Bluebird Links - A Little Bit of Everything, and a Blast From the Past.
by masterkembo on Dec 3, 2010 10:00 AM EST
in Toronto Blue Jays Links
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PrintNews and speculation seems to be picking up with the approach of the annual winter meetings in Florida. With the approach of this years winter meetings, I thought I'd link a few articles from the winter meetings 20 years ago, when the Blue Jays made perhaps the biggest trade in franchise history.
On December 5, 1990 (20 years ago Sunday), Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick teamed up with Joe McIlvaine of the Padres for a "trade of All-Stars". The trade of Alomar and Carter for McGriff and Fernandez has been looked at from every angle in the past 20 years - I'm not here to do that, however I wanted to take a look at some of the reactions from around the time of the deal.
From the LATimes:
The trade was so stunning in its impact that when the names were announced, the audience of reporters and television crews gasped.
No kidding - I'm sure Gillick making any trade at the time was stunning, never mind this doozy.
More reaction and lots of Links after the Jump.
So who won the trade?
"Let's just say we had a good nucleus that was going to get better," McKeon said. "The Padres traded away a guy who might be in the Hall of Fame and another who drives in 100 runs a year.
Who got the better end of the deal?
"No comment."
From the NY Times:
When Gillick approached McIlvaine Tuesday afternoon, the Padres' new man mentioned that the Blue Jays had a good young hitter in John Olerud, a first baseman Toronto planned to use in left field. Why not trade McGriff for Carter, he said, putting Carter in left and allowing Olerud to play his more natural position?
The trade talk started with a straight up deal of McGriff for Carter, but then
"Then they brought up Alomar and then Fernandez," McIlvaine said. "I had no intention of trading Alomar, but I've always liked Fernandez. Today at 2 or 2:30, we agreed. You kind of catch your breath. You know the magnitude of it."
From an SI article in December:
(I think he was right).
Another SI article regarding the winter meetings had some real gems. Contracts were going through the roof.
So,
After discussing the runaway salaries:
A couple other articles covering the trade are here and here.
Jays Links
1 Blue Jays Way : Toronto Blue Jays Blog: Overvaluing Arencibia
Is Arencibia overvalued by us Jays fans? (probably). Is his trade value as high as it's going to ever be? (who knows?) 1 Blue Jays Way takes a look at Arencibia, D'Arnaud, and Jimenez's major league equivalencies.
Jays keeping injury-plagued McGowan | Posted Sports | National Post
Jeremy Sandler thinks that part of the reason McGowan was offered a contract, was because they didn't offer one to Carpenter and he went on to win the Cy. I doubt it has anything to do with that (Carpenter actually pitched at least 70 innings every year as opposed to McGowan), but you never know.
Jays Pen News | Jays Journal | A Toronto Blue Jays Blog
Mat Germain takes a look at Guerrier and Crain and how they would fit into the Jays bullpen.
Griffin: Bullpen picture in sharper focus with Frasor - thestar.com
Another look at the Bullpen picture. Interesting note at the end.
As far as MLB relievers, active, who have been with the same team since 2004, there are only nine, including Frasor. The list is comprised of Joe Nathan (Twins), Ryan Madson (Phils), Mariano Rivera (Yanks), Crain, Justin Duchscherrer (A’s), Frank Francisco (Rangers), Scot Shields (Angels), Matt Guerrier (Twins) and Frasor.
Jays head to Meetings ready to make moves | bluejays.com: News
Gregor Chisholm takes a look at club needs, tradeable players and unloadable contracts.
The Southpaw: Manuver-ability!
Reviewing the offseason thus far.
Interesting Non-Tenders: MLB Rumors
A look at some available non-tenders. Of note, both Edwin Encarnacion and Taylor Bucholtz were non-tendered (as well as Jeremy Accardo and Fred Lewis).
Orioles, Padres, Blue Jays Interested In Reynolds: MLB Rumors
Jays, Padres and Orioles interested in Reynolds? Gah, I hope not. Hopefully this is just a case of AA kicking the tires on everyone.
FAN590 - Blogs - Miked Up " Blog Archive " Tenderness (Where Is It?)
Wilner breaks down Accardo and Lewis, and their lack of a contract today.
Could Canadian Rich Harden be the next Kerry Wood? " Cooperstowners in Canada
Cooperstowners in Canada wonders if Harden could be useful to the Jays as a closer. I'd rather stay away from Harden, or at least, I wouldn't want to be depending on him entering a season.
Clint Hurdle, Fredi Gonzalez leadranking of new managers in MLB - Jon Heyman - SI.com
Jon Heyman ranks the managerial higherings this winter. Farrell didn't grade out so well.
free agents at a glance - The Globe and Mail
Robert Macleod supplies Jays fans with perhaps the most useless free agent primer that I have ever seen.
Around the League
Chicago Cubs legend Ron Santo dies
Chicago Cubs great and longtime WGN Radio announcer Ron Santo has died. He was 70.
Crashburn Alley " Blog Archive " CSI One-Liners, Baseball Style
Funny stuff here. If you like CSI, or hate CSI, or have ever seen CSI (Miami), take a look.
More than three decades of exciting games
The Jays have played in the 5th most exciting game since 2006. According to the Hardball Times.
Hinchliffe Stadium " Mop Up Duty | Baseball News Sabermetric | Baseball History Bio
A look at Hinchliffe Stadium, which housed some of the all-time negro league greats.
Griffin: Hall of Fame ballot deciphered - thestar.com
Griffin breaks down this years Hall of Fame Ballot, with an early look at who he looks to vote in. His reasoning for Blyleven was interesting (solid sabermetric arguments) compared to Morris (integrity, character and contribution to the team). Good read though.
Braves Re-Sign Eric Hinske: MLB Rumors
Eric Hinske re-signed with the Braves. I always liked Hinske and am glad to see him sticking around the league for another year or two.
White Sox Sign Adam Dunn | FanGraphs Baseball
A look at Adam Dunn's contract.
THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball
No CHONE projections for 2011 as Sean is 'under contract with a team for 2011'
THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball
Tango takes a look at game length. Interesting read as always.
Baseball has high ADHD rate
Major League Baseball granted 105 exemptions for otherwise-banned stimulants in the last year because of attention eficit hyperactivity disorder, virtually unchanged from the previous year's total.
Winter Meetings Coverage | FanGraphs Baseball
FanGraphs will be at the winter meetings so keep an eye out on their site for some (hopefully) interesting commentary.
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Kembo, You are a master.
The 1st part (before the jump) was VERY well put.
Tom/hugo/Banhammer, as the GMs-by commitee of BBB you’re due for some kudos for giving this guy the opportunity.
More power to kembo!
Festina Lente
I cannot take credit for masterkembo's awesomeness
all I can do is appreciate it like everyone else
"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
Edwin Encarnacion
Encarnacion is a free agent as the A’s just non-tendered him – so what was the point of them grabbing him off waivers from us last month?
I think it was because he was Plan B if they didn't land Beltre
In honor of the Jays 2nd Baseman who played with fire in more ways than one.
by Damaso's Burnt Shirt on Dec 3, 2010 11:03 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Lots of teams pick up guys just to give themselves more options later
It is easy to pick up a player when he is available, then you can hold him while you consider what the best option is.
So any chance we resign EE?
by shuswapslugger on Dec 4, 2010 11:27 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Back to the "Trade" -
At the time not enough was made in the press that it was actually a FIVE person trade – not four.
The Jay’s got Alomar, Carter and Olerud (who was blocked by McGriff) while the Padres got Fernandez and the Crime Dog.
The OTHER unspoken reason for the trade was that Tony was saying REGULARLY that he was seriously thinking of retiring and opening a church – no kidding – Tony had a skinny bum and a thirst to spend eternity in the arms of the Man (no – not Steinbrenner). I honestly remember being scared stiff every year he’d retire and open his own personal Mega-Church.
Olerud played 110 games in 1990 with McGriff there, and 138 games in ‘91 without McGriff. It wasn’t a huge difference. 110 games at 21 years old seems okay. He could have stuck at DH anyway, or McGriff could have moved there. It’s not like they brought in a stud DH in 1991, going primarily with Mulliniks, Tabler and I think Mookie Wilson after they traded for Maldanado.
I wouldn’t say it was a 5 player deal though – you could just as easily say it was a 7 player deal since Bip Roberts and Darrin Jackson got to play 2B and CF for San Diego.
I remember that about Fernandez too. Funny that he ended up playing 18/19 years in the league.
Sean Smith
I believe I read somewhere, or maybe it was in a dream, that Sean Smith was actually working for the Blue Jays this year – they are the “mystery” team he won’t disclose. It was probably on Minor League Ball, but it was just a comment on another article and I didn’t think much of it at the time. Guess there isn’t much hope of finding out?
Email I just sent to Jon Heyman's
I think you’re way off base with your evaluation of Farrell’s hiring as a C minus. The fact that you begin your assessment mentioning he was hired due to Bud Black’s success is so irrelevant and utterly useless it points to the fact you either did no research or live blissfully in ignorance. Farrell wasn’t hired “in spite” of being an MLB pitcher or b/c of Bud Black, but because he’s a highly intelligent baseball mind who has seen the game from a variety of perspectives and wanted to pick and choose an opportunity where he can build a team into a contender. The Jays have a number of good young pieces in place, one of the best GM’s in the game in AA (Halladay trade, Morrow trade, Escobar trade, Romero extension), and ownership that can spend money when it is needed. How many other teams can actually say they have all three pieces? Farrell was a pitcher for several teams, then developed Cleveland’s farm system into one of the best in the league. He was the pitching coach for Boston for the past four seasons as well, and since that’s a team you actually do care about I’m sure you’re aware of the type of success he’s had in that organization. At no point in the press conference did AA say: Yeah, you know, we looked over at SD and saw them overachieving so we decided to grab a pitcher and try to get lucky. Are you kidding? He looked at Farrell’s body of work and decided this was a guy that knew how to build an organization and knew what it takes to have success. And it was made very clear in the presser Farrell intends to help AA turn this franchise into a perpetual winner, not a 2010 San Francisco Giants. Maybe it’s a tad hasty to make that joke before next season, but I certainly hope you understand what I’m alluding to. If you hadn’t been paying attention, the Halladay trade marked the beginning of an exceptional revamping of the Jays system which will only improve more with the likely possibility of 6 picks in the first 3 rounds of the next Entry Draft. Like it or not, this is a team poised for success and has one of the best young rotations in the game. Brandon Morrow is the best strikeout pitcher in the league and is probably our 3rd starter, so you tell me how exactly the Orioles are going to leapfrog this team. You also neglected to mention that within days of Farrell’s hiring, Manny Ramirez made it known he’d love to join a staff coached by Farrell. Maybe you missed that piece of news, but it’s not too often something like that happens from a HOF-bound player, especially someone like Manny. So go on to continue living in ignorance or do some homework next time, but this is a team you’re going to be forced to pay attention to in the near future.
by brewerm on Dec 3, 2010 4:33 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
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