Blue Jays rotation boosted by Ramon Ortiz in 5-0 loss to Red Sox: Griffin

BOSTON-It was only the Blue Jays' 37th game of the 2013 season, but it has already come down to a scheduled start by a journeyman righthander named Diogenes Ramon Ortiz, a 39-year-old whose best seasons -- 44 of his 86 wins -- were with the Angels from from 2001-03. It should be noted, historically, Diogenes was a Greek philosopher who pioneered Cynicism -- which is the frame of mind many Jays fans have arrived at. It did not help Friday with the Red Sox 5-0 win over the Jays.

It was no surprise that lefthander Jon Lester dominated the Jays, tossing a one-hitter, carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning before a two-out double by Maicer Izturis broke up the bid. Lester already has a career no-hitter to his credit, May 19, 2008 vs. the Royals at Fenway. He had tossed seven shutout innings vs. the Jays on April 7 and had no decision on April 30.

“He was on and he's their ace and he can do that to you,” manager John Gibbons tipped his cap to Lester. “He mowed us down. We've always seen him good. He's one of the better ones in the game. Especially as those first few innings were going along, from the side it's tough to tell but then you look up at the replays and the balls are cutting, good changeup. He carved us up pretty good.”

But what was surprising was the tenacity with which the Jays' venerable retread, Ortiz kept his team in the contest through five. Ortiz had runners in scoring position in every inning, overcoming two errors, four hits and five walks to keep the game close. The only run Ortiz allowed came on a Will Middlebrooks fielder's choice in the second.

The Sox were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position facing the crafty veteran righthander. But they added three runs in the seventh vs. Brett Cecil and righthander Mickey Storey in his AL debut, after 26 games with the Astros last year.

“(Ortiz) did a tremendous job,” Gibbons said. “He kept us right there. He did more than we wanted to and expected, so good for him. I don't know how he could have done more. He got some groundballs and that's what you need. A lot of pitches were borderline pitches that I don't think he got tonight. But he pounds the strike zone. That's his game. Those crafty veterans.”

Gibbons claimed that Ortiz had good control, even though the pitching line showed five bases-on-balls. But the Red Sox are known for their patience and grinding at-bats and umpires are awre.

“It's hard pitching here in Boston, the same as New York,” Ortiz said when asked about being more efficient in his pitch count the next time out, if there is one. “The umpire, I throw a lot of good pitches down, inside and we don't get any pitch. It's not excuses, but when the umpire gives me the pitches it's a different story. But today that didn't go and we have to come in tomorrow and win.”

What has happened to the Jays rotation depth? Each spring training, GM Alex Anthopoulos uses the month of March to determine a depth chart of possible starting pitchers should there be injuries or failures at the major-league level. The Jays have averaged 12 different pitchers per year with at least one start over the past three seasons. So why was Oritz number eight? Where's the beef in 2013?

In addition to the Jays' original starting five pitchers coming out of spring training, both Aaron Laffey and Ricky Romero have started games. Now, with Josh Johnson and J.A. Happ both sidelined until at least the end of the month and with Brandon Morrow, Sunday's scheduled starter, remaining in Florida to have his back spasms checked out the Jays are going to have to dig deeper into the shallow end of their starting pool – unless GM Alex Anthopoulos is working on a trade or a waiver claim.

“I'll tell you, (Alex) never sleeps, he's always looking for different ways to make the team better so I'm sure he's looking that route as well,” manager John Gibbons said prior to Friday's loss.

“But it's not easy to do, especially this time of year, teams don't want to give up players because most of them still think they have a shot as well. I would be very surprised if we ended up going that route if (Morrow) couldn't pitch. He was throwing his bullpen and had muscle spasms in his upper back and the next day it moved up towards his neck. Just have to get that out of there. Yeah, until Sunday gets here we won't know for sure but we think he'll make it.”

So who's got next of the Jays have to reach down for another starter by Sunday? Finding veteran help is not a problem for the Jays, even just tapping into AAA-Buffalo. Romero suddenly has become the youngest member of the Bisons' rotation. Anthopoulos would be able to choose from Miguel Batista, 42, Claudio Vargas, 34, Justin Germano, 30 and Edgar Gonzalez, 30.

If you're rounding up the usual suspects in terms of potential starters, you always have to include a pair of former first round draft picks, Chad Jenkins (June '09) and Deck McGuire (June '10). Jenkins was slated to be converted into a reliever, but just now is coming back from inflammation of his right shoulder and has gone into the Double-A Fisher Cats rotation. McGuire, who was not invited to major-league camp this spring, is 2-3, with a 5.11 ERA in seven starts at New Hampshire.

“You know something's going to go wrong, you're never going to get through the season with five guys,” Gibbons said. “They brought in some veteran guys who had success in the big leagues, they've been there. It's definitely coming into play.

“A lot of them haven't had any starts here but they've been on that shuttle back and forth to cover off some of the rough starts earlier. (Jenkins) is throwing well. He's a little bit limited right now but he's on track. He's building himself up right now. But he's a guy the organization really likes.”

If it is determined Morrow cannot make the start in the series finale on Sunday, the Jays will make that decision on Saturday and yet another pitching injury will step up to cost them.

And it's not just the pitchers. Rajai Davis left Friday's loss in the fourth inning with a strained left oblique that he had first felt in Tampa and been getting daily treatment.

“It's just nagging,” Davis said. “It's not progressing like I was wanting to. It was a manager's decision and I think it's a wise decision and it's in our best interest.”

And thus it continues.

 

 

 

Blue Jays: Jose Reyes injury devastating to best laid plans: Griffin

The Blue Jays may have won the game on Friday night in Kansas City, but if ever there was a sporting definition of Pyrrhic Victory, this was it. The Jays won that battle but ultimately may have lost the war, as during that 8-4 victory their most important player, shortstop Jose Reyes, was lost to devastating injury.

Beginning from Day 1 of spring training back in mid-February, it had already become clear that the one player the Blue Jays could least afford to lose from their revamped, ready to compete 2013 roster was their all-star leadoff man Reyes.

A nightmare scenario of life without Reyes became painful reality on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium after Reyes injured his left ankle, in an ugly, awkward slide at second base caused by indecision. He thought there was a foul ball. He usually goes in headfirst. Amidst tears of pain and frustration, Reyes' ankle was immobilized, he was carted off the field and left the ballpark in a wheelchair talking on his cellphone, likely reassuring family and friends that he would be alright. Teammates were stunned. 

The report following an MRI in Kansas City is that Reyes has a badly sprained ankle that at the moment will not require surgery. The estimate if all goes well is that the starry shortstop will be available after the all-star break in mid to late July. 

Not only is Reyes the best defender on the team at his position, he is the type of prototypical leadoff batter that the Jays have been missing for years, maybe since Otis Nixon -- and he pales by comparison. Reyes brought a passion and joy to the clubhouse that resulted, ultimately, in a similar focus to Jose Bautista once the game started, giving young Jays two role models to emulate at complete opposite ends of the leadership spectrum. And just as the Jays sorely missed Bautista when he was absent and rehabbing in the second half last season, so will they miss Reyes when he leaves to rehab his injury.

Where do the Jays go from here? For the moment, Bautista has offered his services as a third baseman, at which he is above average, but he is also the Jays' right fielder of the present and future and Rajai Davis is less than adequate as an everyday outfielder.

The first thing GM Alex Anthopoulos must do, then, is accelerate his timeline for third baseman Brett Lawrie, who finally had returned to game action on Thursday in Dunedin after a slow rehab of his injured left oblique. Lawrie had suffered the rib injury on March 6 in Phoenix and had surprised people, negatively, with the amount of time that it took him to feel comfortable enough to return to playing in a game.

Lawrie had suffered a similar injury to his opposite, right side in 2012, attempted to play through the pain and then likely attempted to come back too soon. He had reached the point, personally, this year where he preferred be too careful, as he explained, waiting until his left side felt just like his right. The Jays will place their baseball order from the only menu available, and are hoping that two good sides come with their order, even if they have to pay a premium in terms of patience with less than optimum offence as Lawrie's timing at the plate works its way back to normal -- at the major-league level.

That Lawrie promotion will solidify the third base defence that has been struggling with Maicer Izturis and Mark DeRosa demonstrating for 10 days how good Lawrie actually is at the position. Then Bautista would be able to go back to the outfield and Davis can resume as a part-time, platoon DH and explosive weapon off the bench.

As for the shortstop position, after the trading of Yunel Escobar and Adeiny Hechavarria to the Marlins, there is nothing long-term on the immediate horizon within the organization. Mike McCoy is a utility player. Young Ryan Goins showed at spring training that he is not at the level where he can be trusted defensively at shortsop on a day-to-day basis. Beyond that, on March 14, the Jays signed free agent shortstop Munenori Kawasaki, who on a short term basis was the best option to be called up right now -- and was.

Kawasaki, 31, a fan favourite because of his Reyes-like attitude (not ability) about the game, played 61 games for the Mariners in 2012 -- 39 at shortstop. He is a defender, winning a couple of Gold Gloves in the Japanese major leagues. But offensively, despite good baserunning speed, he is inadequate on an all-round basis in the long-term.

On one of the visits to the Mattick training centre in Dunedin this spring, I saw Kawasaki in a game and he carried himself like a man among boys, like he knew he could still play at the next level. He started the season in Buffalo, where he had batted .400 in two games.

So where does Anthopoulos look for help, which he admits he is doing? Television images showed him already on the phone in a press level private box at Kauffman Stadium. He has his go-to GMs and there are some players out there with other teams that could help until Reyes returns, some maybe more. He said he's looking for defence first.

Just a quick survey of shortstops with major-league experience that could be available. The list includes Mike Aviles (Indians), John McDonald (Pirates), Yuniesky Betancourt (Brewers), Jonathan Herrera (Rockies), Ramiro Pena (Braves), Cesar Izturis (Reds) and, what would be a bold stroke move, the demoted Dee Gordon of the Dodgers.  

In the meantime, the Jays can survive the Reyes injury if other players in the batting order step up to produce offensively as had been expected -- guys like Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind, Colby Rasmus and Lawrie. But what they need more than anything out of shortstop is the defence to allow the starting pitching to find its stride.

It has come to pass that the most difficult man to replace in the batting order now needs to be replaced. Successfully bridging the timeline until Reyes returns will be Anthopoulos' most difficult challenge. Despite the stunning loss of Reyes, there is no Blue Jays excuse for not contending, even with General Pyrrhus leading the charge.    

 

Blue Jays struggling Emilio Bonifacio finds seat on the bench: Griffin

And on the third day, he rested.

The Blue Jays' struggling Emilio Bonifacio has had a tough time mastering the nuances of his new position, second base. The problem came to a head in Game 2 of the Tigers series on Wednesday at Comerica Park, failing to turn a double play with Prince Fielder trundling down the line, booting a grounder by Matt Tuiasosopo, being one of three fielders surrounding a short RBI popup by Jhonny Peralta and allowing a rare infield single to Fielder. No one could argue that a day off in the series finale would not do him good.

“I'm not saying it's a mental thing," manager John Gibbons said. "He's had a couple of games where it's a tough go. I don't know him well enough and I'm not in his head, but he's showed no signs of it really affecting him because he's getting after it. He's playing hard. I don't think he has that personality to really get him down. We'll give him a day off, but I'm not worried about Emilio."

It was another dark, overcast, threatening day with temperatures just above freezing in the Motor City as the tarp covered the infield with a forecast for heavy rain around 3:00 p.m. Twenty hours earlier in the Jays' energizing come-from-behind 8-6 victory on Wednesday, Mark DeRosa had contributed a pinch-hit two-run double and then drew a key bases-loaded walk in the seventh. His reward was a Thursday start at third-base, with Maicer Izturis moving over to his more natural second base position, replacing Bonifacio behind starter Josh Johnson.

“I want to be out there for my teammates," Bonifacio said, refusing to use cold weather or an unfamiliar position as excuses. "I'm going to be available when Gibby wants to use me. It's worse when you put your head down and something happens for that reason. The game's going to continue so you're going to have another chance. That next one can be worse if you let it. So you just have to keep your head up and keep going."

The former Marlins' utility man has made four errors, including a natural hat trick of miscues the first time Johnson started at the Rogers Centre. In addition, the Jays have turned just four double plays, even with the slick fielding Jose Reyes at shortstop. That low total of DP's is tied for 13th with the Red Sox in the AL, just ahead of the Angels.   

"He's playing a position now that he played once in a while,' infield coach Luis Rivera said. "He's moved around but now he's in one spot. I think he just needs to relax. I don't think there's anything wrong with him. I cannot say his hands are like rocks. He's got soft hands. He's got good feel. Maybe it's a little lack of concentration, I don't know what it is. He's got plenty of arm to throw. Sometimes he's just goes back and forth from the outfield to the infield, he throws long, short. I think sometimes he's too short (arm) when he throws."

Gibbons refused to indicate whether this was simply a one-and-done day off for Bonifacio or if the defensive alignment might remain this way with Izturis and DeRosa until Brett Lawrie is ready to return. Lawrie was scheduled to play an extended spring training game at the Jays' minor-league complex in Dunedin on Thursday.

“You get DeRosa in, he had a nice game yesterday," Gibbons said. "He's a good defender over there and you get Maicer in at second base. It'll probably do Bonny a little bit of good to get away from it for a day. Nothing jumps out at me. He doesn't quit playing hard. He doesn't drop his head. But he's got to be feeling it. It's been a tough go for him lately. He's going to be a big part of this team and we're going to need him if we're going to be successful. A day off's not going to hurt."

Or perhaps a few days off. Barring any physical setback, Lawrie should be back with the Jays sometime on the next homestand at the Rogers Centre, before the end of April.  

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Jays claim outfielder Casper Wells from Mariners

The Blue Jays have claimed outfielder Casper Wells from the Seattle Mariners. The move was confirmed by the M's late this morning on the west coast and was first reported by Peter Gammons of MLB.com. The waiver claim was confirmed by the Jays as they sat out a rain delay at Comerica Park on Wednesday. Wells will not report until Thursday.

Wells, 28, was selected by the Tigers in the 14th round of the June 2005 free agent draft, out of Towson University in Maryland. He was traded to the M's in 2011 in a trade that brought righthanded starter Doug Fister to Detroit. Wells had been designated for assignment by the M's at the end of training camp to make room on the 25-man roster for Canadian outfielder Jason Bay.

The righthanded hitter batted .228 with 10 homers in 93 games for the Mariners in 2012. Due to the expected poor weather on Thursday, it is likely that Wells will only report to the Jays in Kansas City on Friday. A corresponding roster move, likely the removal of righthander Edgar Gonzalez will be announced before the team leaves Detroit. 

That means the Jays will return to a four-man bench and seven relievers. In further news, third baseman Brett Lawrie, out with an injured left side, is scheduled to play in an extended spring training game at the Mattick Training Centre in Dunedin. 

Earlier in the day, Jays' general manager Alex Anthopoulos had spoken of the importance of Lawrie's presence in the lineup.

“He’s a really good player and he helps us in so many ways," Anthopoulos said. "I don’t think the team’s built on one player though. I don’t think it’s fair to say, ‘OK, Brett comes back and all of a sudden we’re going to take off.’ But there’s no question [about] what he does defensively, range, the energy he brings.

"But at the same time we can’t just rush him back. We have to make sure he gets his at-bats. Last year when he came back there weren’t enough rehab games left because the [minor-league] seasons were all done, and he was a little shaky offensively for the first I guess two weeks when he came back. We’re anxious to get him back because defensively, obviously, he’s a plus for us."

Casper becomes the fifth Wells in Jays history, joining Greg, David, Vernon and Randy. Anthopoulos is hoping it's not a case of going to the Wells once too often.

 

 

Blue Jays game vs. Tigers threatened by rain: Griffin

DETROIT-The infield diamond at Comerica Park was uncovered by the grounds crew just once on Wednesday morning, around 10:00 a.m. to work on the home plate area, to make it dry and playable. That's optimism. The hope was that weather forecasters were wrong with their prediction of 100-percent chance of rain all day. Even to the most mathematically challenged observer, that sounded like trouble in Motor City.

Meanwhile, inside the Jays' compact, spartan clubhouse, an offensively challenged team was left to ponder the reason why this potentially potent batting order ranked last in base hits and runs scored. First-year batting coach Chad Mottola believes patience is required.

“As the season progresses we're going to see our lineup so stacked with relaxed at-bats that we're going to be able to mix and match parts based on maybe matchups or stuff like that,” Mottola said. “But the bigger concern, the thing we have to do now is get everybody to be themselves. When we get rolling it won't matter where everybody's hitting. It will be a consistent lineup throughout. From there we can worry about who's batting where. Right now we just have to get guys to be themselves.”

Mottola is also of a mind that any offence spins off a productive 3-4 hitters and that Edwin Encarnacion batting cleanup was affected by the strange spring, including WBC duty with the victorious Team Dominican. When he returned, it was with a bruised right index that kept him out of action until there was just several games remaining.

“It's a pretty big combination of having few at-bats before the WBC, having the time off, probably six or seven at-bats before the season and wanting to hit 40 home runs,” Mottola observed. “He knows this. He needs to start being a little more patient, getting his pitch and be ready when his pitch comes. He wants to succeed like the rest of the team and it's almost a case of wanting it too bad.”

Encarnacion headed into Wednesday's matinee at Comerica Park on an alarming 0-for-17 slide. Meanwhile, Bautista, the focal point of the Jays' lineup the last three seasons, missed the final three games of the homestand and showed rust when he finally returned on Tuesday. He was a little late on his swings, going 0-for-4 with his final at-bat being a warning track liner to centre field. On Wednesday, he was back in the lineup in right field. The Jays need Encarnacion and Bautista to lead the charge.

“Absolutely it can affect the other guys,” Mottola said. “This game is very contagious. Once we get a few balls to drop, whether it's Jose yesterday, had three line drives didn't drop, Edwin, (Adam) Lind had some good at-bats early on (that didn't result in hits). You see everybody pressing. Everybody wants to win so bad. It's a good problem to have. As the season progresses, you play day-after-day, you realize just be yourself, we'll be fine.”

The game was still on as scheduled, but the weather forecast was gloomy, with rain predicted all the way through Tursday's scheduled afternoon game.    

 

 

Blue Jays with another horsehide version of Great Expectations: Griffin

Ever since the glory years of the Blue Jays, their unbelievable back-to-back World Series championships in 1992-93, ever since the great strike of '94, this may be only the third time that an off-season of Jays' wheeling and dealing, of team building through trade and free-agency, has provided such great expectations for a local baseball season.

In '98 you may recall, former Red Sox and Expos coach Tim Johnson, a one-time Blue Jays and Brewers utility player had been brought in by Gord Ash to replace the fired Cito Gaston. The Jays had won just 76 games the year before and Ash was tired of losing and maybe ownership was getting a little tired of Ash. So he made a splash, which naturally, considering the GM, was a big one.

The '98 Jays were entering the second year of Roger Clemens, who had been charmed into coming to Toronto by president Paul Beeston and was just coming off a Cy Young Award, capturing the pitching triple crown -- ERA, wins and strikeouts. The Rocket had replaced the '96 Cy winner, Pat Hentgen who was still with the team giving them a formidable 1-2 punch. They were joined by an emerging young righthander, Chris Carpenter.

In addition, Ash also added closer Randy Myers from the O's, outfielder/DH Jose Canseco from the Red Sox (never suspecting he was into PEDs, uhh, yeah!!), catcher Darren Fletcher to bring some experience to handle all that pitching talent and utility man Mike Stanley with playoff experience and a veteran presence.

The results were good -- 88 wins -- but not good enough to make it to the post-season. Recall there was one wild-card at the time and the Yankees dominated the league with a record 114 regular season wins and a Series sweep of the Padres.

There have been other much-anticipated seasons due to an unexpected finish in the mid-80s total in victories, like in '04 and '09, each following an 86-win season, but those were more born of hope than anything real. Fans and management were counting on the development of prospects and lightning in a bottle. They got fireflies.

The only other time that a Jays' GM created the buzz of a contender was in '06, when J.P. Ricciardi seemingly lost his equilibrium for five months and gave then (and now) manager John Gibbons a roster that had the city talking baseball.

In 2005, the Jays had won 80 games. That may not seem like much, except it was a 13 victory improvement over '04, led by starters Roy Halladay, Ted Lilly, Josh Towers and Gustavo Chacin, plus 31 saves from the surprising closer, Miguel Batista.

Thinking that another 13-win improvement would give them 93 and a likely playoff berth, Ricciardi went out and signed a couple of high-priced free agents, righthander A.J. Burnett and lefthanded closer B.J. Ryan. In addition, the GM made trades for third baseman Troy Glaus and first-baseman Lyle Overbay. The buzz in the city was palpable. That Jays team went out and competed, winning 87 games. The Jays have not won as many since.

That history of the Jays going for the gold is a positive sign that a 2013 win total in the mid-80s as in 1998 and 2006 is a realistic floor for fan expectations, but they need more.

In those two years of great expectations, the Yankees and Red Sox dominated the division even as the Jays were loading up on secondary talent. In 2013, the window of opportunity is wide open with the Bronx Bummers looking not like the Great and Powerful Oz, but instead like the man behind the curtain to whom we're supposed to pay no attention.

The Jays have a nice mix of veterans and of players under 30, of homegrowns and imports, of speed and power. Yes, this is the year that the Jays must prove to their fans that the four-year plan of GM Alex Anthopoulos has been as wise as club president Paul Beeston keeps insisting it is. Of course it helps the city's enthusiasm that the Maple Leafs are playoff-bound, a heady fifth overall in the Eastern Conference.

As Beeston like to say of pro sports success in the city: "A rising tide lifts all boats."   

 

Blue Jays sign fifth starter J.A. Happ to extension: Griffin

The Blue Jays on Thursday morning introduced the newest member of their starting rotation J.A. (Jay) Happ to the media, a day after signing a contract extension for two years, $8.9 million, plus an option for 2015 of $6.7 million. Happ was already under contract, avoiding arbitration, signing a one-year deal for $3.7 million in January.

“It's something that we first discussed in the off-season when we weere doing his arbitration case," Jays' GM Alex Anthopoulos said. "There was definitely an interest on the club's part. We wanted to wait and see how his foot healed. It was something that we said we would take a look at again. We started talking about it early in spring training again. We're excited to have him."

Happ, obtained from the Astros in a 10-player trade in July of 2012 that had seemed to lean heavily in favour of Houston, suffered a season-ending fracture to his right foot in September and spent the winter rehabbing the injury. He reported to spring training and has been the second most effective Jays' starter to righthander Josh Johnson. 

"I felt good coming in and I felt confident," Happ said of his physical condition entering the spring. "We did so many drills and exercises to try to simulate game-type situations. You never know being off your feet and non-weight bearing, it's not an easy or fun thing to do. It was certainly a process getting back, but it was definitely all worth it."

The signing came as somewhat of a surprise, since speculation was that Happ would either make the team in long relief or else be optioned to Triple-A Buffalo in order to stay stretched out in case of an injury of the failure of a starter. Then Romero was sent down opening the way for Happ to be inserted into the five-man rotation as fifth starter.

“You don't want to promise something and then have to go backwards, say this is the way things are going to be then something comes up and changes," Anthopoulos said. "(Manager John Gibbons) told me he was having a conversation with Jim Leyland. The quote he had that was great was 'Tell a player the truth, he'll hate you for a week. You lie to him, he'll hate you for a lifetime.' Those are great words to live by, whether you're staff member, front office. As hard as it was on Jay, and it was, he did a tremendous job trying to keep a clear head, go out and do what he could do and wait until he got the phone call."

Happ said that even though the starting job came late in the process, he has no intention of being considered "starting depth" which is the way the GM described his roster right now. It's the same disappointing scenario that Happ encountered when he first came over to the Jays last summer. He was a starter with the Astros, then headed to long relief until injuries to others opened the door late in the summer, before his own injury ended his season.

“I had agreed (to the extension) before I had even found out that I would make the rotation," Happ explained. "Obviously there's a trust and confidence in myself. I think this deal gives me more confidence that the organization believes in me to an extent and those are the things that went into the decision-making process.

He was asked about whether with the new contract it woud make it easier for him to accept going back to the pen or heading to Buffalo if Romero was to be given back his job.

“We can use the word 'depth' or whatever," Happ said. "That's not what I see myself as. I certainly plan on showing them that they shouldn't either. I want to be an established piece that makes a big contribution. That's always been my goal and that's the plan. There's no guarantees in anything, but I plan on pitching and keeping the spot."

The Jays are now paying six starting pitchers -- R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow, Mark Buehrle, Johnson, Happ and Romero -- a total of $43.7 million in 2012. Johnson is the only one not under contract beyond 2013. 

 

 

 

 

Blue Jays option Ricky Romero to Class-A Dunedin

Hours after manager John Gibbons had confirmed to media that Ricky Romero would remain in the Blue Jays' starting rotation, the club announced that the struggling lefthander was being optioned to Class-A Dunedin of the Florida State League.

Romero had been the Jays' opening day starter in 2012, but had slumped horribly, finishing the season with a 9-14 record and a 5.77 ERA, losing 12 of his final 13 decisions. Among 36 qualifiers for the ERA title -- more than 162 innings pitched -- Romero finished last in all three categories of ERA, WHIP (1.67) and WAR (-1.7). 

All winter and throughout spring training the Jays had maintained their confidence in Romero as the team's fifth starter, but GM Alex Anthopoulos hastily called an emergency staff meeting after Romero had pitched 4-1/3 innings vs. the Pirates, allowing six hits and three walks. The decision was made to send last year's ace to the low minors. The meeting was attended by Anthopoulos, Gibbons, pitching coach Pete Walker and AGM Tony LaCava.

The club had assured Romero all winter and at a pre-spring training meeting that he would be in the rotation, however he has spent the last 10 days attempting to incorporate an adjustment to his delivery that Walker maintains will benefit his health in the long run. That was the key that allowed them to make the move with a clear conscience.

"We ran out of time in making the adjustment," Anthopoulos said of the reason that the change was made. 

Romero, 28, has $23.1 million guaranteed remaining on his contract, through 2015. The GM said there is no timeline for Romero's return, but that the necessary adjustmenst of a more direct line to the plate would have to be completed before a return could even be contemplated.

Anthopoulos immediately called lefthander J.A. Happ to notify him that Romero had been optioned and that he would become the fifth starter heading into what is expected to be a contending season for the Blue Jays.

 

 

 

 

Blue Jays: Brett Lawrie to miss at least first four games on DL: Griffin

The Blue Jays have told injured third baseman Brett Lawrie that he will begin the season on the disabled list. Lawrie suffered an injury to his left ribcage in a tuneup for the World Baseball Classic on March 6 and has been working towards regaining his spot in time for opening day. The Jays have disabled the Langley (BC) flash retroactive to March 22, which means he is eligible to return on April 6 vs. the Red Sox. There are no guarantees.

What this move does is take the pressure off of Lawrie to push himself and possibly do further damage. Lawrie had progressed to taking groundballs and hitting off a tee, but the club felt that he would not be ready to contribute by April 2. 

Manager John Gibbons also announced that J.P. Arencibia will be the opening day catcher for R.A. Dickey, signalling a change of plan from the original idea of finding a personal catcher for the knuckleballing Dickey in his first year with the Jays.

Josh Thole had been included in the Dickey trade with the Mets, largely because of his experience at catching the knuckleball in the three previous seasons. Then, later on, the Jays signed free agent catcher Henry Blanco, who had caught six Dickey starts in 2010. Blanco will start the season as Arencibia's backup with Thole being optioned to Buffalo on Monday. Arencibia is still expected to catch around 130 games if healthy.

In addition to Thole, righthander Brad Lincoln and outfielder Anthony Gose were also optioned. Non-roster righthander David Bush was sent to minor-league camp for assignment. Catcher Mike Nickeas has been notified that he will not make the opening day roster, but will stay with the Jays in major-league camp through the trip to Philadelphia.

With Lawrie on the disabled list, Gibbons said that he will alternate between Mark DeRosa and Maicer Izturis at third base depending on matchups. The likelihood is that until Lawrie returns, the Jays may carry 13 pitchers on the 25-man roster.  

 

Blue Jays' Brett Lawrie forced to withdraw from WBC with rib injury: Griffin

Canada's hopes in the WBC took another body blow on Thursday, as a subdued Brett Lawrie emerged into the dugout at Chase Field to announce that he would not play in ther tournament, even if Canada makes it to the finals in San Francisco, March 17-19.

Lawrie suffered what he described as some discomfort in the area of the 10th rib of his left side in an exhibition vs. the Reds on Wednesday night. It's the opposite side and closer to the surface than the injury he suffered last June that kept him out for two months. 

“These are not things that you can mess around with," Lawrie said, after being diagnosed by the doctor juust 20 minutes earlier. "They get better when they want to. It doesn't matter how much you treat it. It's just all on time and right now it's about time to get it better. I think going out there and playing and still having it nag at me a little bit, would not benefit my team, nor my country, nor myself.

Lawrie had not yet spoken to Jays' general manager Alex Anthopoulos, but he said he had learned from last year's injury that caution is the best avenue in these situations.

"I just think right now it's important for me to take this time to get things back to where they need to be and I feel that if I went out there and continued playing, this thing could turn into something that it doesn't need to be," the Langley B.C. native explained. "It would eventually hurt the Blue Jays and that's not what I want. Right now it's looking to the future, looking forward to April and trying to get myself ready for that."

It's the second blow that Canada has received in the past seven days. Last week it was catcher Russell Martin who withdrew from the team for personal reasons, now it's Lawrie. Manager Ernie Whitt had been counting on Martin and Lawrie to provide righthanded hitting balance to a lineup that leans heavily to the left.

Lawrie will stay in Phoenix and be in the dugout for the game against Italy and then will fly back to Florida to rejoin his team. He is not available through the length of the tournament even if Canada reaches the finals. He will likely be replaced at third base by Taylor Green of the Brewers. The game against Italy will be played at Chase Field because of concerns about the weather forecast on Friday.