The Bullpen: Blue Jays’ 2012 draft class set to hatch

Raleigh News & Observer Duke University's Marcus Stroman is one of two Blue Jays 2012 draft picks that have yet to sign with the club. The other is California high school righty Chase DeJong.

 

The Blue Jays draft experience under the new rules has taken an often bizarre route to the finish line but it’s almost complete.

The Jays now have a solid chance to sign all 14 of their picks within the first 10 rounds. The two unsigned players that remain are right-hander Marcus Stroman, the Duke University star, 22nd overall ($1.8 million slot) and fellow righty Chase DeJong out of Wilson High School, in Long Beach, Calif., selected 81st overall ($620,300 slot). DeJong is the Jays’ second-round selection.

DeJong seems more ready and willing to turn pro at slot than is than Stroman, but the 5-9, 180 lbs. right-hander has a tough decision if he chooses to snub the Jays. Stroman can go back to Duke for his senior year, but next June in the 2013 draft, he would have no more leverage and would butt heads with the same slotting system that is not going away anytime soon.

Would he be drafted any higher next year and is that money difference significant enough? Why not get the MLB timeline moving towards what many experts predict could be the fast-track to the majors in the Jays bullpen?

The Jays, with several expiring bullpen contracts at the major-league level offer as quick a path as any to the majors. Stroman was a Team USA closer last summer, throwing his four-seamer at 94 to 96 m.p.h. with a nasty slider. He pitched 8 1/3 late innings with no hits, a walk and 17 Ks. With his relatively small stature and dynamite fastball, he has drawn comparisons to Tom Gordon.

It’s all about slot money and the Jays are doing it their way. The fact is that the Jays would rather sacrifice signing either player than overpay to the point of being penalized a draft pick in June 2013.

There are options for the ball club. If the Jays fail to sign either man, or both, they would get a similar pick as compensation in next year’s draft. The downside is they would lose credit for the slot money from the allotted total MLB has said they can spend, so that’s where they stand. It’s almost like the Jays saying take-it-or-leave it with Stroman and DeJong by the July 13 deadline.

PREVIOUS BULLPEN BLOGS

Injuries leave Blue Jays at crossroads, June 18

Why Joey Votto is baseball’s best hitter, June 11

 

Here’s a quick breakdown of the Jays numbers thus far. Allotted by MLB for 14 picks in the first 10 rounds, the Jays’ slot total was $8,830,800. If any club overpays by 5 per cent of their amount, it is fined a significant percentage of the over, plus it loses a future draft pick.

For clubs willing to pay a fine, like the Jays, anything from $1 over to 4.9999 per cent over slot costs them just a dollar amount. Say you go $300,000 over your total payroll, you would have to pay a percentage of that amount into a central fund. That is where the Jays are willing to go.

The maximum Jays amount that they can go over their total allotments before losing a pick is another $441,539. That amount also is balanced against anything over $100,000 in rounds 11-40.

The Jays put their heads together since the new rules were announced in December to figure out a way around them and notoriously used Rounds 4-10 to select grateful college seniors who were willing to sign cheap so that they could overpay some of their higher seven picks in the first three rounds. That is allowable under the rules, but seems to go against the spirit of the draft.

Nevertheless, the Jays college-senior pick strategy in Rounds 4-9 each signed for the same bonus of $5,000, with their 10th rounder, OF Alex Azor, a product of the Naval Academy, with military commitments on the horizon, signing for $1,000.

That list of cheap Jays signings, along with 80th overall pick, RHP Tyler Gonzalez who agreed at $127,200 under slot, gave the Jays a buffer of $1.341 million under allotted slot.

The Jays balanced that under by going over with three guys, overpaying LHP Matt Smoral, 50th overall, $2.0 million ($1.0 million slot); 3B Mitch Nay, 58th overall, $1.0 million ($884,100 slot) and two-sport athlete and OF Anthony Alford, 112th overall, $750,000 ($424,000 slot). Alford was rated much higher on many draft boards, but was considered unsignable by many teams because of his commitment to play quarterback at Southern Miss. The Jays will allow him to play football, hoping he eventually makes up his mind between the two sports, to play baseball. He does not have NFL size.

The Jays paid their No. 1 pick, D.J. Davis exact slot money of $2 million. Of the other picks, the over-under financial balance between the three guys that the Jays overpaid and the nine other prospects they underpaid, it gave the Jays a negative slot balance of $100,500, but since they are willing to go over by the maximum allowable 4.9999 per cent, that amount being $441,539, then they have room to wiggle. With the slot money for Stroman and DeJong adding up to $2,420,300 plus the finable over, they have slight flexibility, but will insist on slot, or close to it, with the two remaining picks.

Stroman will look at the landscape and see that others in his territory have already fallen into line. There were other right-handers selected 20th and 21st overall, just ahead of Stroman. The Braves signed Lucas Sims for $1.65 million. The Giants signed Chris Matton for $1.85 million. The Jays are offering the slot value of $1.8 million to their No. 22 overall. Stroman’s good and has much to ponder.

The Jays can use anything they save by signing Stroman and DeJong at slot, further down in the draft. From Rounds 11-40, anything over $100,000 per man goes into the hard and fast overpayment pool, so GM Alex Anthopoulos needs as much of a buffer from the available money as possible if he wants to sign guys like 12th rounder LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) and OF Nathan SeSouza (Milton, Ont.).All dollar figures are according to the Baseball America draft database.

Not every organization angled to beat the system.

Earlier in the week, Brewers’ assistant GM Gord Ash explained Milwaukee’s philosophy under Doug Melvin.

“Based solely on our experience, (the changes were) the greatest thing ever,” Ash said. “We have 23 players signed, all the top guys. We took the players we wanted. We handled it a little differently. We knew what the slot number was and tried to pick a player that was worth that kind of money. We didn’t play this game a lot of clubs did—we’ll spend more here, we’ll subtract here.”

Clubs have until July 13 to sign all of their draft choices. The Jays have signed 23 of 44.

MLB POWER RANKINGS

Last week’s ranking in parentheses

1. New York Yankees (2)

If Russell Martin out for long (back injury), that can hurt them

2. Texas Rangers (4)

Rangers needed pitching help and got it in Oswalt

3. Los Angeles Dodgers (1)

These guys never seem to be as good as their record

4. Baltimore Orioles (9)

Starting pitching, especially Hammel, is hanging tough

5. Washington Nationals (3)

Harper has been playing like a clown since he left T.O.

6.Tampa Bay Rays (5)

Rotation is the deepest six in majors

7. Los Angeles Angels (11)

Trout and Trumbo more valuable than Pujols

8. Cincinnati Reds (6)

Votto has ridiculous numbers but Chapman struggling

9. New York Mets (12)

Dickey’s streak of no ER ends at 44 2/3. Still crazy good.

10. Boston Red Sox (14)

Sox are getting healthy so don’t count them out

11. Chicago White Sox (10)

Is Youkilis a better 3B bet than O-Dog? Well yeah.

12. San Francisco Giants (8)

Giants will not make post-season without Lincecum presence

13. Atlanta Braves (7)

Beachy with Tommy John will be tough to overcome

14. Pittsburgh Pirates (20)

Must avoid same fate as last year but may learn from history

15. Cleveland Indians (13)

Wide open division but need more consistency and support

16. Arizona Diamondbacks (19)

Snakes looking more like last year’s surprise playoff team

17. Detroit Tigers (18)

Verlander starting to pitch like Verlander should

18. Oakland A’s (22)

Starting staff is young and oh-so-talented

19. St. Louis Cardinals (15)

The Cards have seen this act before. Ended in WS win

20. Toronto Blue Jays (17)

Ranked higher except for pitching Sword of Damocles over head

21. Miami Marlins (16)

Should rank higher except for overrated stadium – and pitching

22. Philadelphia Phillies (21)

Continue to be most disappointing team in baseball

23. Kansas City Royals (25)

Hosting all-star game with likely just one all-star

24. Seattle Mariners (23)

Vargas has taken a step backwards. Hitting .202 at home

25. Minnesota Twins (24)

The Twins need to keep fans on board with Target Field tab still to pay

26. Milwaukee Brewers (26)

Congrats to Canadian John Axford on birth of second child

27. Houston Astros (27)

Should trade Wandy Rodriguez for ready-for-prime-time prospects

28. San Diego Padres (29)

Padres may be the least publicized team in majors

29. Colorado Rockies (28)

Four-man rotation on 75-pitch limit. Hey, those are Minor Bantam rules

30. Chicago Cubs (30)

Can’t always blame the old Goat for 100 years of failure

BLUE JAYS WEEK IN REVIEW

The Jays were 3-3 for the week and must consider themselves lucky to be as good as that.

They are performing each day on a high wire without a net when it comes to starting pitching. The Jays received exactly one quality start for the week, that by Brett Cecil on Saturday vs. the Marlins. The starters logged a cumulative 29 2/3 innings in six games. The bullpen worked 21 1/3 innings.

The top four hitters in the Jays order continue to be amazing, but the guy that has started to turn it around, the guy that should have had better stats for the swing through Milwaukee and Miami was leadoff man Brett Lawrie. The Langley, B.C., native crushed the baseball virtually every time at the plate. Returning to face the team that drafted him in Milwaukee, he led off the first game with a home run and continued to stay hot. But there was controversy with Lawrie on this trip to Milwaukee.

Following the Tuesday night game began a Twitter controversy among several fans that had been at the game and longtime Journal-Sentinel beat writer Tom Haudricourt. Apparently Lawrie, who may become a lightning rod for fan abuse on the road because of his energy level and aggressive style of play, was being heckled by a fan just next to the Jays third-base dugout. The fan insisted to Haudricourt via Twitter that Lawrie yelled obscenities and that there were children in the area. At the same time, there were Blue Jays fans in the area at Miller Field that disagree and heard nothing.

The next day I approached Lawrie before the Wednesday matinee and he seemed surprised that anyone even heard about what he insisted was “nothing.” Even the Jays director, team safety, Ron Sandelli was unaware of any verbal exchange, of any issue in the stands with Lawrie and a fan. One Tweet claimed that Jose Bautista had acted as a peacemaker, so he was asked about it.

“It’s something that shouldn’t really matter,” Bautista said. “The only thing I saw was a fan trying to be aggressive and offensive towards Brett. I just kind of stepped in and told the guy to calm down and that’s it. I mean there’s no other way around it. Brett did nothing to instigate this person. It’s just a fan trying to heckle him and at the same time just be involved.

“I think it’s uncalled for and I just tried to be the mediator. Nothing happened. It got controlled. It didn’t escalate and that’s it. It was one moment, one person, so it’s more the fan that’s trying to heckle than Brett. Not more, I think it’s exclusively 100 per cent on the fan and not on Brett.”

Milwaukee, going back to the AL days at old County Stadium, has a history of fan-player standoffs. One of the more famous stories had Oakland’s Tony Phillips being heckled by a fan in the County Stadium outfield. The former Jays’ utility man, as legend has it, begged out of the game with an upset stomach, changed his clothes and went down under the stands to fight the fan. Nothing new.

In any case, for the six games of the trip, here are the statistics for Lawrie (8-for-25 .320, 10R, 3 RBI, 3 BB), Colby Rasmus (8-for-25 .320, 5 R, 8 RBI, 4 BB), Bautista (7-for-22 .318, 7 R, 8 RBI, 4 BB) and Edwin Encarnacion (8-for-24 .333, 7 R, 6 RBI, 2 BB). Pretty damned good.

Lawrie continued to swing the bat as well in Miami as he did in Milwaukee, but three balls to left centre field and centre field that would have been Miller Park homers, were Marlins Park fly casts. Plus there was a play-of-the-year candidate-catch by Justin Ruggiano with two men on, a line drive headed for the fence that the outfielder leaped, dove and speared at the end of his webbing. Nobody nationally was watching. As such, Lawrie is likely to become an all-star in the three games in Boston.

On Monday at Miller Park, Encarnacion flashed his raw power, slamming a drive high and deep that bonked loudly off of Bernie Brewer’s home run slide, an estimated 463 feet. The ball would have exited the ball park, stage left, if it had not collided with Bernie’s plastic toy.

On Tuesday, the Jays staged a huge comeback to win on the strength of six home runs, including three straight by Rasmus, Bautista and Encarnacion in the sixth and back-to-back by Rasmus to tie and Bautista to win in the ninth. The homers were against John Axford, who could be excused because he had arrived back at the park after the start of the game following the birth of his second child.

The Jays lost Game 3 of the series started by emergency starter Joel Carreno, who had taken a limo from Tucson to Phoenix, taken a red-eye that landed early morning, got a few hours sleep, started against the Brewers, gave up a bunch of runs, took the fall for the loss and was sent back to Vegas the next day. It wasn’t fair to Carreno, but recall his first start on the opening weekend in Cleveland. He was shipped out after that game too. Maybe a Triple-A affiliate closer than Vegas would help the Jays.

Injury updates came fast and furious. Brandon Morrow’s oblique remained opaque. There is no timeframe on his return but at least it’s not a joint. Kyle Drabek underwent Tommy John surgery for the second time in his pro career, performed by Dr. James Andrews. The first was in ’07. There is not a long history of two-time Johnnies with success, but one of them is Chris Capuano of the Dodgers who is having a great year. The fact is that Drabek has a lot of work to do if he wants to get back.

But the best medical news for the Jays was reported with regards to Drew Hutchison. The 21-year-old Floridian had called for the trainer after nine pitches vs. the Phillies and was diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament. That is often a precursor to Tommy John surgery depending on the severity. Hutch flew to Cincinnati for a second opinion from orthopedist, Dr. Timothy Krimchek. He then flew home to Florida to contemplate T.J. or not T.J.

The final decision is that Hutchison will not undergo Tommy John. He won’t be allowed to throw for four to six weeks. After that he will begin a rehabilitation program that at best could see him back with the Jays by September and at worst would have him ready for spring training 2013. The Drabek rehab after he did have the ligament replacement surgery is 12-18 months, usually closer to 12.

Jesse Litsch had season-ending surgery. Dustin McGowan has not picked up a ball again after two other false starts on his road back. Sergio Santos is throwing off flat ground and was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on Sunday to create room for Adam Lind to be added to the roster. Oh yeah, Adam Lind and Ben Francisco are back, while David Cooper and Mike McCoy are back in Vegas.

This week facing Boston and the L.A. Angels, could be enough to kick Blue Jays butt. Or else someone unexpected could step up and become a reliable major-league pitcher.

THE RANT: ALL-STAR VOTING IS A JOKE

Baseball is simply looking for numbers out of all-star voting, so the fact that every e-mail address is allowed to vote 25 times takes away any meaning, especially for old-school fans at the ballpark who carefully pick up their ballots, punching holes next to the names of their favourite players and drop them in a box. That is the true spirit of the election.

The fact that fan bases like the Rangers — and it changes every year — can hijack the process and end up with four or five players on the team, or high population bases like New York or New England can overwhelm the process on sheer numbers of fans online takes away from the all-star process.

Deserving players should be there. Sure there is the fan vote accompanied and complemented by the player vote to make sure that worthy players are not overlooked, but all voting should merely be for inclusion at the game. This is a serious exhibition game. The All-Star starting lineups, especially since the result of the game means so much in terms of home-field advantage at the World Series, should be handled separately, not by fans, but by each league, without consideration towards fan balloting and certainly not by the manager who might favour his own guys to start.

Should Mike Napoli or Prince Fielder be starting for the AL? No. How about Dan Uggla, Rafael Furcal, Melky Cabrera or Matt Kemp for the NL? The final week of voting is underway. Don’t mess it up by stuffing the box. Vote with your head.

The home run derby needs re-thinking too, but that’s for another day..

AL ROUNDUP

The Red Sox finally pulled the trigger and traded 3B Kevin Youkilis to the White Sox for INF Brent Lillibridge and RHP Zach Stewart. The Bosox needed to open up a full-time spot for rookie 3B Will Middlebrooks and the Chisox needed some offensive production better than the aging Orlando Hudson had been providing. If Youk can stay healthy, he’ll be a big character on the South Side. Meanwhile, Stewart, the former Jays’ prospect, has been included in trades for Scott Rolen, Colby Rasmus and, now, Youkilis. Stewart is with his fourth organization and is losing his “prospect” status... Boston had more bad news on the injury front as RHP Clay Buchholz has been admitted to hospital with what manager Bobby Valentine described as “a gastrointestinal situation.” He is expected to be out of action for 15 days... The O’s scored just five runs in three games vs. the Nats on the weekend in D.C. but won two of those games. O’s closer Jim Johnson has 22 saves in 23 opportunities... Including Sunday’s loss to the Astros’ LHP A.J. Happ, the Indians are now 5-15 vs. left-handed starters and leadoff man Shin-Soo Choo is hitting an anemic .188 against southpaws... Monday’s starter for the Royals vs. the Rays, RHP Luke Hochevar is 0-4 with a 8.59 ERA in six home starts at Kauffman Stadium... The A’s have used 16 rookies thus far in 2012 and a total of 42 players overall. That’s a crazy number of rookies, more than they used all of last season... In a bizarre King Felix oddity, M’s ace starter RHP Felix Hernandez for his career on the date of June 23, through his career, on those dates at the plate is 2-for-4-.500 with a double, a homer and six RBIs. M’s fans have not had a lot to cheer about offensively. The M’s are hitting .202 as a team at Safeco... Here are some NL gems courtesy of STATS Inc: Since the start of the 2011 season, Curtis Granderson has 62 home runs — only Jose Bautista (66) has more... Angels’ SS Erick Aybar leads all major leaguers with 11 bunt hits and 20 infield hits. He has three more bunt hits than any other player, and only the Yankees’ Derek Jeter (18) is close in infield hits. ..While he is just 6-5 in 14 starts this year, the Rangers’ Colby Lewis has been a more dominant pitcher than in recent seasons. Lewis has fanned 84 and walked only 12 in 96.0 innings in 2012. Among ERA qualifiers, he has a major-league leading 7-1 ratio. Next are the Joe Blanton (6.17) and Cliff Lee (5.50), followed by Matt Cain (5.00) and Stephen Strasburg (5.00)

NL ROUNDUP

Mets’ closer Frankie Francisco has never been a confrontational guy through the years, has he? OK, so there was that little incident in Oakland in ’04 where he spun a folding chair into the stands after being heckled in the bullpen and broke a woman’s nose. But other than that he’s been a pussycat. So when FF went on a rant this week and called the Yankees “chickens” there was a lot of scratching going on. What had gotten into Frankie, especially since the Mets were set to host the Yankees in the final inter-league series on the weekend. To cut then tension, his fellow Mets reliever, Tim Byrdak, thought it might be amusing to go out and purchase a live chicken and let it loose in the Citi Field home clubhouse, while subtly pointing a finger down the hall to the Yankee room. It was pretty funny, with Francisco at first confused, then realizing he had been pranked. The Mets, perhaps remembering the Red Sox had got themselves in trouble last September for having chicken in the clubhouse, Byrdak rounded up the fair fowl that they first named Jeter, then re-named Little Jerry Seinfeld. At a press conference in the hallway, gently cradling the jittery Little Jerry against his chest, Byrdak announced the bird was being donated to a farm in Watkins Glen, N.Y., where he could roam free. Francisco promptly went out and saved Game 1 of the series then was placed on the DL with a strained oblique... On Sunday night with Orel Hershiser, the record holder for consecutive shutout innings, in the ESPN booth as analyst, Mets starter R.A. Dickey had his streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run snapped at 44 2/3 innings... Sad news from San Diego where Padres’ bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds has succumbed to pancreatic cancer, passing away on the weekend. “Ak was an invaluable member of the Padres coaching staff,” manager Bud Black said. “He was a loyal Padre to the end. Players and coaches were made better by Ak. He will be sorely missed.”... Here are some NL gems courtesy of the STATS Inc: The Nats’ pitching staff struck out just 12 Orioles in three weekend games, but are still averaging 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Since the start of the modern era in 1901, only the 2003 Cubs (8.7) have averaged more NL strikeouts per nine innings over a full season. The duo of Stephen Strasburg (110) and Gio Gonzalez (101) rank first and third, respectively, in strikeouts... Atlanta’s Dan Uggla has a major league-leading seven walks after starting out 0-2 in the count. The Jays know how tough it is to put Uggla away. Next with the most walks after an opening two strikes are Rangers Elvis Andrus and Mike Napoli, each with six... The Tigers haven’t been shut out since July 16, 2011, a span of 140 games. They surpassed the previous franchise high of 110 games without being blanked and have the longest such streak in the majors, the only club to not be shut out in 2012.

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL HISTORY:

6/25/88 Cal Ripken plays in his 1,000th consecutive game, sixth on the all-time major-league list...6/25/95 the Rockies 1B Andres Galarraga homers in three straight innings, 6-7-8. He was on deck in the ninth when the game ended...6/26/97 RF Tony Gwynn hits an inside the park grand slam against the Dodgers... 6/28/07 Yankees catcher Branch Rickey allows the Senators to steal 12 bases in one game making him think about another line of work. He goes on to become the greatest executive in the game’s history... 6/29/16 The Reds and the Cubs play a nine-inning game with one baseball... 6/29/39 Montreal’s Pete Rose plays in his 3,309th game passing Carl Yastrzemski for the all-time MLB lead... 6/29/90 The A’s RH Dave Stewart no-hits the Blue Jays, then six hours later, LH Fernando Valenzuela no-hits the Cards, the first time two no-hitters on the same day... 7/1/97 the Jays and Expos play a memorable inter-league game with RH Roger Clemens losing 2-1 to RH Jeff Juden, dropping his record to 12-3... 7/1/68 RH Bob Gibson walks in a run in the first inning vs. the Dodgers snapping a scoreless inning streak at 47-2/3 innings.

Birthdays this week: Carlos Delgado 40, Derek Jeter 38, Chris Woodward 36, Corey Koskie 39, John Boccabella 61, Tony Fernandez 50, Mike Stanley 49.

MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

AAA-Las Vegas (43-33)...The 51’s lost to Sacramento 6-1 on Sunday. LF Travis Snider was 1-for-4 and is hitting .333.1B Adam Lind was batting .392 with eight homers and 29 RBIs. SS Adeiny Hechavarria is leading the team with 53 RBIs... AA-New Hampshire (28-45)...The Fisher Cats beat Harrisburg 5-3 on Sunday. LF Ben Francisco was 2-for-4 and was batting .222 at his recall. RHP Chad Jenkins (4-6, 5.01 ERA) went 6 innings for the win and has three straight quality starts... A-Dunedin (0-3) ...was rained out on Sunday. RHP John Stilson is 3-0, 2.82 ERA. LHP Sean Nolin is 7-0, 2.35 ERA. RHP Danny Barnes is 1-2, with a 2.20 ER and 17 saves... A-Lansing (2-1) ... the Lugnuts beat Great Lakes 13-6 on Sunday. RH Anthony DeScalfini pitched 5 inning for the win. He is 6-1, with a 2.62 ERA. LF Kevin Pillar was 3-for-4 with a run and 2 RBIs and is batting .316 with 28 steals. RH Aaron Sanchez leads the way with 6-0, 0.77 ERA... A-Vancouver (8-2) ... The Canadians are in first place. 1B Balbino Fuenmayor is hitting .419 with three homers and 15 RBIs. Mississauga native CF Dalton Pompey is hitting .303 with 3 SB... A-Bluefield (2-4) lost to Johnson City 4-2. LH Daniel Norris (1-1) was the starter and loser (4IP; 4H; 4R; 4ER; 2BB; 4SO). RH Joe Musgrove tossed four shutout innings in relief and has a 1.13 ERA.

ONE FOR THE ROAD

The road trip to Milwaukee and Miami was enjoyable, two cities that we don’t visit often. I had been to Milwaukee in ’96 and again in 2000 for the all-star game. I had been to many Marlins’ games when with the Expos, but we stayed in Fort Lauderdale with the games being played at the Dolphins football stadium that has had various names through the years. I always call it Joe Robbie.

With three games in Milwaukee at Miller Park and with great weather in Wisconsin, it was a chance to better know the city than the rushed experience of all-star festivities staying out in Jeffrey Dahmer territory. As I’ve often pointed out often this year, I have never seen as many travelling Jays fans on the road, and especially young Jays fans. It’s good to see. Around the corner from my Courtyard hotel, just west of the scrawny river that runs through Milwaukee into Lake Michigan, was a place called Mo’s Irish Pub. The first night was a quiet beer to close down the evening with Mike Rutsey of the Sun. The second night was back at Mo’s but this time with a half dozen boisterous Jays fans in the new teams colours and logos. that is finally distinctive, immediately identifiable as Blue Jays and really travels well. Six Jays fans turned into 10, then 15. It got louder, too. Mo’s stays open until two, but with a day game upcoming, I became responsible and left early, around 1:30 a.m. The biggest surprise was that The Fan’s Mike Wilner still there among his peeps, looking disheveled and alarmingly sober. Highlight of Milwaukee was a good conversation with Gord Ash in his office.

I was not looking forward to the travel day between Milwaukee and Miami on Thursday. Instead of a direct flight, my travel agent had me flying through Newark, which made no sense. With the Heat perhaps clinching on Thursday night, the Newark connection was crowded with hundreds of members of the local Hip-Hop community, clearly going down to party with LeBron. Unfortunately I snagged a middle seat between guys that physically resembled Rick Ross and Cee-Lo Green. Three hours in the air with my elbows pasted to my sides. The stress finally got to me after we landed. I snapped. A frail, elderly, gray-haired lady was being helped off the plane in a wheelchair and there was a problem in the ramp, with the line being held up for a painful minute. Usually quite patient, I lost it momentarily and muttered to my new friends, “Somebody please get Miss Daisy out da way.” My seatmates were quite amused. That night the Heat routed the Thunder and my friends partied, in fact may still be partying.

I was expecting more out of my Marlins Park experience. The fish in the aquariums behind home plate, the tumbling dance teams and the grotesque home run celebration contraption did nothing for me. I thought the area around the ballpark would have been built up more with new businesses, restaurants, bars, etc. The neighbourhood had not changed. I met a lot of old friends, Andres Galarraga who is down to a 5-handicap and plays golf up in Palm Beach Gardens with Larry Walker almost every day. Amazing, because Cat didn’t even swing a golf club until he retired. His health is really good. I saw Andre Dawson in uniform on Sunday. He still looks like he could play except for the two knees that don’t really belong to him. There was Marlins v-p P.J. Loyello who replaced me in P.R. with the Expos in ‘95 and Fish V-P Claude Delorme who started out in stadium-op at Olympic Stadium out of Laurentian University and is the guy given credit for coordinating construction of Marlins Park. There was Hall-of Fame broadcaster Dave Van Horne and Tommy Hutton and Toronto native and Fish trainer Mike Kozak. The best meal of the trip was Saturday night, an endorsement of Miami native J.P. Arencibia who called a buddy, the owner at Garcia’s on the River and set up a reservation. Nice meal, nice road trip. Back home on Monday with Brendan Kennedy taking over coverage in Boston.

Blue Jays mailbag: Colby Rasmus changing perceptions on and off the field

I am usually a huge admirer of Rays manager Joe Maddon, but his reaction to Nationals' manager Davey Johnson's obvious gamesmanship in calling out Rays reliever Joel Peralta on his pine-tarred glove is baffling to me. If I was Johnson, armed with the knowledge that Peralta, a former Nationals reliever, always pitched with pine tar on his glove, I would have done the same thing. It's all about winning. Even Charlie Sheen can tell you that.

The rulebook states that a pitcher may not “apply a foreign substance to the ball, or have a foreign substance in his possession.” Pine tar is clearly such a substance. The rule was broken. Umpire Tim Tschida had no choice but to eject the Rays' middle reliever. Maddon lost it on Johnson after the game. Johnson responded by telling Maddon to “read the rulebook” and calling him a “weird wuss” and “the guru over there.”

Great stuff in a sport that needs more characters willing to show some emotion.

However, the result, an eight-game suspension for Peralta, is something I'm sure Johnson was not angling for. That's a little excessive from baseball and Peralta is appealing to have the penalty reduced. The lesson, one guesses, is that bouncing a helmet one-hop off an umpire like Brett Lawrie did with Bill Miller, is only half as offensive in games missed as a little pine tar on the glove. That's dumb.

The strange thing is that Peralta was not necessarily cheating. He apparently sweats a lot on the mound and when his hand gets slick, he touches the tar with his fingertips and gets a better grip on the ball (or that's the story he's sticking to).

In a way it makes it safer for hitters that might be injured if a slick ball gets away from a pitcher. Recall left-hander Kenny Rogers in the '06 World Series and the extremely black brim of his pine-tar slathered hat that was zeroed in on by Fox TV cameras and the subject of mush discussion in the booth.

Rules change and maybe this one needs to. Up until two years ago, a pitcher on the dirt of the mound could not touch fingers to mouth or a ball would be called. Now he can do that as long as he makes a wiping move to his uniform. It's all about pace of the game.

Maddon is a smart guy. Maybe he was just deflecting attention away from his pitcher and his team, relieving some pressure on his reliever by going on the offensive against Johnson.

Maddon blustered this is one of those things where you have to “read between the lines” of the rulebook and allow the players to regulate themselves. The next time out, with his suspension under appeal, Peralta pitched again against the Nats, but this time using Jeremy Hellickson's glove. What? Pine tar can't be applied to that? In any case, Maddon said he was going to check every Nats reliever that came in, but umpires put the kibosh on that idea.

I like the whole brouhaha. Two really good managers playing mind games.

The fact is that Johnson was right. It wasn't about the glove. If you can throw an opponent off his game, all's fair. I remember managing against Whitby in a minor bantam tournament. A Whitby player was not seriously nicked and the manager came on the field to check on his kid. As he trotted off back to the third base dugout, he turned his head and said to his pitcher, “You okay?” I raced onto the field and made the umpire count that as a mound visit. Was I being unfair? Well, yeah. But the guy was really mad at me and may have missed a key decision later on.

Hey, maybe on his next road trip the brilliantly innovative and colourful Maddon can give his players the theme of dressing like “Sport's greatest cheaters.” That would be fun. There could be David Price as Boston Marathon cheat Rosie Ruiz. Or Ben Zobrist as Bronx 14-year-old Little Leaguer Danny Almonte. Or Carlos Pena  as '36 Olympic high jumper Dora Ratjen, the German who turned out to be a guy named Hermann. Or Jose Molina as figure skater Tonya Harding. Or Evan Longoria as Hand of God soccer cheater Maradona.

In summary, Johnson was right, Maddon was right for covering for his players. Baseball was wrong for handing out eight games and maybe the rules need to be modified.  On to the mailbag:

Q-Hi Richard,

With Rasmus starting to look like the keeper we hoped he would be and with the continued development of some of our top prospects in Las Vegas, I started putting the pieces together for 2013. What I realized is that aside from a potentially potent offence, we may have the best defensive team in the majors next year. The Jays could potentially have a starting OF of Rasmus, Gose and Bautista, an infield of Lawrie (3B), Escobar (SS), Hechaverria (2B), D’Arnaud (C) and your pick between Lind, Cooper, Gomes, Arencibia, or Encarnacion at 1B. That's a lot of youth in a starting side but would I be right in saying this would be the top defensive team in the league if you believe all the reports on Gose, Hech, and D'Arnaud?

All the best,

Aaron Hickey, Sydney, Australia

A-I must say I was wrong about Colby Rasmus. I have maintained that he doesn't fit in the Jays' clubhouse and might never ... but that was last year when he was struggling at the plate and having trouble finding close friendships. This year, since Day 1 of training camp, he found a kindred spirit in catcher Jeff Mathis, a central Florida kid with similar interests. They speak the same language. This has spun off into solid relationships with other teammates.

He has even showed a wry sense of redneck humour that includes making fun of media as they wander through the clubhouse. He has loosened up everywhere including his signature two-out, arm wheel and flourish to his fellow outfielders after he makes a catch. His dad, Tony, was in Toronto on Father's Day and noted Colby's new ability to be himself, which apparently was discouraged under Cards' skipper Tony LaRussa.

Manager John Farrell was asked if he thinks of himself as the anti-Tony LaRussa: “More than anything, you deal with people as they are -- differently. I'm not saying you take a custom approach. You've got some basic elements that you try and get across to everyone. Everyone has their own personality and you try and bring out the most in each guy. Thankfully, he feels good about himself and where he's at right now.” Farrell has much to do with that. By the way, Tony Rasmus looks like he would be fun to play golf with. 

As for the potentially potent defensive Jays lineup, I agree that if that was the rotation, it would be pretty good, especially in the outfield and up the middle of the infield. However, you're talking about three rookie starters – Gose, Hechavarria, D'Arnaud -- in a lineup that must be constructed to compete. It can be done, but it would be a giant leap of faith in some unproven youngsters.

Q-If the Jays continue to have bullpen issues, and can sign Marcus Stroman before the end of the month, do you foresee them bringing him up to the big club in August. Of all the college pitchers in the draft, Stroman supposedly is the most major league-ready.

Vladimir Guerrero seems to have overvalued himself. No other team has wanted his services ever since he decided to just leave and quit on the Jays. Do you think his career is over?

Why don't the Jays call up Deck McGuire and/or Chad Jenkins? At the very least give Scott Richmond another shot. Jesse Chavez, Carlos Villanueva and Aaron Laffey are all guys who are better suited to coming out of the bullpen and being the long guys. You might as well see what you have with McGuire and Jenkins even though they have struggled in Double A. AA really messed up this offseason by not signing a veteran innings eater like Kevin Millwood or Hiroki Kuroda.

Jason Sinnarajah, San Francisco

A-With regard to Marcus Stroman, even though the right-hander had a good season at Duke and is a mature college pitcher, if they do sign him, he would need to be seen at the minor-league level and, besides, bringing a pitcher to the majors right away has never been the Jays' style. First of all, it gets the major-league clock ticking and what if he does not succeed right away in the first two months. Then they send him down next April and that counts as a first option. The Jays would prefer to start 2013 with any of their first-year pitchers, including Stroman, on a regular minor-league contract so that they can start his major-league clock on their sked and maximize the control they have down the road.

Vlad definitely jumped the gun and overvalued himself. Of course we all think we're better and more valuable than we are. In Guerrero's case, I truly believe he surprised his own agent, Bean Stringfellow (love writing that name) by giving the Jays an ultimatum. AA never ever includes an out clause in  any of his minor-league invites for veteran major-leaguers.

Handshake.

The AA agreement is always if you want out just tell us and we'll give you your release. He feels that word of mouth among players and their agents that the Jays are men of their word and that a verbal agreement with Toronto is all you need is better. He feels that this trust inside the walls of the industry is important to establishing the Jays as major players in free agency. Whether that's right or wrong, he sticks to his guns. I agree with him.

As for who should be called up to start, I would take a chance with Chad Jenkins. The Jays at the major league level play better defence and have better scouting reports and some pitchers thrive in the majors when they struggled – at least statistically – in the minors.

“I thought Chad threw the ball very well at spring training and yet he's somewhat, I don't want to say plateaued,” Farrell said. “He's kind of going along at the Double-A level. We're in a situation where need might necessitate that faster development track and some guys may respond in a favourable way. I'll tell you this, if needs continue to arise because of unfortunate circumstances, we may just put ourselves in a position to say 'You know what, let's give them the ball, give them the opportunity and see how he fares'.”

Q-Three starters gone in one week. Totally unheard of and two of them won't be back until the 2014 season. AA is stuck. Getting a good ML starter for prospects isn't going to happen so do you try and move Escobar and Arencibia for pitching because you have two top prospects waiting in the wings to take over their spots. I would rather see them rush them up than watch young pitchers not ready for prime time get battered about. Guys in the clubhouse will lose their will to win if they have to score more than 6 runs a game. So does AA have any other choices?

Dave Walker, Scarborough

A-Three starters on the DL in one trip through the Jays rotation is something I have never seen in my 40 years in baseball. But it's a leap of lack of faith to say that two of them won't be back until 2014. The Tommy John procedure has reached the point where 12 months is a pretty good estimate to have a pitcher back on the mound. Of course it all depends on the individual effort that any pitcher is willing to put in. But we're not even sure yet that Drew Hutchison is going to undergo the procedure, while Kyle Drabek could be back by next year's all-star break if everything goes well. Granted, for Drabek it is his second Tommy John surgery. Dodgers' starter Chris Capuano is an example of a pitcher that came back to pitch in the majors after two such operations.

Also, how can you make that sweeping statement that “getting a good ML starter for prospects isn't going to happen.” Think Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Randy Johnson, Gio Gonzalez, Mat Latos, the list goes on and on. In fact, that's the No. 1 way to get ML starters is with prospects. As for guys losing their will to win because they have to score six runs a game. That's the most ridiculous statement of the bunch. When a player puts on his uniform, he's not thinking about giving up on even one game, one at-bat, one pitch. It's his livelihood and pride takes over and a vision of his personal future as a professional baseball player is most important. You can't just rattle off your opinion as fact.

Q-Richard,

I am surprised that this question hasn't been asked yet, but here goes nothing...During the offseason AA and Beeston made mention that Rogers wouldn't have a problem supporting a larger payroll, when the players and fans show the support. It would seem to a fan that the players are really showing that they are ready to compete even after the loss of three starting pitchers in under a week, they have battled day in and day out for wins, and even when the lose they are right there in battle. So that is one point down, the players have shown they are ready to compete, AA has to stand up and now make his commitment to the team to take it to the next level. The second is the Fans. Aren't the Jays 5th in the largest attendance rate increase in all of baseball? The Fans are supporting the team at the stadium, and one would think the TV ratings have dramatically increased, oh and by the way, how about Jays merchandise, I read somewhere they are in the top five of merchandise sales now. The Fans and Players have stood up and showed that Baseball in Toronto is ready to compete, when will AA and Beeston show their end of the deal? Let's Go Blue Jays.

Scott Cochrane, Niagara-on-the-Lake

A-Those are good points about Beeston's off-season explanation of fans support leading to increased payroll, but the optimum time to add intelligent payroll is next off-season. Any Blue Jays payroll increase right now would likely be for expiring contracts for veterans from other teams poised for free agency. There are other, rare, opportunities for a guy like, say, 1B Justin Morneau if the Twins choose to go in that direction, trying to open a permanent position for Joe Mauer. Morneau has $14 million left for 2013 and I would do that if he proves he is healthy. But for Beeston and AA to respond moving forward properly to the promises they made, they must add new talent heading into 2013. To overpay now in 2012 yielding huge prospects for short term contracts, just because fans are calling them out, would be short-sighted. But let's keep your point in mind heading into the offseason. 

Q-I have a sort of off topic question - Cito Gaston. I have had heard many people wonder why he hasn't managed another MLB team since his World Series years in Toronto. Even Cito seems to wonder why this is.

 I remember during his first tenure with the Blue Jays as manager. In interviews and articles, he would always say that he never wanted to be a manager - always downplayed his desire to be a manager. Didn't seem to care if he was fired or not.

 Do you think his attitude is what kept him from managing another team? What team would want to hire a guy that did not seem to care if he got the job? I have always viewed Cito as a guy that wanted to manage again - but never showed a strong desire.

 He never was a great strategic manager, but his handling of players (especially the veterans) was excellent - he would always bring out the best in his players.

Chris Hiuser, Tecumseh

A-The most obvious response is that Cito was never given credit for what he did with the Blue Jays, because of the offensive talent on these two teams. The perception was that Gaston was a good batting coach reluctantly taking over a highly-paid, supremely talented Jays team as manager in '89 and just posting a line-up and watching them win. It was not a fair assessment. However, I guarantee one thing. If Gaston was white he would have managed again even after being fired by the Jays in '97.

Cito came close to managing with the White Sox. It came down to Ozzie Guillen and him. He had lunch with Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf at the Tampa Airport and Gaston recalled that it was a very positive get-together. The next day the Sox announced Ozzie as manager. The edge may have been in Guillen's history as a player with the White Sox.

After that, Cito interviewed with several other teams including the Brewers. At the last minute he withdrew his name from the Brewers' candidacy and from that point on he refused to just interview with teams. His feeling was that the commissioner's “affirmative action” mandate that every team needed to interview a minority candidate before naming a new manager – except, it seems, the Jays, when they hired John Gibbons full time. It made it seem like teams were just calling him in as a token interview to meet the requirement.

Gaston felt that his two World Series rings spoke more eloquently than any two-hour sit-down interview about personal philosophy ever could. “If you want me, just hire me.” Cito's not the only African-American to come to that conclusion. Hal McRae also stopped going to interviews.   

Q-Richard,

As a Canadian who moved from Canada between the Blue Jays World Series wins, I really enjoy your column and insight. With divided loyalties, I was fortunate to be at Miller Park last night for one the wildest games I can remember since game 4 of the 93 World Series. I was hoping to see Lawrie face Shaun Marcum, but it was still good to see Garth Iorg coaching first base. Aside from the 5 lead changes, 3 walked in runs, 1 hit batter run, a grand slam, consecutive home runs (3 and then 2), a strike out/passed ball to keep an inning going, there was lots of Canadian content.

Well everyone is familiar with Brett Lawrie (who played in Appleton), John Axford, Gord Ash and Doug Melvin, there were also pinch hit appearances by George Kottaras and Taylor Green. That makes 4 Canadians to play in a major league game. Do you know if that is a record? 

I am looking forward to the Lansing Lugnuts coming to Appleton next month to showcase the Jays upcoming talent. It's a nice park and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a community owned team, similar to the Packers up the road in Green Bay. Let me know if you come to town and I'll buy you a cold one at the Leinie Lodge.

Thanks
,

Scott Fraser
, Appleton, Wisconsin

A-The Leinie Lodge looks like a great spot to meet for a cold Leinenkugel and a brat. I agree with you about the craziness of that Tuesday Jays-Brewers game at Miller Park. The whole series reminded me of the series in May 2010 at Chase Field in Phoenix when Edwin went crazy in that high-scoring three-game interleague series against the D-backs. In fact the weather in Milwaukee this week was very Phoenix-like as well. As for the four Canadians in one game. I was asked that question in the press box by the irrepressible Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. My recollection is that there had been other games with four Canadians in the same box score. I think the day Lachine, Quebec's Denis Boucher made his debut for the Expos back on September 6, 1993, his catcher was Windsor's Joe Sidall and his right fielder was Maple Ridge's Larry Walker I looked it up. There were no Canadians for the Rockies that day, but as the P.R. guy I had to do the research on most Canadians in a game and I believe it was four. I just misplaced my notes from 19 years ago. Forgive me.   

Q-Hello Richard,

I want to thank you for including my daughter's question about Brian Jeroloman and Koby Clemens in Mailbag. She was thrilled. I've never been a fan of Paul Beeston, not sure what he brings to the table. It is repugnant to read he is friends with a creep like Clemens, who has laughably escaped prosecution. And what ever happened to the story that Clemens was dallying with the underage girl? 
Good message to the youth of the country. Barry Bonds, LeBron James, Dany Heatley, etc.....

Thanks again,

Selby Martin, Toronto

A-The legal process is what it is and the case against Clemens of perjury and obstruction of justice, for which he was found not guilty, was weakened considerably when Andy Pettitte remembered that he had mis-remembered his conversation with the Rocket from the early '00s. That left the prosecution as a he said/he said with Brian McNamee. I'm not sure how necessary it was for Clemens to be found guilty and spend any time in jail. The Rocket's legacy has been tarnished forever.

As for the mystery woman you ask about in Roger's past, that was country singer Mindy McCready who was linked romantically to Clemens in an explosive New York Daily News piece in '08. McCready has recorded five country albums, but when she is alleged to have met Clemens, it was as a 15 or 16-year-old karaoke singer in a Fort Myers bar in '92.

McCready tearfully confirmed the sexual relationship to the paper in April of 2008, two months after the Rocket had appeared in front of a congressional committee on performance enhancers, a tough stretch for Clemens. Clemens, through his lawyer Rusty Hardin, threatened the Daily News with a defamation suit, claiming the relationship with McCready was as a family friend and that his wife Debbie was aware of the friendship. McCready apparently mis-remembered, according to Hardin. And, hey, what did LeBron ever do except leave Cleveland and win an NBA championship, proving he is one of the Top 10 players in NBA history?

Q-What does the recent spate of arm injuries mean for the Jays' incremental arm development plan? We've been so careful not to overwork the arms, yet it doesn't seem to matter, eh?

Tony Baer, Baraboo

A-That's a very good question. The Jays are perhaps going to have to review their minor-league methods. The Jays traditionally take draft pick signees and nurture them in their first few years as pros. A kid may have been over-worked as a high school or NCAA stud, but the Jays send them to spring training and have them on strict inning and pitch counts as the season goes on.

For instance the Lansing staff is loaded with pitching talent, but for the first two months they piggy-backed at a maximum of three innings up to four, five etc. Then after they've been in the system a couple of years, they give each pitcher a total innings limit in the minors and again when he reaches the majors.

Major league pitches are considered more stressful. For example, the Jays had planned on limiting Hutchison to 150 total innings this year. A couple of years ago, they shut down Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil in September and sent them home as healthy scratches. The options are like teaching a baby to swim by either giving him or her lessons for months or by throwing them in the deep end of the pool.   

Q-Hi Richard,

Two questions from me: 1) In my view, the team pile-on walk-off celebrations are getting out of hand. I thought streaming out of the dugout and jumping on each other was reserved for clinching a playoff spot, but now a Rajai Davis single in June will spark one. Is there an old guard vs new guard feeling about them in the baseball world? 

2) The Blue Jays voted to contract the Expos in 2001, and when they moved to Washington I boycotted MLB and the Jays by not buying game tickets. Will the Blue Jays ever apologize to Expos fans for that vote or should I see a therapist about learning how to let go? Thanks!

Seth Bernstein, Toronto

A-I agree with you on walk-off celebrations. I think the thought process in all things on the baseball diamond should be “What would Henry Aaron do?” If the Hammer hit a game-winning home run during the regular season, I have trouble in my mind seeing him taking a giant leap onto home plate and then bouncing around with teammates like Hannibal's troops going through the Alps on pogo sticks. I have trouble seeing Mr. Aaron delivering a shaving cream pie in the face to Eddie Mathews as he's sitting for a TV interview. So, no. Don't do it.

As for your displeasure with the Jays on voting for contraction back in '01. I too had a huge problem with that and have written as such through the years. It would have been a stand admired by other major-league owners if the Jays had stuck with the other major-league Canadian team. Bud Selig wanted a unanimous vote, well, other than the Expos. Carl Pohlad who abstained in Minnesota. But he stood to get a big payoff in contraction and he couldn't get approval for a new stadium, since built. Yeah, I hate the Jays for that one moment, but if you love baseball, let it go. Enjoy the game.    

Q-Hi Richard;

After a Jays game I go to their website and scroll through the box score. A batter that is hit by a pitch, or walks, or gets on due to catcher interference does not get credit for a base on the total bases line. But if the bases were full when this happened, he'd get an RBI. Someone like Bautista should be credited with over a hundred bases a year. Isn't a walk as good as a hit?

No one should feel bad about Vladdy being released. Talk to the Orioles about the rally-killing, inning-ending double plays that he grounded into. This has been a bad year for former stars. Vladdy, Moyer, Ramirez, and Matsui doing little with the Rays. Even Thome is not earning his salary.

Thanks Richard,

Art Hilderman, Winnipeg

A-That's why a stat like OPS (On-Base plus Slugging) is an important gauge for offensive contribution. It gives much credit to walks as part of the on-base and for power as a calculation of total bases divided by at-bats. It's not perfect, but if you go online and sort any team by OPS or career Hall-of-Famers, it comes out in a pretty meaningful order.

Vlad was not going to put the Jays over the top and I had already started to hear that inside the Jays' clubhouse, which is a very good environment right now, there was not a lot of sentiment to parachute Guerrero into the mix. That was even before Vlad quit I was hearing that. The last guy that came to the Jays because he needed some home runs for 500 was Frank Thomas and how did that work out?

Q-If Chad Mottola is so great at fixing broken Blue Jay swings (e.g. Lind, Snider, Encarnacion), why don't we just make him the hitting coach? Lind's recent statement to the Star that, when he gets recalled: "Chad won't be there and I'll have to be able to adjust by myself -- is kind of sad, no?

Tony Baer, Baraboo

Q-Hi Richard,

One consistent pattern for the Blue Jay minor league hitters is that, on going from AA to AAA, they almost always hit better, often significantly. This year's examples include D'Arnaud, Gomes, Gose, Hechavarria and Sierra while in the recent past, others were Arencibia, Lawrie and Thames. While there may be a 'Las Vegas' factor at work, I also wonder if the Blue Jays might improve by promoting Mottola to be the major league batting coach. What do you think? Also, in all the discussion of possible promotions, why isn't Moises Sierra mentioned? He is reported to be an excellent outfielder with good power and is currently batting over .300.

Bill Reynolds, Toronto

A-I thought back at spring training when Dwayne Murphy went home for a couple of weeks for some family issues and Mottola stayed in major-league camp, I believed that the Jays might be thinking about adding Mottola to the major-league staff as an associate hitting coach. In fact, both World Series teams last year, the Cards and the Rangers had already stumbled upon that process. Think about it, the pitching coach has the bullpen coach to bounce ideas off. The hitting coach as 13 players and one cage and one pair of eyes and ears. I think they should add Mottola as an associate. He came up last September and he and Murph are on the same page, with some differences. That's a good thing.

Q-Hi Richard,

I'm already thinking about next year and was wondering if the best route for the Jays to put plus players in every position would be to move Bautista back to third and move Lawrie to second base.

 I have to think that finding an outfielder with a left handed power bat would be far easier than finding a quality second baseman. I also foresee the possibility of a very flexible line-up with multiple options at OF/1B/DH and catcher however without Lind we are still in need of some left handed bats.

Andrew Blakeney, Toronto

A-I disagree on pretty much all of that. Bautista does not want to play third base and he is your best player. I might try and convince him to play first base. Lawrie is going to be  a Gold Glove third baseman. If he played second base I could see him on a double play pivot where a guy slides in hard, with Brett descending to sit on his chest and chew his face off. (sorry I'm in Miami and distracted) You would have to keep three catchers to have both D'Arnaud and Arencibia if J.P. was to move around other positions. That's the one with three catchers that may not be as problematic for me.

Q-When JP Riccardi came in he tried to implement an offence that had players work the count in hopes of getting to the middle relievers early. It failed miserably and Cito had to be brought back to fix things. Now Farrell comes in with the same mantra and look what has happened to the offence.This type of offence may work in Boston, New York or Texas where you have six all-star type players in your line-up but it has been shown that with our collection of castoffs it doesn't work here.

Don't you think it's time to go back to a Cito-type of offensive approach because everyone is sick of constantly watching Jays players take first pitch fastballs down the gut and then striking out on a curve in the dirt. Yes the Jays may get to the bullpen earlier but usually they are losing 4-0 by then and the fans have either left the building or turned off their TVs and radios.

Gus Bolin, Keene, ON

A-I've never been a fan of taking strike one and getting yourself into a pitcher's count right away. And when opponents know that a team philosophy is to work the count they become less reluctant to pound the strike zone on the first pitch. If they are aware, however, that you are looking for a certain pitch, certain spot and that even on first pitch you will crush it, they make a mistake, they become more careful and are more likely to miss on first pitch and all of a sudden the hitter is in charge.

Another problem for the Jays' young hitters is that under Cito, batting coach Murphy was delivering a message of controlled aggression. Then a year later, the same Jays guys step into the batting cage and Murph is suddenly preaching working the count and having 7-10 pitch at-bats to get the starting pitcher out of the game. It's like when Bob Dylan went through his Christian phase. “Say what, Mr. Zimmerman?” Don't think that mixed message is confusing? Ask Adam Lind.

Griffin: Blue Jays starter Drew Hutchison will further test his injured elbow

The Jay have sent injured righthander Drew Hutchison back to the club's training base in Florida to contemplate his next move, after orthopedist, Dr. Timothy Krimchek, at his office in Cincinnati, confirmed the club's original diagnosis of a sprained ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow. Surgery for Hutchison is a strong possibility.

Hutchison walked off the mound after nine pitches against the Phillies last Friday, the third Jays starter in five days that was forced onto the disabled list with an injury suffered during a game. The severity of the Hutchison sprain makes Tommy John a possibility.

"He's taken that information and reported to Dunedin," Jays' manager John Farrell said. "He'll go through some additional testing with our doctors in Florida and then at that point, he'll sit down with his family and determine the next plan of action. We will likely have much more clarity by Thursday, the off day on what the next steps will be. Hutchison was born and raised in nearby Lakeland, Florida.

The danger for Hutchison in not opting for the surgery now, is that the condition could worsen during exercise and rehab and then he could be forced to have the same surgery several months down the road, delaying his comeback. That scenario has happened to other pitchers through the years. With the success rate for the ligament replacement surgery at an all-time high, Hutchison must consider all options and make the final choice.

"That's probably the scenarios that he's walking through, once the information is collected" Farrell said. "To best determine what to do next. I'm not saying that's completely ruled out, but at this point he probably needs a day or two to work through on his own behalf and certainly discussing things with his family."

Hutchison, in his rookie season as a 21-year-old, had been 5-3, with a 4.61 ERA in 11 starts. His rapid rise to the majors had been one of 2012's most pleasant surprises.

Meanwhile, the Tommy John surgery performed on Kyle Drabek's right elbow by Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday afternoon was a success. He will begin his 12-month rehab shortly.

 

 

 

The Bullpen: Injuries leave Blue Jays at a crossroads

For the Blue Jays, this uber-eventful past week at home is either the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning.

They either find out that nobody on the farm is ready to replace their three injured starters and begin to spiral out of control through the standings, or they discover that some of the guys on the farm actually will thrive with better defence and more thorough scouting of opposing hitters.

Anyway, wasn’t Hutchison going to be shut down at 150 innings, anyway? So instead of taking the final month off, he can take it in the middle of the season. That’s a glass-half-full view.

Of course, the other view is that the Jays are toast and might as well start re-arranging the deck chairs and offering up contracts of veterans on one-year deals at the trade deadline.   

This has been the story of the Jays’ roller-coaster season thus far. What’s down is up and what’s up is down. When they’re expected to win, they lose. When disaster looms, they bounce back and string Ws together. For the seven days starting on Monday, the Jays were 3-3, losing a series to the Nationals and sweeping the Phillies, without Roy Halladay, both at the Rogers Centre.

What makes the week so truly unusual is that nine pitches into Thursday’s series opener vs. the Phillies, the Jays had lost three games in the week and had lost three starting pitchers to the disabled list.

On Monday, Brandon Morrow strained his left oblique. On Wednesday, it was Drabek tearing his ulnar collateral ligament, likely headed for Tommy John surgery and on Friday it was a sprained UCL suffered by Hutchison. The organization and its fans are still reeling.

The frustration shone through in this most telling quote of the week from manager John Farrell that was spoken even before the Hutchison injury: “This is a challenge. Nobody gives a (bleep) about the Toronto Blue Jays except the people in the clubhouse.”

Frustration and defiance.

It’s significant. The three missing pitchers have totalled 207 2/3 innings, 37 starts and 16 wins. Those are tough numbers to replace. As of Sunday night, the Jays had not announced pitchers for either Tuesday or Wednesday at Miller Park against the Brewers.

The bullpen was amazing and busy over the six games this week. Overall, the Jays’ pen was 2-1 with one save, working 32 innings, allowing 26 hits, 8 runs, 7 earned, 11 walks and 27 strikeouts. Multiple inning relief performances, even by one-inning relievers, were the order of the day.

Leading the way in terms of bullpen work were: Luis Perez 5.1 IP; Villanueva 5 IP; Laffey 4.1 IP; Frasor 3.2 IP; Beck 3.2 IP; Janssen 3 IP; Cordero 2.2 IP; Oliver 2 IP; Coello 2 IP; Crawford 0.1 IP.

The starters combined to pitch 23 innings. Frasor led with four relief appearances.

The Jays on Sunday flew in 13 Jays fathers, including the infamous Tony Rasmus, father of Colby, who was vilified by Cardinals manager LaRussa and the organization for his allegedly meddling ways when it came to his son’s batting. Needless to say his disdain for the Cardinal organization was mutual. Rasmus said he hasn’t seen his son this happy playing ball in years.

“It’s a big deal,” Tony Rasmus said of the Jays’ gesture of flying all the families in for Father’s Day.

“The first thing my wife said was, ‘Did St. Louis ever do this?’ So we were really excited about the opportunity to get to do this.”  

The Jays this week signed 22 of their 54 draft picks, including OF D.J. Davis, an outfielder from Stone County High School, in Mississippi. He is the son of Wayne Davis, a former Blue Jays’ farmhand from 1983-86. The Jays signed Davis for $1.75 million, according to Baseball America, saving $250,000 on the slot for No. 17 overall. The Jays signed 11 of their 14 picks in the first 10 rounds. The three Jays picks remaining before the July 13 deadline are No. 22 RHP Marcus Stroman, No. 50 LHP Matt Smoral and No. 81 RHP Chase DeJong.

MLB POWER RANKINGS

Last week’s rankings in parentheses   

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (1)

Are always good early, but for L.A. the 162-game season always marathon of hope

2. New York Yankees (2)

A-Rod tied Gehrig’s record for slams, paid tribute to Iron Horse

3. Washington Nationals (4)

Harper, Strasburg best 1-2 punch under 24 in baseball 

4. Texas Rangers (3)

Rangers pitching melting down so fast, Al Gore is investigating

5. Tampa Bay Rays (5)

Matt Moore starting to live up to hype. Now what about the bats?

6. Cincinnati Reds (9)

Chapman million dollar arm and two-cent brain; Votto rules

7. Atlanta Braves (6)

Feeling the heat....and it’s not even the dog days yet 

8. San Francisco Giants (7)

Cain’s perfect game and Blanco catch highlight the week

9. Baltimore Orioles (11)

Everyone waiting for O’s collapse, but pitching hanging in

10. Chicago White Sox (8)

Sale and Peavy fuel a surprising renaissance

11. Los Angeles Angels (10)

Who knew Trout could help entire franchise swim upstream

12. New York Mets (12)

Worst idea in sports? Allowing MLB to overturn scorer’s decisions

13. Cleveland Indians (14)

Damon’s bid for 3,000 hits may not end well

14. Boston Red Sox (15)

When Sox get healthy this ranking should head north 

15. St. Louis Cardinals (16)

They do miss the 10-year face of the franchise

16. Miami Marlins (13)

Found out hotel this week is near where man’s face chewed off (see below)

17. Toronto Blue Jays (17)

Starting pitchers falling faster than Nik Wallenda with the hiccups

18. Detroit Tigers (18)

Catcher Alex Avila’s injury demonstrates his true value

19. Arizona Diamondbacks (22)

D-backs slowly climbing back to respectability

20. Pittsburgh Pirates (20)

Have not finished .500 since George H.W. Bush was prez 

21. Philadelphia Phillies (19)

Most disappointing team in baseball 

22. Oakland A’s (23)

This is team that will continue to improve as year goes on

23. Seattle Mariners (21)

Seems everyone that faces them goes to hill with “no-hit stuff”

24. Minnesota Twins (24)

Can franchise support both M’s – Mauer and Morneau?

25. Kansas City Royals (26)

Hosmer and Hochevar will need to help them move forward

26. Milwaukee Brewers (25)

Miller Field magic melts away like Gouda cheese on a hot sidewalk

27. Houston Astros (27)

Seems everyone that faces them went to hill with “perfect-game stuff”

28. Colorado Rockies (28)

Canadian LHP Jeff Francis in second tour of duty 

29. San Diego Padres (29)

If I became a free agent this is where I would want to write

30. Chicago Cubs (30)

Going nowhere. Dempster and Garza and pray for trade

THE ESSAY: WARREN CROMARTIE SPEARHEADS BASEBALL’S RETURN TO MONTREAL

The Expos experience was always something special for those major-leaguers that played in Montreal, whether it was the Jarry Park years from 1969-76, or the Olympic Stadium era from 1977-2004.

Those Expos players, especially in the years from ’75 to ’94, remained friends even after they left the organization in trade, even after they eventually retired. Whenever they get together, they still laugh, they cry, they reminisce, exchanging war stories of working, playing and partying in Montreal, enjoying the city, the organization, the fans and growing up with each other.

The fact is I have never seen a closer group of athletes in my 40 years in baseball, from spring training through the end of each season. Maybe it was the fact of being an English minority in a foreign land, living among fans that respected their space, yet lived and died with their on-field exploits.

Unfortunately major-league baseball is now gone and apathy seems to rule.

Montrealers have accepted too easily their team is gone, uprooted to Washington D.C. to become the Nationals. Quel dommage.

For one of those Expos players, former outfielder/first baseman Warren Cromartie, a man who has always found the time to return on a regular basis for various functions and charities, including an annual ALS fund-raiser to find a cure for Lou Gehrig’s disease, the outgoing and popular Miami native finally had had enough and wanted to do something to correct the absence of pro baseball.

I talked to Cro by phone the day that Gary Carter passed away. I spoke to him again at the Kid’s memorial service in Palm Beach Gardens. On both occasions, he was passionate and adamant, angry that the city seemed not to remember the Expos, especially in the early ’80s and early ’90s.

There were no shrines, no museums, no Expos logos, no fans wearing retro jerseys, nowhere to go for a history lesson on baseball in Montreal — the Expos, the Royals, anything.

Whenever Cro spoke individually to fans in the city, he knew they were still passionate about the Expos and about pro baseball, but, from his point of view, the various levels of government in Montreal and Quebec were neglecting, no, burying an important part of their sporting history.  

As such, with a little help from his former baseball friends, many of whom he had spoken to about the project only after Carter’s death, Cromartie formed an association called the Montreal Baseball Project (MBP) whose goal is to ultimately bring professional baseball back to the city, a move that he hopes will lead to the return of the big boy, major-league baseball.

Realistically, it won’t be that easy, maybe it will be impossible. MLB is more than ever a closed fraternity that seems to not want to expand to Canada, but Cro certainly deserves credit for trying.

This past weekend, June 14-16, featured a series of events for MBP, kicked off with an introduction of former Expos stars on the field before an Alouettes-Blue Bombers exhibition game last Thursday.

The list of former Expos on hand for the festivities included Cromartie, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Ellis Valentine, Larry Parrish, Wallace Johnson, Bryn Smith, Stan Bahnsen, Bill Gullickson, Rodney Scott, Rowland Office and Bill “Spaceman” Lee. Nice.

Further to a presence at the football game, the friends of baseball in Montreal staged a Friday golf tournament on Ile Perot and organized a Saturday dinner that was preceded by a Fan Fest and various clinics for young baseball players in the city. The beneficiary of any money raised was the Cedars Cancer Institute. The beneficiary of any attention raised was baseball in Montreal.

Cromartie’s efforts and those of his former teammates are admirable, but it will be a long grind. The first priority is to get a solid ownership group together. Cromartie is well aware of that. The second thing is to find a location for a stadium, one that could start small and be expanded if the idea catches on. The group can’t just start with a demand for major-league ball.

But a return at any level of pro ball, especially if it was affiliated with a major-league team, especially the Jays, would be preferable to having no ball at all. As such, good luck, gentlemen. Let’s get pro baseball back in Montreal.

THE RANT: DUSTY BAKER AND DEREK LOWE EXCHANGE INSULTS. WHAT’S NEXT?

Reds manager Dusty Baker and Indians pitcher Derek Lowe just plain don’t like each other and it’s turned into a nasty war of words. But, really, why is this considered bad and what makes this any different than the silly Cole Hamels-Bryce Harper incident that cost the Phillies’ pitcher a five-game suspension?

Make no mistake about it, the Office of the Commissioner is paying attention to a potential Baker-Lowe 2 this Monday in Cleveland. 

The recent fallout of what turns out is a four-year-old feud is this: On June 13, Lowe came to the plate in Cincy and was low-bridged by Reds starter Mat Latos by a 96 mph fastball.

Lowe turned his head and glared at the Reds’ dugout, specifically at Baker, who waved his index finger back and forth in Dikembe Mutombo fashion. “Don’t bring that weak stuff in here,” is the gist.

The two men had a similar thing going on four years ago when Lowe was with the Dodgers and was nasty as well. Here’s how the back-and-forth went. On Wednesday after the game, Lowe was asked by reporters about the chin music from Latos.

“Dusty will deny it. It has everything to do with him. You can go ask him. He’ll deny it like he has no idea. They’ve been trying to do this for years. I’d always come up with men on base. To say it didn’t come from Dusty, Mat Latos was with the San Diego Padres the last four years. He has no idea what’s going on.

“Again, you can ask him and he’ll say he doesn’t know (anything) about it like he always does. This goes back to my last year with the Dodgers. He made up some story. A lot of people got involved. People almost got fired over it. You can go ask him right now and he’ll say he has no idea what you’re talking about. But just watch the game. Mat Latos has nothing to do with anything that has gone on. How would he know? Why would you throw a 96 mph fastball, first pitch, inside to a pitcher? Ask him.”

Then on Thursday morning before the series finale, Baker was asked for any response to Lowe.

“He had some words for me. I really didn’t want to make a public thing or a public spectacle. He’s the one who brought it up. He had some choice words for me. I really don’t care if he respects me. It doesn’t matter. No. 1, you’ve got to ask him why he hit Joey Votto in the back two years ago.

“Yesterday, he took exception to a ball inside that didn’t hit him, then hit Brandon Phillips after that. I’m not denying nothing. I didn’t order anyone to hit him. I told (Mat Latos) to buzz him and make him uncomfortable. That’s what happened. Nobody hit him. Then he hit our guy.

“What he was talking about was something that he said and did a few years. You got to ask him what that was. You got a lot people involved in the situation that didn’t need to be involved in the situation. It didn’t come from there. Go ask him since he made it public. Understand what I’m saying. I’ll let it rest at that since he’s such a big man running his mouth talking about himself.”

Now here Dusty is admitting that he asked his pitcher to “buzz” Lowe. And then Lowe responds soon after by hitting Phillips. How is that different than what Hamels said and did?

As journalists and fans we get mad at those in sports that speak in clichés and without emotion. Then when someone does speak the truth, they are criticized again. We can’t have it both ways.

I don’t think Hamels should have been suspended and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Lowe and Baker not liking each other. But, really, if Hamels is going to be suspended, why not Baker, who said he had his man knock Lowe down and how about Lowe who clearly retaliated by hitting Phillips.

For the commissioner, it’s about consistency in the message. He shouldn’t have suspended Hamels, but what now? All or nothing.

AL ROUNDUP

The resurgent Yankees marched into Washington and swept the Nationals three games in front of full houses, extending the Bombers’ win streak to nine games. The Nats sure looked good in Toronto earlier in the week and sure looked bad at home. All of a sudden the Yanks’ rotation is shaping up with Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte.

The Angels have a tough decision when RH Jered Weaver returns from his sore back this week. He will likely bump RH Garrett Richards (2-0, 0.86 ERA) back to the minors. OF Vernon Wells had thumb surgery to repair a torn UCL in his thumb and is out at least until the end of July. The Angels have taken off without the former Jays’ star.

The O’s were happy to have 2B Brian Roberts back on the field after a year away with a concussion. His average is back to normal, but he has yet to produce an extra-base hit. It’s all about timing and he hasn’t got that back yet.

Rookie LH Matt Moore has won three straight decisions for the Rays and is heading towards the form that everyone expected after his dazzling playoff performance last year. “I like the fact that he commanded his breaking ball without trying to overthrow it, and then it started becoming a strike,” manager Joe Maddon told Rays media. “Now they have to honour the fastball and breaking ball mentality. That makes it very difficult.” 3B Evan Longoria began a minor-league rehab on Saturday at Triple-A Durham.

The A’s Cuban CF Yoenis Cespedes came off the DL stint recovered from his thumb issues. But now he has been battling left hamstring woes, although he remains active. If the following story sounds familiar it is because it is. OF Manny Ramirez asked for and was given his release by the A’s because he was not being promoted from the minor leagues fast enough. Manny had finished serving his 50-game MLB suspension for a second PED failure, but the A’s kept him at Triple-A. Ramirez asked for his relief. It parallels the story of Jays’ minor league DH Vlad Guerrero who insisted he be recalled right away or given his release. He still has not re-signed.

The Rangers have been trying to seamlessly integrate right-hander Yu Darvish into the North American style of pitching. However, after noticing that he was struggling with fatigue issues, the Rangers gave him an extra three days between starts and he responded with 11 strikeouts in a 6-2 win over the Astros. OF Josh Hamilton had been sidelined on the weekend with dehydration and a stomach virus. It’s a condition that has run rampant in one form or another through the Rangers clubhouse. Starter Derek Holland had the worst case, going on the DL and losing 15 lbs. He wants to play again on Monday in San Diego.

The White Sox will start former Jays right-hander Zach Stewart on Monday against the Cubs. Veteran John Danks is still not ready to return to the active ranks.

 

 

NL ROUNDUP

The Nationals invaded Canada for three games and left no prisoners, behind the impressive play of 19-year-old outfielder Bryce Harper and 23-year-old right-hander Stephen Strasburg. The last time Washington made as big an impact in Canada was ’04 when they swooped in and stole the Expos back to D.C. We will always remember. It was nice that at the same time, they were celebrating the 200-year anniversary of the War of 1812, conveniently forgetting that with the help of the British, we went in and burned down their White House. I think they are still ahead by stealing the Expos, our national NL team. The first visit by Harper to Canada will forever be remembered for his classic answer to the unfortunate TV broadcaster that asked him if he might be celebrating Tuesday’s monster homer off the Blackberry sign in centre field at the Rogers Centre with a nice Canadian beer, since the drinking age is 19 in Canada. Harper’s response: “That’s a clown question, bro.’ ” Harper and his family are Mormons. As good as Harper and the Nats were in Toronto, they were swept by the Yankees. In Saturday’s game, Harper was 0-for-7 with five strikeouts.

The Marlins offence has been struggling and hitting coach Eduardo Perez has been taking some heat but gets a spirited defence from manager Ozzie Guillen. The art of Tweeting has never seen a more prolific practitioner than LF Logan Morrison, who is raucous and irreverent. He got in trouble last season and was sent briefly to Triple-A New Orleans as punishment. 3B Hanley Ramirez suffered a slight fracture of his nose as a baseball rattled off his face in a batting cage. Much maligned closer Heath Bell has converted 11 straight saves and has not blown an opportunity since May 4.

The Giants highlight of the week was Matt Cain’s perfect game against the Astros. He threw 125 pitches and was supported by a sensational diving catch in right centrefield by Gregor Blanco. The lowlight came when 1B Aubrey Huff injured his right knee hopping the short fence in front of the dugout to join in the celebration.

Mets manager Terry Collins was so concerned about Canadian left-fielder Jason Bay and his second concussion in the past 12 months that he sent him home for the weekend after crashing headfirst into the wall on Friday. Bay, who Collins feels may be done for the year, was booed by idiot Mets fans as he was helped off the field.

Cubs Canadian right-hander Ryan Dempster knows he’s trade bait at the deadline. He is 3-3, with a 2.11 ERA and would be a solid acquisition for teams, including the Jays. “I’m not naive, I’m not oblivious to what’s going on,” Dempster told Chicago media. “But it’s really kind of, not out of my control, actually it really is in my control. It’s one of those things if I focused on that and I worried about that, I wouldn’t be doing a very good job as a teammate to those guys in there, and I wouldn’t be doing a very good job for myself if I wasn’t focusing on what I need to do.” Dempster has been 10 years in the majors and the last five with the same team, meaning he can veto or approve any trade.

The Braves lost NL ERA leader Brandon Beachy to right elbow soreness and the DL. He will be replaced in the rotation by RH Jair Jurrjens, recalled from Triple-A. Jurrjens at one time was considered one of the bright young starters in the game.

The Astros optioned Brett Wallace back to Triple-A Oklahoma City after 1B Carlos Lee returned from the DL on the weekend. How far has Wallace’s star fallen since he was regarded as the Jays’ first-baseman of the future in a follow-up to the Roy Halladay deal?

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL HISTORY

6/18/76 The A’s eccentric owner Charlie Finley showed his hatred and disdain for the new rules of free agency. He sold stars OF Joe Rudi and CL Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox and LHP Vida Blue to the Yankees at the June 15 trade deadline, but commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who often had butted heads with the irascible insurance magnate from Chicago, negated the deals citing “the best interests of baseball.” ... 6/18/86 the Angels’ Don Sutton posts his 300th career victory. It was against the Rangers, a three-hitter... 6/19/38 after consecutive no-hitters, Johnny Vander Meer worked into the fourth inning against the Boston Braves before ending his hitless streak at 21 innings... 6/20/90 former Expos star C Gary Carter, then with the Giants, caught his 1,862nd game, eclipsing the MLB record of Al Lopez. Carter later went to the Dodgers and back to the Expos... 6/20/86 The struggling White Sox fired manager Tony LaRussa after a slow start, replacing him with future Phillies and Jays skipper Jim Fregosi. LaRussa signed shortly after that with the A’s... 6/21/39 the Iron Horse, Yankee 1B Lou Gehrig announces his retirement after it is discovered he is suffering from ALS. His illness ended his consecutive games streak at 2,130... 6/21/64 On Father’s Day, Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning tosses a perfect game at Shea Stadium that I remember seeing live on TV. The closest thing to a hit was C Jesse Gonder ripping a line drove speared by 2B Tony Taylor. Bunning was the second pitcher ever to record no-hitters in both leagues... 6/22/90 the struggling Braves fire manager Russ Nixon and replace him with Bobby Cox. Pretty good move... 6/23/63 eccentric White Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall hits his 100th career HR and famously circles the bases backwards. Pitcher Dallas Green was not amused, but the fans and his teammates were.

Birthdays this week: Lou Brock 73, Andres Galarraga 51, Lou Gehrig 109, Dickie Thon 54. 

MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

Triple A Las Vegas (39-31)...The 51’s lost to Colorado Springs 16-4 on Sunday. 1B Adam Lind was 2-for-5 and is batting .412. C Travis D’Arnaud is batting .335 with 15 homers and 48 RBIs. SS Adeiny Hechavarria is hitting .332 with 47 RBIs. LF Travis Snider was 2-for-5 in his second game back and is hitting .337. RHP Jesse Chavez is 7-2 with a 3.84 ERA... AA-New Hampshire (24-43)...The Fisher Cats beat Bowie 4-3 in 13 innings on Sunday. 1B Mike McDade was 1-for-6 and is batting .308. The biggest disappointment has been the back-to-back first-round draft picks from 2009-10, RHP Chad Jenkins (2-6, 5.84 ERA) and RHP Deck McGuire, who pitched 5 innings on Sunday and is 2-8, 6.62 ERA. RHP Joel Carreno is 1-4 with a 4.71 ERA... A-Dunedin (41-23) ...CF Jake Marisnick is batting .262, with three homers, 26 RBIs and eight steals. RHP John Stilson is 3-0, 2.82 ERA. LHP Sean Nolin is 7-0, 2.35 ERA... A-Lansing (47-22) ... the Lugnuts beat Great Lakes 9-2 on Sunday. LF Kevin Pillar hit his third homer, with four RBIs and is batting .319 with 27 stolen bases. Pitching is the story at Lansing as RHP Aaron Sanchez leads the way with 6-0, 0.77 ERA. He worked four innings with no decision on Sunday... A-Vancouver (2-1) ... the Canadians lost 7-3 to Spokane. 1B Balbino Fuenmayor was 2-for-4 and is hitting .429.

ONE FOR THE ROAD

This week’s road trip takes the Jays and me to Milwaukee and Miami. I’m covering those two stops and am looking forward to Miami. Not so sure about Milwaukee. I think the last time I was in Milwaukee for the all-star game a few years ago, it rained for two days, including Home Run Derby Monday and at the hotel I was assigned, the bellman that brought me to my room proudly told me that this was the hotel — located near Marquette University — that notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer used to lure some of his victims. Didn’t see that referenced in the online brochure.

That was also the all-star game that ended in a tie and prompted the rule change where the all-star winning league earns home field advantage at the World Series. Not Bud Selig’s proudest moment as he sat confused in the field-side box seats in the 12th inning as managers and umpires told him there was no more pitching.

The post-all-star game party was held in tents just outside the Brewers stadium and I remember being unable to order a Miller Lite. Only Bud and Bud Light, ironically in the shadow of Miller Park. Bud was the official beer of MLB and all that, but had nothing to do with making Milwaukee famous. Strange.

Are there two more polar opposite cities in terms of reputation than Wisconsin’s biggest little city on the shores of Lake Michigan and Florida’s capital of cool with South Beach, art deco and all.

Last time I was on Miami Beach, was for a winter meetings. The Clevelander is my favourite South Beach night spot, with outdoor bar set up around the swimming pool with rickety foot bridges, throbbing dance music and cold beer. Joe’s Stone Crab for lunch is a must. The most bizarre place I went to was with Jeff Blair of the Globe & Mail, a Goth bar called The Kitchen. It was pitch black inside, with no lighting and you had to feel your way around. The music was equally bizarre. Blair loved it.

Oh, by the way, the hotel I chose is on the MacArthur Causeway, which was in the news recently right near my lobby, when some nut job ate the face off another guy. I detect a trend with me and road hotels. From Florida, the team heads to Boston and will be joined for coverage by The Star’s Brendan Kennedy.

Blue Jays mailbag: Is it time to bring up Gose, Hechavarria and d'Arnaud?

Adeiny Hechavarria at bat with the Las Vegas 51s. BRENDAN KENNEDY / TORONTO STAR

 

It's Father's Day weekend. Of all the major pro sports, the NHL and MLB seem to boast the most family connections, generation after generation of players and their sons.

As such, Happy Father's Day to these Blue Jays father-son connections: Sandy Alomar (Sandy Jr. and Roberto); Jesse Barfield (Josh); Mickey Brantley (Michael); Sal Butera (Drew); Jose Cruz (Jose Jr.); Doug Drabek (Kyle); Cecil Fielder (Prince); Tom Fletcher (Darrin); Dave LaRoche (Adam, Andy); Clyde Mashore (Damon); Gary Matthews (Gary, Jr.); John Mayberry (John); Dave McKay (Cody); Hal McRae (Brian); Bob Oliver (Darren); Gary Roenicke (Josh); Dick Schofield (Dick); Diego Segui (David); Chris Speier (Justin); Ed Sprague (Ed); Mel Stottlemyre (Mel, Todd); Dennis Werth (Jayson); Maury Wills (Bump).

And a special Father's Day wish to Jays' manager John Farrell. His 21-year-old son Luke, last October was being treated for a re-occurring tumour on the back of his skull. He spent over a month at a state-of-the-art clinic in Boston accompanied by father John and mother, Sue. The junior at Northwestern U. in Chicago, started back to class in early December and resumed pitching for the Wildcats for the spring season. Luke has rebounded well and earned a pitching spot in the highly-regarded Cape Cod Summer League near Boston. For Luke and the Farrells' two other sons, it will be a Happy Father's Day.    

Q-Hi Richard,

Your mailbag rocks. Please do it regularly. Rather frustrating when I try to look for it on Fridays and came out emptyhanded.

 Questions:

1-The current Washington Nationals team, any leftover from the Expos era, whether they are players or management?

2-What so good about Bryce Harper? 19-year-old playing every day?! Who would you compare him to?

3-If you have to point your finger, who will you blame for the current Jays' mediocrity? AA's bad assessment of the AL East state? Farrell's lack of experience? Lack of leadership/maturity amongst players? It seems like they lost something from last year.

4-When JP was in charge, he tried to trade Rios for either Lincecum or Cain. I think he would still be around if he were able to get that done, agree? Was this rumour real or not? Supposed Rios did live up to his potential (5 tools), would you still make that trade -- an all-star fielder for an all-star pitcher?

5-What is so good about Buster Posey? Is our d'Arnaud as good? How can he earn respect of his pitchers being so young? And batting cleanup too? He is no I-Rod, no?

Thomas Lam, Richmond Hill

A-I can relate to your curiosity in that first question about any leftover Expos from '04 when the franchise left Canada. When the Nats were in Toronto this week, I was looking to find out exactly the answer to that query, because in my own mind, I don't really connect the Nats with Montreal any more. It's a total disconnect. In fact when I did a preview of the Nats series I forgot they were ever the Expos. I always find it strange whenever they honour an Expos star like Andre Dawson on the field.

There are just three Expos connections that I could find: Rosie the clubhouse manager, who started with the Expos in the '90s. John Dever the P.R. director who replaced P.J. Loyello, now a v-p with the Miami Marlins, who had replaced me back in '95. F.P. Santangelo is a TV broadcaster and used to be a terrific utility man with the Expos in the '90s before moving on to the Giants.

What is so good about Bryce Harper? Damn, he's good. I was really looking not to like him, to walk in the Nats clubhouse and see this arrogant, punk kid walking around like he owned the place. I wanted to  dislike him after the SI cover at 16 years old, after the GQ interview, brief as it was, plus the fact that I was managing players his age, with my rep team in Oakville a year ago and could have used him on my team when the umpires screwed us out of a championship trophy in Michigan at the All-American Classic in June. But after seeing him in the Nats clubhouse treat the environment and the people around him with respect and after watching him play for three games, I think I'm a fan. He is going to be good for the game as long as he stays healthy.

Harper hit two ground balls so hard they accelerated past Kelly Johnson at second base for singles. His home run to centre off the “c” on their huge banner gave Blackberry an unexpected hard drive. In Game 2, with Lawrie stealing and not slowing down, Harper fielded a one-hop single in right and almost threw him out at third base. Then there was the drag bunt single that undressed Edwin at first base as he tried to field and tag in one motion ending up on his back in foul territory with the ball bouncing harmlessly away. That was the play that made me think Harper as Mickey Mantle. I saw Mantle play at the tail end of his career and that drag bunt was one of his signature plays. Harper has said that the 34 on his jersey is his 3+4=7 tribute to the Mick.

For Question 3, I blame the Jays' current mediocrity as an extension of last year's mediocrity when they finished 81-81. I blame the fact that AA came up short on the search for a veteran third starter, trying hard for Mat Latos and not so hard on Gio Gonzalez and coming up short in terms of satisfying the other teams' demands. He would have had to give up major-league ready talent for either guy and he felt that would be spinning his major-league wheels.

4-Yes, the conversations that Ricciardi had with the Giants for a starter were very real. But it was more a fishing expedition towards Brian Sabean with Alex Rios as the bait and when Lincecum ended up winning a Cy Young, the story became that the Jays could have had Lincecum for Rios, which is not quite true. Discussions between the Jays and Giants were ongoing and, at the time, Rios was at his trading peak. But there were many Giants names in the discussion that included Lincecum and Cain. The feeling was that the Giants, once discussions got more serious, would substitute other names in the mix to try and secure Rios. But it makes a good story.

5-Man you have a lot of questions. Buster Posey to me, if the Giants make the post-season, should be given serious NL MVP consideration. He's a rookie in '10 and they go to the World Series. He's hurt in '11 and they are awful. He's back healthy and they're in playoff position. Not much else needs to be said.  As for d'Arnaud, the past two seasons at New Hampshire and Vegas he has started slowly and come on strong offensively. Behind the plate, he is a sponge, soaking up information and using it correctly. His arm is strong enough and his footwork on throws is solid. There's only one Pudge – actually two, in Ivan Rodriguez and Carlton Fisk. But the good thing for d'Arnaud is that Posey proved that a team can win with a rookie catcher behind the plate.      

Q-Richard,

Maybe you can explain AA's thinking... I can understand wanting to give Cooper an extended audition...but keeping McCoy over Gomes seems to go the other way. Rajai over Vladdy still feels strange to me, and I really don't understand keeping Omar at .215 rather than bringing up a SS/2nd base of the future. We seem to be rebuilding, sorta, kinda, but not really! What's going on?

Peter Thomson, Elizabeth City, NC

A-”Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” Those are the immortal words of the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy discovers that the Wiz ain't so big and smart as he likes to let on. Such might be the case with AA as he manipulates his roster through the middle of a disappointing stretch. Let's go down the list of players that you mention:

Cooper is not being given an extended audition. He is keeping someone else's seat warm and filling in for a stalled Adam Lind and a departed Eric Thames.

The Gomes demotion was simple. They needed his versatility for the games in National League parks. They used the 10-day rule twice (a player can't be recalled for 10 days after he is optioned except in the case of replacing an injured player). The first time they sent Gomes to Vegas 12 days before they headed to their first NL park and recalled him 10 days later. The second time they saw that Morrow would likely have to go on the DL, so they sent Gomes to Vegas and recalled Aaron Laffey and Evan Crawford. Gomes went and hid out at the SkyDome Hotel for 24 hours and then miraculously re-appeared on the roster replacing Morrow (15-day DL). He lost Airline points but got some extra Marriott points. The Gomes demotions are more about rules than merit.

Vlad screwed up the best-laid plans. His impatience in terms of waiting until the Jays' interleague trips were over cost Vlad a chance with the Jays. It will be interesting to see if he gets a major-league job before June 25, the date the Jays head to Boston after the interleague ends. The Tigers might be a good landing spot, since Dave Dombrowski was the GM when he signed in MTL.

Q-Hey Griff,

So now that the Jays season is over, who do they trade for prospects? I'm thinking anyone on a one-year deal, like Johnson, Oliver, Encarnacion, etc. Also CoCo if anyone bites (the number of GMs that believe in former closers is incredible), but I'm thinking he'd have to be waived. Though you could consider using him as an innings eater to save our young arms and get us a higher draft pick.

Rob B., Oshawa

A-The moment has not arrived yet, but there might come a time this season when the fan base needs a boost in order to remain the fan base.

In that case, if the Jays spiral out of the race in the next month look for any veteran on a one-year deal to be offered in trade to a legit contender. Darren Oliver is the kind of talent that contending teams are looking for down the stretch. Luis Perez and Evan Crawford can fill that LH relief role. If Johnson is traded, Hechavarria could begin his MLB career. I would not trade Edwin. I think AA wants him back but because of his injury history is not interested in negotiating during the season. As for CoCo Cordero, I love the guy and he has not been as bad as fans think. There is a mob mentality out there and all it takes is a groundswell of anti-CoCo crisping on platforms like the Wilner Show and the torches are lit and the pitchforks raised. “Bring me the head of Francisco Cordero!!” There is no doubt the next generation is pushing hard at Vegas.

Q-Hi, Richard.

What really happened with Guerrero? Is this good, bad or insignificant?

Chris M., Collingwood

A-It's insignificant, followed by bad. There would have been no problem for me in seeing him get a shot with the Jays. The guy can hit and the buzz would have been good for us in the media. See my blog earlier in the week for a full view on his departure.

Q-Hi Richard:

Although the Jays are still in tight contention for a wild-card, one gets the ominous feeling from watching them the past three weeks that their fortunes are on the decline. I'm not sure with an under-performing Romero and Drabek, injuries to Morrow and Santos, with only Hutchinson really performing as expected or better, this staff can really contend. We also have question marks at 1B/DH (bye bye Vladdy) and LF which remain unanswered. How do you envision Anthopoulos addressing these issues over both the short- (deadline) and long-term (end of season)?

Brian Campbell, Ottawa

A-I'm believing now that every time the Jays starter warms up at the Rogers Centre, they should pipe in over the sound system the theme music from Jaws.

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the mound.”

In the last stretch of games there was Betemit's line drive off Morrow, Aviles's line drive off Alvarez, Morrow's stabbing pain in the left oblique that led him to the DL and Drabek's popping in his elbow, making him sound much like the  Black Knight defending the bridge in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. “It's just a flesh wound!”  

Hutchison is performing well but he is on a 150-inning count. As for the other issues and the end of the season, I believe that whenever it is the Jays feel they are no longer in wild-card contention that the clock will start on the future stars like Hechavarria and Gose. The Jays need to know.

Q-Howdy Richard,

As much as I hate to see Morrow out for an extended period of time the curious conspiracy theorist in me is intrigued by the reaction of Ownership and Management in the next coming days and weeks. To me it seems like two roads can be taken, you ramp up any plans of bringing in Major league talent to the roster in order to stay competitive in the AL East Race or you start preparing your talking points for the end of the season along the lines of 'we battled inconsistency all year and the Morrow injury really put us back....yadda yadda, etc etc.'

My point being it is one thing to pass on a talent like Prince Fielder this past offseason when the asking price turned out to be understandably unreasonable but it is quite another to pass on pursuing pitching talent like Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster, and/or Wandy Rodriguez when your team is above .500 and 4 games out of first place in the standings midseason.

 Do you think this situation will lead to some insight into the collective minds of management and Rogers or am I reading too much into it? Getting back to my inner conspiracy theorist, If ownership resembled a Mark Cuban, Maverick type, who runs his team with a passion to win, we think we know what path would be taken while an owner constantly checking balance sheets and quarterly profit margins they might see this as just the excuse they need not to take on salary to stay competitive.

Your thoughts? 

Derek from the East Coast

Derek Andrews, Fredericton

A-I don't believe the Jays will give up on this year til the mathematics dictate. As such, I can see them making a move for a starting pitcher before the middle of July, since they have injuries and Hutchison on an innings-limit. It would be a short-term acquisition with long-term possibilities. But after that, in August I can see the Jays throwing veteran one-year contracts overboard and bringing up their future core players to give them a better idea what they have to do in the off-season. If Hechavarria is a player, they may not need in '13 to go out and acquire a second baseman., If Gose is a player for the moment, they may not need to go out and find a leadoff man. The big question becomes behind the plate. 

Q-Hi Richard,

I'm really beginning to wonder the authenticity in Paul Beeston's statement that he expects the Blue Jays to make the playoffs at least three times over the next five years. The fact of the matter is that it is becoming quite clear that Rogers is not willing to make the commitment to make this team a contender. Take for instance the Blue Jays silly stance on the fact that they will not go beyond their own self imposed player value. Because of this, they did not trade for market value for Mat Latos. They will not sign free agents beyond 5 years, and hence the loss of Prince Fielder. They will not go beyond their own value on signing international free agents and thus have lost out on Aroldis Chapman and Yu Darvish. Imagine if Rogers had opened up their vault, and in a perfect world added Fielder, Darvish, and Chapman to this year's roster. All the cost would have been is money, and in each case, the Jays could have had all three. The irony of it all is that all these three players would have fit the exact needs of the current Blue Jays roster: a power hitting first baseman, a starting pitcher, and an elite closer.

I've always felt that the biggest curse to Blue Jays fans is the success of Tampa Bay Rays. Since they have shown that they can win on a very tight budget, I begin to wonder if Rogers is thinking the same thing, and will continue to rein in their millions of Rogers customers dollars.

Zaki Ameen, Milton

A-The Latos situation is interesting. The Jays had a nice package of prospects on the table for San Diego, but the Padres pulled the trigger on the Reds deal without getting back to AA. The difference was that they knew all Anthopoulos had to offer was excellent prospects that were still at low Class-A and the Reds had players ready for the 40-man roster and guys that could play right now. It doesn't seem to have affected in a positive manner the Padres standings in the standings, but if the Jays had to give up current MLB talent for Latos, they felt it would not be something they could afford or wanted to do.

The rest of the points you make – Fielder would never have come here, even with the ability to go beyond five years, Chapman would have been nice and I think the Jays made a mistake on Darvish by not competing hard. But, really, most major-league teams' fan bases could have the same complaint about their own ownership. If the Jays do nothing to add a player before July 31, send me another question. I may have changed my mind. Maybe all Rogers want from the Jays is “wireless content.”

Q-Jays fan, temporarily living in Chicago for the summer.


 What's the latest on Santos??

Omair Rana, Chicago

A-Sergio Santos started throwing from a mound on Monday June 4. He threw again on Wednesday and Friday that week, but suffered a setback and had to take a step backwards and has not thrown since. He is still working out cardio and strength, but will resume from Square 1 when his shoulder settles down. That's not a good report, but the Jays are still putting up a brave front. No timetable.  

Q-The Blue Jays have a pretty good team this year, is the rest of the league afraid there might be a repeat of the 1992-93, with the all bad calls against the Jays, are the umpires making sure that does not happen?

Shirley McArthure, Niagara Falls

A-There does not need to be a conspiracy of the men in blue. The umpires are just relying on their own short-tempered, elephant-like memory of Jays players reacting to calls. Do you think the Jays being in a World Series would be any worse than Tampa or Florida?

Q-When will Farrell pull the plug on Cordero? He's had a great career, but he's just not effective now. Yet Farrell has consistently gone to Cordero over Frasor in important situations. Cordero made sense when Santos first went down. But we've now seen that he doesn't have it anymore. Do you agree that Cordero should be moved down the depth chart? Personally, I'd consider cutting him loose and bringing up a kid. I was at one of the Boston games and the whole section groaned when Cordero got up in the bullpen. The natives are getting restless.

Kevin Siena, Toronto

A-Cordero's pitching has not been as bad as his record – as long as he stays out of the closing role. I recall a game where he gave up four hits in an inning. The first three were groundballs that found holes. The last one was a double off the wall. That's the one fans remember. Cordero clearly will be available in the final three months for any team that wants him. I think from what I've seen that he and Jason Frasor are pretty much interchangeable. There is no upside to cutting him loose. I think it's best to wait for some kind of an offer that will get some minor-league depth player in return.

Q-Hey Richard,

I wanted to get your thoughts on Wandy Rodriguez. I personally think he would be a great fit as a No. 3 starter behind Romero and Morrow. He's a guy who can give you close to 200 IP, hasn't had an ERA over 3.60 in the last 5 seasons and is under team control through 2014. He will most likely be available come trade deadline day if he's not traded before then. What do you think the Jays would have to give up for him? In addition, what are some other names Jays fans should keep their eye on leading up to the July 31st trade deadline as a potential starting pitcher? Finally, IF they do manage to bring in another starter who do you think gets sent down/moved to the pen? Thanks! Keep up the great work!

Josh Cymbalista, Thornhill

A-To me, I always thought that Rodriguez would have been a good offseason acquisition, but I don't think he's a No. 3 starter on a winning team. He'd be a solid No. 4 and if the Jays made a pitch for him at the deadline, he would give them a No. 4 that is under control through 2013 which is the final season of a three-year, $34-million deal, with another option for 2014. They could decide next winter to keep him or trade him. The Astros need young talent. The Jays have plenty of that. If it's not Rodriguez, I think the price for Ryan Dempster would be more reasonable than for Matt Garza. From the Brewers, Zack Greinke could be a nice short-term piece with time to make a long-term decision. The Jays and Brewers have had a good trading relationship, but players have a say in where they go. As for who goes to the pen, there is the innings-limit for Hutchison, plus the recent injuries to consider.   

Q-Hi Richard,

I enjoy the mailbag. It is my understanding that there are pay restrictions in place for the first year of a minor-league contract but after that the system is open. If this is correct, and with the new penalties in place for teams that exceed the MLB draft signing bonus, is there any indication that the Blue Jays or other teams may try to entice those hard-to-sign draft picks (like Anthony Alford) by paying them on the back end by offering rich minor league contracts.

Aaron Asee, Toronto

A-I'm pretty sure that MLB also monitors minor-league contracts and it would be pretty transparent if all of a sudden a second-year pro is pulling in a million bucks. What I worry about is that if GMs already were able to figure out how to beat the new system by drafting college seniors that are grateful just for the opportunity to play a year or two of A-ball, then they may have already figured out a way to beat the system in other ways that approximate the ideas that you suggest. Under the table?

Like the Scottish caddie at historic St. Andrew's who was asked by the  blustery American tourist whose bag he was on: “What do you call a Mulligan over here in Scotland.” He replied: “Cheating.”

Q-Dear Mr Griffin,

What do you make of the withering of Brian Jeroloman ? He is performing (?) atrociously at New Hampshire.
 And, why on earth did the Jays sign Koby Clemens, given the logjam of genuine first base prospects in AAA and AA?
 Thank you.

Thea Varley, 
Toronto

A-Jeroloman's high point and his low point crashed together in Toronto in August-September 2011. The Suffern, N.Y., native late in '11 was called up to the major leagues (high point) and never got in a game (low point). Meanwhile, the tsunami of Jays' catching prospects had formed a tidal wave of talent on the horizon that has caught up to and swept over the 27-year-old who was once considered a prime Jays' major-league prospect. There is Arencibia, d'Arnaud, Carlos Perez, Yan Gomes and when A.J. Jimenez went down earlier in the year, they brought Sean Ochinko up to Double-A to catch.

As for Koby Clemens, he was added to the minor league ranks as a favour from Paul Beeston to Roger Clemens, who was with the Jays in '97-'98, surprising the world by choosing the Jays as his free-agency landing spot. Clemens and Beeston are friends. The Koby experiment seemed like it was coming to an end at spring training when it looked like there might not be a spot for him at any level, but injuries and the fact that he has some tools have kept him in the system.  

Q-Greetings Richard,

Yesterday, my wife and I, retirees, watched the Jays nose under the .500 water line for the first time, and I suspect this bunch of deck chair shufflers will accelerate to the bottom, on merit.

We went to watch Strasburg pitch in any event, knowing he'd bury this weak Toronto bunch. 
It was a lovely sunny day, at least, and the beer (at $10 !) was cold. 
On two occasions we tried to buy food: the lineup for all food was approximately 15 minutes long, even during play, so we contented ourselves with the beer. Only one harried server worked each food counter. Isn't this mediocre organization smart enough to anticipate more customers on a day when the opposing pitcher is named Strasburg?

Must we be subjected to ear-piercing, gawd-awful "music" between each batter? Is the younger generation that bored? Do we require a command to "Make Noise" from the scoreboard? Our ears are still ringing. Doesn't this club need to create premium seating (not club boxes) for fans who want to watch the game away from the diaper changers (yes!), fans who arrive in the third inning, and the constant movement to the concession stands by the children and the grossly obese?
 Aren't we tired of AA's flanneling speeches that admit nothing? 
Doesn't he need to (quickly as possible ) package the likes of Drabek, Arencibia, Escobar, etc. onto another dull-witted organization? 
Are these enough questions?

 Thank You,

Selby Martin, Toronto

A-I hope the Blue Jays are paying attention. The music is one thing that is not going to change. Hey dude, the Big Band Era is over. Hip-hop rules.

 

Griffin: Vladimir Guerrero era for Blue Jays is over before it started

The Vladimir Guerrero experiment has ended. He still wants to play, but he wants to play in the majors, for the Blue Jays right now. In the end, it cost the organization nothing. 

"There was no guarantees, there was no financial guarantees at all," Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos said. "It was just let's take a shot and see how he looks."

Following Monday night's game at Cashman Field, in Las Vegas, the former free-agent outfielder, current Jays' farmhand and future Hall-of-Famer Guerrrero packed his bags and let Blue Jays management know his feelings. He was ready for the majors and if it wasn't the Jays it was someone else. The 37-year-old DH let 51's manager Marty Brown know he was done with Triple-A and the 51's. In this case, it seemed what stayed in Vegas, especially if it was Vlad, would no longer happen in Vegas.

There had been rumours Tuesday morning that Vlad had enough and was retiring from baseball. There were other rumours that there had been a June 11 deadline, that if Guerrero was not in the majors by 1:30 p.m. then he could choose his release. But, as The Star's Brendan Kennedy reported, neither of those seems true.

“We never had a date, but we always told him throughout the process that any time that he felt that he didn't want to be here,” Anthopoulos explained the process. “Even though we don't have out clauses, we did have a handshake agreement that any time he could indicate if he wanted to go, we would grant him his release.”

The Jays have done the same with many others under their third-year GM. Think of it. Why would Guerrero retire right now, especially after a four-hit game in Vegas on Monday and the earnest manner at his May press conference with Jays media in Dunedin at which he had emphasized his goal of 51 more home runs to reach 500?

And, again, why would the Jays, at the start, tie themselves to a June 11 deadline to bring Guerrero to the majors, knowing they had six games upcoming at National League parks in Milwaukee and Miami, for which the defensively-restricted Guerrero could only pinch-hit?

No, this Vlad gambit was strictly a Guerrero power-play, by a former star tired of playing in the minors and perhaps financially needing to kick-start his pro-rated $1.3 million major-league salary as soon as possible. 

“I talked to his agent (Bean Stringfellow) Monday morning,” Anthopoulos said. “We said a week ago we would re-evaluate things after the (Jays) road trip.

"He got hit in the hand and missed Saturday and Sunday's game. His agent and I spoke on Monday morning, I told him, 'Look, if we have to make a decision right now, we're not prepared to call him up, so if he wants his release we would do it. If not, he can strictly go day-to-day then he has the ability to control the process. But if the decision has to be made right now, we'll certainly grant him his release.'

“He played last night and he decided that was going to be enough for him. He felt he was certainly worthy of a callup and we're just not prepared to do that right now.”

Maybe it was the pressure on Guerrero of those reported $25,000 monthly child-support payments, revealed from recent court documents -- eight children, five mothers -- or perhaps it was simply his ego. But the fact of the matter is the Jays and GM Alex Anthopoulos were not about to be held hostage by a fading star that had had all winter to find a team willing to give him a major-league chance and could not do it.

There were stories emanating from Guerrero's camp that the player felt he had been manipulated, treated like a child, promised things that weren't delivered in terms of the timing of a recall. 

“I never spoke to Vladdy directly,” Anthopoulos said of the report of mixed messages. “All I can say is we had great dialogue with his agent. We always told him he had the ability to go whenever he wanted to. From that standpoint, he's a great player, a Hall-of-Famer, a great teammate for us, he handled himself extremely well, a tremendous guy, but we weren't prepared to call him up right now.”

The real likelihood is that l'affaire Guerrero was more a by-product of a good professional working relationship between a major-league general manager, Anthopoulos, and a respected player agent, Stringfellow – this time gone sour.

Guerrero had been stymied at every turn this winter in his search for a guaranteed major-league job. Near the end of training camp, he changed representatives, hooking up with Stringfellow, who then assigned a trusted lieutenant, Jay Alou, to Vlad's account.

The Jays had formerly been interested this winter in offering Guerrero a non-guaranteed invitation to spring training, a virtual tryout. He and his ego had turned it down, still wanting a guaranteed roster spot. So Stringfellow, who had negotiated the two-year-old, good-for-both-sides contract of Jose Bautista and then, more recently, the short term bailout of free-agent reliever Francisco Cordero, Bean called the Jays and Anthopoulos made the same offer he had in the spring. No guarantees, no strings attached.

Anthopoulos has not been soured just because of the way the Guerrero experiment turned out. The young GM called the Bautista negotiations among the best he had ever had with any agent, so there was and is a mutual trust between the two men. Stringfellow would likely have seen the Jays offer as a way to get his client back into the mainstream of affiliated pro ball, allowing other teams to witness what it was that Vlad had left in the tank. Vlad should have been grateful for that opportunity. Agent was. Player wasn't.

Guerrero clearly did not see things the same way as his agent. A lot of us in life think we're still as good as we once were. We don't like to hear otherwise. After doing everything the Jays had asked, going to extended spring and playing games against teenagers, playing at A-Dunedin in front of 600 fans nightly, then moving up to Triple-A, believing he had found his rhythm against pitchers the next level down from the majors, Guerrero decided to gamble and go all-in. The Jays called his bluff.

Vlad is definitely ahead of where he was in his comeback dreams a month ago. But the 51 additional home runs and 500 for his career seem a long way off.  

 

Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow injured in first inning

Brandon Morrow was lucky. After just nine pitches, with nobody out and facing rookie Bruce Harper with a runner on second base, the Jays starter, Morrow walked off the mound in obvious discomfort. The righthander was escorted off the field by trainer George Poulis and pitching coach Bruce Walton, relieved by righthander Chad Beck.

Three innings later, the report came back that Morrow had suffered a strained left oblique and is being listed by the Blue Jays as day-to-day. That is as good a report as the Jays could have received. His next scheduled start would be on June 17 against the Phillies, using Thursday's off-day for an extra day of rest.  

 

 

Richard Griffin’s Bullpen: Why Joey Votto is baseball’s best hitter

The most intriguing Jays moment of the week may have come on Thursday morning in Chicago. Veteran infielder Omar Vizquel was asked to do an interview, live on the field, prior to the White Sox day-game series finale with MLB Network and the irreverent Kevin Millar.

After leading Omar on a fast-paced entertaining trip down memory lane with some great video of his early years, some of his more spectacular defensive plays, a rating of great plays by Asdrubal Cabrera and John McDonald from the past week, his home backyard full of exotic animals including kangaroos and his personal choice of colourful wardrobe and underwear, the interview got serious.

With a clubhouse full of mesmerized young Jays teammates, led by third baseman Brett Lawrie, RHP Brandon Morrow and others gathered around the TV hanging on every word of the veteran with a Hall-of-Fame resume, someone Lawrie half-jokingly labelled and Tweeted afterwards as “the most interesting man in the world” Millar asked Vizquel to name the shortstops that may have been handed down the torch of defensive excellence.

Vizquel thought about it, then started with Cabrera from the Indians, Alcides Escobar of the Royals and Elvis Andrus of the Rangers. Glaringly being left off of Omar the outmaker's list of current shortstop excellence was his current teammate Yunel Escobar, whose reputation locally is as one of the game's best defenders. Vizquel was brought in to help mentor Yunel. He probably just forgot.

The Jays’ week consisted of a six-game, seven-day road trip to Chicago and Atlanta that ended with a 3-3 record. Following an off-day Monday, the Jays won two of three against the White Sox and dropped two of three to the Braves. Manager John Farrell made a major lineup decision on Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Field, shifting Lawrie and Colby Rasmus to the 1-2 slots in the batting order.

The lineup changes, moving Kelly Johnson and Escobar to more comfortable middle of the order RBI spots, worked out immediately, with Lawrie and Rasmus combining for eight hits in a Tuesday win over the Sox. Their contributions slowly declined as the week went on, hitting rock bottom Friday and Saturday, in losses to the Braves. But the two men at the top bounced back Sunday.

The Jays' pitching highlight of the week was Morrow's two-hit complete game against the Chisox on Wednesday. The dynamic right-hander was aided in his cause of going the distance by outfielder Rajai Davis crushing a two-run homer to left in the ninth. The extra run buffer allowed Morrow to complete the job, despite letting two runners reach base before retiring the side. Morrow now has three complete games and three shutouts. Does Morrow deserve an all-star nod? Yes.  

In Atlanta, the Jays continued their recent history of ineptitude at Turner Field, running the losing streak to eight games before salvaging the series finale on Sunday. Staff ace Ricky Romero was unable to go five innings, but Carlos Villanueva picked up the win in long relief.

Congratulations to SS Nicholas Lovullo, selected by the Jays in the 38th round of the June draft out of Newbury Park High School in California. One of the smaller high school programs in Cali, Newbury Park reached the state championships. Lovullo, the son of Jays' first-base CCH Torey Lovullo, has signed a letter of intent to attend Holly Cross College in the fall.

MLB POWER RANKINGS

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Mattingly will make people forget Tommy Lasorda...and that's good

2. New York Yankees

Finding their highly-paid rhythm without Mariano and Pineda

3. Texas Rangers

As Hamilton goes so go the Rangers. Look forward to Oswalt debut

4. Washington Nationals

If you keep finishing last for so long, it eventually pays off

5. Tampa Bay Rays

Both Rays and Nats building dynasties upon past failures

6. Atlanta Braves

Will need to make sure bullpen stays fresh to avoid collapse

7. San Francisco Giants

Getting Posey back healthy brings them back to '10 WS team

8. Chicago White Sox

Ventura, Mattingly, Matheny. Who needs managerial experience?

9. Cincinnati Reds

Fab Votto brings day-by-day hitting clinic to teammates

10. Los Angeles Angels

El Hombre was right. Albert Pujols does not deserve that designation

11. Baltimore Orioles

Can a bird have Achilles heel? If so, with O's it's still pitching

12. New York Mets

This is unbelievable renaissance because Collins had been horrible manager

13. Miami Marlins

New team name, new stadium, new stars, same old Ozzie — minus Twitter

14. Cleveland Indians

Tribe are the O's of the AL Central. Not as good as they threaten to be

15. Boston Red Sox

Toughest division in the thick of it all despite train wreck DL

16. St. Louis Cardinals

Sans Albert, sans Berkman, but avec Freese and Beltran

17. Toronto Blue Jays

All of a sudden it's a two-man show with Romero and Morrow

18. Detroit Tigers

Fielder and Cabrera and still under .500. How is that possible?

19. Philadelphia Phillies

Has Doc's dogged work ethic and unbelievable workload caught up

20. Pittsburgh Pirates

Say what!!!!!!

21. Seattle Mariners

It's a slow process but this offence is going to be good

22. Arizona Diamondbacks

Last year's playoff run may have been a mirage. Up-Hill climb

23. Oakland A's

Billy Beane's big dream continues. To win an Academy Award

24. Minnesota Twins

The Twins can never be held down for long because they play it right

25. Milwaukee Brewers

You knew this was going to happen losing Fielder. Changes at deadline?

26. Kansas City Royals

These guys were supposed to be surprise contenders. Surprise!! No

27. Houston Astros

Preparing to be patsies next year in AL West by improving slightly now

28. Colorado Rockies

Manager Tracy likes to climb his mountains late in the season

29. San Diego Padres

Beautiful park, beautiful city, beautiful weather, should be better team

30. Chicago Cubs

Theo Epstein is a genius. Discuss.

THE ESSAY: BASEBALL’S BEST HITTER IS JOEY VOTTO

He may never win the Triple Crown. He may not win a World Series ring. But it says here that Etobicoke native, 28-year-old, Joey Votto may be the best pure hitter in baseball.

The Cincinnati Reds first baseman is so good that he could be handicapped by his own rules with narrowed foul lines drawn in just for him, maybe just right-centre to left-centre field, and still he would bat .300.

Votto, by the power of his own hard work as a youngster and young pro, may have already taken more batting practice swings than any Canadian-born hitter in history. Votto is driven to excel and has. In a Sports Illustrated story published earlier this month renowned writer Tom Verducci pointed out some stunning facts:

1. Votto has not popped up to the infield all season. In fact, he has popped out to the infield only three times over the past four seasons. Crazy.

2. The average NL hitter bats .198 when he is behind in the count. Votto hits .300 when he is behind in the count.

3. Votto has pulled a ball foul into the stands only once in his entire major league career. “Sure, I remember it,” he said. “It was my rookie year. It wasn't that deep — maybe 20, 30 feet foul. I haven't hit a long home run foul in my whole career.”

Votto does not even worry about foul lines because he allows pitches to get deeper into his strike zone before crushing them, His patience, plate discipline and consistency are greater than perhaps any other current major leaguer. In addition to that technical prowess, the great Canadian hitter plays in the Great American Ballpark, a perfect venue for his powerful alley-to-alley power stroke.

Maybe that’s why with free agency looming after the 2013 season, Votto was willing to sign so easily an extension with the Reds, for a stunning 10-years, $225-million with an option for 2024 that would likely keep him in Cincinnati the rest of his career.

If healthy Votto is Hall-of-Fame bound.

Votto, through Sunday, had 48 walks and 48 strikeouts, hitting .362, with 26 doubles, 10 homers, 38 RBIs and an OPS of 1.127. At 28, Votto is entering his prime. That's scary. To this point, Larry Walker is the best Canadian hitter ever. Check back with us in 10 years. This guy is good.         

THE RANT: JUNE DRAFT CHANGES ARE A JOKE

I used to be a big fan, an admirer of clever manipulators of the major-league June draft, of imaginative GMs that knew how to take advantage of the rules. The draft seemed a perfect balance for building small market franchises, combatting the vagaries of six-year major-league free-agency, which was forever dominated by the same half-dozen large market teams, led by the damn Yankees.

But this year's re-structuring of the MLB June draft under the new CBA has been a bad joke. The first 10 rounds, the first 366 selections, were assigned precise dollar numbers. Each franchise had its own total bonus number depending on draft position. From there, it got more ridiculous.

New rules? If you signed any player among your first 10 rounders for, say, just one U.S. dollar, you could then carry over the remainder of MLB's slotted amount to the rest of your top 10 choices. But if you failed to sign said player, you lost that total cash amount. Stupid rule No. 1.

There's more dumbness. In Rounds 11-40 the maximum MLB bonus for any player is $100,000. Anything over that counts against you as a penalty that if exceeded, cumulatively, for this year, would include a 75-100-percent cash punishments and potential loss of draft choices next year. That's for going over, but if you strong-armed, signing your kids for under $100,000, hey, good on you. Teams, with scouts sitting in a prospect's living room, family and advisors close by, can play hardball with picks 11-40, at a mandated 100 grand, shrug and say, “Dem's da rules.” Ridiculous rule No. 2.      

Clearly, major league owners wanted to strictly control costs and included this amateur rule in the Collective Bargaining Agreement last October as an easily traded-off bargaining chip since all it does is cost money to young prospects — who are not yet union members and the majority of whom will never be. It was an easy call for the union to five away amateur player bargaining power.

So MLB wanted to bring all teams into line, without rogue GMs ruining the human game of draft monopoly by actually trying to compete and win against the big-market behemoths. The big markets think they have won. The politically correct, politically savvy Jays' GM Alex Anthopoulos claims that all GMs were consulted on the draft changes. I respect Alex, but that is total ball crap.

More likely is that someone from the Commissioner's Office may have stuck his head through the door last November or at an earlier GM's meeting and said, “Hey guys, we're putting a slotting cap on the draft and these are the rules. Just so you know. If you have any comments, email them.”

The die was cast unilaterally. Big money always talks. There is no way that Anthopoulos and what constitutes the majority now comprised of young, imaginative, energetic GMs would have approved the new rules.

But unfortunately for Bud Selig and his unindicted co-conspirators that made this decision, boys will be boys and GM rogues will be rogues. It turns out Anthopoulos is both a boy and a rogue. I admire AA a little less after this draft. The whole concept sucks, but fact is he plays by the rules.

The Jays had 14 picks in the first 10 rounds. The first seven were guys that can become major leaguers, the second seven were marginal college players, all of them college seniors with limited options, that were just happy to be there. The 10th round pick out of the Naval Academy, Alex Azor, signed for $1,000 and told MLB.com that he would have signed for a hot dog. The fourth rounder, Tucker Donahue from Stetson, signed for less than $10,000. Ridiculous.

It used to be teams took a chance to find diamonds in the rough later on in the draft that nobody else thought they could sign and, via personality and imagination, were able to re-stock the system. Now teams are looking for grateful fringy seniors in Rds. 4-10 to accumulate a war-chest of cash for players that actually have a chance to make a MLB impact. The spirit of the draft is out the window.

Because of those undeserved, mostly wide-eyed grateful picks in rounds 4-10, the Jays were able to bank a huge surplus to overpay their top seven picks. It's smart, but it sucks for the intent of the draft, which is parity. Because of the move to draft undeserving prospects — not just by the Jays — guys like Canadian lefthander Ryan Kellogg were pushed down as far as the 12th round. Stupid!

Baseball should be embarrassed by the new rules. I never thought I would say it, because I was a member of management from 1973-95, but much-hated uber-agent Scott Boras is right. Yikes, I said it.

What had been the one aspect of the draft that levelled the playing field for small and medium market franchises was that draft choices had nowhere else to go once selected and the money that was  required to throw at them was always far less than for established, traditional six-year free agents.

That admiration I have for clever drafts goes back to my Expos days when brilliant, then-scouting director Gary Hughes convinced Delaware native Delino DeShields to give up a basketball scholarship to nearby Villanova, a deal inked in stone with iconic coach Rollie Massimino, choosing instead to play baseball as a raw high school shortstop. DeShields made an Expos impact at second base and was eventually traded to the Dodgers for future Hall-of-Famer Pedro Martinez.

Hughes also selected Cleveland St. baseketball star Tyrone Kingwood who had vitually zero certifiable major-league skills at the time. But he was a superb athlete. One worked out. One didn't. But the admiration was in the effort and imagination. Glory days.

But, of course, that was under the old guidelines, where in a still single-digit draft round or with a sandwich pick awarded from an unsigned Type A or B free agent you could choose a studly high-school player either from another sport or with college ambitions that nobody felt was sign-able and convince him his best avenue to stardom was with your team, rather than University of Whatever.

That's exactly what the Jays did in 2010. They took a safe, sure thing, a college kid with their own pick, Deck McGuire, then with compensation picks for Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas selected high school pitchers Aaron Sanchez and Noah Syndergaard, who have both become cornerstone pitching prospects for the young Jays moving forward.  That wouldn't happen anymore.

That's also what the Jays did in 2011. They took a first-round chance with Tyler Beede, a young right-handed pitcher committed to Vanderbilt. But in case they couldn't sign him, they protected themselves with Daniel Norris, the best high school left-hander available in the second round using the money saved from not signing Beede to secure Norris. Smart, plus the Jays received another pick for Beede, 22nd overall this year, with which they selected Duke University reliever Marcus Stroman.     

The new rules suck. Hopefully there is an escape clause for baseball, a chance for adjustment before the next CBA is negotiated. This entire drafting process sucked. Those who invented the new rules erred badly. There were 61 college seniors selected, most were manipulated and undeserving of their ranking but were used to sign other high picks their saved money could secure.

The deadline for signing drafted players is July 13. It will be interesting to see the mess that's left, the players that are left when the dust settles.     

AL ROUNDUP

The O's in the 21st round of the June draft selected OF Julien Service, from Sinclair High School in Whitby. What makes this mid-round pick interesting is that the O's previously had no Canadian scouts until January, hiring Tyler Moe, a former Brantford Red Sox third baseman and one time teammate of Brewers closer John Axford.

If Service agrees to terms, it will be Moe's first signing and the Orioles first Canadian selection since former Expos' GM Dan Duquette took charge in Baltimore. The O's hope to welcome 2B Brian Roberts back to the active roster Tuesday, batting leadoff against the Pirates.

Roberts had suffered a concussion last May 16 and has not played a major-league game since. He has been rehabbing at Triple-A Norfolk. Recall that Jays 2B Aaron Hill was concussed on May 29, 2008, running into shortstop David Eckstein's elbow trying to make a catch in short centrefield in Oakland. He missed the remainder of the season, returning for Opening Day, '09...

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is not winning friends and influencing people in his comeback season.

The positive thinking that Valentine has displayed is just that he's positive the umpires are missing calls for his pitchers in the Nats weekend sweep at Fenway. The irascible skipper was ejected by home plate umpire Alan Porter on Sunday after a close pitch not called strike three by closer Alfredo Aceves was followed up by a game-winning double.

“Alfredo struck the guy out on a pitch that the whole ball is on the plate and he calls it a ball," Valentine said. "Then he hits an RBI. I've got guys busting their butt, battling their butt off. It's not right. Good umpires had a real bad series this series — a real bad series — and it went one way. There should be a review.”

Bobby V was ejected during Dustin Pedroia’s final at-bat of the game. He will be fined. The bad news for the Sox is that the players are following the lead of their manager and they won't win. The men in blue always have the final word...

The Yankees injury that has been overshadowed by the losses of Mariano Rivera and Michael Pineda has been Brett Gardner. The news only got worse. Gardner, out since April 17, has been shut down again with left elbow woes. He will see Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday. Gardner is a good defender and his 49 stolen bases in 2011 led the league...

The fact that the Rays are winning games and in first place in the toughest division in baseball is amazing, considering the lineup of retreads and never-will-bes they send out on a daily basis.

SS Elliot Johnson? INF Sean Rodriguez? 2B Will Rhymes? 3B Drew Sutton?

The real key to the Rays success is manager Joe Maddon. He is in the lead to defend his manager-of-the-year title. Good news for the Rays is that 3B Evan Longoria is headed out on rehab option and could be back within 10 days...

White Sox manager Robin Ventura is proving, along with Mike Matheny of the Cards and Don Mattingly of the Dodgers, that prior managerial experience may be overrated and that a solid baseball mind is more important. Sox GM Kenny Williams makes sure that he emphasizes the contributions of his new manager in settling the clubhouse. Subtle shot at his former guy Ozzie Guillen? Well, yeah.

The Sox will try DH Adam Dunn in left field when the Sox travel for their NL park inter-league experience. The Sox are being critiqued in local papers for not signing Brandon Inge when he was released by the Tigers, or some other experienced third baseman, now choosing to go with second baseman Orlando Hudson at the hot corner. But when Hudson was working his way up to the Jays, then-scouting director Tim Wilken told me he was actually a better defensive third baseman when they were scouting him.

Indians LF Johnny Damon is struggling in his quest to reach 3,000 career hits. Damon is 258 hits shy of the magic number, but is hitting .190 in 29 games since joining the Tribe. He has 13 walks and 12 strikeouts. Damon would likely need this and two more major league seasons with regular at-bats to reach 3,000. He can still play a little left field, but his chances seem slim. Jays' future DH Vlad Guerrero has emphasized his desire for 51 more homers to reach 500. Vlad's chances are slimmer...

The Tigers were expected to run away and hide from the rest of the AL Central after signing Prince Fielder and bolstering the bullpen with veterans. But the tone was set early, even though they swept the opening series Jose Valverde struggled to close out wins. That has continued, but Valverde has bounced back from a back strain to pitch nine good games in a row, with a win, five saves and one run allowed. Ace Justin Verlander has been mortal and catcher Alex Avila has been on the DL since June 6.

Controversy of a different sort hit the Royals camp this week. After a winning effort, left-hander Bruce Chen was doing a TV interview in the dugout when catcher Humberto Quintero stepped in behind him and made a clearly offensive racist gesture, like the kind the Spanish national basketball team made in their team photo at the Beijing Olympics. Clearly he did not mean harm, but education is required...

NL ROUNDUP

Former Hall-of-Fame manager, Tommy Lasorda suffered a mild heart attack while in New York to represent the Dodgers at the June draft. Commissioner Bud Selig noticed Lasorda was a little out of sorts and insisted he go to the hospital. He was released mid-week and was able to catch a flight back to Los Angeles. Lasorda is also a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall-of-Fame in St. Marys, Ont., mostly on the basis of his 107-57 record over nine seasons with the Triple-A Montreal Royals...  

Future Hall-of-Fame third baseman Chipper Jones sounds like he regards Rome and Toronto much the same way. Jones was sent on a rehab assignment to Rome — no, just the one in Georgia — for what was supposed to be a three-day injury rehab. Instead, Rome got old in a day and he cajoled his way into the major-league lineup in time for Sunday's Jays game.

Okay, Jones didn't like Rome, but recall that during the World Baseball Classic, Chipper complained about having to play round one in Toronto, staying in his room when not at the ballpark. Sure it was March, but still, Chip, buy a winter coat and loosen up. He may go to Cooperstown, but he will never be invited into the Canadian Hall at St. Marys...

The Phils are in trouble. RHP Roy Halladay is still out with his right lat strain. He is expected to return some time after the all-star break and will not pitch in Toronto at the end of June. He was declared symptom-free on June 5. Given his history of quick return from injury, Doc may be back before the break. Physician heal thyself.

The Phillies have suffered seven walk-off losses and the amazing thing, working against manager Charlie Manuel is that in those seven losses, closer Jonathan Papelbon has not pitched at all. Many managers in a tie game on the road will use their closer, taking a chance to score in the top of the next inning. That's your best shot. Manuel trusts his deep pen — 0-7...  

It's not just the Jays that have had trouble closing games. Reds closer Aroldis Chapman, who had not allowed a run through June 7, blew his first save on Friday vs. the Tigers in a game the Reds won, then allowed two more runs on Sunday against Detroit, still regularly hitting 100 mph on the radar gun.

Chapman proved he's not a true closer by leaving the ballpark before the media was allowed in the clubhouse. Chapman's interpreter had no comment. The best closers in history have all been standup guys. Dennis Eckersley after Robbie Alomar's home run, after Kirk Gibson's home run. Tom Henke, Sergio Santos? They may not always do the job but they're always there answering questions in front of their locker after blowing a save. They use it as therapy, closure. They may be out there again in 24 hours...

Marlins' first baseman Gaby Sanchez was recalled Sunday from Triple-A-New Orleans. Wow. New Orleans and Miami? That's not a bad either-or for possible cities in which to play baseball. The most dramatic difference between Triple-A and the majors that I can recall was when the Pirates had their top farm team in Hawaii. Hmm! I'm getting recalled from Honolulu to Pittsburgh?? Yikes.   

Cubs' Canadian right-hander Ryan Dempster raised his record to 2-3 with a 2.31 ERA with a win over the Twins on Sunday. He's been a hard-luck story, but has won two in a row after benefitting from 18 runs in support.

“I had good command again,” Dempster said. “I was able to keep the ball at the fat part of the plate and just moved it around, changed speeds and made a lot of good pitches.” Dempster is decidedly on the trading block for president Theo Epstein by the July deadline and the Jays are among those teams that have inquired about the cost. That's just GM Alex Anthopoulos doing his “due diligence” but it would be a nice acquisition in a season that seems like it will be 81-85 wins for the Jays, as it is. Dempster is earning $14 million in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent.

The Jays will be visiting Milwaukee next week and the Brewers home magic has been non-existent.

After going 57-24 with Prince Fielder leading the offence at Miller Park, the Brew Crew is 16-17 at home and looking for answers. Closer John Axford, from Port Dover, is suffering the same fate as Valverde.

On Sunday, Axford entered with a four-run lead, recorded one out, allowed two runs and left with the bases loaded. The Brewers held on. Axford was forced to defend his honour on Twitter, which has a pack-of-wild-dingos mentality when it smells blood. Axford is best athlete in the Twitter-verse at answering his critics, deflecting criticism with humour and self-deprecation. The Brewers have a Canadian GM in Doug Melvin and assistant in Gord Ash and have tied Anthopoulos and the Jays with four Canadians selected in the June draft, the most of any MLB franchise.          

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL HISTORY

June 11, 1990 Nolan Ryan tosses his sixth career no-hitter, 5-0 over the A's. He's the first to throw no-hitters for three teams and in three decades...6/11/95 Rondell White of the Expos goes 6-for-6 in a 10-8 win over the Giants, hitting for the cycle...6/12/70 Dock Ellis of the Pirates blanks the Padres 2-0 while claiming he was high on acid. Ellis told High Times he woke up that day and thought it was Friday until his girlfriend showed him Saturday's paper. Dock walked eight and hit one and giggled in the seventh inning and pointed out to Dave Cash that he had a no-no going. Ah, those were the days...6/13/03 Roger Clemens with the Yankees wins his 300th game in an interleague game in St. Louis, although he now claims it was his wife Debbie on the mound that day...6/15/28 Ty Cobb steals home for the 50th and final time in his career, this on the front end of a triple steal, The Georgia Peach never met a catcher he didn't spike...6/15/38 Johnny VanderMeer of the Reds tosses a second straight no-hitter, a feat that has never been duplicated. It should be noted it was the first ever night game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn and a new experience for hitters with 60-watt bulbs...6/16/09 Jim Thorpe make his pro pitching debut for Rocky Mount of the Eastern Carolina League. That eventually cost the greatest athlete in history his 1912 Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon, in Stockholm Sweden. King Gustav in presenting the medal for the decathlon said to Thorpe, “You, sir are the greatest athlete in the world.” Thorpe is reported to have replied, “Thanks King.”

Birthdays this week: Ernie Whitt 60, Tony Castillo 55, Peekaboo Veach 160, Lance Parrish 56, Ron LeFlore 64, Manuel Lee 47.

 

When the Charleston River Dogs had a rain delay recently, comedian Bill Murray came to rescue.

 

MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

AAA-Las Vegas (35-28)...The 51's beat Fresno 8-7 on Sunday. 1B Adam Lind was 4-for-5 with two doubles and raised his average to .405. C Travis D'Arnaud was 3-for-5 and is batting .332. SS Adeiny Hechavarria is amazingly tied with D'Arnaud for the club lead in RBIs with 41 and is hitting .324.

AA-New Hampshire (22-34)...The Fisher Cats are a disappointing 9-24 at home after losing to Bowie 6-5 on Sunday. 1B Mike McDade is the brightest offensive light batting .308. The biggest disappointment has been with back-to-back first round draft picks from 2009-10, RHP Chad Jenkins and RHP Deck McGuire who in 22 combined starts are 4-13 with a 6.68 ERA. 

A-Dunedin (41-20) ...The Jays on Sunday beat Clearwater 8-3 in front of 608 paid fans at the park formerly known as Grant Field. CF Jake Marisnick was 3-for-5 with a triple and two steals and is batting .268. LF Travis Snider was 4-for-5, hitting .400 after being activated from the Vegas DL. RHP John Stilson was the winner, running his record to 3-0, 2.82 ERA. LHP Sean Nolin is 7-0, 2.43 ERA. 

A-Lansing (54-19) ... The Lugnuts have one of the cooler nicknames in minor league ball and the best record in the Midwest League. The Lugnuts beat Lake County 4-1 on Sunday. LF Kevin Pillar was 2-for-3 and is batting .323 with 22 stolen bases. Pitching is the story at Lansing as RHP Aaron Sanchez leads the way with 5-0, 0.66 ERA, allowing 20 hits in 41 innings with 21 walks and 47 strikeouts.

ONE FOR THE ROAD

The past week took me with the Jays to Chicago, one of my fave road cities in baseball. The downtown area of Michigan Avenue from the lake with its concrete beach on the north to the Chicago River near the Tribune Building is fabulous for walking and shopping in the summertime. Great city. The Red Line gets you to U.S. Cellular Field from the Grand-State subway station in less than 30 minutes, one stop past Chicago's Chinatown. After the game there are plenty of late night stops with live jazz and late night menus serving well after 2:00 a.m. I only managed to try three of them. My favourite mis-spoken line of the week came on Wednesday at Mother's on Hubbard where the woman bartender cracked to another customer from north of the border: “I hear that the only two sports in Can-ay-dee-a are curling and hockey.” Can-ay-dee-a?? As close to being cool as Toronto as any city in North America, but it officially stays open muck later, which is civilized but tough with a 6:30 wakeup call.

Griffin: MLB Draft budget will level playing field in a bad way for Blue Jays

It's a brave new world for major league baseball's general managers inside the June draft.

When MLB announced its new collective bargaining agreement last fall, it included sweeping changes directed at levelling the playing field for the June entry draft of amateur players that begins with the televised first round, in Canada, on Sportsnet-1, live from Secaucus, N.J., on Monday at 7 p.m.

The two major changes instituted under baseball's new CBA were 1) in altering the previous draft-pick compensation procedure for losing Type A and B players to free agency under which teams could previously recoup amateur draft picks as compensation from the player's new, signing organization, and 2) in assigning a hard dollar figure attached to every draft choice through the first 10 rounds of the 40-round, three-day procedure.

PHOTOS: Blue Jays drafts through the years

The Houston Astros, for instance, in 2012 will have $7.2 million to spend on the first selection overall, their reward for finishing dead last in the standings a year ago. Meanwhile, the final amateur draft pick of the 10th round, No. 338 overall, will be made by the Phillies and is worth $125,000, according to the commissioner's office. 

After that, from the 11th to the 40th round, all picks may be paid a bonus of anywhere from $1 up to $100,000. Anything over the assigned slot numbers for any pick, in any round, will be tracked by major-league baseball with specific penalties for each percentage-point of overspending from the hard slot, ranging from fines to loss of future first-round picks.

Over the first 10 rounds, you may choose to sign a player for less than slot and transfer the difference in dollars to another prospect, but if you do not sign the player at all -- say a high school player chooses to go to college -- you lose that slot amount, every dollar of it.

For instance if the Astros drafted Richard Griffin with their second pick, and negotiated a $1,000 signing bonus, they could use the balance of the $1,258,700 assigned bonus to sweeten the pot for their first overall selection. If I refused to sign, they woiuld lose it all. 

According to Jays' GM Alex Anthopoulos, the penalties are not worth defying slot amounts.

The bottom line is that all of these arbitrary changes that have been imposed affect high school and college kids that are not even union members but were thrown in as concessions traded off by the players' association as bargaining chips for something more in the immediate best interest of their current, card-carrying, dues-paying members.

Fair to the kids? No. But baseball now feels it has control of the process, catering to the many teams that don't like to spend and were being embarrassed and dragged reluctantly upward in handing out huge signing bonuses to teens, many of whom will never make it.

The new draft rules penalize aggressive organizations, like the Jays, that like to build a winner from within. Another arbitrary rule change is there are six new draft picks after the first round that will be assigned in a lottery of the 10 lowest-revenue teams.

Fair? Again, the answer is no. In some cases, small markets are undeniably small markets. In other cases, it may be a reward for marketing incompetence. Baseball would argue there is more parity under terms of the new draft, but unfortunately that parity often translates to mediocrity in terms of scouting effort.  

Why did baseball, under commissioner Bud Selig, press for these changes? The new rules serve to level the playing field for all MLB teams, removing the edge previously available to aggressive, imaginative organizations, willing to spend more for their grassroots scouting and for the right to sign 17-21 year-old kids. Some of these youngsters turn out to be diamonds in the rough, while other teams spend their money on the sure-thing of six-year, established free agents, in what has always been the lazy way to build a contender. 

Even Anthopoulos, who had masterfully manipulated the rules over the past two draft procedures in 2010-11 to re-stock the farm system -- especially with starting pitching -- is not sure how the new slotting system will affect his draft over the next three days.  

In 2010, Anthopoulos' first draft as GM, he had manipulated nine picks in the first three rounds, including eight of the top 93 selections. In '11, the Jays boasted eight draft choices in the first two rounds, including seven of the first 78 picks. If you consider that there are 30 teams in MLB that is a pretty good haul for one team. No more.

This year, the Jays select 17th, 22nd, 50th, 58th, 60th and 81st overall. The budget assigned them under the new agreement will total $8,830,800 for the first 10 rounds. That includes $2 million for the 17th selection,$1.8 million for the 22nd and $1 million for No. 50 overall. They will make five selections Monday, the first day of the draft. This year, as left over residue from the old draft rules, the Jays will still have a few extra picks, but next year they will be back on the same level playing field as everyone else. The fun is done.

Come back to thestar.com at 7 p.m. for a live blog of the MLB player draft.

Griffin: Top Five Jays as season approaches one-third mark

The Jays are an AL enigma for their fans, still blowing saves in the absence of their prized off-season acquisition, closer Sergio Santos, and still waiting for Jose Bautista to become the most feared slugger in the American League, as he had been the past two years.

The Jays right now are an ordinary team that looks not on the verge of exploding upwards through the standings with an outbreak of clutch hitting and eight-inning starts, but, instead, they forever seem to be a team balanced precariously on the tightrope of contention, more ready to implode and spiral downwards landing in the muck among the dregs, the also-rans of the American League. That's the perception. However the reality is to be determined by whether the youngsters improve and some veterans rebound. 

But somehow, even with an ace starter that has admittedly had to grind out innings and battle for wins and led by a star hitter, locked into the three-hole, who has yet to catch fire, the Jays hang around in the above-.500 AL East, within easy reach of the second wildcard spot that was added this year just to keep teams like the Jays interested into September. Any team that enters the final month at .500 will still be a contender.  

As such, here are the Top Five Jays performers through the first third of the season: 

1-Edwin Encarnacion: This emergence by the Jays' DH/1B might have been predictable. Last season, Encarnacion hit the ball very hard in the second half with little to show, but the signs were there for a Bautista-type breakout at the age of 29, especially when the Jays took away the stressful responsibility of playing third base.

Encarnacion shortened his stroke and adjusted so that he keeps both hands on the bats through the swing allowing him to better handle the inside stuff. That, combined with success and stability have led to his being the Jays' player-of-the-year thus far. See Star repoerter Brendan Kennedy's feature on the Jays' cleanup hiitter for the inside story. 

2-Kelly Johnson: The Jays second baseman was at 40-60 odds to even be the Jays second baseman back in December when he was a free agent and the Jays offered him arbitration. General manager Alex Anthopoulos only offered him the contract in order to earn draft pick compensation whenever Kelly decided to sign elsewhere. The Jays did not negotiate with KJ on a multi-year deal, but expected him instead to find another MLB eam that would offer him three years guaranteed. 

Instead, Johnson accepted the Jays' one-year deal for a price to be determined, putting an end to the club's search for a second baseman. The accident has turned out to be a wildly successful decison for both Johnson and the Jays. He is a tremendous pivot on the double play, hanging tough even with runners bearing down and his arm strength is enough to help the Jays lead the AL in double plays turned.

Offensively, Johnson has been among the AL leaders at second base in home runs, RBIs, on-base percentage and OPS. He has batted first, or second all year. The Jays are not looking for steals from their top of the order guys, but he runs the bases well.  

3-Brandon Morrow: Morrow is the one Jays' starter thus far that has looked like he could explode upward to be mentioned among the AL's elte. He was cruising on Wednesday when he was drilled in the shin, but his 6-3 record and 3.28 ERA would look far better without that one blip on his radar, that perplexing 2/3 inning meltdown in the Texas heat.

Morrow's 1.06 WHIP, his six wins and 62 strikeouts all rank in the AL Top 10 and if Brandon is abe to make his next start Wednesday without further physical issues resulting from the bone bruise raised by Wilson Betemit, his personal stock is on the rise.   

4-Brett Lawrie: The most noticeable player for the Jays this year has been the Langley Flash. He attracts the attention of fans at home and on the road, umpires, opposing players and teammates. Everything he does, he does with flair. But he is not a hot dog...more a hot head. However, he backs up his emotion wth his performance. His range on defence has been spectacular. Watch him on TV replay on any hard hit ball at the hot corner.

Most third-baseman in slo-mo replay will subtly, but noticebly shrink inwards at the shoulders and legs and get small like a turtle retreating into its shell as a natural first reaction before going after a rocket. Lawrie does not do that. His first reaction is an explosion towards the ball. It's a Canadian thing that may be in the DNA from hockey, maybe blocking shots as a nation, even if the athlete in question is not a hockey player -- as is the case with the baseball-centric Lawrie.

Lawrie is finally getting his extra-base, alley-to-alley stroke in full gear and will continue to be an important part of the Jays' offence and public face moving forward.   

5-Ricky Romero: The Jays' ace lefthander has admitted that he has had to grind to achieve the results that he has. That's not what you want from your ace. However, Romero is talented enough that grinding has produced a 6-1 record and a 4.04 ERA in 11 starts.  

Romero knows that his fastball command has been costing him walks and runs. It's been openly frustrating, but the fact that he has maintained acceptable command of his secondary pitches is a positive sign moving forward. It should be easier for him to regain his fastball command which will shortly get him back to his Jays' ace status and move him up wth Morrow to become the core of a good young rotation in the second half.