There are absolute scary moments in every sport
where the goal of winning becomes secondary, when everyone in a stadium, arena
or ballpark bonds to share a common hope and offer prayers for health and
recovery. Such was the case on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field when Jays'
pitcher J.A. Happ was felled by a line drive off the bat of Dersmond Jennings in
the second inning of an eventual Jays 6-4 victory. The shots of both dugouts and
the fans was compelling, hand-wringing television.
Happ lay face down and motionless for a seeming
eternity as two Rays runners scored and Jennings ended up on third base. It was
a scary, silent 10 minutes as medical personnel hurried out and attempted to
stabilize the stricken lefthander. As Happ was taken from the field on a
stretcher, he gave a hand wave that allowed all that were there or watching on
television to finally take a deep breath.
On Wednesday morning the Jays offered an
encouraging update to Happ's medical condition. After spending the night in a
St. Petersburg Hospital, undergoing tests for injuries suffered to the left side
of his face, the Jays announced Happ was scheduled to be released later in the
day after head trauma and a laceration to his left ear. It is likely that the
29-year-old will have to be placed on a disabled list, either seven days for
possible concussion, or 15 days, in which case he would miss a minimum of two
starts. But he will more than likely miss at least his next outing.
The concern when the dust settles following
serious injuries always becom, “What can be done to better protect the
athletes?” In the case of baseball pitchers, ever since the game was invented by
Alexander Cartwright, pitchers have been vulnerable to hot shots back through
the middle. But as players have become bigger and stronger as pitchers throw
harder and harder, the danger grows.
The bottom line is that not much can be done short
of pitching from behind a screen (which will never happen) or when technology
becomes so good that a mini force-field could enshroud and envelop every
pitcher's head from an attachment to the cap.
In the meantime, since last summer baseball has
been working on a slight forward movement towards protecting pitchers. They are
hoping to add a Kevlar insert to the lining of pitchers' baseball hats by next
season. Kevlar is a fabric that is used in bulletproof vests and Olympic Stadium
retractable roofs. It has not been accepted or approved by the players, but
incidents like Happ's will only advance the likelihood. But the bottom line is
that wouldn't have prevented a situation like Happ's where he turned his head
instictively and was hit in the side of the face, not on the cap. And there is
no way that pitchers will ever walk to the mound with earflaps, musch as many
hockey players resist visors.
Last year, A's righthander Brandon McCarthy
suffered a fractured skull on a similar type injury to Happ and is now back
pitching for the Diamondbacks, signing as a free agent. McCarthy's comeback was
awe inspiring because of his Twitter updates that showed a tremendous sense of
humour and a joy of life during the painful process of recovery. McCarthy's
handling of his misfortune was inspiring.
The Jays have not had that many memorable head
shots for pitchers in the club's 37 seasons, but pitchers being hit by hot
comebackers is fairly common. Recall Roy Halladay suffering a fractured tibia in
Texas on a ball hit by Kevin Mench. Players are taught from a young age to drive
the ball up the middle and pitchers are taught from a young age to keep the ball
away from strong hitters.
There are those that will want a committee to
study how to better protect the game's pitchers, but it's a question with no
real answers. Balance in the delivery and follow through and focus, awareness
and athleticism are all factors in self-preservation, but it's an accident and
even though it takes your breath away, line drives off pitchers will continue to
happen.
One change that might be made in the enterest of
everyone involved is that when a pitcher is obviously stricken, as was Happ,
that umpires call an immediate halto to play and consider a ground-rul double
with runners advancing a maximum two bases or less depending on the umpires
judgment so that immediate attention can be paid to the injured player. Even
Jernnings would have felt better.
In the meantime, all we can do is pray for a
speedy return to health for J.A. Happ, that he can soon return to the mound and
to join his teammates doing what he loves to do.
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.
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.
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.
There are two deadlines that must concern the Jays coming up this summer.
The first is July 31 the major-league trade deadline without waivers. The Jays will likely be willing to give up any of their veterans that don't figure into their winning future. The bullpen is overflowing with them. They would also be willing to pick up useful veteran hitters that have a Type A or Type B status attached to them on an expiring contract, because as we know, GM Alex Anthopoulos is crazy about draft-choice compensation.
The second deadline of concern is Aug. 15, when June amateur draft choices must be signed or instead go to school and then go back into the draft. The Jays daring '11 draft list of high-ceiling players includes more high schoolers than Cancun on spring break. It will cost the Jays an awful lot of money above slot if they want to ink all of their guys, but if they do, their minor-league pitching will be incredibly deep and produce for them through the next 6-7 years.
On to the mailbag.
Q-Sorry Richard,
I like everything about your mailbag but I have a criticism to make. There is never enough accountability of Alex when he does things. He kept it secret about the $5 mil he gave the Angels in the Wells deal, the $500,000 payout to a player you don't want to get. Hopefully you will say something about this joke of a draft that Alex made. He had picks of 21, 35, 46, 53,and 57, and what did he do, he selected the 33, 157, 81, 49 and 102 ranked players. Is this what you call being prepared for the draft? He should have just picked the players who were ranked by MLB at those spots. With these choices, he shouldn't have to pay big bonuses, especially for their 2nd pick who was ranked 157th, 122 spots lower. I know drafting is a crap shoot, but still when your picks are that far off what the experts say there is something wrong. If all teams do as the Jays, then why not eliminate MLB scouting?
Angelo Romanin, Woodbridge
A-Oh, there's plenty to criticize about GM Alex Anthopoulos and much of it has been done in this space, but the negative gets lost in the larger body of other things that he's done well.
When Anthopoulos took over as the club's GM he had been a keen observer of what got his predecessor and immediate boss J.P. Ricciardi into trouble. Thus, he has tried to be the anti-J.P. in the eyes of ownership and his mentor Paul Beeston.
It's why we get the ultra-secretive GM who shares info even within his organization only on a need-to-know basis. He's a GM who in winter meetings trade discussions prefers one-on-one talks with the other GM or at most four people in the room so he can narrow down the sources of leaks, a GM who sweeps the room for listening devices and looks under table lamps for bugs before he begins to speak about any personnel decision -- okay maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but you get the point.
Under AA, every trade rumour involving the Jays finds legs with no input from the Jays. On the other hand, under Ricciardi, every trade rumour began in the GM's office or else was expanded upon and corrected from there.
In November, we criticized AA for not revealing the length and value of his new manager John Farrell's contract. He explained it just complicated things, but he was wrong. He was critiqued for the unannounced extra money as you point out, that was headed to the Angels in the Vernon Wells deal. He's criticized for not allowing any of his lieutenants to have a voice when it comes to Jays' policy, for not admitting that service time, free agency and Super-Twos have anything to do with some seemingly shady player options to the minors, involving players clearly ready for prime-time.
But he must be doing something right. He has re-established respect for the Jays around baseball. Agents like dealing with his people. Players love the way they are treated as men and respected as equals -- except for some that have failed here were shipped out and must blame someone.
After Wells was traded, Vernon admitted in Anaheim that he sent Anthopoulos an expensive Cartier watch with a gushy note. That was after he had been dealt, but was in appreciation for the way he had been dealt.
Yes, we don't always agree with the way Anthopoulos handles his information. Sometimes you feel that in his passion to be the anti-Ricciardi plus the pro-Anthopoulos that in a previous life he may have been a Zamboni driver at Flyers home games – doing his job at both ends of the Spectrum. But as he matures into his Jays job, we expect him to loosen up and to be less secretive on issues that are standard information in the rest of baseball.
The bottom line is that Anthopoulos in his two years has not been perfect, but has been the best thing that happened to the floundering Jays in terms of getting them seriously back into the AL East fray. No whine, no fear, no excuses.
As for this just-completed draft, I have a question for you. What exactly is it about MLB and MLB.com that makes you believe that their rankings are better than individual club rankings, including the Jays. These are MLB people that as evaluators wish they could work for clubs. They are compiling their rankings based on information they receive from club scouts and from what little video is out there for them to see.
According to Jays' scouting director Andrew Tinnish, a total of eight different Jays' evaluators saw at least one of first round pick Tyler Beede's starts. Not enough? They have area scouts and regional supervisors and cross-checkers who have sat down in kitchens with the families of the top players. They know personalities and signability. They know their needs. Every high school player has a letter-of-intent for school. But many times money and organizational trust can carry the day.
Face it, if a team wanted to fire all its scouts and just go with MLB.com or other Internet sites as the basis for its draft, hey, more power to you. It's been done before. In the late '70s when Baseball America began doing its extensive pre-draft work as the basis of Canadian Baseball Hall-of-Famer Allan Simpson's powerful new publication, renegade, eccentric A's owner Charlie Finley decided “who needs scouts.” Charlie O. lived in Chicago and the fact is for a while his chief executive on site in Oakland was a 13-year-old batboy, a clubhouse kid who went on to become hip-hop artist MC Hammer. No kidding. Doo, doo-doo-doo, U Can't Touch This. Maybe the Jays could hire Bieber.
Q-Hi Richard,
During his Q&A session on ESPN.com, Keith Law made a very interesting comment about J.P. Ricciardi when he drafted Russ Adams. Law blasted Ricciardi by saying that the GM ignored every other scout's opinion that Russ Adams could not play shortstop, yet Ricciardi drafted him anyways. From your years in baseball, do you have any stories in which a GM ignored his scouting team's opinion of a certain player, drafted the player anyways, and the pick turned out to be a "home run" (pardon the pun)?
Thanks.
Zaki Ameen, Milton
A-It was clear that from the moment Ricciardi accepted the job from a bedazzled president Paul Godfrey that he already had a first-year game plan that could not be swayed. Ricciardi treated his first 12 months like NFL teams that go into a game with the first 12 offensive plays charted out. Down-and-distance didn't mean a thing.
With Ricciardi, it was the mantra of “compete on a budget” so his first move had been to get rid of overpaid shortstop Alex Gonzalez to the Cubs for a lefthander, Felix Heredia, whose biggest impact in Toronto came when swinging a baby carriage and making contact with the mother of his baby. He was bounced shortly thereafter. That A-Gon trade was made at the winter meetings in Boston in December 2001. The wheels were set in motion.
J.P. needed a shortstop of the future to explain the dismissal of the fan-favourite Gonzalez and he needed a college shortstop because they were perceived as closer to the big leagues. By that first June draft, he had not had time to dump all of Gord Ash's left over scouts and advisors so when they disagreed in the war room, there was only one opinion that counted. Thus it was Russ Adams? Great guy. Good golfer. Bad shortstop.
The best example I remember of what you are asking about, a fluke on draft day, came in '78 in the Expos' war room. It was the fourth round and they felt they needed some more power. Their preferred guy Rob Deer got taken by the Brewers two picks before their turn and there was panic and indecision. The late John McHale asked for suggestions. A guy named Dave Hostetler, a first-baseman, had set a USC home run record, but nobody in the room had seen him play. They looked at the lofty HR total shrugged and chose him. Three years later as a September '81 call-up, Hostetler crushed an 0-2 Pete Falcone fastball deep into the night at Shea Stadium, clearing the visitor’s bullpen out into the parking lot 450 feet away for his first major-league blast. It was impressive.
The next spring the Expos traded Hostetler and Larry Parrish to the Rangers or future batting champ Al Oliver. The trade press conference was in the Expos' clubhouse at West Palm Beach. As Rangers GM Eddie Robinson walked by me in the tight entranceway before entering the room, he leaned close and asked: “What's Hostetler's first name?” Yikes! Rodney Dangerfield had more respect.
Q-Hey Griff,
Rivera is a solid 1st baseman. Who knew? The problem, however, is that we have our first baseman of the immediate future in Lind. Should we be concerned that Rivera will start to get some of Lind's time at first, pushing Lind to DH? Lind seems to hit much better when he is in the field.
Ben Collins, Toronto
A-I agree. It's unbelievable that Rivera is such a passable first baseman because as a hitter, he seldom bothers to reach first base if it's a routine grounder or a popup or fly ball. He watches, then stops halfway to first and spins off towards the dugout. Even if it's the third out and even if he's playing first he more often than not avoids touching the bag like it's covered in anthrax.
As for Lind, he needs to improve his core fitness, something he readily admitted, before he returns to playing first base everyday. And as for hitting much better when he is in the field, don’t forget he was the AL's top DH two years ago, but the cogent point with Lind is that when he is not hitting well, as was the case in 2010, being the DH gave him too much down time to wallow in his failures. If he continues the way he has been since returning from the DL, it will work for him as the DH until he is physically able to stand the grind of the ups and downs of fielding the first-base position.
Q-They keep saying what talent Kyle Drabek has. Can he throw sweeping curves, splitters? Change ups? The Jays need pitching help badly, agree?
Robert Bent, Richmond, B.C.
A-Drabek is a rookie. Drabek is 23-years-old. Drabek is working with a rookie catcher. Drabek is facing veteran hitters who have seen video of Drabek's starts and make adjustments. Drabek needs to make adjustments of his own. He has great stuff, including a sweeping curve, but it's hard to stay in command of your off-speed stuff and maintain the touchy-feel needed to change speeds when you're mind is racing 100 miles-per-hour, when you're busy self-flagellating and cursing the fates on the mound. One word of advice for Drabek. Chill!
Q-Mr. Griff,
Two-part question for you. First off, has anyone ever told you could've easily replaced big ol’ Tom Selleck in the instant baseball classic, Mr. Baseball? If a sequel ever comes around you should certainly throw your name out there. Secondly, a slightly less serious question, but pertaining to the draft, how does one become a professional baseball scout?
Spinner Emmerson, Etobicoke
A-You clearly have not seen me manage my Oakville A's Major Midget rep team. I would gladly take that Tom Selleck “Mr. Baseball” comparison, but more often than not it's “Santa Claus”, “You old fart” or “A-hole” that rules the day.The best heckle I ever heard while in uniform was against Cambridge in a tournament about eight years ago. I went out to argue a call with the ump, I believe it was a balk by the young Cambridge pitcher. After my arm-waving pas-de-deux around a young ump that ultimately proved futile, a lone voice from the bleachers yelled out: “That's why I don't read The Star anymore!”
As for the process of becoming a baseball scout, there is a clear blueprint that I discovered first person with a young friend, Oakville native Matt Higginson who is now a full-time scout with Oakland. Matt played baseball at Gardner Webb in South Carolina on a baseball scholarship as an infielder. When he was done he came back and tried to get into pro baseball in some capacity. He found the best way was to travel to the Winter Meetings that were at Disney World that year, pay for the “job-seekers” seminar, troll the lobbies dressed in suit and tie like he was serious about his job, get help in meeting the right major-league people in the hectic lobby scene, present himself well, don't oversell, accept any foot in the door that is offered even as an unsalaried bird dog scout, hope that at some point said club feels like you are worthy of them spending money to send you to scouting school at their expense, take advantage of that break and work hard, then let the chips and prospects fall where they may. That's the way the Jays' Jon Lalonde did it and also Matt Higginson.
Q-What's to stop a prospect from signing with a team, then going to college on his own as a walk on and not accepting any scholarship? He still develops, goes to school and could leave at anytime and since time was already put in towards a degree, he can go back and finish later. Is this allowed? If not, why not?
Shawn L, Bowmanville
A-What would stop that is NCAA regulations. They used to have a rule that if you were a pro in any sport you could not play any sport at an NCAA school, but at least now if you're a pro baseball player you can still play college football which has helped MLB sign multi-sport high school stars to baseball contracts. It's not just the scholarship aspect that the NCAA is concerned about. Even in hockey, playing in the OHL makes you a pro in the eyes of the NCAA and you can't play hockey at one of their member schools – sorry Mike Danton. Besides, the chronology you suggest makes no sense to any MLB team that has a signature on a contract. MLB teams would rather have their own coaches working with a young high school prospect than have him go to school if he's already their property. Colleges handle players for the benefit of the school. Teams handle prospects with more concern for health. They don't want a young starter going to NCAA and starting a Friday night game then closing a championship game on Sunday
Q-Do you think the Blue Jays can reach the playoffs or be a possible contender?
Miguel Spence, Scarborough
A-If the Jays in 2011 can stay mathematically alive for the division or a wild-card through the third week of September they should be thrilled. Next year given an expected influx of cash to fill the holes this is the year they can contend or reach the playoffs.
Q-Hey Richard. Corey Patterson is having a great year at the plate, with his highest average since 2003, when he was with the Cubs. Do you think with the reservoir of outfield talent in the minors, AA will make a deal while his value is seemingly high? And is it too early to squeeze J.P. Arencibia into the 5 hole behind Adam Lind? His 30 RBIs could rise exponentially with more guys that hit for power on base, and Hill and Rivera (who don't figure into the long term "Master Plan") struggling to hit in runs! Cheers!
Alex Henriquez, Toronto
A-All of your suggestions make sense. I hate to take credit, but Patterson has been red hot since I called him out on Twitter, something to the effect that “has Patterson's 'best before' date come and gone.” Since then he has taken off. But since the Jays are not intent on contending this year, I could see them trading Patterson and Juan Rivera before the deadline. I could see them trading Edwin Encarnacion and also if Aaron Hill looks like he won't be a Type B this year, offering him up along with his two quite reasonable option years for 2012-13. All those guys are performing well enough to draw interest. Also, it has reached the point where if you had Bautista-Lind-Arencibia and left them all year, John Farrell would have a solid heart of the order around which to build.
The Chicago Cubs on Tuesday selected high school first baseman Trevor Gretzky in the seventh round of major-league baseball's June draft out of Oaks Christian High School, in Thousand Oaks, California. Gretzky, 18, is the son of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
Trevor Gretzky had signed a letter of intent to attend San Diego St. University and would play for Hall-of-Famer, Tony Gwynn. The 6-4, 188 lb. lefthanded hitter stated in April his goal of becoming a major-league player, but his father seemed to favour him going the college route, especially when linked with a former major-league icon like Gwynn.
Gretzky had upped his draft value dramatically with a dominating nine-RBI high school performance in mid-May. The deadline for players making a decision, either signing a pro contact or passing and deciding to attend school is August 15.
The Jays continued a clear and daring trend in 2011 towards high school pitching, but this time with a north of the fourty-ninth parallel difference. Finally, in the fourth round of the current June process, selecting one-hundred thirty ninth overall, the Jays stayed home choosing the top-ranked Canadian prospect, righthander Tom Robson, from Ladner, B.C.
“I was pretty excited when I heard my name called,” Robson told Baseball Canada. “The Jays are my favourite team so I was really hoping they would draft me.”
The Jays among their first 10 picks, through five rounds, have chosen eight pitchers, seven of them out of high school. The draft goes 50 rounds, through Wednesday. Robson, who turns 18 on June 27, was a key member of Canada's Junior National Team that played the Blue Jays at spring training. He had signed a letter of intent to play at a Junior College in Arizona, but is expected to sign in his home country, no discount.
Robson was ranked 106th overall by the renowned draft guru Allan Simpson, who founded the respected Baseball America and is being inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall-of-Fame later this month.
Robson was a key member of Canada's Junior team, facing Cuba twice at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Thunder Bay, ON.
"Tom has been an important part of our Junior National team program for the past two seasons," Head Coach and Director of Canada's National Team Programs, Greg Hamilton said. "This is a very proud moment for our JNT program, but more importantly, a proud moment for Tom and his family."
With many of the big boys coming off the free agent market, led by Cliff Lee's jumping back to the Phillies and Carl Crawford to the Red Sox, some of the familiar Jays' names are suddenly making appearances in rumours and transactions. You've got first baseman Lyle Overbay signing a one-year deal with the Pirates for $5 million. He made $7 million in his final year with the Jays and if the Jays had indeed offered him arbitration at the deadline, he might have been advised to actually accept the offer and may have been back for another season for a raise. The Jays decided they were moving forward and Lind will get a full opportunity. Also in the news, Kevin Gregg and Jeremy Accardo are reported to be close to signing wth the O's. Gregg is also of interest to the Red Sox. A total of 84 free agents out of 255 have found new homes as of Wednesday morning. Only 13 of those are for longer than two years. There are bargains to be had for teams willing to take a chance. On to the mail bag.
Q-Hey Richard,
With the Bronx Bombers falling short in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, what other course of actions will they follow in order to make a splash this off season? Do you think they will now try trading for either Zack Greinke or Matt Garza to bolster their rotation?
-Matthew Lee, Leaside, Toronto
A-So far the Yankee reaction has been slow as they struggle up from the canvas to take what amounts to a standing eight-count, but expect them to heat up into a near-froth as they realize how far behind the Red Sox they have fallen in the battle for Evil Empire supremacy and one-upmanship. On Monday, they thought they had Cliff Lee with the extra guaranteed year and the highest guaranteed offer. On Tuesday he was gone and they instead had agreed to terms with Mark Prior. The former Cubs star is trying to re-establish his career. The hot spotlight of Broadway is not always the best place to get that done, although Prior's running mate with the Cubs, Kerry Wood did it out of the Yankee bullpen.
The Yankees definitely need to do something big in terms of starting rotation. They cannot compete against the Sox, Jays and Rays with CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J. (I'm taking my talents to the South Bronx) Burnett, Ivan Nova and Prior or Sergio Mitre. Their best chance to compete is to trade for Greinke, but do they have enough in terms of prospects to satisfy the Royals' needs? The other thing they may try to do right away is to call Andy Pettitte and ask him to come back for one more year. The Rangers have also expressed an interest in Pettitte and that would be delicious if Nolan Ryan signed the Texan away from the Bombers. As for Garza, would the Rays trade him within the division? Their fans might not show up. Oh, wait, they already don't show up. The best free agent starter available, other than the undecided Pettitte is Carl Pavano and the Yankees have been down that road before.
Q-I'm curious as to why the Blue Jays are leaning towards having Drabek start the season in the big leagues. While we all agree he has great potential, putting him on the roster on Opening Day qualifies him for Super Two status two years from now. Instead bringing him up in June (like that Nationals did with their phenom starting pitcher), the Jays would save a significant chunk of cash down the line. If we all agree that the Jays will contend in 2012 and beyond, I'm really curious as to why AA and the new manager have been quick to throw his name into discussions for the starting roster.
-Joe Sacti, Toronto
A-Having Drabek play the entire season with the Jays will not qualify him for Super Two status two years from now. It qualifies him for free-agent status six years from now and that's only if he remains on the major-league roster from now through the end of 2016. That would be an organization thinking far too deeply if that's going to be a reason not to have a guy in the opening day rotation. Super Two is a category of arbitration eligible players that includes a low percentage of players each years that have two years plus the highest number of days in the majors among all players. For those players that are called up and sent down over the course of several years, a total of 172 days service equals a full year.
In Drabek's case, it's getting to the point where it does not mater as much about super two, because in a player's second year of arbitration, if he figures prominently in an organization's future, they buy him out of the final couple of years of arbitration and lock him up with a long-term deal. If Drabek rates that sort of consideration, the fact that he spent the entire 2011 season in the majors will become academic. As for why they throw his name in the 2011 discussion, he's good.
Q-The acquisition of Brett Lawrie had me thinking about Aaron Hill's situation. What do you think the odds are that the Jays don't pick up his $8M and $10 club options in 2012 through 2014. Hill definitely has some pop in his bat but one could question whether you're better off getting another 2B or 3B free agent for the same (or less money)... similar to the decision AA made with Kevin Gregg. For Hill specifically when do the Jays need to make the call on picking up his club options?
-Harry Jackson, Toronto
A-The Jays need to make the call on Hill's three option years (2012-14) not until the eve of Opening Day 2011, although they will likely decide during spring training. The Hill contract was one of Anthopoulos's early innovations as assistant GM to J.P. Ricciardi. The Rays used it as a model when they locked up Evan Longoria less than a year later. If the Jays decide to pick up the Hill options before next season it will include all three years at $8, $8 and $10 million. If they do not pick all three up they can declare after 2011 for just 2012-13. Or, in the end, they can decline all three options and Hill is a free agent after 2011. The safer of two courses of action would be for the Jays to wait until Hill rebounds offensively in 2011 before deciding on two option years through 2013. The flip side of that argument is that Anthopoulos said early in his GM career that there is an upside to having a player locked up to a long-term deal even if your plan is to eventually trade him. If Hill is the Hill of 2009, then the three option years are a bargain. A.A. likely has a soft spot in his heart for this contract.
Q-Given the large contracts given to Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth, how do you think this changes AA's thinking on Jose Bautista? The Jays are in a bit of a catch-22. If Bautista replicates his 2010 season through 2011, the asking price only goes up.
-R.S., Toronto
A-You're right about the financial danger of allowing Bautista to have another 50-home run season heading into free agency and what that would do to his market value...but don't you think the Jays would love to have that problem. Put it this way, if Bautista has slammed 15 homers by the end of May 2011, they would make every effort to lock him up to a long-term contract looking for some sort of hometown discount perhaps because of the break they gave him in establishing his career. If not, if that strategy doesn't work, if they realized that he was going to go through the free-agent process and see what he was Werth, then they could attempt to trade him before the deadline in July and get back prospects. There is also a huge danger in giving Bautista free-agent star money after just one great season at the age of 30. The organization is still smarting over the Vernon deal. The most intelligent course of action was descibed above – to pay very close attention to Bautista during the spring and in the first two months and then try to lock him up if he proves to be who he says he is.
Q-Richard, I have long admired Tony La Russa's approach to the catching position. This is a position where defense is critical. He once said that he would start Yadier Molina even if he batted .100. Bearing this in mind and with a young pitching staff on board, wouldn't the Jays best approach be with an established veteran who can best manage a game? If Arencibia is known to be a defensive liability and we have holes at both 1st and 3rd, wouldn't a switch seem logical? Jose Molina seemed to bring out the best in our pitchers last year. He with another veteran seems like a winning combination.
Mauro Cavazzon, Markham
A-LaRussa's approach to catchers is shaped largely by his relationship with long-time pitching coach Dave Duncan who himself was a strong defensive catcher with crappy offensive numbers. Duncan spent 11 years in the majors with a .214 career average, 109 homers and a .636 OPS. He threw out 32-percent of runners attempting to steal and was noted foir his cerebral ways behind the plate winning a World Series with the 1972 A's. As for the Jays and J.P. Arencibia, his off-season grip on the No. 1 catcher's job is tenuous at best, having dodged more off-season bullets than Keanu Reevs in The Matrix. But as long as the Jays have just J.P. and Jose Molina on the roster, then Arencibia's the one. But they already flirted with John Buck and Miguel Olivo and made a pass at Rusell Martin, who apparently has chosen the Yankees. The Jays young rotation needed a veteran presence behind the plate the past two seasons, but they are now themselves young veterans getting to the point where they actually know what they're doing on the mound and can help Arencibia get by. For the Jays' young slugger, it's not that he's bad defensively, it's that he needs to understand that the ability to steer a pitcher through a nine-inning minefield is his most important role. It's not a lost cause. They need to find out about him and they won't do that by signing another veteran and sending J.P. back to Vegas.
Q-Hi Richard,
Despite the cold weather and terrible roads, this past weekend a buddy and me took the pilgrimage to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown New York. It is about a 5 hour drive from Toronto, but a must for any baseball fan. In my view Roberto Alomar is a lock for the hall of fame and a lock to don a Blue Jays cap on his head. Are there any other Blue Jays with Hall of Fame credentials? What about Joe Carter? How about Roy Halladay?
Thanks.
-Josh Sanderson, Toronto
A-The Hall-of-Fame is a wonderful place for the true baseball fan. Nice decision by you guys to make that trip. Joe Carter's celebrity and reputation stem more from that one “touch-'em-all” moment than from his body of work, which as impressive as those numbers are, always seemed to be in a supporting role with whatever team he was with. Joe did not get the 5-percent reuqired to remain on the ballot for a second year. I was surprised. Joe was stunned. Robby should be a mortal lock when the announcement is made on January 5. When he goes in it will surely be with the Jays' cap. It's a Hall decision with input from the honouree. As for possible Jays' hall-of-famers, there's an eventual chance for Fred McGriff and Jack Morris. Carlos Delgado needs to come back and hit a few more homers and reach the post-season. Roy Halladay is headed in the right direction, with all the necessities for greatness. What a great summer to drive to Cooperstown July 23-25 with Jays' GM Pat Gillick and Expos' broadcaster Dave Van Horne already going in and with Alomar likely.
Q-Richard,
I'm a big fan of your column and fan of the Jays. I like the direction that AA is taking the team with young arms and identified young talent. Can you give me a breakdown of who YOU think are the Jays top 5 prospects? Where does Brett Lawrie fit into that mix? Last question - with these young players "done" their college and minor league seasons, what do these young prospects do to improve their skills? Do all young players play in some kind of winter league? Is there such a thing as too much baseball? I know, lots of questions.
-Jason Kerr, Saskatoon
A-I am always shocked that many of today's hot young prospects turn down the chance to play Caribbean Winter Ball, preferring to take time off and then begin workouts in January. My guess it's all about the big signing bonuses that take away the hunger of playing winter ball as a second job. As for when it's too much, I know that there can be too much baseball for some of the Latin American pitchers that have key roles with their home town team, come to spring training trying to win a job with the major-league team and then log a ful season in the majors. It eventually catches up with them.
That's an interesting question regarding Top 5 Jays prospects. There are plenty of sources for farm information including the essential Baseball America Prospect Handbook with the Top 30 prospects from every organization listed and explained. My own personal listing is slanted by my personal preferences of certain skills. For this exercise I will only consider players born in 1986 or later, guys that were born the year after the Jays earned their first division title in 1985. That would make them 25 or younger playing in 2011. In no particular order, here are my five favourite Jays farmhands:
1-Deck McGuire RHP: The 21-year-old was selected 11th overall in 2010. He's like '09 first round pick Chad Jenkins, only better. Deck will try to bring Georgia Tech products back into favour in Toronto after the vitriolic departure of Chris Bosh. Likely he will start at A-Lansing or A-Dunedin.
2-Anthony Gose OF: The 20-year-old former Phillies prospect obtained from the Astros for Brett Wallace has some exciting skills. What jumps out as head-scratchers are his two year totals of 52 caught stealings and 13 errors in centre field, but that shows basically what kind of a prospect he is if he's allowed to reach those numbers. It's not easy being thrown out that many times. As a high school pitcher he threw 97 m.p.h. but gave that up. In the last two years he has 29 outfield assists. Needs another 1000 minor-league at-bats at least, but is getting stronger. Look out Vernon.
3-Brett Lawrie: Okay, so the 20-year-old B.C. native likes to duct-tape huge alcoholic beverages to his left hand while flexing for his Facebook friends. There are worse things. Plus, he's Canadian. If Facebook existed back in the day, Larry Walker would have had exactly the same problems. In fact, Walker also as a 20-year old was trying to find a position and eventually became a tremendous, instinctive outfielder. Lawrie at 20 played second base at Double-A and was an all-star.
4-J.P. Arencibia C: This is Arencibia's last chance with the Jays. He cannot possibly be sent back to Las Vegas for a third year after winning PCL MVP honours in 2010. Either they think he can start every day or they should trade him to a team that will give him that chance. There are plenty of catchers that started out as offence-first guys that developed humility and leadership skills.
5-Adeiny Hechavarria SS: The 21-year-old Cuban defector was the first high-profile international free agent signed by the Jays proving they were play-ahs. Completely adjusting to a different culture, he did better in the backwoods of New Hampshire at Double-A than in the Latin-tinged Tampa Bay area at A-Dunedin. His manager, Luis Rivera, a big help in New Hampshire is now a coach with the Jays. Hechavarria has some extra base power, decent speed and quickness, but needs a little more time.
Q-Richard:
As I see it, the 2010 Blue Jays were 10 games shy of competing with a more or less solid team whose closer blew 9 saves and whose manager's wait-and-see approach cost them another 10. We've got a new manager -- one who's committed to firing on more than one cylinder. And we've added some speed. Why not sign a first-rate closer, stop all this trading/building ballyhoo, and aim to win in 2011? I understand the need to build for the future. I do. But it's not like the 2010 crew were a bunch of senior citizens. My fear, after moving Halladay, now Marcum, after losing Downs, losing Overbay's sure-hands at first, maybe getting greedy with Bautista, is that the Jays will get stuck in a one-step-forward, three-steps back approach to building that will never pay off. Your thoughts? In always looking ahead, do the the Jays overlook what's worked in the past?
-Matthew McKean, Ottawa
A-That's a pretty harsh view of Cito Gaston. I think there is a balance to his perceived strategic shortcomings compared to his solid “have a plan” advice to his hitters, his patience with guys like Romero and Morrow and the “this is your clubhouse” approach with his roster. It adds up to far fewer than 10 losses. I agree that the Jays may be a better team in 2011 but win fewer games, but it won't be because they did not re-sign Gregg or replace him with a proven closer. They still will sign one more veteran arm for the pen to compete with existing guys, led by Jason Frasor, for saves. I believe the advancement in terms of record will depend more on the bouncebacks of Hill and Adam Lind and the emergence of Snider. Of course Bautista and Wells will have to be forces again and they need to acquire another hitter at DH or third base. Closer is not the answer for 2011 to be considered a success.
Q-Richard:
When teams sign free agents to long-term contracts that will run well into their decline years, why don't they front-load the contract so the largest annual salary is paid when the player is younger and his performance is likely at its peak? Arranging the contract in this way would also make the player more tradable in his decline years. This may make it more difficult for the team to add additional pieces in the short-term to make a run, but it would allow teams to avoid Soriano/Wells-type situations in the long-term. What am I missing?
Thanks!
-James McMahon, Thunder Bay
A-Many times, teams will in effect front-end load contracts by paying out big signing bonuses that can be amortized over the length of the contract but go directly into the pocket of the player in the first few years. The problem with front-end loading is that teams already have a large chunk of payroll committed when they sign a player long-term and that may make the total payroll untenable for ownership. By back-end loading, they can plan ahead for the supporting cast when they know they are going to be paying the most to their star player. No matter how much the declining year's salary is, players are always tradeable if you are willing to pay a large portion of the remaining annual salary.
Q-Hey Richard.
I'm curious as to why GM's trade players who are already drafted instead of trading picks, such as the NBA. Am I missing something or is there a rule in the MLB that you cannot trade picks but rather players who are drafted with that pick.
Thanks.
-Nilesh Panchal, Pickering
A-Baseball teams are not allowed to trade their draft picks and that's probably a good thing. There are 50 rounds in baseball and there are some shrewd GMs with deep farm systems that would be trading veterans for draft picks and developed minor-leaguers for more draft picks ending up with dozens of picks in the first five rounds and on the other hand there are some organizations that would cut down their scouting and just use draft picks as inventory. Former Jays' GM Gord Ash is one that has been in favour of trading draft picks, but they would have to restrict it to first three rounds or something reasonable that would prevent the draft becoming a travesty.
Q-Are there any plans to revamp parts of SkyDome (I will not call it Rogers Centre) for the upcoming season? The on-field product is ultimately the most important enticement to coming out to the ballpark, but further enhancements to the Dome would certainly seem to improve the fan experience. Is there a long-term plan for the stadium, or does ownership operate on a year-to-year basis?
-James Riswick, Mississauga
A-They own the place, so they should be able to make needed adjustments on the fly. How about some specifics for next week's mailbag. I think they plan on adding an octagon at some point before next April. For the media, the wireless in the press box needs improvement which is ironic since Rogers is the biggest wireless provider in Canada. But nobody else cares about that. I'm with you. I prefer calling it SkyDome. How about the Rogers SkyDome.
Q-Hi Richard. I'm a longtime reader and love your insights. Definitely feeds my excitement for this season, just wish it wasn't so far away! My question focuses on the rebuilding process. I know you're against dealing Travis Snider, and I like him too. But with a acquisition of Lawrie, and the example of Larry Walker, could Lawrie not be a replacement for Snider? If so, what if the Jays dealt Snider and other not including Drabek (perhaps Deck McGuire) for Greinke. Then turned around and spent big money on Adrian Beltre and Adam Laroche? I realize it's a bit out there, but I think the Jays would be able to contend right away and have prospect depth.
-Richard Colton, Waterloo
A-I would rather begin with Drabek and add catcher Travis D'Arnaud as a starting point for Greinke. There would have to be a couple of more minor leaguers, or else a major-league bullpen guy. If Snider went in that deal, I would not think it was a great step forward. I see Snider as a breakout player in 2011. The Jays were very interested in LaRoche last winter. But with Lind a lefthanded swinging first baseman they might be looking for a righthanded hitting DH/1B. Beltre is a trap waiting to happen.
Q-Griff,
As someone who hasn't yet finished grieving over the loss of "Nos Expos" your writings are my last connection to something that once brought me great joy. I haven't seen this 20th Anniversary film, where can I get my hands on it? Also are there any other Expos films worth watching?
Love your work,
-Nick Capozzi, Toronto
A-When we did the 20th anniversary highlight film, it was basically on VCR. Donald Sutherland did the voice over. We flew to a sound studio in Miami to meet him during a break from that horrible prison movie he did with Sly Stallone back in the day. Donald played the evil prison warden. My biggest guffaw of the day was when we asked the great Canadian baseball fan whether Stallone was a better director or actor. Donald looked up and said: “Neither!” I lent my copy of the film a few years back and never got it back, so I must contact Brian Schecter in Vancouver to try and get a fresh copy for myself on DVD. I will ask him at that time if there is any way for others to acquire a copy. As for other Expos films, we did a different highlight package every year from 1979 on and they were alll so well scripted as to be unbelievably entertaining. Uh, that was my job. I don't knw how many copies still exist.
Q-Hi Richard
I enjoyed your column about Dave Van Horne and Tom Cheek. You make an excellent point of Van Horne being the more senior guy in the Hall of Fame vote. It's interesting that with you writing in Toronto and Alex A. running the whole show, we're getting a very different perspective on baseball after all these years of an AL-centric view of the game. We've always had excellent writers here (Perkins, Elliott, et al) but a view from people with a NL background is quite different. The NL seems to be a place where teams are put together differently, where the 20th to 24th men are very important to a team's success. That hasn't always been the case in this town. By the way, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant, is a wonderful book. A great baseball story but, more than that, it's compelling history dealing with race, personal triumph and Aaron's complicated personality.
-Timothy Daniels, Toronto
A-I received a really nice e-mail from Shirley Cheek thanking me for the Frick piece and agreeing that Tom woud have been very happy for Dave. That was sweet. As for the Expos connection, don't forget that Bob Elliott's first work on the baseball beat was covering the Expos for the Ottawa Citizen for three years. He is a through and through National League guy. I will read the Aaron book.
All of a sudden, following Day 1 of the draft, the already pitching-rich Jays get richer. Jays first-year general manager Alex Anthopoulos has always stated that he believes in a philosophy where the goal each year is to sign two high impact players out of the June selection process rather than ink perhaps five, safe mid-level drat picks that will make it to the major-leagues but never have significant careers.
On the first night of major-league baseball's annual draft on Monday, the Jays' first-year scouting director Andrew Tinnish, supervising the Jays' selections, tabbed four righthanded pitchers among the draft's first 41 picks. The Jays are hoping that two of these young men will become the future stars that they covet.
These guys are all classic prospects in term of bodies, command and stuff. Why four righthanded pitchers? The Jays swore that as their turn arrived they would not be picking from need, but instead by the best player available in terms of projected major-league ability. The feeling must have been in the Jays' war room that the best player available at 11, 34, 38 and 41 were pitchers. This infers that the Jays myriad amateur scouts believed that hitting, especially up the middle, was weak in this year's draft.
34-Aaron Sanchez RHP17Barstow (CA) H.S.6-4190 lbs.(comp. for Marco Scutaro)
38-Noah Syndergaard17Legacy (TX) H.S.6-5200 lbs.(comp. for James Paxton)
41-Asher Wojciechowski21The Citadel (SC)6-4235 lbs. (comp. for Rod Barajas)
McGuire: (Ranked 13th overall by ESPN's Keith Law; drafted 11th) Tinnish estimated that no less than a dozen Jays' scouts, including GM Anthopoulos, had actually seen McGuire pitch in person for the Yellow Jackets. He combines a 91-93 m.p.h. fastball that has sometimes inconsistent downward movement, with a major-league slider that touches 86 m.p.h., a solid feel for the change and a slowly developing curveball that would be the first to be discarded.
McGuire and last year's first-round pick, Chad Jenkins (selected 20th overall) are comparable physically and in age, although Jenkins always had a little baby fat to worry about on his 6-4 frame. But the big difference is that McGuire pitched in a major baseball conference, the ACC, while Jenkins pitched at tiny Kennesaw (GA) State. The Jays swear that they will be able to sign all of their top draft picks as opposed to last year. When McGuire does come to terms and reports to minor-league camp in Dunedin, he may be ahead of Jenkins already in terms of development towards the majors, especially with regard to poise and the ability to handle the more relentless bats in a pro lineup in a full-season Class-A league.
Sanchez: (ranked 15th overall by ESPN's Keith Law; drafted 34th) The California high school prospect will fill out from his wiry 170 lbs. and gain another 20-30 in the next three years which will allow his fastball to max out at 93-94. Add that to a solid curveball and a changeup in which he's not yet confident and the Jays may have a mid-rotation starter in about five years. The Jays are not scared to take pitchers this far away from the majors because of the tremendously deep stockpile that they are putting together. Sanchez is one of the two picks awarded for the Sox signing of Marco Scutaro.
Syndergaard: (not ranked in Top 100 by ESPN's Keith Law; drafted 38th) Back in the '70s, A's owner Charles O. Finley, thinking he was smarter than everyone else in baseball, fired most of his scouts and drafted using information from the MLB scouting bureau and player evaluations in major sports publications. Clearly the Jays did not hire their record number of amateur scouts simply to go with the flow of Baseball America, ESPN and some of the on-line scouting services. Thus they have their own view of Syndergaard that involves personality, background and what they can do with him once they get him down to minor-league camp. At Legacy High School near Dallas, the solidly built 17-year-old was 7-3, with a 1.42 ERA, walking 18 and striking out 83 in 59 innings. Texas high schools have a long history of producing successful, hard-throwing, cocky, quick to advance professional pitchers. The kid already throws 92-93 m.p.h. and shows a solid delivery that precludes arm problems. He relies on his fastball most of the time, but has a curveball and a change that will be developed when he turns pro. Syndergaard was compensation for being unable to sign Canadian righty James Paxton last June.
Asher Wojiechowski: (ranked 28th overall by ESPN's Keith Law; drafted 41st). Perhaps the highlight of the draft on TV was seeing Robby Alomar step up to the podium on behalf of the Jays and announce the tongue twisting Wojiechowski. By the way, next year's hall-of-famer, Alomar looks pretty healthy to me for a guy that was supposed to be horribly ill according to a disgruntled ex-friend. Wojo may at some point down the road become the answer to the closer question being left in the wake of B.J. Ryan and now Kevin Gregg. He will start out in the Jays system (we're assuming all these guys sign) as a starter, but that's just in order to get him some innings and see him pitch. Most major-league bullpen closers started out as minor-league starters. The guy throws 94-96 but has command issues and no faith in his changeup. He rushes through his delivery and the Jays believe they can help him and harness the natural ability that includes a hard slurve -- a bastardized combination of slider/curve. Wojo was the pick awarded the Jays for the Mets' signing of catcher Rod Barajas.
SUMMARY: The Jays, once they sign these four guys, are going to have a tremendously deep pool of pitching prospects that are all of them set to arrive in the next two to five seasons. What this means for the re-building organization is that Anthopoulos will have the ability to trade several of his starting pitching prospects from this talented inventory at the deep end of the pool and still not be accused of trading away the future -- as he promised he would not do. That will make a difference more in the next off-season (2010-11) than at the trade deadline. The Jays would like this full season to re-rank their own pitching prospects and try and package some of the others -- that would still leave good depth.
Where was Mel Kiper when you needed someone to simply stir things up a little bit? Tuesday night's noble experiment trying to compete with the NFL and NBA with major-league baseball televising the first round of the annual June First Year Players Draft fell a little flat.
According to the panel, every pick was perfect. Every young player was just what that organization needed. Every pick was shrewd.
Every pitcher picked sounded better than the one before and the pitcher that was picked before had already sounded like the best guy on the board.
Can't be. If it all sounds somewhat self-serving and impossible, it was. Face it. Somebody's pick had to stink, but it didn't seem that way. Only time will tell, of course, but since the new MLB Network is designed for a niche audience of seam-heads and fantasy geeks, it will likely be deemed a rip-roaring success by the Office of the Commissioner. And by the way, Bud Selig should not give up his day job. This version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire needed Howie Mandel. Bud was a stiff.
As for the Jays, Chad Jenkins is their man. The burly righthander from Georgia seemed to have a little Rick Reuschel in him on the tape that was played. He is slightly rotund, call it husky, but scouting director Jon Lalonde said that most of the front office and the scouts saw him pitch at least one game each and he has toughness and intangibles to make him a keeper. Reuschel, who pitched for the Cubs and others, was actually a pretty good pitcher back in the day and never felt pressured to shed the pounds for aesthetic purposes as pitchers often do today.
Looking back at J.P. Ricciardi's track record to see how his new Jays selected in the first three rounds might fare in the future given the bonanza of four players in this year's top 100 overall selections, it was interesting to note that in the four drafts from 2002-06, an impressive total of 11 of J.P.'s 14 draft picks from the top 100 of each draft have actually made it to the major leagues. They include Travis Snider, Ricky Romero, David Purcey, Zach Jackson, Curtis Thigpen, Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, Josh Banks, Shaun Marcum, Russ Adams and David Bush.
Meanwhile the same exercise from Gord Ash's seven drafts (1995-2001) as GM produced just 10 of 20 top 100 draft picks ever making it to the majors. What's striking about the Ash study is that the Jays only managed to hang onto 20 top 100 picks in seven years what with compensation and the like. Meanwhile in eight years under Ricciardi, the Jays have now had 28 picks in the top 100.
As for Jenkins, Lalonde was asked if playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference for Kennesaw State University was a concern in terms of the competition level.
“The only thing I’d throw out as an answer to that is stuff is stuff,” Lalonde said. “Whether it’s in the Southeast Conference of Sunday night slo-pitch, 90 to 93 is 90 to 93. It’s a little tougher if you were evaluating a hitter out of that conference, where you’re not quite as certain about the level of competition he’s facing from the mound. We really believe in Chad’s stuff. We believe in his makeup. The level of competition, while it was discussed, is not a major concern.”
Blue Jays - baseball blog
Richard Griffin began working for the Star as baseball columnist on Feb.13, 1995. Griffin began his career in major-league baseball with the Montreal Expos in 1973 while attending Concordia University. He became director of publicity in 1978. Griffin is in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as '93 winner of the Robert O. Fishel Award and has been at all or part of every World Series since 1978.
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