Hall-of-Famer Robbie Alomar rains on fan's parade

It was one of those strange photographs without context on the weekend that was hard to explain, featuring Robbie Alomar in the annual Parade of Legends in Cooperstown.

The parade is a great event for fans, with each of the Hall-of-Famers in attendance perched in the back of his own pick-up truck cruising slowly down Main Street waving to the enthusiastic fans that are lined for blocks on both sides of the street.

It's an annual event that allows visitors to see their heroes up close and personal -- sometimes too up close and sometimes too personal.

All of a sudden it's become clear but on Saturday, following the event, writing a column back at the press centre, John Lott of the National Post showed us a still-photo of the Alomar heist. The photo showed Robbie waving the Puerto Rican flag in his right hand and the flag of his hometown in his left hand.

Also in his hand was a Jays jersey No. 12, which was rather hard to explain. It did not fit. But from Deadspin comes this hilarious video supplied by friends of the fan whose Alomar jersey this once was.

It's been six years since Alomar has stolen a base or robbed anyone of a hit. Old habits die hard.

The Hall-of-Fame second baseman can now add this fan to his list of highway robberies.

Enjoy this Hall-of-Fame heist thanks to some home video and Deadspin.

Griffin: Dave Van Horne recalls his 32 years in Montreal

During the early seasons of the Expos franchise, broadcaster Dave Van Horne worked alongside a variety Hall-of-Famers in the TV booth. That was when Expos television was just a Wednesday night game of the week, the feeling by president John McHale being, why give away your product for free when the goal is to put people in the ballpark. Van Horne worked in those early years with hall-of-famers Pee Wee Reese, Don Drysdale and Duke Snider. Now he joins that trio of great former Dodgers at Cooperstown as the 2011 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence.Van Horne, whether he knew it or not back in '69, was about to become the baseball voice for an entire nation.

“I didn't,” Van Horne admitted of his lack of prescience. “As a matter of fact I was hired at spring training and the day before the opener in New York, John McHale said to me, 'I'm not going to offer you a multiple year deal because I have no idea what's going to happen up here. The only thing I do know is that we're going to play 162 games this year. So, we'll talk again when the season's over.'”

Up until 1977, Van Horne was the dominant voice of Canadian baseball from coast-to-coast. He was the voice of summertime, with his smooth delivery and lack of home-team bias making him a pleasure to listen to for all fans and a soothing companion at a hot summer backyard barbecue. He was an inspiration to many would-be baseball play-by-play men, including a young Tom Cheek, who was working at a border radio station in Vermont at the time the Expos made their debut.

The Expos in those early years took the winter caravan very seriously as a marketing tool. Whenever the stop was Burlington, VT, young Mr. Cheek would be the emcee at whatever banquet was staged for the visiting sports stars. Later, when the question arose about who should replace Van Horne on televised nights when he was in the booth with the Duke of Flatbush, Van Horne remembered to his bosses the potential of the tall, baritoned kid from Vermont and suggested Tom Cheek.

When the Jays came into existence and they were looking for a radio play-by-play man late in 1976, heading into the inaugural season, already with Canadian experience, Cheek was at the top of the list. In fact, when you listened to the two men on their respective broadcasts, it was amazing the inflection, the intonation and the phrasing, how eerily similar they were. It's only fitting that Van Horne, of the two Canadian broadcasting icons, should reach Cooperstown first and even though the window of Cheek's opportunity is closing due to the passage of time since his tragic death, the fact that he is annually kept on the ballot by loyal Jays fans and their online campaign gives him a puncher's chance.

For 32 years, Van Horne was a hidden jewel of baseball. I travelled on the road with the Expos for an average of 75 games for 26 seasons and can honestly say that other than Vin Scully, God's protoype for the position, I never heard a better broadcaster on radio in any of those years, in any of those baseball towns. His call on the final out of Dennis Martinez's perfect game at Dodger Stadium of “El President, El Perfecto” has rarely been equalled in its brevity and dramatic flair.

“I think it's the simplicity of that call,” Van Horne said. “But that's for others to decide. Certainly the special moment adds to it. There aren't very many moments like that in baseball. I have never broadcast to make highlights or quirky comments. I try to think of the moment and try to make that moment special for the radio listener. Not to get in the way of what's happening on the field.”

But his most unique call will always be an Expos home run: “Up, up and away.” Van Horne told the story of how that phrasing came about. In the Expos' second season, he and his partner Russ Taylor listened to highlights and realized their home run calls were very similar. He was driving home to the West Island where he was a year-long resident, when he heard the hit song by the Fifth Dimension, “Up, Up and Away.” It got him thinking. He used it for a couple of weeks with no reaction, so he drifted back to other calls. Van Horne recalled that as soon as he stopped, he was besieged by questions from fans and the team's president McHale. “What happened to your home run call?” It returned to stay.

Van Horne's career in Montreal ended on a somewhat sour note. After the great strike of '94, English radio interest in Montreal was low in the late '90s. Negotiation stalled and interested stations played hardball with the Expos, insisting that the right be handed over for next to nothing. As such, there was one disappointing season in 2000 when Van Horne, one of the great voices in baseball was doing radio games for an Internet audience. Baseball cannot survive without radio.

“It wasn't very pleasant,” Van Horne recalled. “My escape daily was the 2-1/2 to 3 hours I was behind the mic to do the ballgame. The rest of the time was spent wondering what I was going to do the rest of my life. A good part of that season was spent agonizing over what next for me, for my family, for my livelihood as a baseball family. Openings at the major-league level don't come up very often.”

After Expos' owner Jeffrey Loria bailed on Montreal and took his talents to South Beach to take over the Marlins in a sweetheart deal, leaving the fate of the Expos in the hands of fatalistic MLB ownership, a spot opened up in the Marlins booth and Van Horne jumped at the chance to move on, to a better situation. By then, he was already a longtime resident of south Florida.

He is a Hall-of-Famer. I speak to Canadians, fans of a certain age, for whom Van Horne was their window to baseball growing up. He influenced an entire nation and generations of sports fans and without the interest and early success of the majors in Montreal, there might not be a Jays.

 

Bautista out at least until Sunday

(Toronto Blue Jays Jose Bautista is assisted on the field by one of the team's trainers after he slid awkwardly into third, injuring his ankle, in the fifth inning of their American League MLB baseball game against the New York Yankees in Toronto July 14, 2011. (REUTERS/Fred Thornhill)

The Blue Jays announced today that third baseman Jose Bautista will remain sidelined with an injured right ankle at least until Sunday, the series finale against the Yankees.

"He still remains day-today," Jays manager John Farrell said just before batting practice. "It's no worse than last night at the time of turning the ankle. He's been walking in a walking boot. He will continue to work during the course of tonight and tonight's game to get the swelling out of there. Really, it's no more than a day-to-day evaluation."

Farrell suggested if it came down to a decision on Sunday, he would prefer to err on the side of caution, using the off-day on Monday for additional recovery time and returning Bautista to the lineup perhaps on Tuesday against the Mariners.

Bautista had not as of late afternoon Friday gone for an MRI examination of the injured joint, but that would still be a possibility when the swelling goes down.

In early May, Bautista had a stiff neck, remaining on the active roster while he worked long hours with a specialist in Tampa to get back on the field. The Jays are hoping this indicates a high tolerance for pain and that the DL once again will not be necessary. 

"He's one guy that you have to fight to get out of the lineup," Farrell said. "In addition to the way he plays, he wants to be out there every day. But I think at the same time, he's going to be smart about it and through the daily treatment, the daily testing that will give him the appropriate information when to put him back in the lineup."

The decision would have to be made whether to DH him when he comes back, to allow him to play third base or to put him back in the outfield where he will be returning whenever Brett Lawrie is deemed ready for promotion. The advantage of the outfield is that there is less change of direction and stopping and starting to put pressure on the ankle. 

"It's probably too early to say that right now," Farrell said of any position for his star slugger. "His progress in becoming more symptom free will determine his role when he is going to be in the lineup."

Bautista made himself unavailable to the media until after the game against the Yankees. 

 

 

 

Griffin: Farrell offers fans intriguing glimpse of future

PHOENIX-The Jays had seemed intent on slow-playing their future when they headed out on a road trip to play nine inter-league games in three cities, but after being swept by the Braves the fornt-office frustration of a punchless offence may have caused them to accelerate some of their moves. On the off-day they moved Jose Bautista to third base and brought up outfielder Eric Thames. The changes had to be made.

“Personally, taking a step back from that Atlanta series, they really pitched,” manager John Farrell said. “We were feeling some frustration at the time. We were coming off a good series in Cincinnati, swinging the bats well and they shut us down.

“There were moves in the offing that, I don't want to say were scheduled for certain days. We had an eye on moves that we felt were going to take place at some point in the near future. That might have helped that move at the time. Thames, for one, coming back and once Travis Snider got past the concussion, because he was showing the adjustments and taking them into the game.”

The Jays have one more move to make as soon as is humanly and health-wise possible in terms of position players when 21-year-old third baseman Brett Lawrie returns to form. They had been planning on bringing him up, but like the misguided Atlanta situation, were confident they could manipulate the timing of the promotion. It cost them dearly as Lawrie was hit on the hand in a Triple-A game and set back a month.

“From a position player standpoint, anytime you add a player of the talent of Brett Lawrie, assuming he's back to the timing that he showed and the performance prior to the hand injury, that's an exciting youg player to add to the team,” Farrell said. “When he comes, he's going to be an everyday guy. You look at the young, athletic type of player that we talked about, that gives us additional speed, it gives us explosiveness, maybe a little bit more of a glimpse into what is just around the corner from a position standpoint, but we have to continue to make strides on the mound.”

The other glimpse of the future that Farrell wants to see more of is the glimpse of a full Rogers Centre that he observed during the energized Phillies series on the Canada Day weekend with Roy Halladay back in town. The first-year manager believes that those fans bought into what the Jays will have moving forward.

“I would hope that people came away from that series, even thugh it was a series won by Philadelphia, knowing that we played a pretty good brand of baseball,” Farrell said. “Not only competitive, but I think a spirited brand. I think there was a feeling as you walked away from the ballpark – even we felt it – that the way we came back in game three, because we had every ability – if a game was to be mailed in, that might have been it. In the first four innings, we were kind of looking like that and yet Rajai, a couple of stolen bases and we were a couple of runs away. Then we catch fire and take the game. That is a glimpse of what people might see.”

The Jays have 70 games remaining in the season, starting with a four game weekend set against the Yankees, a chance for some good, enthusiastic crowds, who will be coming off the feel-good experience of watching Jose Bautista and Ricky Romero at the All-Star Game. The Jays may not end up contending for the post-season but what fans will see is a team that has turned younger and more exciting since the torching in Atlanta.

“There's a number of different ways this team can score runs and come back on people,” Farrell said. “That day (against Cliff Lee) was a clear indication. There was speed to chip away, then there was three home runs late in a game we won.”

Lawrie, the native of Langley, B.C., has been cleared days ago to take batting practice after progressing from hitting off a tee to soft toss. That recent clearance of the prized youngster is another step in his rehab, but there is no indication yet when he will get into some minor league games. But it's all just a stop on his inevitable road to Toronto. This time they won't slow play him to manipulate service time.

 

 

 

Griffin: Baseball's Futures look bright at All-Star Game

PHOENIX—It's been a long time since major-league baseball reached its all-star break riding an uplifting event like Derek Jeter's 3,000^th hit. The Yankees' classy shortstop did it in style, going five-for-five on Saturday, with a home run representing the milestone safety. Only Wade Boggs among the 27 with three grand in safeties before him had ever homered for No. 3,000.

Not only was it Jeter's class act that elicited universal admiration of all present at the stadium in the Bronx, including the Rays, but there was also the classy move of the fan that caught the home run, 23-year-old Christian Lopez who handed the ball over to Jeter without asking anything in return. He got some swag from the club anyway. Whatever happened to the old days when the grand old game was dominated by greed and steroids.

However there is one caveat to current serenity that was pointed out by Players' Association chief Michael Weiner in an open letter-slash-press release and directed at the state of Arizona earlier in the week that warned of the danger presented by SB 1070, the state law passed in 2010 allowing persons suspected of being in the country illegally to be stopped at any time and asked for their proper documentation. With the huge Latin presence at the game and with all players accompanied by many family members, a shadow of concern continues to loom all week in the Valley of the Sun.

But on Sunday, all that was forgotten. It was about the future of baseball, showcasing the top minor league players in a game featuring Team USA against a World Team, the US won to take an all-time 7-6 lead in games. Including Blue Jays' pitching prospect Henderson Alvarez from Venezuela and M's righthander James Paxton, the only Canadian, from Richmond B.C. In all, there were 13 countries or territories represented in uniform.

Don't count Alvarez out of the Jays' mix for starting pitchers of the future. He is just 21-years-old and within the last 12 months has upped his fastball velocity from the low to the high 90s.

“You take the first three years, he was just learning baseball,” said Sal Fasano, currently managing Alvarez at AA-New Hampshire and a coach for the World team. “He's learning American culture. Now you look at the next three years and all of a sudden he's throwing 96-97 miles per hour. Well he's got a new toy. He has to learn how to work with it. The last few years he's made some great strides. We had a game in Trenton where he hit 101. You just don't see that.”

The Jays have shown that they are not afraid to call pitchers straight up from Double-A. They showed it with Kyle Drabek and they showed it with Zach Stewart. It's possible Alvarez, who was on the shelf when the season opened, is not that far away from the Show. He got a taste of the major-league Jays at spring training as an invited non-roster player and was a sponge for knowledge.

“Being around those guys, I learned from watching them a lot about leading in the clubhouse,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “All those guys are humble guys. Especially Jose Bautista. He's a humble person, a simple guy, a personable guy even though he's got all those home runs. Not just that, but I learned from Octavio Dotel. He's been around. He's a veteran. He gave me advice about working hard and not losing focus of the goal to get to the big leagues.”

The Jays have done the same thing with Alvarez in terms of taking pitches out of his repertoire that they did with Drabek and, to a lesser extent Brett Cecil. Fasano, a former back-up catcher with the Jays, said they have taken away his hard cutter and his curveball, leaving him with a high '90s fastball, a devastating changeup and a slider termed “a work in progress.”

“He's narrowed it down,” Fasano explained. “Now he can just master three pitches. You simplify the game. It's like a kid you put in the middle of a toy room and he's going to try and play with all the toys. Is he going to learn how to play with all of them? No. But you put him in a room with one toy, he's going to master that one toy. Then you give him two, he masters two toys.”

Alvarez is not the only one of his Fisher Cat players that Fasano feels has a chance to make it to the Jays. In fact he sees several on his team with a chance to become stars.

“We're talking about Adeiny (Hechavarria),” Fasano said. “We're talking about Travis D'Arnaud, Anthony Gose has got a high ceiling. Moises Sierra, Michael McDade have high ceilings. Then we've got pitchers, too. You saw Zach Stewart. You're going to see Henderson maybe in September, maybe next year, some guys you've got to make decisions on, whether we're going to keep them or allow them to go somewhere else.”

Alvarez, with a 4-4 record and a 3.25 ERA in 10 games at New Hampshire, tossed a scoreless inning in the Futures, hitting 96 several times. He's part of the Jays future.

 

 

Jays mailbag: Jays riding high right now

The Jays are on the rise with their fans heading into the all-star break. The Phillies weekend at the Rogers Centre drew more than 116,000 fans with Ricky Romero on Canada Day, followed by the return of Roy Halladay on Saturday, offering up the same type of gutsy performance they had seen for almost a decade. Finally, there was the Jays defeating Cliff Lee on Sunday, who entered the game with a streak of 32 scoreless innings. And nobody got tasered.

The best thing that then could have happened for the organization after that, did. The Jays ended the homestand on a high note and headed out of town with those heady baseball memories still fresh in the minds of their fans. What if the Jays had a follow-up three-game series at home against the Royals or the White Sox with 15,000 people per night in a suddenly subdued building? But thankfully, they didn't. 

Instead, they headed to Fenway Park for three sellouts beginning with a 9-7 win on Monday, then an edge-of-the-sofa loss in which they were foiled by a last out at the plate with the manager arguing the umpire missed the call. From Fenway they head to Cleveland for four games, then into the all-star break.

At the big game in Phoenix, Jays fans will be proudly represented by Jose Bautista, with his record 7 million votes — many of which came online from Canada. With his home run derby invitation and  his start in right field, as the first Jays player voted in since Carlos Delgado in 2003. And, oh yeah, Jays manager John Farrell is the AL pitching coach, selected by Ron Washington.

The good news continues for the Jays when they come back from the break — they open the weekend against the Yankees.

For Paul Beeston and Rogers it's the best promotional start for the second half the Jays could hope for. It won't reflect itself necessarily in ticket sales for the final two months, but in terms of GTA interest for the future, many fans that returned to the RC as casual fans for the Phillies series will be paying attention with baseball in the spotlight for a couple of months. The door is open, but the Jays need to play well.

The other thing they are doing right as the second half gets underway is re-populating the field with younger players that fans are hoping will be stars in the future. On to the mailbag.

Q-Hey Richard,

With Jesse Litsch and Dustin McGowan on rehab stints, I was curious as to who you think the Jays will keep as their starting 5. I know Carlos V. will go back to the pen, but that leaves Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil, Jo-Jo Reyes, Litsch, McGowan and even Kyle Drabek and even Zach Stewart.

 Secondly, how long will Brett Lawrie be out? It seems to me that an infield of Lawrie, Escobar, Lind and (Hill) can be very effective, and the future of the outfield looks bright with Thames in LF, Snider in CF and Jose in RF. Can this line-up compete with the rest of the beasts in the east, if not this year, then in 2012-2013?

Alex, Toronto

A-I don't know why anyone would continue asking about the Jays competing this season and it certainly sounds like that's what your question is hinting at. The Jays would need to go 48-27 in the final 75 games in order to win 90 games. That's the fringe number for a wild-card berth and considering the AL has 10 extra wins floating around from inter-league and that the Jays have not shown an ability to put together a long winning streak, it's an extreme longshot.

As for McGowan, his is a wonderful story of perseverance from a kid that John Farrell sat across the field from as Red Sox pitching coach in '08 and went “Wow!” In two days, McGowan will have been away from major-league baseball for three calendar years thanks to two shoulder surgeries and one minor knee surgery. He is now pitching at Class-A Dunedin and it says here he will remain on rehab and on the 60-day DL the rest of the year. The Jays will allow him to come to 2012 training camp as a healthy roster player and do his best from there. You want to be optimistic, but try and find another player in history that has overcome a timeline like that that didn't include a World War.

Jesse Litsch is pitching at AAA-Las Vegas and is not a sure bet to get back to the majors this year. He has been alerted by GM Alex Anthopoulos not to expect a recall necessarily once his injury assignment is over. I would say that for the remainder of this season, Carlos Villanueva has earned a rotaton spot. I would also say that after handling the Red Sox as he did on Tuesday, by changing speeds and by beng a pitcher, that Cecil has earned the right to stay. He left for Vegas throwing like Jamie Campbell and came back throwing like Jamie Moyer. Okay, maybe that's a slight exagerration on both ends, but you get the picture. In any case, with Carlos V. and Cecil and Romero and Morrow, that makes four. Of course that all depends on everyone's health and one can never predict that part of the game.

For Lawrie, it looks like his left hand has healed and he had begun the road back, starting with tee work, then soft toss, then cages, then live b.p. then minor league games, then the majors. I would estimate a return between the end of the all-star break and right after the trade deadline July 31. The question of the Jays' lineup moving forward will be addressed throughout the rest of this mailbag.  

Q-Do you see a trade market for Juan Rivera, Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch or even Frank Francisco? I think Rivera would be a good fit for the Phillies who need a RH bat? He can play both corner OF positions and has shown an ability to play first as well. Also what about Aaron Hill potentially going to the Giants who could use a second baseman. Hill's contract gives them some flexibility if they know Freddy Sanchez will return next year.

Jason, San Francisco

A-Here's the thing. If the Jays hang on to all their current players, next June they'll have more sandwiches than Quiznos. The Elias Sports Bureau produces the official rankings of Types A and B free agent players that demand draft pick compensation. An A player signed elsewhere gets the signing team's pick, plus a sandwich pick between the first and second round. A Type B gets you just the sandwich, no combo. Right now, the Jays' potential Type B free agents at the end of '11 are: 1-Aaron Hill; 2-Jason Frasor; 3-Jon Rauch; 4-Octavio Dotel; 5-Shawn Camp and 6-Frank Francisco. That would give the Jays at least eight picks in the first 100. That's a GM's equivalent of Pavlov's Dog and I can already see AA slobbering at the prospect of that draft bounty. The Jays could add to that number if there are any players from the first three rounds of this year's draft that they can't sign by August 15. The ever-ongoing Elias free agent rankings came out within the last month and perhaps the Jays were hoping to get Juan Rivera and Cory Patterson enough playing time to rank as Type Bs. But the rankings show there is no way for them to reach that level, so what happened? The Jays designated Rivera and have decided that while he's still here, Patterson will have a role coming off the bench. In answer to your question about trades, unless the Jays can get the same type of premium prospect in trade for one of those six players that they would get in the draft next year, they'll hang onto them. The likely trade candidates at the deadline are Patterson, Davis, Jose Molina, Litsch and Encarnacion. I can't see another team giving up a top prospect from their system for two months of any of those Type Bs.  

Q-Hi Richard,

You are the Maharajah of the Mailbag. Submit any question and all will be answered. So, here's my question. Do you think there is any chance Jose Bautista will stay at third permanently? If he does, Brett Lawrie can switch back to second base and Eric Thames AND Travis Snider can co-exist in the outfield giving the Jays three left-handed bats (along with Lind). Obviously I am not banking on Aaron Hill being here after this year and giving way to Lawrie. If Bautista moves back to right field, the only way both Thames and Snider play is if Snider plays centre field. This might be ok for the short term but when
 Anthony Gose is ready (2012 or 2013) someone will have to be traded. What are your thoughts? Is this a pipe-dream or do you think the Jays are already discussing this possibility?

Howard, Toronto

A-The Jays discuss every possibility. There is no scenario that Jays fans come up with that has not been discussed by AA, Tony LaCava, John Farrell and the trusted front office group. It's a reasonable question to ask whether Bautista will stay at third base, but it's similar to the end of spring training where he spent all spring at third yet was moved back to right field to make room for EE at third base — yikes. When Bautista was signed by the Jays to a five-year deal, the loose promise from AA was that they would do everything in their power to let him be an outfielder. He is a team guy so he currently has agreed to play third base until Lawrie is ready, so to make his third base move a permanent after previous conversations and promises would not fly. You do not want the face of the franchise to be seen as a frowny one.

In terms of Lawrie moving to second base, he has spent much time making the adjustment to third base and has done so very well at figuting out the position, it would be a step back to ask him to move again. The Jays have Hill at second base with two option years to consider. They have not made up their minds on Hill and his $16 million for 2012-13. Hpwever, they also have Adeiny Hechavarria toiling at New Hampshire earning major-league money with two years left after this. They would like to see him earn that second base spot. As soon as Lawrie is ready, Bautista will move back to the outfield.  

Q-Hi Richard.
,

Last week's games featured some pretty embarrasing outfield play. So here's a question about who plays where: When the 3rd base problem gets solved (August?), would it make sense to move Bautista to centre (he says he grew up admiring Jr.), Thames in right and Snider in left?

Bill Cooper
, Kingston

A-That's a good observation and a great question regarding outfield alignment. The Jays after being swept in Atlanta have decided the future is now. They brought up Eric Thames and have now designated Rivera for assignment. I believe that in this new alignment, if Rajai Davis is not going to be an everyday player, which was the idea of him as a fourth guy when the trade was made with the A's, that Bautista should play centre field, if the other two outfielders are Snider and Thames. Bautista knows he is in charge of this team and is the lead dog on this Jays sled. As such, as the take-charge guy, he has already crashed into a cowering Patterson in Cincinnati when the ball was up for grabs and on the last stand did not give way to Patterson on the collision at third base. Joey Bats is undeniably the main man on this team and that means he should play centre field over the other two. The rest of the OF alignment should be Snider in right field and Thames in left. Patterson or Davis, one of the two should be traded by the deadline with the other one coming off the Jays bench. With Encarnacion getting the majority of DH at-bats, there is a chance to use Thames at DH from time to time with the speedy extra outfielder getting his weekly at-bats in those moments. 

Q-Do you believe the Jays are playing .500 ball because they are, in fact, a .500 team or because there is no one on the team who can boost them to the next level (for example, no Paul Molitor or Dave Winfield)? And if it's the latter, how do you see the GM addressing this given his penchant for signing younger players?

Eleanor, Port Colborne

A-At the moment the Jays are in fact a .500 team, but they are watching this roster very closely to identify those players that they will take with them in becoming contenders. Recall that Molitor and Winfield were not part of the Jays building process, even back in 1992-93. They were added when the team was poised to win a World Series. The Jays at this point look like a .500 team. If, after adding the young players from the farm like Thames, Snider, Cecil and Lawrie for the final two or three months, if at that point they can bump the win total up to 83-85 victories for 2011, that would be an exciting finish for the front office. That bulge in Paul Beeston's pocket would be the $40-50 million in cash influx that he claimed he has ready to spend on payroll whenever the Jays are poised to win. That's when the equivalent of Molitor and Winfield would be asked to come on board short term. That modest goal of mid-80s in wins for this year is a possibility but everything would have to fall right.

Q-Hello Griff,

Love the blog, long time reader, first time contributor. Please enlighten me on the following - why is it so imperative to have a power hitter at 3B and 1B? Does the position of where the power comes from really matter? I honestly don't care where my Jays get the homeruns or the RBIs as long as they win. looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thanks for the great job, keep it up!!

Nick, Toronto

A-That rule-of-thumb regarding the traditional power positions is one of those old rules that has changed in terms of reality over the years but is still cited. The confusion is that those old-schol fans still have thumbs, but times have changed. You're right, it doesn't matter now where your RBIs and homers are coming from, but it's because the first base and third base positions were traditionally manned by taller, thick-legged players with less quickness, but more strength. Cal Ripken helped change all that, then A-Rod, then Jeff Kent, then steroids made everyone a slugger, now it's a little more back to the way it was. However traditional conditioning and weight training have improved and still make a significant difference for the little guys, even without cheating. In the AL you can only afford to carry about two players in a nine-man batting order that don't have 50 extra-base hit potential. That means you need extra-base power from half among your second-base, shortstop, centre field and catcher. That “first-base, third-base power hitter” rule really no longer applies, but like all old baseball axioms it lives on. You just couldn't go with corner-men Cooper-Nix-McCoy-McDonald. 

Q-Hello Richard,

My question is regarding the 2012 Blue Jays...with many of the highly touted prospects for 2012 having difficult years at the major league level (Snider, Cecil, Drabek) in 2011, has this changed the organization's plans for next year at all? Barring trades and free agent signings for next year (which there is no way you or I could predict right now) what do you see the Jays' opening day line-up and rotation being for next year?

David, Arriss

A-I do not believe the Jays' front office has changed its mind on competing in 2012, but I do know that AA's self-confidence has been shaken. You can't re-invent the GM position after all these years and there was some resentment from other GMs that the perception was that this 34-year-old Montrealer was trying to. His strengths are threefold: 1- in listening to people that know more than he does in their areas of expertise; 2-in his person-to-person relationships with players, both coming and going – he got a Cartier watch from Vernon Wells after he was traded to the Angels – and 3- in building the farm through trades and accumulated draft choices. The Jays have seven key position players under control through '14 and beyond – Arencibia, Lind, Escobar, Lawrie, Thames, Bautista and Snider, a good start.

Q-Are Alex A. and John F. entertaining the idea of Dustin Mcgowan being our closer of the future?

Martin, Owen Sound

A-In March the Jays told McGowan they were converting him to the bullpen. That lasted a couple of months while he continued to get himself ready for game action, but in conversation with him, he has convinced them that he wants to be a starter again. His first start at Dunedin was not a success in terms of results but was a huge success for him mentally in terms of being back on the field after just under three years. You gotta love the guy, but the odds are against him. No he's not the closer of the future.

Q-Hi Richard,

I liked (and miss) the Expos, but they are long gone so maybe can you limit the Expos love-in questions in future mailbags? (I'd rather read about something Blue Jays related or MLB related instead of some gushy trip down memory lane about how 20 years ago so-and-so did this or that)

.

Thanks,

Bill, Toronto

A-Hey, if you go to Morton's, Ruth's Chris or Harbour Sixty for a steak, do you insist that they take all the seafood items off the menu because you like steak. I spent 23 years working for the Expos and am in my 17th year at The Star covering major-league baseball. The Expos years are a large part of my life's experience and I find it hard to ignore what I learned there. Returning to the steakhouse analogy, perhaps my Expos anecdotes are the “blackened mahi-mahi dinner” of Griff's Mailbag.

Q-Hi Richard,

I have noticed that Adam Loewen has played center field in Las Vegas and I am wondering if defensively he can handle the position in the majors. With Rajai Davis struggling at the plate and Corey Patterson seeming uncomfortable in center, would Loewen be someone the Jays could use there until Anthony Gose is ready? Or is there someone else in the system closer to the majors than Gose? I assume Loewen has the arm for the position, so it's more does he have the range and take the proper routes.

John, Toronto

A-I love the Adam Loewen story and it would be great to see him complete the rise to the majors from MLB pitcher turned OF. More Rick Ankiel than Babe Ruth, of course. Can he do it? If I was the Jays, I would give him that chance to succeed in September to play some outfield and at least complete the story with a month in the majors. Where it goes from there, whether it's with the Jays, or more likely with another major-league team that needs outfield help, the Jays and AA will have been a big part of getting the 27-year-old Vancouver native there. Can he play centre field in the majors? He's more naturally a corner outfielder. He's even behind Snider in the CF pecking order. 

Q-Hi Richard,

I realise this is pie in the sky dreaming, but do you think the Jays have any chance to sign Prince Fielder this offseason. In my fantasy world, Fielder could split 1B/DH duties with Lind, then the Jays renegotiate the contract with Hill to free up some money, put Lawrie on 3B and then still have a cupboard full of prospects to possibly make a deal for a frontline starter.
 One last bit 'o fantasy. With the Dodgers in bankruptcy, and Kershaw entering an arbitration year, do you see any scenario where he is either traded or rejects a lowball offer?

Thanks for a great column.

George, Guelph

A-It's amazing how many Jays' fans are asking about Prince Fielder. The Jays have Adam Lind at first base for the next three years, plus. Fielder will be a $23-30 million player for 5-7 years. Can that money be better spent elsewhere? Yes. Even though his dad, Cecil, starred in Toronto, Prince is still not talking to his dad so that's not a selling point. Fielder would not want to split 1B duties with anyone. As for Hill, the Jays do not need to re-negotiate because his remaining contract is options and they have the money availabe. They don't need Hill cash to be freed up. Kershaw, or someone in that same arbitration situation with a team looking to dump payroll is even more attractive for AA than a free agent because you can obtain a better player via that route and because of the tremendous inventory of prospects he is building up as trade fodder.

Q-Hi Richard,

What is up with the Snider 'stache? Is it a baseball superstition thing similar to a playoff beard? It seems like he started growing it right after belting a homer in his first at bat while wearing the fake Cito stache at Cito's farewell game.

Mike, Toronto

A-That's exactly the scenario with Snider's moustache. He pasted one on for that Cito tribute game and has had one of his own on and off ever since. When he had the mullett -- which he only cut because it was so damn hot in Vegas – he looked like an extra from the classic movie Boogie Nights. Right now he just looks like a young kid with a paste-on 'stache in place for Cito Gaston Night.

Mailbag 07-06-11

by Richard Griffin

 

The Jays are on the rise with their fans heading into the all-star break. The Phillies weekend at the Rogers Centre drew more than 116,000 fans with Ricky Romero on Canada Day followed by the return of Roy Halladay on Saturday, offering up the same type of gutsy performance they had seen for almost a decade. Finally, there was the Jays defeating Cliff Lee on Sunday, entering as he did with a streak of 32 scoreless innings. And nobody got tasered.

The best thing that then could have happened for the organization after that did. The Jays ended the homestand on a high note and headed out of town with those heady baseball memories still fresh in the minds of their fans. What if the Jays had a follow-up three-game series at home against the Royals or the White Sox with 15,000 people per night in a suddenly subdued building? But thankfully they didn't. 

Instead, they headed to Fenway Park for three sellouts beginning with a 9-7 win, then an edge-of-the-sofa loss in which they were foiled by a last out at the plate with the manager arguing the umpire missed the call. From Fenway they head to Cleveland for four games, then into the all-star break.

At the big game in Phoenix, Jays fans will be proudly represented by Jose Bautista, with his record 7-million votes -- many of which came online from Canada -- and with his home-run derby invitation and  his start in right field, as the first Jays player voted in since Carlos Delgado in 2003. And oh yeah, Jays manager John Farrell is the AL pitching coach, selected by Ron Washington. The good news continues for the Jays when they come back from the break they open the weekend against the Yankees.

For Paul Beeston and Rogers it's the best promotional start for the second half the Jays could hope for. It won't reflect itself necessarily in ticket sales for the final two months, but in terms of GTA interest for the future, many fans that returned to the RC as casual fans for the Phillies series will be paying attention with baseball in the spotlight for a couple of months. The door is open, but the Jays need to play well. The other thing they are doing right as the second half gets underway is re-populating the field with younger players that fans are hoping will be stars in the future. On to the mailbag.

      

 

Q-Hey Richard,

With Jesse Litsch and Dustin McGowan on rehab stints, I was curious as to who you think the jays will keep as their starting 5. I know Carlos V. will go back to the pen, but that leaves Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil, Jo-Jo Reyes, Litsch, McGowan and even Kyle Drabek and even Zach Stewart. Secondly, how long will Brett Lawrie be out? It seems to me that an infield of Lawrie, Escobar, Lind and (Hill) can be very effective, and the future of the outfield looks bright with Thames in LF, Snider in CF and Jose in RF. Can this line-up compete with the rest of the beasts in the east, if not this year, then in 2012-2013?

Alex, Toronto

 

A-I don't know why anyone would continue asking about the Jays competing this current season and it certainly sounds like that's what your question is hinting. The Jays would need to go 48-27 in the final 75 games in order to win 90 games. That's the fringe number for a wild-card berth and considering the AL has 10 extra wins floating around from inter-league and that the Jays have not shown an ability to put together a long winning streak, it's an extreme longshot.

As for McGowan, his is a wonderful story of perseverance from a kid that John Farrell sat across the field from as Red Sox pitching coach in '08 and went “Wow!” McGowan in two days will have been away from major-league baseball for three calendar years thanks to two shoulder surgeries and one minor knee surgery. He is now pitching at Class-A Dunedin and it says here he will remain on rehab and on the 60-day DL the rest of the year. The Jays will allow him to come to 2012 training camp as a healthy roster player and do his best from there. You want to be optimistic, but try and find another player in history that has overcome a timeline like that that didn't include a World War.

Jesse Litsch is pitching at AAA-Las Vegas and is not a sure bet to get back to the majors this year. He has been alerted by GM Alex Anthopoulos not to expect a recall necessarily once his injury assignment is over. I would say that for the remainder of this season, Carlos Villanueva has earned a rotaton spot. I would also say that after handling the Red Sox as he did on Tuesday, by changing speeds and by beng a pitcher, that Cecil has earned the right to stay. He left for Vegas throwing like Jamie Campbell and came back throwing like Jamie Moyer. Okay, maybe that's a slight exagerration on both ends, but you get the picture. In any case, with Carlos V. and Cecil and Romero and Morrow, that makes four. Of course that all depends on everyone's health and one can never predict that part of the game.

For Lawrie, it looks like his left hand has healed and he had begun the road back, starting with tee work, then soft toss, then cages, then live b.p. then minor league games, then the majors. I would estimate a return between the end of the all-star break and right after the trade deadline July 31. The question of the Jays' lineup moving forward will be addressed throughout the rest of this mailbag.  

 

 

Q-Do you see a trade market for Juan Rivera, Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch or even Frank Francisco? I think Rivera would be a good fit for the Phillies who need a RH bat? He can play both corner OF positions and has shown an ability to play first as well. Also what about Aaron Hill potentially going to the Giants who could use a second baseman. Hill's contract gives them some flexibility if they know Freddy Sanchez will return next year.

Jason, San Francisco

 

A-Here's the thing. If the Jays hang on to all their current players, next June they'll have more sandwiches than Quizno's. The Elias Sports Bureau produces the official rankings of Types A and B free agent players that demand draft pick compensation. An A player signed elsewhere gets the signing team's pick, plus a sandwich pick between the first and second round. A Type B gets you just the sandwich, no combo. Right now, the Jays' potential Type B free agents at the end of '11 are: 1-Aaron Hill; 2-Jason Frasor; 3-Jon Rauch; 4-Octavio Dotel; 5-Shawn Camp and 6-Frank Francisco. That would give the Jays at least eight picks in the first 100. That's a GM's equivalent of Pavlov's Dog and I can already see AA slobbering at the prospect of that draft bounty. The Jays could add to that number if there are any players from the first three rounds of this year's draft that they can't sign by August 15. The ever-ongoing Elias free agent rankings came out within the last month and perhaps the Jays were hoping to get Juan Rivera and Cory Patterson enough playing time to rank as Type Bs. But the rankings show there is no way for them to reach that level, so what happened? The Jays designated Rivera and have decided that while he's still here, Patterson will have a role coming off the bench. In answer to your question about trades, unless the Jays can get the same type of premium prospect in trade for one of those six players that they would get in the draft next year, they'll hang onto them. The likely trade candidates at the deadline are Patterson, Davis, Jose Molina, Litsch and Encarnacion. I can't see another team giving up a top prospect from their system for two months of any of those Type Bs.  

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

You are the Maharajah of the Mailbag. Submit any question and all will be answered. So, here's my question. Do you think there is any chance Jose Bautista will stay at third permanently? If he does, Brett Lawrie can switch back to second base and Eric Thames AND Travis Snider can co-exist in the outfield giving the Jays three left-handed bats (along with Lind). Obviously I am not banking on Aaron Hill being here after this year and giving way to Lawrie. If Bautista moves back to right field, the only way both Thames and Snider play is if Snider plays centre field. This might be ok for the short term but when Anthony Gose is ready (2012 or 2013) someone will have to be traded. What are your thoughts? Is this a pipe-dream or do you think the Jays are already discussing this possibility?

Howard, Toronto

 

A-The Jays discuss every possibility. There is no scenario that Jays fans come up with that has not been discussed by AA, Tony LaCava, John Farrell and the trusted front-office group. It's a reasonable question to ask whether Bautista will stay at third base, but it's similar to the end of spring training where he spent all spring at third yet was moved back to right field to make room for EE at third base -- yikes. When Bautista was signed by the Jays to a five-year deal the loose promise from AA was that they would do everything in their power to let him be an outfielder. He is a team guy so he currently has agreed to play third base until Lawrie is ready, so to make his third base move a permanent after previous conversations and promises would not fly. You do not want the face of the franchise to be seen as a frowny one.

In terms of Lawrie moving to second base, he has spent much time making the adjustment to third base and has done so very well at figuting out the position, it would be a step back to ask him to move again. The Jays have Hill at second base with two option years to consider. They have not made up their minds on Hill and his $16 million for 2012-13. Hpwever, they also have Adeiny Hechavarria toiling at New Hampshire earning major-league money with two years left after this. They would like to see him earn that second base spot. No, as soon as Lawrie is ready, Bautista will move back to the outfield.  

 

 

Q-Hi Richard. ,

Last week's games featured some pretty embarrasing outfield play. So here's a question about who plays where: When the 3rd base problem gets solved (August?), would it make sense to move Bautista to center (he says he grew up admiring Jr.), Thames in right and Snider in left?

Bill Cooper , Kingston

 

A-That's a good observation and a great question regarding outfield alignment. The Jays after being swept in Atlanta have decided the future is now. They brought up Eric Thames and have now designated Rivera for assignment. I believe that in this new alignment, if Rajai Davis is not going to be an everyday player, which was the idea of him as a fourth guy when the trade was made with the A's, that Bautista should play centre field, if the other two outfielders are Snider and Thames. Bautista knows he is in charge of this team and is the lead dog on this Jays sled. As such, as the take-charge guy, he has already crashed into a cowering Patterson in Cincinnati when the ball was up for grabs and on the last stand did not give way to Patterson on the collision at third base. Joey Bats is undeniably the main man on this team and that means he should play centre field over the other two. The rest of the OF alignment should be Snider in right field and Thames in left. Patterson or Davis, one of the two should be traded by the deadline with the other one coming off the Jays bench. With Encarnacion getting the majority of DH at-bats, there is a chance to use Thames at DH from time to time with the speedy extra outfielder getting his weekly at-bats in those moments. 

 

 

Q-Do you believe the Jays are playing .500 ball because they are, in fact, a .500 team or because there is no one on the team who can boost them to the next level (for example, no Paul Molitor or Dave Winfield)? And if it's the latter, how do you see the GM addressing this given his penchant for signing younger players?

Eleanor, Port Colborne

 

A-At the moment the Jays are in fact a .500 team, but they are watching this roster very closely to identify those players that they will take with them in becoming contenders. Recall that Molitor and Winfield were not part of the Jays building process, even back in '92-'93. They were added when the team was poised to win a World Series. The Jays at this point look like a .500 team. If, after adding the young players from the farm like Thames, Snider, Cecil and Lawrie for the final two or three months, if at that point they can bump the win total up to 83-85 victories for 2011, that would be an exciting finish for the front office. That bulge in Paul Beeston's pocket would be the $40-50 million in cash influx that he claimed he has ready to spend on payroll whenever the Jays are poised to win. That's when the equivalent of Molitor and Winfield would be asked to come on board short term. That modest goal of mid-80s in wins for this year is a possibility but everything would have to fall right.

 

  

Q-Hello Griff,

Love the blog, long time reader, first time contributor. Please enlighten me on the following - why is it so imperative to have a power hitter at 3B and 1B? Does the position of where the power comes from really matter? I honestly don't care where my Jays get the homeruns or the rbi's as long as they win. looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thanks for the great job, keep it up!!

Nick, Toronto

 

A-That rule-of-thumb regarding the traditional power positions is one of those old rules that has changed in terms of reality over the years but is still cited. The confusion is that those old-schol fans still have thumbs, but times have changed. You're right, it doesn't matter now where your RBIs and homers are coming from, but it's because the first base and third base positions were traditionally manned by taller, thick-legged players with less quickness, but more strength. Cal Ripken helped change all that, then A-Rod, then Jeff Kent, then steroids made everyone a slugger, now it's a little more back to the way it was. However traditional conditioning and weight training have improved and still make a significant difference for the little guys, even without cheating. In the AL you can only afford to carry about two players in a nine-man batting order that don't have 50 extra-base hit potential. That means you need extra-base power from half among your second-base, shortstop, centre field and catcher. That “first-base, third-base power hitter” rule really no longer applies, but like all old baseball axioms it lives on. You just couldn't go with corner-men Cooper-Nix-McCoy-McDonald. 

 

 

Hello Richard,

My question is regarding the 2012 Blue Jays...with many of the highly touted prospects for 2012 having difficult years at the major league level (Snider, Cecil, Drabek) in 2011, has this changed the organization's plans for next year at all? Barring trades and free agent signings for next year (which there is no way you or I could predict right now) what do you see the Jays' opening day line-up and rotation being for next year?

David, Arriss

 

A-I do not believe the Jays' front office has changed its mind on competing in 2012, but I do know that AA's self-confidence has been shaken. You can't re-invent the GM position after all these years and there was some resentment from other GMs that the perception was that this 34-year-old Montrealer was trying to. His strengths are threefold: 1- in listening to people that know more than he does in their areas of expertise; 2-in his person-to-person relationships with players, both coming and going – he got a Cartier watch from Vernon Wells after he was traded to the Angels – and 3- in building the farm through trades and accumulated draft choices. The Jays have seven key position players under control through '14 and beyond – Arencibia, Lind, Escobar, Lawrie, Thames, Bautista and Snider, a good start.

 

 

Q-Are Alex A. and John F. entertaining the idea of Dustin Mcgowan being our closer of the future?

Martin, Owen Sound

 

A-In March the Jays told McGowan they were converting him to the bullpen. That lasted a couple of months while he continued to get himself ready for game action, but in conversation with him, he has convinced them that he wants to be a starter again. His first start at Dunedin was not a success in terms of results but was a huge success for him mentally in terms of being back on the field after just under three years. You gotta love the guy, but the odds are against him. No he's not the closer of the future.

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

I liked (and miss) the Expos, but they are long gone so maybe can you limit the Expos love-in questions in future mailbags? (I'd rather read about something Blue Jays related or MLB related instead of some gushy trip down memory lane about how 20 years ago so-and-so did this or that) .

Thanks,

Bill, Toronto

 

A-Hey, if you go to Morton's, Ruth's Chris or Harbour Sixty for a steak, do you insist that they take all the seafood items off the menu because you like steak. I spent 23 years working for the Expos and am in my 17th year at The Star covering major-league baseball. The Expos years are a large part of my life's experience and I find it hard to ignore what I learned there. Returning to the steakhouse analogy, perhaps my Expos anecdotes are the “blackened mahi-mahi dinner” of Griff's Mailbag.

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

I have noticed that Adam Loewen has played center field in Las Vegas and I am wondering if defensively he can handle the position in the majors. With Rajai Davis struggling at the plate and Corey Patterson seeming uncomfortable in center, would Loewen be someone the Jays could use there until Anthony Gose is ready? Or is there someone else in the system closer to the majors than Gose? I assume Loewen has the arm for the position, so it's more does he have the range and take the proper routes.

John, Toronto

 

A-I love the Adam Loewen story and it would be great to see him complete the rise to the majors from MLB pitcher turned OF. More Rick Ankiel than Babe Ruth, of course. Can he do it? If I was the Jays, I would give him that chance to succeed in September to play some outfield and at least complete the story with a month in the majors. Where it goes from there, whether it's with the Jays, or more likely with another major-league team that needs outfield help, the Jays and AA will have been a big part of getting the 27-year-old Vancouver native there. Can he play centre field in the majors? He's more naturally a corner outfielder. He's even behind Snider in the CF pecking order. 

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

I realise this is pie in the sky dreaming, but do you think the Jays have any chance to sign Prince Fielder this offseason. In my fantasy world, Fielder could split 1B/DH duties with Lind, then the Jays renegotiate the contract with Hill to free up some money, put Lawrie on 3B and then still have a cupboard full of prospects to possibly make a deal for a frontline starter. One last bit 'o fantasy. With the Dodgers in bankruptcy, and Kershaw entering an arbitration year, do you see any scenario where he is either traded or rejects a lowball offer ?

Thanks for a great column.

George, Guelph

 

A-It's amazing how many Jays' fans are asking about Prince Fielder. The Jays have Adam Lind at first base for the next three years, plus. Fielder will be a $23-30 million player for 5-7 years. Can that money be better spent elsewhere? Yes. Even though his dad, Cecil, starred in Toronto, Prince is still not talking to his dad so that's not a selling point. Fielder would not want to split 1B duties with anyone. As for Hill, the Jays do not need to re-negotiate because his remaining contract is options and they have the money availabe. They don't need Hill cash to be freed up. Kershaw, or someone in that same arbitration situation with a team looking to dump payroll is even more attractive for AA than a free agent because you can obtain a better player via that route and because of the tremendous inventory of prospects he is building up as trade fodder.

 

 

6-Q-Hi Richard, What is up with the Snider 'stache? Is it a baseball superstition thing similar to a playoff beard? It seems like he started growing it right after belting a homer in his first at bat while wearing the fake Cito stache at Cito's farewell game.

Mike, Toronto

 

A-That's exactly the scenario with Snider's moustache. He pasted one on for that Cito tribute game and has had one of his own on and off ever since. When he had the mullett -- which he only cut because it was so damn hot in Vegas – he looked like an extra from the classic movie Boogie Nights. Right now he just looks like a young kid with a paste-on 'stache in place for Cito Gaston Night.