influences baseball but they have to get to 100 some how. Matt Stairs 36th, think of how high up he'd be if he could have gotten us some hits last year. Denis Boucher 69th, the great French-Canadian hope for the Jays starting rotation from a few years back will be pitching coach for the Canadians in the World Baseball Classic.

And so it goes listing a bunch of scouts and minor league coaches and not one writer.

Over on Bugs & Cranks Spencer Kyte wants to write off the Jay's season more than a month before pitchers and catchers show up to camp. The Drunks answered back, but I wonder why there is such a rush to say we can't win. Is there something in our Canadian nature that wants to give up before things start.

Yeah we haven't signed a big name but neither have the Red Sox or the Rays. Is in not possible that Ortiz could be hurt again this year? That Lowell will have more troubles? That Pedroia might not have a career year again and that they all get a year older. Could the Rays regress some? Could the pressure of playing in New York get to AJ and Teixeira? Could the weight on CC's knees get to him? The Yankees have tried buying the World Series before and it wasn't always worked. Jeter is older, ARod is....well ARod, the team isn't young. Let's not jump off the bridge yet.

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I can see Elliott

not wanting to put himself in the position of ranking fellow writers. As a non-Canadian, I’m ineligible anyway.

I agree that while the offseason has been less-than-inspiring so far, there’s no reason to write off the season. The offseason has become the Yankees’ World Series, and they won it again this year – too bad for them it doesn’t count for much of anything.

Not to say that the Red Sox, Rays, and Yankees aren’t better than the Jays on paper, but the offseason isn’t over yet and the Jays have plenty of talent. Maybe it is Yank optimism on my part, but I think this season is going to be a fun one to watch.

"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 Jan 5, 2009 12:11 PM EST reply actions

Well...

To write off the Jays is a bit much but to say that the Red Sox and Rays haven’t done anything so the Jays have a chance is a bit of a stretch. The Rays and Red Sox finished 11 and 9 games ahead of the Jays respectively last year, neither team really did need to improve much to still have a good 2009.

The Jays have lost 3/5 starting pitchers for the beginning of 2009 and have not done much to replace them, that is a major problem…It’s nice to hope everything will work out for the Jays which is why I won’t write them off yet, but it’s going to be an uphill battle and everything will have to go well for the Jays and bad for NY, Boston and TB…but I’m saying there’s a chance!

by bunner on Jan 5, 2009 12:34 PM EST reply actions

The Jays will also be bringing back the 4.7rpg offense of the second half of last season

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

by Torgen on Jan 5, 2009 12:58 PM EST up reply actions

That's my feeling...

The Jays have improved because their offense will be better. No Wilkerson, Mench, Stewart, Thomas, Stairs. The runs per game was up in the second half in spite of Lind’s power dropping off. I believe (or maybe hope) that they can’t possibly be as bad with RISP as last year.

We keep talking about losing 3 starters but we finished the season on a tear without 2 of those 3 and as much as we will miss AJ, his ERA wasn’t that much better than average.

And saying everything will have to go bad for Red Sox etc….no not everything has to go bad. Jays have to have a reverse of the luck that cause them to be so far under their pythagorean record. Sox? Ortiz, Lowell and Drew could easily miss a good part of the season. Their pitching isn’t deep and Pedroia and Youk last year had seasons out of their norm. Rays? Teams that improve as much as they did, last year, tend to fall back the year after. Yankees? They aren’t a young team. Who knows what will happen. We’ve been told over and over that their last run of greatness was because of the players from their farm system, that buying a championship doesn’t work. Now we throw our hands up and say ‘they bought one’?

At worse I think we should be more fun to watch than last year.

by Tom Dakers on Jan 5, 2009 2:17 PM EST up reply actions