Bluebird Banter: FanPosts

Interest in Frasor...

2010-03-09T14:25:25Z

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)...

Pat Hentgen really poor now?

2010-03-07T07:03:39Z

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

MLB LIVE Radio & At Bat

2010-03-06T15:17:59Z

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?

Fan Ethics: Player Loyalty vs. Team Loyalty

2010-03-04T17:40:17Z

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?

Baseball America Top 100 Prospects

2010-03-03T19:46:45Z

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

MLBastian - post some comments

2010-02-25T04:18:33Z

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.

Make Your Prediction...Roy Halladay

2010-02-20T03:57:31Z

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?

Fantasy baseball

2010-02-11T15:47:57Z

So we have about a billion options for fantasy baseball now. Just judging how many people would be interested in starting our own leagues and such.

Yahoo just introduced an live auction type of draft which looks pretty cool and is a def a twist on regular fantasy.

We can also just go about the normal more traditional way. 5x5 Roto or points.

I know not everyone can join the same league, as having over 12 teams seriously kills the depth and the drafts take to long (specially the auction type).

Help me out with some feedback. Who's Interested or not, and maybe if you know a better fantasy site. I know ESPN and cbssports line have good fantasy options. I've ran leagues for the past 3 years on yahoo so I don't mind being a commish/admin for the league.

A Mariners Fan Looks at Brandon Morrow

2010-02-08T04:40:21Z

Look, let's get one thing straight: there are people whom you root for; every one on the current Mariner roster falls into this category for me. That's because the Mariners have been, are and always will be my team. This also includes names like Randy Johnson, even when he was pitching for Arizona, New York and San Francisco. It includes Derek Lowe. It includes Mike Cameron, prized center fielder who helped Seattle forget the pain of Griffey leaving us just by being awesome himself.

But then...then there are players for whom rooting is not enough. There are players that you idolize, to whom you ascribe fantastical powers--even in a slump, you want that man hitting because dammit, no matter what, he's your guy! These guys, you go to the stadium and you make posters, you buy their jerseys. And even if they're not the best guy on the team, you want their autograph. For me, this has been a fairly short list: Jay Buhner (even when he played in the same outfield as baseball god Ken Griffey, Jr.), Ichiro Suzuki, Kenji Johjima. Over the last three seasons, one name has taken this fervor to heights I haven't known since Mike Blowers was the M's third baseman. Brandon Morrow is that man.

I just want to get that out there: I am not a Brandon Morrow supporter. I am a Brandon Morrow fan. I have put my hope in his progression; I have seen his performance, his flashing moments of brilliance, and I want to believe that he will one day put it all together and be a name people mention in the same breath as Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke. I have a stuffed rabbit form Build-A-Bear decked out in a Mariners uniform. His name is Morrow. Brandon's first career start, against the Yankees, during which he no-hit the most formidable offensive line up in baseball for more than 7 innings? I was there. His second no-hit bid against the A's a year later? I wish I had been there, but I watched every inning with a giddy excitement thinking Finally! and anticipating the moment I could leap and tell everyone I told you! I told you! Morrow's awesome!.

So what I am about to type should be taken with that grain of salt. I know Morrow hasn't put it all together yet. On raw facts, on just watching, rationally speaking, he's crumbled as often as he's injected me with that maddening hope. But I don't care. I'm not a supporter. I'm a fan.

I hated the Brandon League-Brandon Morrow trade. Despite my fandom, I just want to throw out that the trade doesn't even sit well with me on a rational level.

I have bored so many people to death with baseball statistics that it probably just lets people glaze over it, but I want to go into that arena anyway. I want to compare Brandon Morrow straight up to Brandon League, and look at his statistical postings against similar players throughout baseball history. I want you to be a Brandon Morrow fan.

In 2007, Brandon made his major league debut as a reliever for the Seattle Mariners. He did this after being drafted in 2006 and throwing only 8 games in the minors--all below A-ball; he skipped AA and AAA completely--five of which were starts. His cumulative inning totals in those five starts/seven games? Sixteen. I say this not because Morrow wasn't good in the minors--for such a small sample size, he was pretty filthy: against 62 batters, Brandon struck out 17, walked 9; he gave up four runs and 10 hits. His WHIP was 1.188. His FIP was 3.28. His batting average against was a minuscule .189.

By comparison, Tim Lincecum (who was picked up right behind Morrow in the draft, the Mariners letting him slip), University of Washington product now pitching full time for the San Francisco Giants and owner two Cy Young Awards, pitched literally 4 times as much as Morrow in the minors--including time spent in AAA in 2007; he didn't make his big league debut until two months into the 2007 season. Moreover, he was used full-time as a starter. No relief nonsense. Ever.

And yet, for their early going you can look at these lines:

Pitcher A: 23-24 yrs old, 3.83 ERA, 7.6 H/9, 9.4 SO/9, 4.0 BB/9, 195 IP
Pitcher B: 22-24 yrs old, 3.96 ERA, 7.4 H/9, 9.3 SO/9, 5.8 BB/9, 197 IP

Pitcher A is Lincecum, Pitcher B is Morrow. These are their lines across the first 200-ish innings of their respective major league careers. Morrow's glaring flaw is apparent right away: way too many walks. Morrow's control issues hamstring his promise quite a bit. But the talent is all there. What's utterly bizarre in Morrow's case is the extra year of time to get to 197. That 197 is split across three years of MLB service, during which he threw 63.1, 64.2 and 69.2 innings respectively--some while relieving, some while starting.

Let's make this absolutely clear: Brandon Morrow's development was fracked by the Bill Bavasi front office. After throwing as a reliever in 2007, during which he posted a respectable 4.12 ERA (against a 4.19 FIP, whoa, talk about true talent level!), K'd 66 and surrendered 3 home runs to the 283 batters he faced, Brandon was cemented in the bullpen. This despite continued control issues that saw him walk 51 batters (yikes!).

Lincecum spent 4x as much time as Morrow in the minors, all as a starter, and has never worked out of the pen. The development of Morrow was fucked from the beginning.

As a junior in 2006, Morrow split time between starting and relieving and posted a 2.05 ERA across 92.2 innings in14 appearances. Lincecum posted a 1.94 ERA across 125.1 innings in 22 appearances as a pure starter. To put that into perspective, Morrow averaged 6.2 IP per appearance to Lincecum's 5.2, and posted an ERA only 0.1 points higher. For FIP: Morrow=3.45, Lincecum=2.60.

Should the Mariners have drafted Lincecum? That really comes down to your evaluation of talent at the college level, and quite honestly they're about a push based on production. To say Lincecum as a Mariner would be the same Lincecum as a Giant is results-based, not process-based. And the thing is, do you really think Bavasi would have given Lincecum 60+ innings in the minors and brought him up as a pure starter when he didn't do the same for Morrow? The whole process is different.

Aside from the walks issues (control), Morrow and Lincecum are about a push on pure talent. Hell, they're college walks numbers prove it--Lincecum walked 4.5/9 IP in his junior year. Morrow walked 3.65/9 IP in the same span. Morrow has raised his college walk rate in the majors; Lincecum has dropped his. Methinks it's got a lot to do with coaching and development.

His 2008 campaign was reassuringly dominant. Before being sent to Tacoma in August, Morrow's relief pitching yielded 11.5 K/9, 0.9 WHIP, 3.63 FIP in 36.2 IP. The FIP should have been a red flag, as it indicated Morrow's continued control issues in spite of his 1.47 ERA--he walked 15 batters at a clip of 3.68 for every nine innings he pitched. This puts him somewhere between current Andy Pettite (old, past his prime) and the bad version of Barry Zito (old, past his prime). Of 77 qualified pitchers in 2009, 66 had lower BB/9 than Morrow did in 2008. Ugh.

But Morrow was sent to Tacoma to become a starter. Oh, it was a joyous moment for me. So many people were excited by it. This is what Morrow was drafted for--he was our Tim Lincecum, and wasn't Lincecum on his way to winning his first Cy Young in San Francisco? Morrow's time in Tacoma was less than thrilling. He appeared in six games and made five starts. He only threw a cumulative total of 23.1 innings. His ERA at the end of it was 5.01 (respectably, at least, it was against an FIP of 3.50). But 20 innings over 5 starts is less than four per start. That's not big league ready. But the season for AAA ends before the big league season is over, so it's time to bring Morrow up anyway.

And there it was. His big league debut as a starter. He could have faced anybody. The Royals. The A's. Some team with an anemic offense and an empty Safeco Field devoid of anything resembling pressure. But he didn't. He faced the New York Yankees. Stepping onto that mound wasn't friendly. How could it be? Half the stadium during that dismal season (the Mariners lost over 100 games with a payroll greater than 100 million, the first team in MLB history to do that) was full of Yankee fans rooting for him to fail. I figured he'd throw maybe 5 innings, really get his feet wet at the big league level and then call it good.

Brandon Morrow was not there to throw 5 innings. Brandon Morrow came to play baseball. Correction: Brandon Morrow came to make the New York Yankees look like a bunch of little leaguers. He threw 7 innings without giving up a hit. Sure, he walked three, but he made up for it every time: 8 strikeouts. Of the 106 pitches he threw that night, 72 were strikes. Of the 15 non-strike outs he recorded, seven never left the infield. I remember watching in something close to awe when A-Rod almost did a pirouette flailing helplessly at...wait, what the hell, that wasn't a fast ball! Brandon Morrow throws 97, and that thing went 83 with enough bend to to make Beckham jealous. That was one sick curve ball! After recording 2 outs in the 8th, Morrow gave up a double to a pinch hitter, ending a bid to be immortalized in Seattle's collective memory. In post game interviews, Derek Jeter would call Morrow's stuff "electric", and claim that when you run into a pitcher who's on his game like that, there's not much you can do.

The Brandon Morrow era had arrived in Seattle. Or so we thought.

The rest of the season wasn't so kind to Brandon. Over the last 4 starts of the season, Morrow was still promising, but not quite as refined. Against the Angels, Morrow went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs on five hits. Not bad, really, until you considered that he also walked 4 in those five innings. Against the Royals--the ROYALS!--he threw 4 innings and surrendered 6 runs, once again giving up as many walks as strikeouts. He would throw a nice game against Oakland: 6.1 IP, 6 K, 3 R. (Of course, he'd also still walk 5 people in this game...ugh.) The bullpen would end up blowing Morrow's shot at a second win, even as he left the game with a two-run lead. In his final start, once again facing the A's, Morrow got that win...but not for pitching well. He surrendered 6 runs in five innings of work, striking out 8...but walking five.

So here's the winter between 2008 and 2009. Morrow can go to the winter leagues and refine his starting, come into his own in 2009, right? I mean, finally give him genuine development time and that's what he'll be--a starter. But no. After continuing to work his arm all through the offseason, Brandon entered spring training with "dead arm", fatigued and without much feeling, he couldn't throw much. No problem: send him to Tacoma, let him work some more on starting and rehab.

Except that's not what the Mariners did. Morrow elected to become the team's closer, to start the year in the bullpen, with only two weeks left of spring training. The results were disastrous. In his first two opportunities in Minnesota, Morrow blew both saves--he walked 4 hitters in the ninth inning of game one. He was relegated to a role as a set up man and swing-reliever. After a couple weeks, Brandon complained of shoulder tightness and was put on the fifteen day DL. Upon his return, Wakamatsu put him straight back to the closer role he had so ineffectively handled in April. Morrow ended up throwing only 16 games out of the pen, and to be fair he was just as terrible as those first couple outings indicated: 6.38 ERA, a 5.46 FIP (so he was at least a little better than his ERA, huzzah!), 14 walks in 18 innings, 3 home runs in same, and if you care about the state, a save percentage under 70 (6 Sv/9 SvO).

So when the team finally wises up and says Morrow's a starter, what do they do? They say "Hey, we'll send you to Tacoma and you'll be back up in July. Get some work in." Literally, they said that. But here's what they actually did: on a warm day in mid-June in Colorado, Don Wakamatsu goes to Brandon Morrow and says "Hey, you wanna start today!?" And Brandon Morrow says "Uh...sure, I guess." Or something like that. He ends up starting without ever getting his stint in Tacoma. At this point in the season, Morrow hasn't even made it three innings in any appearance.

He goes 3 in Denver, gives up only one run, but continues his massive control issues: he walks 4 in those 3 innings, and only throws 36 of his 64 pitches for strikes. He continues in this vein for a while: a so-so appearance in San Diego, a resurgent apperance in Safeco against the Padres once more, a bipolar outing in New York sunk by bad defense (of three runs surrendered, only 1 was earned, but Morrow also walked 5) followed by a brilliant start in Boston (6 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 3 R--all of homers in the Red Sox's high school-sized joke of a stadium) and a disaster in Texas.

By now it's July and Morrow is firmly in the rotation. He's made six starts and is pushing into the fifth and beyond every game. Do you know what that means!? It's a perfect time to send Brandon Morrow to Tacoma! Yahoo! In AAA, Brandon proves to be head and shoulders against the competition. He throws 55 innings in 10 starts including one complete game. He still has control issues, walking 3.76 every nine innings, but he's striking out at twice that rate. In the Pacific Coast League, which is very hitter-friendly, Morrow only surrenders 2 homers. He has an FIP of 3.53. The minors still can't touch him.

The AAA season ends and the Mariners finally bring Morrow back into the major league fold. Brandon doesn't disappoint--no, really, he doesn't disappoint at all. After people really getting down on his inconsistency, and his moments of promise and the letdowns, Brandon is remarkably consistent in September. He gets 4 starts, wins two of them and posts two no decisions. In those 4 starts, he cumulatively collects 23.2 innings (every start saw Brandon working thru the 5th or farther) and drops his ERA by a whole run. The control issues are still there: 13 BB's to 18 K's. He does all this with less than 100 pitches per outing. (Heck, his outing in Tampa Bay I still maintain that at only 73 pitches, Morrow should have been allowed to continue thru at least the 6th.)

And just in case we forgot why we could be excited about him, Brandon's last outing for the Mariners was like his first: lights-out. He went 8 innings against the A's and allowed only one hit. He surrendered no runs, struck out 9 and walked only 2. It was another jaw-dropping "Wow, this kid is good" moments.

On a list of pitchers who have accumulated at least 150 innings before age 25, walk more than 5.5 per nine, give up less than 7.5 per nine and strike out more than 9 per nine, there are only five names: John Rocker, Nolan Ryan, Herb Score, Matt Mantei and Brandon Morrow. How do you like those odds?

You should like them a lot. Matt Mantei was essentially where Morrow's at now: a career reliever with an ERA hovering around 4.0. Herb Score was a career starter with an ERA of 3.36. John Rocker was another career reliever, but his ERA ends up around 3.42. I trust I don't need to illuminate on Nolan Ryan.

But here's another interesting thought exercise for you.

Pitcher A: 6.46 ERA, 69.1 IP 5.59 FIP, 42 K, 40 BB, .292 BAA, .874 OPS
Pitcher B: 4.42 ERA, 79.1 IP, 5.22 FIP, 71 K, 49 BB, .232 BAA, .739 OPS

Pitcher A is Jon Garland in the first fifteen starts of his career. Pitcher B is Brandon Morrow across the same span, during which he was jerked around as reliever--minor leaguer--reliever--starter--reliever--starter--minor leaguer--starter. If you don't believe in the Nolan Ryan upside of Brandon Morrow, how 'bout settling for Jon Garland?

In his first full season as a starter, Garland posted these numbers: 3.69 ERA, 117 IP, 5.34 FIP, 61 K, 55 BB, .277 BAA, .786 OPS. Make those same improvements across the board for Brandon and you get this: 2.52 ERA, 134 IP, 4.98 FIP, 70 K, 63 BB, .220 BAA, .665 OPS. As FIP is a better indicator of performance than ERA, and defense has such an influence on the latter, I think it's more reasonable to regress Morrow closer to a run off his ERA than 2. That still makes him a mid-3's pitcher.

I said I wanted to compare Morrow to Brandon League, but I just spent a lot of words here saying nothing more than "Morrow is better than you think." Here's some pretty pictures from Fangraphs that shows League's wild inconsistency relative to Morrow's career line. It's a pretty straight comparison of the two on raw numbers. (Hint: Morrow's better.) As a starter, Morrow is also inherently more valuable than the reliever League. In three seasons of going back-and-forth, Morrow's cumulative worth is 1.3 WAR, roughly $5.5 million. In six seasons of all relief work (minus time on the DL and rehab assignments in the farm system, League has only managed 5 more innings than Morrow (202 to 197), strikes out less and has been worth 1.5 WAR.

2010 Morrow on the Blue Jays is not the same as 2010 Morrow on the Mariners. It's a different division, facing the Red Sox and Yankees a lot. It's a different park, turf instead of grass that will see groundballs become quick singles, and a park that gives up more home runs on average than Safeco. And it's a different defense. But 2010 Morrow is poised to be much better than Jack Zduriencik valued him to be.

In point of fact, Dave Cameron of USS Mariner slated Morrow to be a relief pitcher throughout to 2009 and to add +0.5 wins from June 4th 'til the end of the season. Brandon, as mentioned above, was converted to a starter at the big league level and didn't spend much time in the bullpen. He spent 2 months completely out of the MLB working in Tacoma. And yet he still added 0.5 WAR from his mid-season total by the season's closing. As a starter, wtih two months of that not available. If you figure he was worth 4.0 runs as a starter (via Fangraphs) in 10 starts, then you can dilate that to about 12 runs over the course of a full season--and probably more, as he will be there full time, no DL, no bullpen, no mid-season conversion throwing less than five innings per game. He will be worth 1.5-2.0 WAR without even reaching his full potential.

Morrow won't contend for the Cy Young in 2010, no matter what team he's on, but he will be a valuable addition.

As far as scouting reports go, the idea that Morrow is inconsistent is just statistically unfounded. When you disclude his first two starts in 2009 (both of which he threw less than 80 pitches, went less than 4 innings, and was--if you recall--converted to starter at the big league level mid season), he averaged 5.5 innings per appearance. Brandon Morrow will take you into the sixth inning and sometimes beyond. If you look at the Fangraphs comparisons, Morrow has a far more consistent career line than League. The issue is purely his control, sidelined by development. And it hasn't stopped him from being valuable. He's healthier, he's younger, he has more upside and he's just as productive. You guys got a slick deal.

A few weeks ago this site posted a "make your predictions" post for Morrow. I wasn't a member then, but I joined just to give you guys this piece. I will, however, make predictions now, with this lengthy post as my rationale.

IP: 160-180 in 28 starts
ERA: 3.80-4.20
SO: 140-160
W-L: 14-6
1.7 WAR

BBB Superbowl picks

2010-02-07T18:06:49Z

IT'S SUPER SUNDAY BABY!

Today the Colts and Saints battle for Football Supremacy. Both teams live and die on their offense with 2 of the best Peyton Manning and Drew Brees at the helm.

I personally don't think it will be that close. Manning is just too damn good and the Saints frankly stink on the defensive side of the ball and live by the takeway and other teams mistakes. The Colts don't make mistakes.

Who you got?

Add in from Tom: Just thought I'd add that SBNation is all over the game, and since they pay the bills around here, they get a plug. They have a few bloggers at the game and will have stories no one else has and the stories everyone else has. So go here to see it all. End of commercial. Story it wasn't as entertaining as most of the Super Bowl ads.

Update: SB is running a game thread, if you want to join in, here it is.

Predictions Group

2010-02-06T22:36:55Z

Hey everyone this is Brandon C. from SB Nation's Yankees Blog Pinstripe Alley. I was wondering if anyone would like to join our standings prediction group. The group is open to any SB nation writer or reader and you get to compete with everyone in SB Nation and see who makes the most accurate pre-season predictions.

You can sign up here http://www.fan-exchange.com/signup.asp

You can join the group here http://www.fan-exchange.com/my/headtoheadadd.asp

The Group ID is 8

The Group Password is mlbsbnation

Please make your username your SB Nation name

Good luck and hope to see you there!

The Lovable Losers: Maintaining A Tradition

2010-02-04T18:56:26Z

The Cubs has done themselves a favor by signing our favorite Jay of 2009 Kevin Millar. It seems that the status of 'Lovable Losers' is far greater than contenders/champions and with moves like this it seems that they are going to do just fine.

As per MLBtradeRumors

The Cubs officially signed first baseman Kevin Millar to a minor league deal today. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick first reported the agreement on Monday. The Cubs signed Chad Tracy last week, so Millar will compete with him for a backup job.

Now let's see if they are interested in striking a deal with Cito. The Cubs need to use Millar to his full potential.

Dirk Hayhurst tweets regarding his impending Surgery.

2010-02-03T23:41:50Z

Anyone that is on twitter should be following Dirk, he can found here http://twitter.com/TheGarfoose on twitter and is just an amazingly good read even in 140 character intervals.

What follows is a list of the tweets that took place after the Jays announced that Dirk would undergo exploratory surgery, they range from classic Dirk comedy to very serious at the end. I am sure we all wish Dirk well on the road to recovery and best wishes for the upcoming season.

Sorry I wasn't able to reply to all your wonderful well-wishes, ironically, I was at the doctor! Thank you very, very much for the support
That being said, I have some good news and some bad news concerning the surgery. Bad news first.
It looks like they are going to have to amputate my entire right arm off and start fresh. Just throw the whole thing out.

The good news is, Dr. Claw is retiring from chasing Inspector Gadget to do the surgery. The are replacing my right arm with a super arm

Adamantium infused, bionic, indestructible pitching arm developed by the genius of Tony Stark and Optimus Prime. Forged under Garfoose flame

Dr. Claw, having overseen surgery on his own bionic hands, will be brought in by the jays to head my operation. He's and expert in the field

Thankfully, medical science has come a long way since Claw's hands were done (a unfortunate cider press accident)-my arm will look life like

My new arm will also support bluetooth, xm radio, and HD channels in 1080p. Plus, it has it's own facebook page.

I can also come with removable tattoo patches so one day I can sport Barbed wire, the next I can rock an Iron Cross.

All in all, I should come back stronger then before, and Major League insurance is covering all of it as long as I don't use it for evil... (editors note, as this point I sent him a message telling him to go ahead and use it for evil.... more fun that way)

The Next twitter contest will be for my signed old arm. Though you'll have to sign some biohazard waivers before collecting your prize

I am discussing a proposal with Rogers right now to see if they"ll cut me a deal on an in arm cell plan so I can tweet between pitchers.

Between pitches. sorry... Or pitchers, that could be interesting too.

Here Dirk starts to get serious and even though it is very short you have to feel for the guy, and I for one can't help but worry along with him.

SERIOUSLY. I won't know the particulars of the injury until after I wake from the operation, hence exploratory.
Obviously it's unnerving because it's not just my arm on the operating table. It's my house payment, my grocery bills, my whole future.
I'd be lying if I wasn't a little worried, but the docs have given me ample reason to be hopeful as they think it's going to be minor.
With that in mind, I am who I am, so I make humor to help ease the tension. But now you know what I know, and I'm sure everything will be OK

Good luck Dirk. I will be pulling for you the entire season, hope to see you in the Jays pen this year at some point.

Gregg to the jays is official

2010-02-03T00:52:03Z

Rotoworld reports

Kevin Gregg has a one-year, $2.75 million deal with the Blue Jays, reports Jon Heyman of SI.com.

Gregg immediately becomes the favorite for saves over Jason Frasor and Scott Downs, though it's not clear if he has already been guaranteed the ninth-inning gig. The 31-year-old compiled a 4.72 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 23 saves in 30 opportunities with the Cubs last season before losing the closer's gig to Carlos Marmol.

For Frick's Sake...

2010-02-01T21:06:37Z

Well, according to TSN.ca Tom Cheek has once again been denied the Frick Award. Let's discuss...

The award went to Jon Miller. He did the Sunday Night Baseball Telecast for 20 years so he certainly seems deserving and I wouldn't want to take anything away from the guy.

To think I wasted all of those minutes voting on that wretched Facebook poll. To be honest, I don't even recall seeing Jon Miller on the ballot. I'm sure he was there but I don't recall seeing him receive many votes and it really makes me think that the poll was a very futile exercise. Heck, that's exactly what it was.

Should we continue to care about this award, inasmuch as we want Tom to receive it? Have people stopped caring already? I might soon.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to listen to Tom Cheek's broadcasts know that he was a fantastic broadcaster so do we really need this post-humous award to validate what we already know?

2010 Payroll

2010-01-30T16:36:41Z

2010 Jays Payroll, Per MLBastian (as of Jan 26, 2010)

CF Vernon Wells ($21 million, including $8.5 million),
1B Lyle Overbay ($7 million),
3B Edwin Encarnacion ($4.75 million),
2B Aaron Hill ($4 million),
LHP Scott Downs ($4 million),
SS Alex Gonzalez ($2.75 million),
RHP Jason Frasor ($2.65 million),
OF Jose Bautista ($2.4 million),
LHP Brian Tallet ($2 million),
C John Buck ($2 million),
SS John McDonald ($1.5 million),
RHP Shawn Camp ($1.15 million),
RHP Jeremy Accardo ($1.08 million),
RHP Shaun Marcum ($850K),
RHP Casey Janssen ($700K),
RHP Dustin McGowan ($500K)

Sub-total roster (16 of 25) = $58.3 million

Other Non-Roster:

Halladay ($6 million)
Ryan ($10 million)

Sub-total non-roster = $16 million

Combined total = $74.3 million

Rumor: Jays Talking to Damon

2010-01-29T01:06:28Z

Here's a copy/paste job from MLB rumors:

6:40pm: The Jays have talked to Damon's agent, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (via Twitter). In a follow up tweet, he quotes GM Alex Anthopoulos who told fans at a Q&A session, "I don't want to get your hopes up." However, Bastian writes that the club has had internal discussions about the veteran slugger, as they have a need at the leadoff spot.

Joe Inglett on the move?

2010-01-26T03:26:48Z

Rangers Designate Joe Inglett for Assignment

from Hotstove.com

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports via Twitter that the Rangers have designated utility man Joe Inglett for assignment.

The move was reportedly made in order to make room on the 40-man roster for recently-signed pitcher Colby Lewis. Inglett, 31, batted .281/.347/.348 in 99 plate appearances for the Blue Jays in 2009. The Rangers had claimed him off of waivers from Toronto in December.

Why can't they contend in 2010?

2010-01-24T12:35:17Z

It seems to be the general consensus among Jays followers that the 2010 season is a write off, and that there are better seasons not too far ahead - some say as early as 2011. I'm not so sure that 2010 can't be a season where they contend. What's so different from 2010 to 2011? Let's take a closer look.

Position	2010	2011	The Winner
1B	Lyle Overbay with possible platoon of Ruiz/Dopirak	Brett Wallace (rookie)	Lyle Overbay is good folks. In a healthy contract year, expect him to perform better than recently. He may even hit .300/.400/.500 in a platoon role. Wallace on the other hand, will be a rookie, even though he probably gets a 2010 September callup. Don’t expect too much on 2011 for a guy who projects to eventually become an Overbay type. Winner 2010
2B	Aaron Hill	Aaron Hill	Hill won’t be declining anytime soon, so I expect similar performances in 10 and 11. A tie
SS	Alex Gonzalez	Alex Gonzalez	With no imminent options at SS, and continued poor FA market, expect him back in 11. He may or may not decline. Winner 2010
3B	Edwin Encarnacion	To be determined	The FA market is thin, and the Jays don’t really have anyone in the system to plug into 3B in 2011. Perhaps AA trades some pitching to get a 3B. Either way, it’s hard to say whether we’ll see an upgrade in 2011 or not. However, a healthy Encarnacion under Butterfield’s supervision may surprise in 2010. A tie?
C	John Buck	JP Arencibia (rookie)	John Buck is an average catcher offensively and defensively. I think Arencibia will take a step forward in AAA this year, and will win the 2011 job. However, to expect him to perform better than John Buck would be a stretch. It would be interesting to see what kind of prospect Buck was, when he was in the system – he was probably regarded highly, as is Arencibia. Winner 2010
LF	Adam Lind	Adam Lind	He’s a monster and will remain a monster through 2011. Interestingly, apparently he hit better in 2009 on games where he was in the field. A tie
CF	Vernon Wells	Vernon Wells	I expect a bounce-back seasons for Wells. I can just smell. However, he is getting older, and his physical skills are clearly declining. So for that reason, we should expect at least a slightly better season in 2010 than 2011. Winner 2010
RF	Travis Snider	Travis Snider	When will Travis Snider explode. That is the question. He’s young, but we’ve all seen glimpses of what he can do. His power to all fields is very encouraging. I think, given his young age, he’ll probably continue progressing, and ultimately be better in 2011 and 2010, but really who knows, maybe he hits 40 HR in 2010, and then the benchmark is pretty high for 2011 wouldn’t it? Winner 2011
DH	Randy Ruiz	Randy Ruiz/Dopirak/insert free agent	The DH/RF/LF situation is difficult to project. Ruiz is a personal favourite of mine, so I’ll plug him in there and predict that he’ll have a big year in 2010. Although he ‘s older, he’s not showing any signs of declining. A tie
#1 SP	Shaun Marcum	Brandon Morrow	This is one spot where I expect to see an upgrade from 2010 to 2011. Though Marcum should be solid in 2010, I hope to see Morrow spectacular in 2011. Winner 2011
#2 SP	Ricky Romero	Shaun Marcum	I’ll take a 2011 Marcum over a 2010 Romero. Winner 2011
#3 SP	Brandon Morrow	Kyle Drabek	A developing Morrow should be about the same as a rookie Drabek Tie
#4 SP	Mark Rzepczynski	Mark Rzepczynski or Jesse Litsch	I’ll call this a tie, unless Jesse Litsch comes back with a vengeance and becomes clearly superior to Zep. Tie
#5 SP	Brett Cecil	Zach Stewart or Romero or Cecil or Litsch	Although I think last year did a lot to get Cecil ready for a solid 2010 season, it is clear that there are more options in 2011. For that reason, I’ll give the edge to 2011.
Bench	McDonald, Bautista, Chavez, Jeremy Reed	McDonald, insert 3 others	It’s difficult to project who will be the bench players in 2011. Given the minor role the bench plays, it would be difficult to justify that 2011 will be that much better than 2010 due to the bench.
Closer	Jason Frasor	Dustin McGowan	One can dream of an upgrade here. Who knows. Tie
Set up	Scott Downs	Jeremy Accardo	I’m a Downs fan, and would prefer him to almost anyone in the set up role Winner 2010
Set up	Jeremy Accardo	Merkin Valdez	I’m just guessing here. So for that reason, I’ll call it a tie.
MR	Jesse Carlson	Jesse Carlson	Tie
MR	Merkin Valdez	Tim Collins	Tie
LR	Shawn Camp	Scott Richmond	Tie
LR	Brian Tallet	One of the leftover SP’s is converted	Winner 2011

I guess, given the multiple uncertainties, this was really a pointless exercise. However, if there is point in this, it is that improvements from 2010 to 2011 are not a clear certainty. Though 2011 seems to indicate that there are more viable options for the starting rotations, it is still impossible to predict who will perform well and when, at the major league level. I don't mean this to be pessimistic at all. Instead, it's more to point out the 2010 might be OK after well. We just never know when things can come together.

MLB.TV

2010-01-15T17:47:50Z

So last season I was quite interested in subscribing to MLB.TV. however the blackout restrictions were a huge turn off. Gotta love when pretty much an entire country is not permitted to watch their only team play home games (or road games for that matter?). Of course I opted 'NO' because of this, in hopes that perhaps some changes would be made.

I just recently read on MLB.com that Selig has put together a committee to add to the enhancement/excitement of baseball. If these blackout still apply 2010, wouldn't that be a good place to start improving?

Selig:

Q - "How are we going to get more people interested in MLB?"

A - "For starters, lets charge people to view games online and black them out when their home team is about to play".

Has anyone in the BBBanter Universe subscribed to MLB.TV? Was the blackout issue an issue for you? Are there any rumors floating around out there for improvements?