As The Jays Continue Losses To The Lowly Indians…

I thought I’d skip the end of this probable 3rd loss in a row to the lowly Indians and review what is going on, or has gone on, in the Jays landscape of things:

• Adeiny Hechavaria, despite struggling to a .193 average, .217 OBP, and only 11 extra base hits in 161 ABs in HiA Dunedin, was promoted by the Jays to AA New Hampshire. I have no idea how management justified this move, other than to guess that moving him up may change the scenery for him and get him to make the required adjustments. In his first game in AA, Adeiny hit a triple and went 1 for 2 with 2 walks. Not a bad start, let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come.
• The Jays are having problems scoring runs and have JP Arencibia (18 HRs, .308 avg) who is hitting .422 with 4 HRs over his last 10 games sitting in AAA. There is no reason for the Jays to delay his arrival and Lyle Overbay should be the victim in the lineup as he should be brought up along with Brett Wallace (14 HRs, .301 avg) who is hitting .450 with 3 HRs over his last 10 games. Both of these players would provide a serious boost to a lame lineup that has lost all signs of life over the last week. When a team flatlines as the Jays have, it’s time to insert some motivation – both JP and Brett would do just that. Lyle should be sent to the first team that will either cover some salary or provide the Jays with a mid-to-low level prospect.
• The Jays will sit between 8 and 9 games back of the AL East lead after today’s game, so is it time to begin the selling mode in Toronto? I say we’re about 2 to 3 games away from finding out and Lyle Overbay, all of the relievers, and perhaps others could all be involved in trade talks. One of the better and little talked about trade chips is John Buck who could provide some key power at the C position for teams in the hunt. A team like PHI could be interested in Buck and a reliever since Carlos Ruiz is still having concussion issues and they definitely need some relievers.
• Scott Richmond suffered a setback and has hit the DL again in the minors.
• Travis Snider led off for the GCL Jays. It has to be a good influence on Jake Marisnick and the rest of the GCL guys to be around someone like Travis who has a story or two on how tough the road to MLB is and that nothing should be taken for granted. Speaking of Marisnick, how outstanding has his start been? Through his first 35 ABs, Jake is hitting .343 with 6 doubles, 1 HR, 3 SB (0 CS), and .429 OBP. It shouldn’t be long before we see him in LoA Lansing.
• The Jays have still only signed 8 of their top 26 draft picks thus far since the draft ended. I know there’s lots of time left before the deadline, but it has to be worrying some that only 5 of the top 16 have signed. Let’s get’em signed Alex!
• Gustavo Pierre already has 5 errors for Auburn in only 12 games at SS. It seems inevitable that he will indeed need to switch positions to 3B or the OF. The 18 year old has held his own so far in Auburn, hitting .234 with 2 HRs, but definitely needs work on D.
• The Jays are apparently beginning to look at options for managing in 2011 and beyond, with the first names thrown around being Brian Butterfield and Sal Fasano. Both seem to be great candidates who have good relationships with Jays players. However, as Chris Carpenter stated when the Jays faced the Cards, whoever the Jays decide on needs to be there for the long term. Stability needs to become a part of the Jays organization if they want to succeed and Chris correctly pointed out the numerous coaching changes (at all positions) made during the last 10-12 years. The Jays need a long term option, and with the success of their pitching they may want to make sure that whoever it is who comes in is very comfortable with keeping the same pitching coach staff intact. Doing so would be the beginning to some stability and should allow the pitching to continue to succeed as it has so far in 2010.