Note from Hugo:  Promoted from Fanposts.  I thought this syc piece was great, and a great way for everyone to talk about why they are looking forward to watching (or not) this season. 

This is no way an official Letterman Top ten list but just based on my glorious and never wrong opinion.

Feel free to comment and list your own top ten reasons. It's fun and interactive!!

Number 10 - Buck Martinez

Not many Jamie Campbell fans around these parts. Rogers went ahead this year and made a big change in the booth. They brought back Buck Martinez to do Play by play. I for one was happy with this decision. Not having anything to do with Jamie Campbell as a person. I just did not think he was a quality MLB Play by Play guy. Sometimes it seemed if he was in over his head. He never called out his Color guy for making stupid comments (Rance and Tabler) and got overly excited on some plays. I think if you want to have a successful product then it all starts with your TV guys. It might not be a "Sexy" reason to watch, but it will be a welcome change to a broadcast that got monotonous and boring  over the last 3 years. Now can we please Get Evanka Osmak instead of Sam Cosentino as host?

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Apparently the Nationals just released supremely talented and just as troubled RF Elijah Dukes...probably due to some blow up he had with someone or the other for some stupid reason.

This guy has so much talent but his off-field antics (sometimes criminal) bring into question if he is even worth taking a flier on.

Personally, I've always rooted for this guy and I think for the Jays in a season that is considered to be a building one he might be worth the risk for the Jays especially if they are concerned with the health of E5 at 3B.  Basically AA could sign Dukes and let him play RF, put the leadoff man Bautista at 3B and let EE get healthy.  Also, if Snider needs more time in AAA then Dukes can play LF until he's ready.

If Dukes has more personal issues they can release him easily, and if he doesn't perform he can always go to the bench or the minors...if he performs like he can he could be a 25/25 hitter in the middle of the order...

Encarnacion's wrist injury is starting to worry me.  Not that I'm that worried about missing his bat in the bottom 3rd of the lineup.  I think the Jays would also get by just fine without him manning the hot corner either.

In fact, I'd be fine with combination of Bautista (3B), Lind (OF), Snider (OF), Ruiz (DH).  I think the defense you lose by putting Lind in the corner OF spot, you gain by replacing Bautista at 3B.  You also get a hot Ruiz into the every day lineup as DH.  He sure has earned that opportunity, hasn't he?  I also like the idea of allowing Lind to get more OF experience before passing final judgement on his defensive abilities.

I actually have no problem with Encarnacion.  When healthy, his bat has shown flashes of promise, and we all hope and pray for an improvement in his defensive skills under Butterfield.  The thing is, at it stands, his bat is the only justification for having him in the lineup, in lieu of the above combination.

Getting back to what worries me...  Cito Gaston worries me.  We've seen what wrist problems have allegedly done, offensively, to some of our "star" players in recent years.  Only now are we hoping that Wells and Overbay's power numbers return (although Overbay was OK last year I suppose).  Could the same fate be in store for Encarnacion?  Who knows?  Hopefully, they're just being extra cautious and he'll be perfectly OK as soon as he stands in the batter's box.  If not, I'm bracing for 500 AB's of Kevin Millar, and there's nothing we can do about, because The Manager says so!!

Just looking on MLBTR site I've seen that the Cubs (setup man Angel Guzman gone to TJ surgery) and the Twins (Joe Nathan potentially lost to TJ surgery) are possibly interested in Jason Frasor's services.

What type of return do you think the Jays should be looking for in exchange for Frasor?  If there are two teams in need, right now might be the best time to think about moving Frasor (or Scott Downs)...

Hi new here but did I miss the story about Pat Hentgen losing all his money I can't seem to find anything on the internet about that.  If it is thats really sad as he always seemed to be a good guy and a great pitcher in his prime. And if it is true is there a way we can get the word out so others don't fall into the same scam? Thanks

I would have posted this under the MLB.TV fan post but I guess it is closed now?

Anyway, I understand that some of you subscribe to MLB radio and I find that I tend to read more about baseball than actually watch it.  Always on the go it's just easier.  Why not listen, right?  I have been hearing and reading very positive things about the 'MLB - At Bat' app for the iPhone/BB.  It says you can watch/listen to games provided you have the subscription.  What is not 100% clear is whether or not you have to have the radio subscription on top of the $15 app to have it work on the app. 

Does anyone have the 2010 version of this app or even had the '09 one?  If so, did you have to pay for both radio streaming on MLB.com and (obviously) the app?

So I got my copy of the PS3 game MLB10 The Show and by chance decided to play a game as the Phils with Doc as the pitcher.  My goodness it made me feel depressed.  How do you miss someone so badly that you didn't even know personally?  Anyway, considering the level of the team playing behind him, it will be interesting to see what his win count will be now and perhaps for the rest of his career.  Plus I am quite happy to know that he will playing in front of a major (on contrast to Toronto) home team crowd.

There was a nice little comment post by one of you bluebird bantees a while back saying to a Phils fan:

"Just wait until you get to know Roy, you just don't realize how good he actually is" 

One of my greatest regrets as a fan of Roy is that I never got to see him pitch live.  Heck, I've yet to see a live MLB game for that matter.  This summer it will change and one of the internal conflicting issues I am dealing with is perhaps getting a 'HALLADAY' Jersey of a team I DO NOT like at all.  It this in any way ethical?  How well do you suppose that would be received?  Sure I can get ahold of a Jays Halladay shirt but who am I kidding?

SI released the list of Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects today, and lo and behold, the three players we got in the Doc deal are on it. Kyle Drabek is at 25 (with prospect rating 70 on a 20-80 scale), Brett Wallace right behind him at 27 (also 70) and Travis D'Arnaud is at 81 (rated 60). I was hoping to see Zach Stewart on it but no such luck. Looks like the front office did a pretty darn good job on that trade.

Other prospects of note:

Michael Taylor is rated below Wallace at 29 and a rating of 65.

Aroldis Chapman is number 22 with an 80 rating.

Link

I've noticed that Jordan Bastian is doing some fine preseason reporting, yet he's not getting a lot of posts. Really, without him, it's all just a bunch of guys surfing the internet or offering opinions from their couch. There's so many great discussion on this board, I think we need to send some chatter his way. He's pulling the load right now, with the eyes and voice that no one else has. Send a post his way.  No offense to this site, but you gotta give credit where credit is due.

PS - he's not my brother or anything like that.  I just appreciate his work.

Looks like BBB is done with Jays player predictions (though I may be wrong), so I thought I'd throw something up, to see how everyone thinks Halladay will do with the Phils.  He's not a Jay, but you know Jays fans will be following him closely this year.  In fact, for me, it'll be a toss up as to whether I watch the Jays opening game or Phils (probably flip in between).  It is nice though that the Phils home opener is scheduled to start 1 hour before the Jays game.

Anyways, here is my prediction and how I came up with it.

Last year, Halladay was 17-10, with a 2.79 ERA, 208 K, a WHIP of 1.13 and 9 CG over 239 IP and 32 starts

Analysis:

He played in 44% of his games in the AL East, who averages 5.09 runs per game.  The NL East, where he'll be playing 44% of his games next year averages 4.57 runs per game, which is 89% of the AL East's runs per game.

The other 56% of his games played in the AL were versus opponents who scored 4.67 runs per game.  The other non NL East divisions in the NL score 4.3 runs per game, which is 92% of the other AL teams.

So...  To adjust ERA for NL, I calculated, with the data above, that over 239 IP (though he may pitch more than that in NL), he would allow 68 ER's instead of the 74 of last year, which would adjust his ERA to 2.52.

The wins are hard to predict.  The Phillies last year had 93 Wins, 69 Losses.  They pitched 1455.2 IP, which equals out to 1 Win per 15 IP per pitcher and 1 Loss per 21 IP per pitcher.  However, the team ERA is 4.16.  Halladay's projected ERA as above is 2.52.  Therefore, Halladay's projected adjusted wins per IP, according to my calculations, and according to a 93 Win season and a 239 IP season for Halladay, would be 27 Wins.  His projected losses would be 7.  Of course, it wouldn't make too much sense to have a W-L record with 34 decisions, particularly given the fact that he will likely only get around 32-34 starts, if all goes well.  So I'll do one last adjustment.  Last year, he had a decision in 84% of his starts.  I'm projecting a 79% winning % (27-7) for Halladay.  Therefore, if he starts 32 games, and has a decision in 84% of his starts, with a 79% winning %, he'll go 21-6.

So there you go, my prediction.

21-6 with an ERA of 2.52.

For comparison purposes, Lincecum in 2009 (NL Cy Young) went

15-7 with an ERA of 2.48 over 32 starts.

Really, it would be cool if he could somehow manage 23-25 Wins, but that's a lot to ask.

So what do you think?