Jun 17, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Rajai Davis (11) celebrates their victory with first baseman Edwin Encarnacion (10) against the Colorado Rockies at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays beat the Rockies 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Did I say panic last week?  What the hell was I talking about?

Thanks to a particularly cranky rant by The Score’s resident snot Andrew Stoeten, I feel I need to address this quickly and then move on.  Last week, I wrote “the Blue Jays need to panic.”  What I really meant was “play with urgency.”  The Jays needed to start playing with some urgency, some kind of importance.  It’s similar to “panic” but doesn’t have the same ring to it.  ”Panic” generally means chaos is involved and that’s not what I meant for this team.  Not before July 31st (trade deadline) anyway.  If the team fails, the front office SHOULD panic since this team was built to win NOW.  I had a nice long talk with some better baseball minds than Stoeten and they don’t think I’m crazy for thinking this way.  However, there’s no doubt Stoeten has a bright baseball mind.  He’s on The Score for a reason.  So I will not write him off like he did with me and that’s all I gotta say bout tha’ aat.

Since I wrote that article last week, OUR Jays (can I say “our” again?  They’re winners now, so it’s ok right?  Where’s my pink hat?) have not lost a single game.  That’s right baby!  6 wins!  Zero losses!  Victory… is… MINE!  I mean, I must have woke them up right?

Yea… right…  You have to give credit where credit is due and the Jays players are doing the work!  They are, in fact, playing with urgency and like a team.  The bats are doing their jobs.  The pitchers finally started doing theirs as well.  That picture up top is the epitome of what a team looks like.  That’s a team that suddenly looks like it’s having fun.  This is a team that has suddenly shown life.  While the skeptic in me says “Simmer down eh!” you cannot dismiss the fact that this run made things a little more exciting and brought back some hope.

I’m not going to get into the week that was because we have enough writers here, and everywhere else, that have it covered, but Buck Martinez said it right just two nights ago: “…this is a Jays team that (has) got(ten) hot at the right time.”  In a span of 1 week’s time, the Jays impressively picked up four games in the AL East (12 GB down to 8 GB) and four and a half in the Wild Card race (10 GB down to 5.5 GB) with five of the six straight victories coming on the road.  As Josh Menezes says, that’s “Pro-Gress!”

The most impressive part to this streak is the dominance of it.  Again, before we fans all go nuts and say “If we can beat (read as: DESTROY) the Texas Rangers, we can beat anybody,” just know that this was not the same Rangers team from April (17-9) and May (17-11.)  Their pitching rotation has been without Colby Lewis, Matt Harrison and Alexi Ogando and their line up has been without 2B Ian Kinsler and 1B/DH Mitch Moreland.  Since Kinsler went on the DL May 19th, the Rangers have won only 10 out of their last 26 games.

The Jays did, however, beat Yu Darvish and his 1,439 different kinds of curveball (seriously, he’s got more kinds of curveball than Cool Hand Luc does ice cream.)  Not exactly an easy task, especially since most of North America thought there was no chance Esmil Rogers was going to hang with Yu-Know-Who (http://instantrimshot.com/).  The Jays did prevail however, and the Jays staff has been stellar in every game since.  The last five games have been particularly eye-opening because almost every Blue Jays starter produced a quality start (at least 6 IP, 3 runs or less)… and that’s really understating just how good the starting five have been.  Blue Jays pitching has allowed only four runs over the last 45 innings pitched.  The birds of the north were +22 in run differential.  They pitched two shutouts.  Blue Jays starters: 34 IP, 2 ER, 9 BB, 26 K.  Three of the starters had WHIPs under one. (Mark Buehrle 0.71, Rogers 0.86, Josh Johnson 0.95.)  Pretty damn impressive indeed.

Colorado is weakened too, but again, let’s give credit where credit is due.  We fans have been BEGGING Toronto starting pitchers to pick up the slack.  We’ve been begging for a consistent stretch since the Jays season began with pla… with high expectations.  This week, they answered the call.  Hopefully, here’s the first of several good stretches, because the Jays will need this if they want to start mentioning that “P” word I refuse to say right now.  That’s the goal.  That’s been the goal from the beginning of this season.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, but this team was… well, one off-season anyway.  I’m not saying things are good yet, but they’re definitely improving.  Still skeptical?  I’m a big fan of Jonah Keri.  Check out his latest The 30.  You guys should be pretty familiar to him no? (Special thanks goes out to James G for making me aware that Keri happens to be Canadian*)  His take is amazing and should leave you feeling good after.

The Jays outfielders’ celebrate Friday’s victory over the Ranger, their Second consecutive victory!!! Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Several times this season the club has seemed primed to go on a run, having won three or four games in a row, and looking at a desirable matchup, such as someone like oh let’s just say Justin Grimm. And once they make it through that pitcher they have a series coming up against a team that is usually a perennial punching bag for the Jays, such as, oh I don’t know… the White Sox?? Yet time after time the Blue Jays squander their chances when the schedule exposes its too them, and spin their tires unable to get any real traction as they attempt to pull themselves back into contention.

While the inability to string together a win streak is something that has haunted the Jays this season, it has also plagued the franchise for several years. The hallowed 10 game winning streak that is “all it would take” to reverse the fortunes of the club has only happened once in the past five years. That came at near the end of a tumultuous 2008 campaign and pushed them to a mere eight and a half games back of the division lead. They had gone on two five game streaks that season as well, beating up on a woeful Royals squad as well as the aforementioned White Sox. However those were mostly negated by the six and seven game losing skids, the latter of which resulted in current, former skipper (wrap your head around that one) John Gibbons being replaced by Cito Gaston.

Jays Legend Roberto Alomar congratulates Cito Gaston on his ability to rally the troops to win 10 meaningless baseball games in a row. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The next year the longest win streak was six games, it was in September just like 2008′s charge at September relevance but it didn’t carry the same positive vibes, even though it came in a stretch that saw the team win 9 out of 10 games… to bring their record to 75-84 as a woeful season came to an end with a merciful sweep at the hands of the Orioles.

Both 2010 and 2011 saw the team match the six game win streak but in 2012 they were unable to string together more than four wins in a row. Sadly the best baseball this team has played in the last five years seems to have come when they are beyond the point of no return in terms of staying in contention.

The way the team is playing now it won’t be long before they will be so far gone that even a miraculous September, like the 2007 Rockies winning 12 of 13 games and going 19-8 to force a game 162, would be meaningless. And their so far season high four game streak is a far cry from what is needed to get back in the playoff hunt. Although if ever they were to make a run their next string of games facing the White Sox, Rockies, and another shot at an ailing Rangers club may be just the chance they need.

Whether it’s a matter of the Blue Jays lacking mental toughness, or simply not being good enough to not let those games slip away and put together a winning streak if they can’t get one going soon we can kiss the season good-bye.

Much like in this picture, the Toronto Blue Jays are chasing the Boston Red Sox for the AL East Championship and a spot in the playoffs. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

With the Toronto Blue Jays in the midst of a season long four game winning streak, it sounds negative to talk about a topic like this.  You can thank Jon Heyman for drawing my ire.

What should Alex Anthopoulos do if the season plays out the way it has been playing out and the Blue Jays play cellar dwellers?

The way I see it, if this Jays team isn’t going to do win this season, then they’re not going to do it.  Factors such as the AL East crown is more winnable now this season than it has been in the last 18 years led to a big bump in payroll for the Jays, as they took on the “win now” persona.  They bet the farm to acquire players that look fantastic or “sexy on paper.”  If “win now” is not going to happen, I believe the Jays would have to (dare I say it) rebuild the farm.

Heyman had his own ideas the other day.  He believes that the Baltimore Orioles should go after R.A. Dickey.  He then followed it up with Dickey more-than-likely not being available due to a relatively team friendly contract for a reigning Cy Young winner.  So basically, it was a waste of an article by Heyman.  I wasn’t the only one that felt this way.  Travis Bateman’s article takes it into further detail discussing some nationally syndicated writers you may want to avoid when it comes to following the Toronto Blue Jays.  It’s an excellent read.

Bateman, Heyman, and another fellow writer, Kyle Franzoni however, all got me thinking:  ”if it’s over before the trade deadline, who are the Blue Jays most trade-able chips?”

I’m not in the head of AA.  If I was, I would ABSOLUTELY NOT make a trade to improve an AL East rival unless I knew for sure the Blue Jays were absolutely out of it.  So Dickey to the Orioles just isn’t happening.  Guys that could be on their way out however:

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion (10).  Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Edwin Encarnacion: There are several playoff contending teams that are having issues at 1B, 3B, and OF.  Encarnacion can play all of those positions.  While his versatility makes him intriguing, it’s his power and contract that make him a great trade chip.  The power slugger is only one year removed from hitting .280 with 42 HR 110 RBI and an .941 OPS.  The 2012 season was by far EE’s best season of his career.  If the Blue Jays were better in 2012, Encarnacion would have been an MVP candidate.  The amount of money he’s earning this season?  A mere $8 million dollars.  That’s nothing for MVP type numbers.  Did I mention that Easy E is also only 30 years old?

Teams Interested:  Most of this is my own speculation of course, but contending teams outside the AL East that could use an upgrade at 1B, 3B, or OF are the St.Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, and MAYBE Oakland Athletics or Kansas City Royals.

All four teams mentioned have great talent at their minor league levels.  St.Louis and Texas are probably the best suitors since both teams are willing to take on money and have young, talented players they’re looking to move.  The Rangers may be the most ideal. The Rangers are looking to upgrade at 1B (the Rangers aren’t sold on Mitch Moreland) and possibly move #1 prospect SS/2B Jurickson Profar as well as #2 prospect 3B Mike Olt since both youngsters are roadblocked by better players.  With the possible resurgence of the Jays 1B/OF/DH Adam Lind, plus the Blue Jays need for a legitimate second baseman, this trade would benefit both teams greatly.  It would also give Toronto some payroll relief for when SS Jose Reyes‘ contract starts to reach into the stratosphere of ballplayers like Albert Pujols ($23 million) and Alex Rodriguez ($28 million.)

Brandon Morrow (23) Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Morrow:  It’s difficult to imagine Morrow being the Jays most trade-able pitcher given his inconsistency.  Many GMs, however, love Morrow’s stuff and feel he can be a bonafide top of the rotation pitcher of almost any team.  Though he was more affordable last season, $8 million for a 28 year old hard throwing righty is still relative bargain for aspiring playoff teams.  2012 showed glimpses of just how good he can be, with a 10-7 record, 2.96 ERA, and 3.0 BB/9, all career bests.

Teams Interested: The Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves have to be interested if Morrow is available.  Both teams would be willing to increase their payroll to acquire an arm like Morrow’s.  It’s tough to say who the ideal partner is here, but the Braves have the more talented farm system at this point.  If the Jays are looking to add some young talented arms, you don’t have to look hard with the Braves.  Julio Teheran or Mike Minor do not have Morrow’s stuff, but can be front line starters, are younger, and would be under team control wherever they end up.  Landing one of them as well as a couple of decent-to-low end prospects could make a trade like this very realistic.

Casey Janssen (44) Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Casey Janssen: It pains me to say Janssen’s name in trade talks.  What pains me even more is Toronto doesn’t see him to be the ideal closer for this team.  Last season’s trade for Sergio Santos showed you Toronto felt it needed improvement at the back end of the pen.  This despite Janssen being the most reliable relief pitcher the Jays have had over the last three seasons (yes, even more so than Jason Frasor.)  Since Janssen is an UFA after 2014 and costs around $4 million for his talents, he’s affordable by most playoff contending teams and would be a great trade asset for the Jays.

Teams Interested: Two teams that immediately come to mind are both from the NL West.  The Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks both need closers.  Brandon League and J.J. Putz, for their respective teams, have not been good.

Here’s where this gets tricky though.  Both teams have closers waiting in the wings.  The Dodgers have Kenley Jansen.  Arizona has David Hernandez.  In fact, most sports analysts have wondered why Jansen has yet to be given the closer’s role with all of League’s struggles.  In Arizona, I don’t feel the D-Backs trust Hernandez in that role just yet.  When Putz went down to injury, instead of going to Hernandez, Diamondbacks coach Kirk Gibson gave the closing duties to failed Miami Marlins closer Heath Bell.

Janssen would be a perfect fit for either team though.  The Jays would ideally like to deal with Diamondbacks because of their farm system talent.  A player like Janssen could possibly get the Jays LHP prospect Tyler Skaggs straight up due to the pitching depth Arizona has.  Even though Skaggs is the Diamondbacks top organizational prospect, based off of what I read, my perception is the club may value #2 prospect, RHP Archie Bradley, more.  It’s not out of the realm of getting players like Matt Davidson, Adam Eaton, and Skaggs or Bradley if Toronto ships Encarnacion and Janssen to Arizona.  That does go against Arizona’s youth movement philosophy however.

Janssen, being from California, may prefer to go to the Dodgers.  The Dodgers sorely need a reliable late inning arm, almost as much as the Jays do.  Two problems with the Dodgers.  1.) They are struggling as badly now as the Jays were in April.  2.) Much like the Jays, they too bet their farm system on big name, talented veterans.  So the Dodgers farm system is pretty dry.  If, however, LA puts together a solid playoff run in the coming months, or at least believes it can, they may be willing to make a move where it could net the Jays stud prospect OF Yasiel Puig in exchange for Janssen.

There are plenty of the minor moves to be made.  Playoff teams are always looking to make their team faster on the basepaths.  Rajai Davis and Emilio Bonifacio have great speed and could be sent out, but it probably wouldn’t give the Jays back anybody of major relevance.  Melky Cabrera, if he continues to hit the ball well, could maybe net a decent set of prospects, but I feel teams are still a bit hesitant to trade for him after his suspension and cover-up last season for PEDs.  Darren Oliver or Aaron Loup are two more players that could be dealt seeing as though most teams like to carry a “lefty specialist.”  Don’t expect both guys to get the Jays much in return either.

Ultimately, if the Jays are done, then Encarnacion, Morrow, and Janssen are the best bet to help rebuild this franchise.  While the trades made this offseason to acquire Dickey and other good players like Josh Johnson and Reyes weren’t entirely bad, if this team doesn’t at least get into the playoffs, it’s going to cost AA his job.  The flip flopping of team strategy to go from building within, to betting the farm, back to building within is generally frowned upon in any major sports management community.  It portrays the image that the guy running the franchise doesn’t know what he’s doing.  If the Jays go back to rebuilding, they truly will be the “Marlins of the North” and will absolutely portray that clueless image.

Francisco Cordero fires a pitch against the Rangers at Rogers Centre last night. (John E. Sokolowski-US PRESSWIRE)

Despite all of this, however, Cordero was one pitch away from a clean inning last night, when he pitched much better than the box score indicated.

To put the above comment into context, I am, by no means, Cordero’s biggest supporter, as I’m well aware of his diminshed average fastball velocity and the concerning drop in his strikeout rate from 12.2 whiffs per nine innings in 2007 compared to just 5.4 per nine in 2011. I wasn’t a fan of the Cordero signing in the first place, and back in January I wrote that I would have preferred the Jays give the eighth inning and high leverage situations to Casey Janssen, who had the best season of his career in 2011, instead.

But I’m cutting Cordero some slack for his performance last night which, for me, is bold. His line was this:

(BS, 2)(W, 1-1) 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.

Rangers leadoff hitter Alberto Gonzalez took a first-pitch, 86 mph slider from Cordero for strike one before chopping a grounder foul to the third-base side on an identical 86 mph slider for strike two. Tossing the slider once again, this time a bit higher in the zone but on the outer half of the plate, Gonzalez weakly grounded out to a running Brett Lawrie for the first out of the inning.

Next up for the Rangers and pinch hitting for center fielder Craig Gentry was Adrian Beltre, who entered the game with a .321 average and .899 OPS, easily one of the best hitters on a loaded Rangers roster. After missing low and away with his first fastball of the inning, Cordero went back to his slider and dropped it on the inner half of the plate to even the count with a called first strike. Cordero found himself behind once again 2-1 after missing high with another fastball, but reared back to “blow” a 92 mph four seamer by Beltre on a foul tip for strike two. Then, in what I thought was his best pitch of the inning, Cordero struck out Beltre swinging on a fastball in the exact same location, on the outer half of the plate.

That brought up Ian Kinsler, Cordero’s final obstacle in closing out only his second perfect inning of the season. The Jays’ interim closer fed Kinsler a well-placed slider outside for a first-pitch strike — something that he’s only managed to do a career-low 48% of the time this season — before getting the call on a low and outside fastball to get ahead 0-2. The pitch was beautifully framed by Jays catcher Jeff Mathis (pictured below, post-frame), who stuck his glove to lift the pitch up ever so slightly.

Jeff Mathis frames a pitch from Francisco Cordero last night against the Rangers.

But after fouling off two good pitches and taking a low ball over the plate, Kinsler ripped a single to center to keep the inning alive in just a solid piece of hitting from the Rangers’ second baseman. All six of Cordero’s pitches in the at-bat were well placed, as five were in the strike zone and the other was a low-and-outside slider that Kinsler was coaxed into chasing.

We all know what happened next, though, as Elvis Andrus and Michael Young dropped bloop singles into right center to tie the game before Nelson Cruz grounded out to end the inning.

Cordero threw 16 of his 21 pitches (76%) for strikes, which was his highest percentage in any outing so far this season and against a Rangers squad that boasts the best offense in the Majors right now. Sure, Cordero is far from the same pitcher that he was in 2007 when he was with Milwaukee, but his performance last night was easily his most impressive of the year and there were some positives to take from it.

-JM

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Fernandez, a four-time All-Star and winner of four Gold Gloves with the Blue Jays, will be in uniform with the Rangers during Spring Training and will continue to assist the club during the regular season. He was hired by the Blue Jays to coach Yunel Escobar over the winter.

“We’re excited to welcome Tony to our organization,” Daniels said in an official statement. “His work ethic and performance on the field are matched only by his grace and commitment to the community. He’ll be able to help our players in a number of ways.”

Tony Fernandez hit .297 in four different stints over 12 seasons with Toronto. (MLB.com)

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Blue Jays in 1979, Fernandez forced his way onto the big-league roster with his strong play in the minors before breaking out in his first full campaign as a 23-year-old in 1985. After hitting .290/.340/.402 in six seasons with the Jays from 1985-1990, the Dominican Republic native was packaged with Fred McGriff in the blockbuster trade that brought Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar to Toronto.

Returning to the Jays in 1993 and winning the World Series, Fernandez returned to Toronto once again from 1998-99 and for part of the 2001 season, his last in the Majors. Though he played for seven teams in his career, Fernandez will always be known for the 1450 games he played for the Blue Jays.

-JM

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Image courtesy of TheGoodPoint.com

Less than a day after rumors swirled that the Blue Jays were set to acquire reliever Koji Uehara from the Texas Rangers, Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas, via MLB Trade Rumors, reported that the right-hander actually rejected the move altogether by exercising his limited no-trade clause. Uehara was able to block a trade to only six teams and the Blue Jays were one of them, unfortunately.

In his article, Durrett cites Uehara’s unwillingness to move his family from Baltimore to Toronto as the main reason the deal was vetoed, but thanks to a Yahoo! Japan article (poorly translated to English by Google) and some help from Yusuke Ueno, one of my followers on Twitter (@inter_ueno), there’s a lot more to the story.

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According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, two major league sources have told him that left-handed relief pitcher Darren Oliver is close to signing a deal with the Blue Jays. In terms of relievers, Oliver has been as dependable as they come.

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The Blue Jays weren’t involved, and sure, eight player trades are more of a rarity nowadays, but why should Jays fans care about this deal?

Image courtesy of Bleacher Report

Reason #1

The first reason is the most obvious one: Matt Garza is no longer in the American League. Jays fans should be rejoicing and partying in the streets over this one, because Garza was one of the Jays’ biggest headaches on the Rays’ roster.

Outside of James Shields, no starting pitcher on the Rays’ staff had faced the Jays more. In Garza’s 13 starts against Toronto, the Jays mustered just a .294 on base percentage and .320 slugging percentage against him, good for a .615 OPS. The Jays posted their lowest OPS against Garza in his career over any of Garza’s teammates that included James Shields (.783 OPS), David Price (.663 OPS),  Wade Davis (.667 OPS), and Jeff Niemann (.688 OPS). Garza had faced the Jays more than any other team aside from the Boston Red Sox, and to make matters worse, excluding his one appearance against the Phillies and Padres, the Jays had the lowest OPS against Garza out of all the teams he had faced in his career. (more…)