Feb 21, 2013; Port St Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Shaun Marcum (38) poses for a picture during photo day at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Sometimes good teammates and good people are not the same thing. There was no one to rally around. Scott Rolen would have been the best choice as a leader but from the moment he got here, even though he was a true pro and played hard, he didn’t want to be here. A lot of players in MLB thought the same. We were turning into the place to sign when your first choices are gone. The fans deserved better than a professional team. Sure they won more than they lost but winning in 4th place is still losing. For our Home Opener we had to face a very strong and determined Boston Red Sox team. Perennial playoff contenders. How would the 2008 Jays stack up? For this game ans actually the 3 game series…pretty good.

Date: April 4, 2008
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Game: Boston Red Sox vs. YOUR Toronto Blue Jays
Weather: Check an Almanac…it’s dry inside and that’s what matters…

Shaun Marcum got the call after the Jays returned home from a 1-2 start in Yankee Stadium. The pitcher for this game would be the knucklehead, Tim Wakefield. The Jays have never been that great against knuckleballers but for this day at least they were on top of that bouncy pitch. Wakefield almost had a quality start with 6 innings and 3 runs given up. Marcum went 7 innings giving up 3 as well. It came down to the bullpens. David Aardsma, Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen each gave up a run in an inning of work while the duo of Brian Tallet and Jeremy Accardo threw up goose eggs. The result was a 6-3 Jays win. The first of a sweep they would lay on the Red Sox. The hitting star was really no one in particular. Most Jays had 1 hit (Lyle Overbay had 2). The only Jay to get more than 1 RBI was Frank Thomas with 2. A very well rounded team win.

We would be relegated again to cheer on individual performances. My favourite is one I literally discovered while researching this article. Halladay became the first pitcher to have a 5–0 record against the Yankees in a season, since Luis Tiant accomplished the feat in 1974. I was 1 (grumble grumble)!!! He also became the second Jay to have two 20 win seasons (Clemens in ’97 & ’98). Still…we finished fourth. Dammit. Perhaps 2009 will do us better…

The Jays offense finished 2010 with the following rankings in all of MLB: (more…)

On April 2nd 2010, I made some bold and “out of the norm” predictions about the upcoming season. Some people may have called them crazy, in fact some did, because I was one of a very few people who predicted that the Jays would finish off the 2010 season with a winning record. To make such a bold prediction after the Jays dealt the best pitcher in franchise history was not easy to do, but I truly saw the potential of the squad at the time. Sure, some of my assessments didn’t pan out, and I don’t have a crystal ball to look into. But, I did make a few calls that turned out just great. Here are the verdicts, with a link to the article itself available here.

1. Blue Jays Record: My overall record projection was 82-80. The actual record was 85-77. I was off by 3 games. (more…)

• Lyle Overbay has signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 1B will get a chance for a new start and will hopefully prove himself on a club that definitely needs strong play from their 1B. At the very least, Overbay will provide the Pirates with some of the best 1B D that they’ve had in a very long time, which bodes well to help out their young pitching. It’s the end of a tumultuous time for Overbay in Toronto, but we at Jays Journal wish him well in Pittsburgh;
• Jeremy Accardo has reportedly signed a 1-year $1.08 million contract with the Balitmore Orioles. He’ll make the same am0unt as he did with the Jays in 2010 despite spending most of that season in AAA; (more…)

“We’re getting a little more intrigued by it. We’re not ready to commit to it right now, but we would like to have a scenario where at least we can continue to find out about Adam at first. The upside for us long term in finding out about Adam, there’s huge value to that.”

Even though he is inclined to having Adam Lind as the Jays’ Opening Day first baseman, Anthopoulos still hinted towards signing a DH/1B option to complement Lind when he said:

“Just for the roster construction going forward. So, to find someone that can be a little bit more of a hybrid role — whether they’re DH and play some first — that’s the ideal scenario for us.”

“To go sign a bona fide first baseman that you’re going to have to promise everyday at-bats … we can sit here the following year and say: ‘You know what, we still haven’t truly found out about Adam Lind because we had an established first baseman that needed to play the position.’”

The concept of bringing in a possible veteran to platoon with and mentor Lind at first, but DH when needed as well, makes total sense. That being said though, the current state of the 1B/DH free agent market is not exactly overwhelming.

Below is a look at the remaining left-handed hitting 1B/DH options that are available on the free agent market. Add your comments in the section below, and I’ll have a post on the remaining right-handed hitting options tomorrow. (more…)

In an interview with Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle, Berkman mentioned that there was a lot of interest in him around the league saying:

“Now my focus is on who is going to contend that wants me to play for them. There’s been a lot of interest — Cardinals, Cubs, Rockies, A’s, Pirates, Blue Jays, a bunch of teams.”

“I haven’t had a single offer in terms of X amount of dollars, but I think this is the time of the year when there’s a lot of tire-kicking.”

One has to wonder how reliable hearing all of these teams in one sentence actually is. It seems highly unlikely that the Cardinals or Pirates in particular could be serious options for Berkman, though he does have a preference to playing in the National League, where he will likely end up.

Image Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Berkman is marketing himself as not just a 1B/DH option but as an outfielder as well, where he hasn’t played since 2007. Realistically speaking though, no team is seriously considering him as an outfielder.

In 2010, split between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees, the switch-hitting Berkman had the worst season of his career. He finished 2010 with a combined .248/.368/.413 line along with 14 HR and 58 RBI in 122 games between the two clubs. (more…)

I also know that many people will attempt to point to his assists from RF as the reason he should remain there. I don’t buy it one bit. The truth is that he’ll be 30 in 2011, getting older, and already had a -13 Rtot .

Rtot – the Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average – or, the number of runs above or below average the player was worth based on the number of plays made.

That was his worst Rtot result of his career, despite all of the assists, so imagine what happens when they stop running on him! In fact, many others have said that he is a well below average outfielder because he lacks the range needed to get to balls. Andy at “The Daily Sport Report” gives a great article of why Jose Bautista may need to return to 3B if the Jays want to be a better overall team and provides some support for the argument that had Jose going through his worst defensive season ever in 2010 – despite it being helped out trumendously with his greatest offensive output ever.

The other reason for Jose going to 3B, after the Jays settle the arbitration issue and get him under contract, is that the FA group currently available only has 1 star option in Adrian Beltre. That means he can demand a little more than he’s worth, both in money and year commitment, and also that he’ll demand a lot more than the Jays are willing to pay, which is why Alex Anthopolous mentioned the trade route being more attractive recently. The only other real option is Jorge Cantu, and I believe he showed everyone while in Texas that he really belongs in the National League, as he looked lost against most AL pitchers.

So, if FA isn’t a real option, what about a trade? (more…)

First Base

To me, this is the biggest hole in the entire lineup. Not only have the Jays lacked power from the 1B position since Carlos Delgado left the franchise, but they’ve also lacked any sort of run driving production, something you can’t afford to have at such a key offensive position. Thankfully, the Jays and Alex Anthopolous have 3 major routes to go through to fix this ailment with a ton of options in each category – internally, through trade, or through Free Agency (FA).

Internal Options

The internal options are the most interesting ones if the Jays are looking to keep costs to a minimum.

1 – Adam Lind is the most talked about option at 1B heading into 2011. He had a miserable 1st half of the season, hitting a lowly .214 with a .271 OBP, but did pick it up a little in the 2nd half after making some adjustments at the plate, hitting a more respectable .267 with a .309 OBP. In either case, that kind of production is unsatisfactory for a 1B. Will it be different in 2011? Who knows, but whatever the case the Jays can’t afford to have that kind of production at 1B or DH if they want to make the playoffs in 2011 or beyond. The fact that Adam Lind recently signed a contract to remain with the club through 2016 at an affordable rate (if all options are used, 2014 if not) makes it likely that he’ll remain with the club.

However, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he were traded should he begin the year off slowly once again. I foresee the possibility of Adam becoming trade bait at some point this off season or in 2011, as he could easily be afforded by most teams in MLB and does have the power and hitting ability some may seek in a package for a player that they can’t afford to keep (Adrian Gonzalez and Prince Fielder come to mind, but we’ll get back to that later). The Jays could very well play the waiting game in this case, hope Adam returns to form or heightens his trade value, and then pull the trigger or simply keep him at DH or 1B. There are a lot of questions surrounding Adam Lind from this point forward, all due to his lackluster 2010 season, but he did at least show us that he can handle 1B if need be.

2 – Re-signing Lyle Overbay is the most obvious of the bunch, and would maintain a familiarity within the group of players the Jays have on board as well as some stellar D, but it doesn’t fix the offensive woes the Jays have experienced from the position. This would be relatively expensive when compared to internal options from the minors, but it may also allow these other options to get the seasoning they need to be prepared for the jump. (more…)

Benefit? Yes, as the Jays are facing some struggles from 2 of their SP who were injured all of the 2009 season and may be tiring – or are injured – as a result of the year off. I’m thinking of Jesse Litsch in particular, a pitcher who has an ugly 5.79 ERA with an equally ugly 1.457 whip this season. Even before he was put in the DL, Jesse was definitely not pitching like the pitcher we saw in 2008 when he went 13-9 with  a 3.58 ERA and 1.233 whip. In my opinion, and after this great start from Marc, Jesse should either be shut down, sent down to AAA to work on his stuff once healthy, or moved to the pen so that he can limit his innings and start anew in 2011. If Tallet is sent packing in trade, Jesse could always become the long relief guy if he returns healthy. Rzepczynski would get a shot to prove himself, gain experience at the highest level, and would provide the Jays with a 3rd lefty in the rotation, all with different styles. (more…)