Goodbye Shea?

by Asharak on Jul 19, 2006 8:06 PM EDT Comment 19 comments

Shea Hillenbrand lashed out at Blue Jays management before tonight's game against the Red Sox. The main source of his frustration? No one congratulated him on adopting a baby.

Oh grow up.

Expanding your family is certainly a momentous event in anyone's life, however it's done - birth, adoption, or even a visit to the humane society - but what part of that entitles Hillenbrand to any sort of "congratulations" from the people that are paying him $6 million to help win ballgames?

I mean, I understand being...mildly disappointed...that Ricciardi or whoever hasn't taken the time to be courteous, and it doesn't reflect well on those people if true, but these people aren't his relatives, or his friends - they're his employers. Their only obligation to Hillenbrand is to sign his paycheque.

It gets worse. Hillenbrand didn't confine his comments to the discourtesy of the front office. A few choice quotes:

"They knew when I was going to be here. I should've just stayed home."

"I should've been traded two months ago. They're paying me $6 million for this?"

"It's what have you done for me lately"

"They wonder why they are not winning [...] It's the atmosphere."

It's no secret that Hillenbrand is no longer optimally suited for the Blue Jays. The acquisitions of Glaus and Overbay have made him a man without a role all season. He has too little power to a full-time, David Ortiz-type DH, and he's earning too much money to not be making any use of his skills as a corner infielder. He blamed a sluggish offensive start to the season on having a hard time adjusting to the routine (read: uninvolved tedium) of the DH role.

So I don't particularily blame him for expecting, even wanting, to be traded. But to express that desire in the, frankly, classless fashion that he did today (from bluejays.com: "'Not one person from the front office has come up to congratulate me,' Hillenbrand said. 'Just the little people have -- like you [reporters] have. That's a disgrace.'") is sad.

And here's the kicker: Hillenbrand's name, originally printed on the lineup card in the Jays' dugout tonight, has been crossed off (as seen on TSN), and he's nowhere to be seen.

It's possible he's being punished for being a jackass, but with Glaus and Rios already out that would seem to be counterproductive.

The bluejays.com article quotes John Gibbons explaining Hillenbrand's absence from the lineup as a result of him having missed four straight days and needing some time to practice on the field and get generally get back into game shape. But that doesn't explain why he's not on the bench, where he was last night.

Which leaves only one possible reason for Hillenbrand's absence: he's no longer a Blue Jay.

So who'd we get?

- Ash

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I understand

Shea's frustration about the adoption.

The funny thing, though, seems like Shea is complaining right when the Jays could really use him regularly at 3rd. Hinske has been good, but generally doesn't hit lefties real well, and even if Glaus comes back soon, it might be nice to give Shea some starts at 3rd to take some strain of Glaus' knee (maybe even as much as once or twice a week for the rest of the year). I like Glaus' defense, and sure want to keep him happy, but I'm not sure the Jays can afford to lose his bat for any more time. And DHing, I would think (I've never done it, obviously) would be a lot less dull if you didn't have to do it every day.

"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 Jul 19, 2006 8:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hillenbrand

I would not be sad to see him leave, though we should have traded him back in April when he was hot, but J.P. is not known for his timing. A rumour I heard is hillenbrand to the Angels for Joe Saunders. Whether that rumour became true or not, I would put money on Hillenbrand being in a Angels uniform by the end of the year, regardless of who we gets back.

by slitheringslider on Jul 19, 2006 8:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Rod Black on TSN...

Just mentioned a rather vague report about Hillenbrand "[refusing] to go into the dugout tonight".

The plot thickens. I hadn't even wanted to contemplate the sheer asshattery that would be Hillenbrand refusing to play tonight, but that would seem to be the current theory.

If true, he may technically still be a Blue Jay, but I would wager it bumped trading him right to the top of the to-do list.

- Ash

by Asharak on Jul 19, 2006 9:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

asshattery

is a freaking sweet word.

Sounds like Shea is gone for sure.

"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 Jul 19, 2006 9:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

and I thought...

...that Shea's family situation just getting all sorted out would make things easier for him, at least mentally or something. Seems it's sorta made him bitter? What gives...

by stan1 on Jul 19, 2006 9:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But...

It's a good word. And it so perfectly sums up just how frackin' stupid it was/would have been for Hillenbrand to flat out refuse to play - all because Ricciardi didn't go gaga over his baby and Gibbons gave him a couple days off.

- Ash

by Asharak on Jul 19, 2006 9:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agree

"asshattery" does sum it up perfectly.

by Jack Frost on Jul 19, 2006 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here it is...

The Toronto Star is the source of Rod Black's comments about Hillenbrand refusing to join the team:

"A furious Shea Hillenbrand sat inside the Blue Jays clubhouse during Wednesday night’s game against the Texas Rangers and refused to join his teammates in the dugout.

Hillenbrand was seething after Jays manager John Gibbons spoke at a closed-door clubhouse meeting and apparently criticized the designated hitter in front of the entire team."

The man is sulking. And I thought maybe the hook for that diary was being a bit unfair. No longer. I say again, with more emphasis and venom:

You're earning $6 million. Oh GROW UP.

- Ash

by Asharak on Jul 19, 2006 9:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

position players

Our excess of position players at the beginning of the year is working itself out, it shows you can never have too many good players on a team.

I would not be one bit sad if HIllenbrand gets traded, despite how often Hinske gets ripped by the media and by Blue Jays fan, he was a better hitter than Hillenbrand last year in the 2nd half, and is a better hitter than hillenbrand in general. Having Hillenbrand gone would also allow Reed Johnson to slide into a full time role and be our lead off hitter, allowing Rios to slide into the 2 hole or #5 once he gets back. The only regret I have is not trading hillenbrand earlier.

by slitheringslider on Jul 19, 2006 9:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hillenbrand

Hillenbrand got Designated for Assignment by the Blue Jays during the game, which means that he will either be traded, sent to the minors or released within 10 days. He will most likely be traded. It is almost guaranteed that Hillenbrand has played his last game in a Blue Jay uniform, it is unfortunate it has to end this way.

by slitheringslider on Jul 19, 2006 10:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hillenbrand vs. Management

I am not saying Hillenbrand is right here but to certain extent you can say I haven't been thrilled about the performance of the Jays' front office and John Gibbons so far this year. Just from the feel I have of reading the News and watching games, etc... It does seem like the Jays are not totally committed to certain players. The thing that bothers me most is John Gibbons' quick hook on pitchers, it shows a lack of confidence in his relief corp to get hitters out, but the replacement is usually just as good as hie predecessor. GIbbons wasn't like that at the beginning of last year, he usually let his pitchers get themselves out of jams. I don't know if it was J.P. or whoever, but he has steered away from that strategy.

I definitely think Hillenbrand was wrong in this case, but hopefully it will also make Ricciardi and Gibbons to reflect on the job that they have done and see whatelse they can do to make a better team.

by slitheringslider on Jul 19, 2006 10:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Earlier point

I agree with your earlier point Alpheus -- that they should have traded him earlier. I think I even suggested this back in May, after he whined about not playing in the field. I knew back they that he wasn't really a team guy. He was thinking about himself.

There's a way to do those things, and it should have been discussed in private with Gibbons. If it had been I'd have to believe the media wouldn't have gotten a hold of that story.

All I can say is good riddance. The Jays don't need Hillenbrand. But as you said Alpheus it is a shame that now they won't be able to get anything of value for him when they could have earlier gotten another solid arm for the pen.

by Jack Frost on Jul 19, 2006 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the only problem

with the way they are handling it is that they will probably get less for Shea now that he has been designated for assignment (although we will have to see). But what can you do when someone acts like that?

I am surprised Shea didn't have more patience after the way things worked out last year with Koskie getting injured and Shea ending up playing regularly in the field after all for most of the year. He seems like the kind of person who often lets resentment get the better of him, and we all know people like that (in May he's hitting .340 and complains about not playing the field, he adopts a child and complains about not being congratulated by management). I remember him leaving Boston on quite bad terms as well - what can you do about people determined to be unhappy?

Like I said before, I think the Jays could actually really use him now to take some strain of Glaus, but we will have to see what the Jays get for him. It's not the worst thing in the world.

With the hitting pretty stagnant, I wonder whether the Jays would consider playing Adams regularly again. Not that he has hit any better than MacDonald, really, but the potential is still there at least for .330/.420 which would be an improvement.

"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 Jul 20, 2006 7:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gibbons and J.P.

i want to hear their side of the story and see the difference. The players seemed as shock as everyone about it.

by slitheringslider on Jul 20, 2006 12:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As much as we're going to get...

They've updated the bluejays.com article since last night's game, with a few quotes from Ricciardi and Co:

"We had no communication with Shea [...] His communication to us went through his agent with everything. He never talked to the manager and he never talked to the front office."

"Let me just say this, Shea's version of what's happened and our version of what's happened are two different things. I'll leave it at that"

The first quote, if true, is damning. It means, even though Hillenbrand himself chose never to deal with the front office staff directly about anything, he expected them to suddenly deal directly with him to congratulate him about his adoption? If I'm Ricciardi in that situation, I respect the player's obviously expressed preference not to interact with management, and leave him alone.

- Ash

by Asharak on Jul 20, 2006 9:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

bad news

I think the worst part about this is that we could really use shea right now, and we may get nothing in return for him. The jays have 10 days to trade him or hes goes on waivers, and teams interested in him will most certainly exploit this.

by WildBlueYonder on Jul 20, 2006 10:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

and for anyone who hasnt seen....

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060719&content_id=1564979&vkey=news_mlb &fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

by WildBlueYonder on Jul 20, 2006 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Another point

and I'm going to defend the Blue Jays organization here. Without knowing what was or wasn't said behind closed doors, it does seem that the Jays bent over backwards to accomodate Shea in his requests to play the field, even though it was really a selfish request.

After he complained Gibbons put him at 1b the very next game and he promptly made an error. Further, Gibbons asked Troy Glaus to play SS so that Shea could play third and bat in National League cities.

It is true that some people can never be happy and don't really want to be. In this case I think it is best that Hillenbrand is gone.

by Jack Frost on Jul 20, 2006 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

To Be Fair

Playing Glaus at SS during interleague had more to do with the crappy offense provided by our middle infielders (at least, middle infielders not named Hill since the end of May) than with making nice to Hillenbrand.

But in general, your point stands. Hillenbrand was under contract to play whatever position the Blue Jays wanted him to. Gibbons was under no obligation except courtesy to give him so much as a single start in the field, and he went above and beyond the call of duty in doing so anyway.

- Ash

by Asharak on Jul 20, 2006 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs