Bluebird Links - Arbitration Decisions

Apparently yesterday was a bad day to be away from a computer all day.  I was working in the field all day, caught the end of the Leafs Game, suffered a rage black out as they blew it with something like 7 seconds left, which was restored only by the wonders of the Victoria's Secret 2010 Fashion Show.

Anyway, it was a busy day in Jays land, but first and foremost, the arbitration decisions are in.  Kevin Gregg, Scott Downs and Miguel Olivo all declined arbitration which, including the pick from John Buck should give the Jays an additional 5 picks for next years Amateur Draft, and 6 overall picks in the first two rounds.  Not bad for what is being touted as a strong draft.  Jason Frasor: he accepted arbitration, so we'll have to wait and see if they go to hearing, or if they work out a deal.

Frasor and Downs - they were two of the Jays longest standing players currently on the team.  Frasor is behind only Wells after playing his 7th year for the team and Downs has played 6 years (tied with Hill and McDonald). 

Honestly, despite losing the potential draft picks, I'm happy to see Frasor (likely) back with the Jays for next year.  He was aquired via a trade with the Dodgers on March 29, 2004 for Jayson Werth.  It's easy to say we lost that trade, but Werth didn't do much for Dodgers either so we'll call this one a break even.  In 7 years, Frasor has appeared in 411 games with a 22-27 record and 36 saves.  He's never had a real dominant season as a reliever but he's been consistently in the 1 WAR range other than 2006 and 2008, accumulating a total WAR of 5.7.  He currently sits 4th in career appearances for Jays pitchers with 411, behind only Ward (452), Henke (446) and Steib (439).  There is a pretty good chance that if he plays this year, he moves into first in this category.

Downs came to the Jays as a free agent for the 2005 season and as we all know, has been consistently good since then.  He's appeared in 347 games (including 18 starts between 05 and 06) with a 20-18 record and 16 saves.  He's accumulated 6.8 WAR with the Jays, which puts him tied for 22nd among all Blue Jays pitchers (with Josh Towers and Ricky Romero).  Downs currently sits 7th in games, and 23rd in strikeouts on the all time lists.  I'll be sorry to see him go.

Links after the Jump.   

Jays News

The Tao of Stieb: Another sleepless night over Adam Lind
Tao worries about Lind next season.

Blue Jays look to make minor roster tweaks | bluejays.com: News
Gregor Chisholm has an article about the kind of offseason AA thinks he needs. 

"It may not be as clear as it was last year," Anthopoulos said of his team's biggest holes to fill. "It's a little more fluid, because the needs aren't the same. They're not as glaring. There's obviously needs, but the alternatives seem a little bit more open."

Rule 5 Draft Possibilities: Position Players | Jays Journal | A Toronto Blue Jays Blog
A look at some potential Rule 5 position player pick ups

Ghostrunner on First: Keep Kicking Until it Stops Moving
Drew at Ghostrunner takes a look at the pitches Travis Snider was seeing by count. Interesting stuff:

One thing I came across as I "researched" this post was Snider faced only eight 3-0 counts all season. Eight! That says, to me, if you throw Travis Snider as strike, he will swing at it. Though he walk rate was down in 2010, Snider's career shows he will walk, so that's good.

Adam Dunn taking big chance in free agency
Morosi links the Jays as one of 5 potential AL teams that could accomodate Dunn and his desire not to DH.

Blyleven, Alomar overdue for Hall enshrinement | bluejays.com: News

Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar must be voted in to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Their exclusions represent injustices that need to be corrected -- immediately.

There are also articles about the Hall of Fame chances of Jack Morris, Fred McGriff & Robbie Alomar over at BlueJays.com

Around the League

Something to think about from Scott Boras - Yardbarker
Boras has an idea for changing the current Rule 5 system.

Get Rid Of Free Agent Compensation | FanGraphs Baseball
Dave Cameron promotes doing away with Free Agent Compensation.

With DerekJeter, Yankees must confront value of an icon - Tom Verducci - SI.com
As the Jeter contract situation continues, Verducci compares him to other iconic stars including Paul Molitor.

2010 Postseason shares - The Globe and Mail
A team-by-team breakdown of postseason shares.  The world series winners did alright this year, earning an average of $22,642.89/game (which works out to $3.67M a year).

Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - The Science of Curveballs

Interesting article.  Take a look.

Last but not Least

TOTALLY FAKE BASEBALL CARDS: 29 Derek Jeters you won’t see in 2011 … and one you just might " The Beckett Blog
And for something completely random - Jeter in all 30 uniforms.