Blue Jays newest starter R.A. Dickey will be fan favourite: Griffin

Every aspect regarding the newest Blue Jays' starting pitcher, R.A. Dickey, seems slightly offbeat, curiously refreshing. Let's start with the righthander's circuitous career path from being a Rangers' first round draft selection in '96, to being labelled a career bust 10 years later, to discovering and harnessing the knuckleball, now, to a 2012 NL Cy Young Award an accepting a sudden career detour north of the border to Toronto with little fanfare.

The list of the unusual with Dickey continues. Consider the fact that the now-38-year-old Dickey was born without an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, as Jays' fans are aware, the villain in every Tommy John surgery. Move ahead to January 2012, with his climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa to raise money for a charity that attempts to free women from sexual slavery in India. Yes, this is a different breed of pro athlete.

Dickey clearly lives by his own guiding principles, which may help explain his unexpectedly brief and obviously civil negotiations regarding a contract extension with Jays' GM Alex Anthopoulos on the weekend at his home in Nashville. It was always anticipated Dickey was in the financial driver's seat. The Mets had renewed him for $5 million for 2013. They had offered to extend him two more years for $20 million, a deal that would have kept him in New York for an average of $8.3 million, through 2015. 

That's clearly a bargain for a man that produced the numbers he has, the past three Mets seasons. The veteran fan-favourite capped a three-year comeback in '12 with an NL Cy Young Award, posting a 20-6 record with a 2.73 ERA in 223-2/3 innings.

On the heels of that success, with $5 million already in place, Dickey was reportedly asking the Mets for between $25-26 million for that two year extension both sides coveted. But that was too rich for a Mets franchise that had had ownerhsip issues and was itself not expecting to truly contend for the next three years, even with Dickey. Besides, at the end of it, he would have been 41. Instead, Mets' GM Sandy Alderson began to shop him.

The Jays were the ones. There was a buzz starting on Friday, but a horsehide cone of silence seemed to descend on the proceedings on Sunday. The deafening silence from inside the Mets' office, the usual source of leaks, indicated that the ball was in the Jays' court and that negotiations for an extension were proceeding behind Anthopoulos' self-imposed veil of secrecy. Nothing new. That's just the way he rolls.

But on Monday morning, even though as Fox Sports had reported on Sunday, the Jays had been given a 72-hour window of opportunity to satisfy Dickey's demands, earlier Monday The Star suggested that a deal had been struck and that all that remained was a physical exam at Jays' spring headquarters in Dunedin. The news was quickly confirmed by Ken Rosenthal of Fox, who expanded with the dollar values.

Surprisingly, the two-year extension was reportedly for just $25 million, the same amount Dickey had been asking for from the Mets. Clearly, Anthopoulos and the Jays expected that the cost of doing business would go up because he was changing franchises, that his price of staying in New York would be off the table, that his demands would go up, with a new team, new country, new taxes, etc. 

Instead, the Tuesday deadline became moot as Dickey stuck to his Mets' demands and Anthopoulos was quickly able to reach an agreement, tying the Cy winner to the Jays for three years, a total of $30 million. According to Fox, a signing bonus will be paid up front, possibly before rich guys start getting taxed at a higher rate by the U.S. federal government. In any case it didn't take long for Dickey and the Jays' GM to become friends.

The trade is expected to be announced late Monday or early Tuesday, a seven-player deal that had been rumoured since late last week. The trade will bring Dickey, major-league catcher Josh Thole and a prospect to the Jays for an attractive prospect package that includes Top 5 organization farmhands catcher Travis d'Arnaud and righthander Noah Syndergaard, major-league catcher John Buck and a third prospect.

Why would the Jays give up two such higly regarded youngsters? They receive a Cy Young pitcher who, even at an advanced age, has seen his numbers and his production increase in all statistical areas over the past three seasons as he learned how to maximize his repertoire. Consider, also, what the free-agent market has produced this winter.

Dickey will average $10 million per year. Zack Greinke was six years and $147 million with the Angels. Anibal Sanchez, five years and $80 million with the Tigers. Hiroki Kuroda, one year and $15 million with the Yankees. Ryan Dempster, two years and $26.5 million with the Red Sox.

Dickey is a bargain. Anthopoulos considers the Jays window of opportunity to be right here, right now led by a revamped rotation that will include Dickey, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero.

The 20-year-old Syndergaard, at A-Lansing in 2012, will likely not be a contributor in the majors during that period, even if he goes on to a strong career after that. As for d'Arnaud he was the centrepiece that the Mets insisted on and you don't get quality without giving up quality.

It was suggested in this space over the summer, in a constructive way, that if the Jays continued to insist on hoarding prospects and building for the future with a powerhouse farm system, pleasing fans in cities like Vegas, Manchester and Dunedin, with mediocrity in Toronto, it was suggested that Jose Bautista would become impatient and Anthopoulos, at the end of 2013 the Jays might end up with another Roy Halladay situation, wherein your star was promised a contender around him when he signed his previous contract to stay loyal to the Jays and you failed to deliver. No such worry now.

The odd man out in a veteran rotation is lefthander J.A. Happ, who, unless someone is dealt, becomes a swingman in a deep, hard-throwing bullpen -- filling the role of Carlos Villanueva. The Jays' goal is to have a major-league capable inventory of eight starting pitchers. Happ would be No. 6, with others like Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek returning from surgery as the summer progresses.

Dickey became the third Mets pitcher to win a Cy Young Award, joining Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden. At 37-years-old when the 2012 season ended, he was the third oldest to capture Cy, following Roger Clemens, 42, of the Yankees and Gaylord Perry, 40, of the Padres.

He becomes the fourth Cy Young winner to be traded before his next season. The others were David Cone to the Jays from the Royals in '95, Pedro Martinez to the Red Sox from the Expos in '98 and Roger Clemens from the Jays to the Yankees in '99. Notice the consistent Canadian angle.

Dickey was not a one-hit wonder. For his three seasons since joining the Mets in 2010, his performance and his statistics have improved each season as he learned to harness his two speeds of knuckleball, mixing it with a mid-80s fastball and a changeup that keeps hitters guessing. But his bread-and-butter is still the knuckleball. And no chance of Tommy John.

The Mets always knew that Dickey's best before date would likely expire before they were ready to contend. At the meetings, they extended David Wright and have control of the face of the franchise third baseman for eight years, but Dickey's prime is now. Who knows when he's 41.

The Jays' farm system is deep in pitching prospects. D'Arnaud was a valued piece of their future, but now that leadership falls to incumbent J.P. Arencibia who has always embraced Toronto and is under control for at least the next four seasons. His importance has increased substantially.

Anthopoulos prides himself on never chasing a dream with money he had not planned on spending. When the Jays were finalists for young Cuban defector, Aroldis Chapman several years ago, before anyone knew they were true players, Anthopoulos had ownership's go-ahead to make the deal with the 20-year-old lefthander with the 100 m.p.h. fastball. But when the Reds upped the bonus ante at the last minute, he told Jays' ownership that despite the green light, he was out. Self-discipline.

The negotations with Dickey ended successfully at an affordable rate, even less than the GM might have been expecting to pay when he flew out of Toronto to meet his man.

The 23-year-old d'Arnaud, was the key player for the Mets. The Jays would not give up Anthony Gose as the second prospect. Syndergaard is the second of the A-Lansing Big-3 to be traded this winter. Lefthander Justin Nicolino was dealt to the Marlins in the 12-man November blockbuster.

Both prospects were rated among the Top 5 in the Jays' system. The Jays remain deep in minor-league starting pitchers and have managed to hang onto the big-armed righthander Aaron Sanchez, who may be the best of the highly touted of the Lugnut trio.

Spring training will have a different feel when Jays' camp opens in 57 days.

Blue Jays have added exclamation point with R.A. Dickey trade: Griffin

A horsehide cone of silence had seemed to descend over final day of negotiations between the Blue Jays and their highly-coveted Mets' righthander R.A. Dickey, as the two sides struggled to reach agreement on a two-year extension that would then make official a seven-player trade that had been rumoured between the two clubs since Friday. It is believed the blockbuster, multi-player trade will be announced as early as Monday night.

The trade will see Dickey, catcher Josh Thole and a prospect come to the Jays for an attractive package that includes Top 5 organization prospects catcher Travis d'Arnaud and righthander Noah Syndergaard, major-league catcher John Buck and a third prospect.  

The delay in making the announcement was that the going-for-it-now Jays were given 72 hours to reach agreement on an extension, with the knuckleballing 38-year-old Cy Young Award winner. That negotiating window closes at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Foxsports.com's Ken Rosenthal who was the first to report that the specifics of the deal had been agreed to, on Saturday afternoon.

Sources report they likely will not need the deadline.

As reflected in his hands-on style, Jays' GM Alex Anthopoulos prefers to meet players face-to-face whenever an important crossroads arrives. Anthopoulos is believed to have met with Dickey at his home. Reportedly, the Jays have been able to agree on the extension with Dickey, likely for more than the $26 million, two years, he had been seeking from the Mets, but still a bargain for three years compared to recent free agents Anibal Sanchez, Zack Greinke and, assuming Dickey's higher expected return, than Ryan Dempster.  

Dickey would join a Blue Jays rotation that includes holdovers, Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero, plus newcomers from an earlier blockbuster with the Marlins, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson. The odd man out would be lefthander J.A. Happ, who would become a swingman in a deep, hard-throwing bullpen, filling the role of Carlos Villanueva. The Jays' goal is to have a major-league capable inventory of eight starting pitchers. Happ is No. 6. 

Dickey became the third Mets pitcher to win a Cy Young Award, joining Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden. At 37-years-old when the 2012 season ended, he was the third oldest to capture Cy, following Roger Clemens, 42, of the Yankees and Gaylord Perry, 40, of the Padres. He would become the fourth Cy Young winner to be traded before his next season. The others were David Cone to the Jays from the Royals in '95, Pedro Martinez to the Red Sox from the Expos in '98 and Roger Clemens from the Jays to the Yankees in '99.

Dickey was not a one-hit wonder. For his three seasons since joining the Mets in 2010, his performance and his statistics have improved each season as he learned to harness his two speeds of knuckleball, mixing it with a mid-80s fastball and a changeup that keeps hitters guessing. But his bread-and-butter is the knuckleball. 

The Mets, in October, had already picked up a very reasonable club option of $5 million for 2013 and had been hoping to extend him further with an offer of $20 million for two more years, through 2015. It was, then, at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, that negotiations became truly intense.

Dickey, a free-spirit with an eclectic past, was asking the Mets for $26 million for two seasons that would have added up to $31 million for the next three seasons. That seems reasonable, but was too rich for the rebuilding Mets. They extended David Wright and have control of the face of the franchise for eight years, but Dickey's prime is now. 

The Jays, for their part, have been loading up for a run that will extend at least three years, the length of Jose Bautista's remaining contract, along with Edwin Encarnacion, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and others. Syndergaard, 20, would not have fit into that window.  

The Mets have stuck to their guns and other GM's were invited to make their best offer. The Jays' farm system is deep in pitching prospects. D'Arnaud was a valued piece of their future, but now that falls to incumbent J.P. Arencibia who has embraced Toronto and is under control for at least the next four seasons.

Face it, even with the knuckleballer winning 20 games in 2012, the Mets won just 74 games and have many significant holes to fill. GM Sandy Alderson, who was the architect of the A's in the late '80s, the man behind the curtain for Moneyball, let it be known that Dickey was available for the proper combination of prospects. The Jays, Rangers, O's and Angels are believed to have showed interest. But, a Dickey extension was always the key.  

The Blue Jays' aggressive young GM Anthopoulos prides himself on never chasing a dream with money that he had not planned on spending. When the Jays were finalists for young Cuban defector, Aroldis Chapman, Anthopoulos had the go-ahead to make the deal with the 20-year-old lefthander with the 100 m.p.h. fastball. But when the Reds upped the bonus ante at the last minute, he told Jays' ownership that despite the green light, he was out. 

Sources are now saying that negotiations with Dickey have ended successfully at an affordable rate and that the next step before an announcement can be made is for Jays' medical staff to examine the righthander at their spring training headquarters in Florida.

The 23-year-old d'Arnaud, was the key player for the Mets as the centrepiece of the trade, accompanied by highly regarded righthander Syndergaard, the second of the A-Lansing Big-3 to be traded this winter. Lefthander Justin Nicolino was dealt to the Marlins in the 12-man November blockbuster. Both prospects were rated among the Top 5 in the Jays' farm system. D'Arnaud is seen as a major-league starter sometime in 2013. The Jays remain deep in minor-league starting pitchers and have managed to hang onto righthander Aaron Sanchez, who may be the best of the highly touted Lugnut trio.

Spring training will have a different feel when Jays' camp opens in 57 days. 

 

 

Blue Jays payroll bump with Jose Reyes and others means no turning back: Griffin

The Blue Jays and GM Alex Anthopoulos have chosen an inexorable path for the franchise in 2013. It is to spend money, to spend money wisely, to try and compete with the big boys for a post-season berth in MLB. What is surprising, but was intuitively necessary for ownership, is that the attendance did not suggest this bump was coming. But what management understood was that a skeptical fan-base was ready to jump ship if Rogers showed it did not want to compete right now. There's no turning back.

The 12-player deal with the Miami Marlins, when completed, will bring them two starting pitchers, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle; a dynamic leadoff hitter and shortstop, Jose Reyes; a speedy utility man, Emilio Bonifacio, and an experienced backup catcher, John Buck. It has added a quick $41.25 million to payroll for 2013 and $163.75 in guaranteed salary for 10 seasons, plus an option. Those payroll numbers do not even include the arbitration-eligible Bonifacio, who earned $2.2 million with the Fish in 2012.

So, how did the Jays actually reach this point of ballsy enlightenment in their franchise history? Consider these major contributors to this monumental moment wherein Anthopoulos was able to pull the trigger on the highest volume deal in Jays history -- with a chance to have the biggest impact. Three major contributors to the decision are Jose Bautista, Miami manager Mike Redmond and Blue Jays fans.

1-Bautista. Ever since Anthopoulos took a chance against the advice of many and signed the 2010 major-league home run champ to a five-year deal, the GM has worked with his star right fielder to guarantee the franchise is moving forward, not tagged as rebuilding. Mr. Bats serves as Anthopoulos' GM conscience. If the fourth year GM wore an inspirational bracelet it might read W.W.J.D. In this case, “What would Jose Do.” Before Bautista it was Vernon Wells and when Alex started as GM it was Roy Halladay.

In this case, the Bautista influence on the Marlins deal doubles up, because after the injury to their star player, after the team limped home with 73 wins, after a leadership void in the clubhouse was exposed during Joey Bats absence, after the organization was embarrassed by Yunel Escobar's eye-black and John Farrell's dream of a dream job, the Jays realized that if they did not act right here, right now, that the next knock on the GM's office door might be Bautista asking out. Anthopoulos and Bautista had promised each other they would win during his tenure and the GM tries to be a man of his word.

2-Redmond. The first question that popped up when Redmond was given permission to interview with the Marlins was, “Why?” I remember three years ago, before Redmond officially retired as a player, Anthopoulos talked about “great young baseball minds” and in the course of that chat mentioned the former MLB backup catcher. When Redmond retired, he was quickly hired by the Jays to handle A-Lansing. Last year it became A-Dunedin. It seemed that logically Redmond would have been a candidate for the Jays. Instead he was gift-wrapped and handed over to the Marlins. Why?

The unintentional method to Anthopoulos' madness shines through with this trade. The Redmond influence was clear in the package of prospects the Marlins settled on in the deal. Outfielder Jake Marisnick played for Redmond at Dunedin. Justin Nicolino pitched for him late in 2011 and because the minor league clubs train together at the Mattick Complex, Redmond was able to see a lot of Nicolino, plus Adeiny Hechavarria and Anthony DeSclafani, who debuted at Lansing in '12. The deal would not have been made without the influence of Redmond, very familiar with the players coming back in return.

3-The Jays fans. The fan-base in the first four months of the regular season, through the trade deadline, showed Rogers careful ownership, president Paul Beeston and Anthopoulos what was possible with a winner. Don't underestimate the influence of the Jays' fans on this deal, a reflection of their support the first seven months of 2012.

The big factors were the return to the World Series roots in terms of logos and colours, which became a clear hit with fans. There were the smart offerings of savvy blog sites, the positive TV and radio numbers, the youthful enthusiasm clearly reflected on early season road trips, from Cleveland to Milwaukee to Boston, to Seattle, plus all of the visual and verbal feedback at the Rogers Centre. The clear enthusiasm showed Jays Nation was ready for a winner, that under the right circumstances the support was there.

Recall that Beeston had head-scratchingly said last December that when the fans came back the money would be spent. It made no sense. Well, until the injuries and the collapse in August and September, the fans were there if anyone had cared to notice. A wise man once said the closest emotions are love and hate. Jays' fans obviously hated the final two months, but at least they cared. Jays' management noticed and understood.

The following Jays' payroll numbers are compiled using the authoritative site, Cot's Baseball Contracts. This is the most expensive roster ever put together by the Jays, topping the $97,983,900 in 2008, the penultimate season of former GM J.P. Ricciardi. That year, the Jays were 86-76, but ownership was expecting more and forced Ricciardi to slash payroll to $80 million in '09. He did not react well and was gone by the final weekend.

How far ahead of any payroll in the 37-year history of the Blue Jays' franchise is this group? Already, the 2013 payroll for 15 players stands at $100.6 million in guaranteed salary. In terms of futures, the Jays are on the hook for $300.9 million in salary to those same 15 players. Here's the payroll in descending order for 2013. That first number is followed by guaranteed years and guaranteed money.

Bautista $14 million; 3 years-$43M. Johnson $13.75 million. Buehrle $11 million; 3 years-$48M. Reyes $10 million; 5 years-$96M. Edwin Encarnacion $8 million; 3 years-$29M. Brandon Morrow $8 million; 2 years-$17M. Ricky Romero $7.5 million; 3 years-$23.1M. Buck $6.5 million. Adam Lind $5.15 million; 1 year-$7.15M (option buyouts).

Casey Janssen $3.9 million. Maicer Izturis $3 million; 3 years-$10M. Darren Oliver $3 million. Sergio Santos $2.75 million; 2 years-$8.75M. Rajai Davis $2.5 million. Dustin McGowan $1.5 million; 2 years-$3.5M.

Add to that committed payroll, key arbitration-eligibles Bonifacio, Colby Rasmus and J.A. Happ who will by the time they settle combine for about $12 million and the 2013 payroll already stands at $112 million for 18 players, even with the knowledge that the injured McGowan and Santos will likely not open the season in the majors.

And it says here the Jays are not done dealing yet. Ideally, they could still use a strong bat in the outfield and have not settled on a starting second baseman.

Bonifacio is a Mike McCoy type, times two, while Izturis could be considered a younger, more complete Omar Vizquel or John McDonald. Maybe another MLB team covets one year of Josh Johnson so much so that they will make it worth Anthopoulos' while in MLB talent. But this Marlins deal is a great start and has energized the fanbase at a time when they were likely deciding how to spend any future entertainment dollars.

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Jays mailbag: Toronto's 10-player deal opens trade floodgates

Less than a week remains to the MLB trade deadline without waivers.

Interestingly, the Jays 10-player deal with the Astros, with J.A. Happ as Toronto's main acquisition, seemed to open the flesh-trading floodgates early. Since and including that Friday morning announcement there have been 11 trades involving 28 players.

The most interesting of these was the Yankees acquiring Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners for former Jays RHP Danny Farquhar and RHP D.J. Mitchell. Ichiro will take Brett Gardner's role as the Yanks have given up on getting their speedy left fielder back any time in 2012.

Amazing that the Yankees have Derek Jeter, A-Rod and Ichiro on the same roster, over 8,600 combined hits. Of course, an immediate response came from Ichiro's former teammate who drilled A-Rod and broke his hand putting the third baseman out for 6-8 weeks. The Yankees have time to go out and find a replacement as they cruise to the AL East title. It will be a busy week for Jays' GM Alex Anthopoulos. However, whether he gets something done in his quest for more pitching is another story. On to the Mailbag. 

Q-Minor league management questions for you. What is the objective for each level of the minors? Winning or player development? I would think player development in the lower levels is the greater objective, but then I look at the composition of the Vancouver roster and wonder if they are more focused on winning and attendance. Secondly, what goes into the thought process around promoting or demoting players. I look at some stats (I know that is not the full picture) and wonder why some players are not promoted when they seem to have mastered their level (e.g. Pillar or the Big 3 at Lansing). Then I see others (e.g. Knecht in FSL) and wonder why they are not sent down as they seem to be overmatched at their current level. And then I see players who have been at the same level for years with no signs of progress and wonder why they have not been released (e.g. Ahrens, Balbino).
Tom F, Newmarket

A-The perfect minor-league system combines winning and player development almost equally, however that is never the case. But there is an argument, especially at the upper levels of any farm system. One side of the argument says that placing young players in a winning Triple-A environment is important to their development. They ask, “How can you expect a player to win at the major-league level if he has never won at the minor-league level.” That is a good point, but not the only one.

There are other organizations that populate Triple-A with their best young prospects and let them take their lumps without the calming contributions of the veteran arms and experienced players on the way down that other organizations sprinkle through top teams to promote winning.

As for Vancouver, that is a unique situation for the Jays. The A-Northern League Canadians are a pet project for Anthopoulos. He loves the ownership, he loves the stadium, he loves the fans and he strongly believes in letting his top prospects play in Vancouver to get a feel for playing in Canada. Get the feel of a pocket full of loonies and toonies and drinking milk from a plastic bag. When they arrive in Toronto, it will all seem familiar to them. That's why No. 22 overall pick and right-handed reliever Marcus Stroman started there.

As for promotion/demotion, again there are competing theories. It's like teaching young children how to swim. Do you give them lessons and take them step-by-step or do you strap on their diapers and throw them in the deep end? The Jays are nurturers by nature and want their athletes to feel success before moving to the next level. The Lansing pitchers, for example, were given a plan that involved building from 30 pitches to 90-100 pitches. Their stats have nothing to do with eventual promotion to the next level. For the Jays, player development is a process not a reward or punishment.      

Q-Hi Richard,
I enjoy reading your articles, blogs and mailbags whenever they are posted. IMO, they are required reading for any Blue Jays fan. I've read that Jose Bautista's recovery is ahead of schedule. That got me thinking...have the Blue Jays ever DL'd someone who recovered much quicker than the 15- or 60-day period and was ready to go, but had to wait more than a day or two for the period to end?
Tavis McLean, Chatham

A-Bautista has proved through his Jays years that he has a high threshold for pain. Recall in 2011, he suffered a neck injury in New York at the end of April and after three days of solid treatment in Tampa, managed to stay off the DL and return to action. Then after the 2011 all-star game, back at the Rogers Centre, he sprained his ankle in a horrible looking baserunning accident and again stayed off the DL.

In this case, with the importance to the swing of the left hand, Bautista was disabled as soon as the MRI showed it was not a break in his left wrist after a long foul ball against David Robertson in New York. On Tuesday, manager John Farrell discussed Joey Bats rapid recovery.

“He's making good strides,” Farrell said. “As the strength exercises that he's going through are increasing we would hope that in the coming days we'd be able to put a bat back in his hands to not only go through dry swings, but off a tee. That's adjusted with how he comes through daily treatment.

“This has improved quicker than I think we all envisioned. I'm not surprised, but definitely encouraged. Because he was in significant pain that night and the three days following that, there's been a lot of improvement. All that is positive and that's not just because of what he states, but the actual strengthening and the exercises and the treatment he's going through. That's being tested and once he's out of the woods, symptom free, that's when we'll put a bat back in his hands. The next thing he's doing is there's been more manipulation of the wrist side to side rather than just straight on exercises, so that's the progressive steps. There's been no reproducing of that discomfort in those controlled settings.”

Farrell suggested Bautista may be swinging a bat and taking live batting practice by the end of the week.

Certainly over the years there would have been players ready to come back prior to the end of a disabled period, but with 15 days, that can never be considered a mistake, more like erring on the side of caution. Some players on the coin-toss, ready-or-not side of 15 days actually benefit from the enforced time out and are encouraged not to push the envelope, not to rush back to the field. It's really never a situation that's embarrassed any team. You know what they say about “better safe...”

Q-Richard:
A promising trade announcement last week. If nothing else, a relief to Francisco Cordero haters like myself. And I stand corrected after my last question re: why not release Cordero outright? AA was evidently holding on to Mr. Batting Practice because he was still worth something on the trade market. Phew.
Best,
Matthew McKean, Ottawa

A-I really do like Cordero as a person, but on Tuesday the Astros were welcomed to his world as Drew Stubbs homered in the ninth and the Reds rallied for three runs vs. CoCo. Another blown save. At the same time, J.A. Happ was giving up his own three-spot in the seventh vs. the A's.

Q-Hello Richard,
Do you think that the Jays - given the fact that at least 3 of their starters are injured, may seriously work on getting a couple of experienced starters come the trade deadline?
Thanks,
Tony D'Souza, Toronto

A-I continue to insist that J.A. Happ is not the final move that GM Alex Anthopoulos is trying to do. He and the Jays could use another solid, controllable starter and even if he does not accomplish his goal by July 31, it doesn't mean he did not make every effort. Happ will be in the rotation soon.

Q-Hi Richard,
I really don't like AA's approach to waiting for last moment to possibly make a trade. He's too attached to his farm studs for one and secondly, by the time the Jays go through their tough schedule (Yankees/Red Sox) they will be well under .500 and now no Bautista. This team needs an extended winning streak and it can't happen with these starters at hand. It's a shame but the wild card hunt will have to wait till next year. The Leafs slogan can now be applied to the Jays..."There's always next year"
Kam H, Richmond Hill

A-I hope the Leafs are not taking credit for that version of the “Wait until next year” rallying cry that goes back to the pre-WWII Brooklyn Dodgers. As for AA allegedly waiting till the last moment to make a trade, he, in fact, always seems to be the most anxious man in the room to make a deal and make it right now.

The 10-man trade with the Astros set off a flurry of pre-deadline activity that may not have happened if AA had not pulled off his early deal. I'm not so sure he's overly attached to his draft choices, his farm studs, as it is that he wants to prioritize his inventory properly and not give away the wrong prospects. He deserves that right to not be rushed.

As for not being able to put together a significant win streak with this starting rotation, you are correct. It's something that will stall any Jays hopes for a wild card.   

Q-Hey Richard,

Just going to throw out a trade idea to hear your thoughts on why it could/couldn't happen from each end.

 The Marlins are slowly falling out of the playoff picture and are likely to become sellers. Do you think that there is a chance that for the right price they would be willing to part ways with their recently acquired SP Mark Buehrle? He has the type of contract that AA likes and can be here for a few years. The Marlins would likely ask for young OF prospects back and young pitching which the Jays have plenty of. Could you see the Jays giving up a combination of one of their Lugnuts pitchers, Gose/Snider/Thames and either Yan Gomes or another middle of the pack prospect? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Thanks,
Josh Cymbalista, Thornhill

A-The Marlins seem to be in the mood to listen to offers on anyone, but the fact that the Jays did not seem that interested in signing Buehrle when he was a free agent makes it seem unlikely that they would be interested now, at a point in time when they would have to pay Buehrle's free-agent salary PLUS give up some prime prospects. If the price in players was cheap AA might be interested, but if the price was steep then why bother. They should have made their best effort when he was a free agent. 

Q-Thanks for the great blog. I am a fan of the Jays but still miss the Expos. 
My question is on J Bautista's fielding ability. During the last series with Boston JB played a ball off the fence poorly and the Boston commentators commented that he was a below average fielder with an above average arm. Is that the feeling around the league?
Thanks,
M Swain, Seeleys Cove

A-The rap that Bautista has picked up as a below-average fielder is one that some of the range-factor advocates have argued on paper through the past three seasons, so the myth is picked up by broadcasters and repeated as fact by those that have not seen a lot of the Jays in person. Bautista is not a below average fielder, if only because of his baseball smarts and knowledge of the game. He does have an above average arm. Bautista is appreciated more the more you see him play.  

Q-Hi Richard,
The more I watch Yunel Escobar in the field the more I am convinced that he needs to go. On two occasions in the last few games (the most recent being G2 at Yankee Stadium) he has come across the diamond to steal pop up outs away from what I see as an annoyed Kelly Johnson. Earlier in the same Yankee game Escobar flipped the ball behind his back with men on base to an unsuspecting Johnson. I believe that the relationship between the two is poor and that Escobar, his sense of entitlement and constant glances to the cameras while in the dugout need to be traded and replaced by Hechavarria who appears ready for the majors.
Thanks,
Adam M, Waterloo

A-There is an accepted priority on balls in the air that all baseball teams follow and in that century-old pecking order, the shortstop has priority over every other player in the infield. So if Escobar can comfortably catch a popup, it is acceptable that he can call off any of his infield mates.

The ball flipped behind the back was kind of silly for Escobar but there was never any danger of a runner advancing because it wasn't a hard toss towards an open part of the field.

Johnson has every right in the world at this stage of the season to look annoyed – but mostly at himself. His hitting ability has slowly faded and his ability to make contact has reached alarming levels of whiff-dom. If the relationship between Escobar and Johnson is poor, then why on earth should the survivor be Johnson? He is a free agent at the end of the year and the odds of the Jays moving forward with the 30-year-old are slim. Escobar can be frustrating and annoying as his snooty Braves teammates might tell you, but to dismiss his skills and contributions would be a mistake.

Let Hechavarria earn his spot, don't give it to him. If you are annoyed by Escobar glancing at you in your living room, then the problem is yours.

NOTE: He can't actually see you when he constantly looks into the camera. In fact, he might be more annoyed at the red light going on and the television camera invading his privacy than the other way around.

Q-With all of the injuries that are suffered by MLB pitchers, I've been wondering if it's time to implement the pitching version of Moneyball.

It has become clear over the years that throwing a baseball 90+ mph an excess number of innings is not sustainable for a large percentage of MLB pitchers. Injuries are inevitable, and many of those of the long-term variety requiring significant surgery and lengthy rehab. And with these injuries, huge chunks of roster salary are in effect wasted that in mind, I've been wondering if it is time to re-consider the whole concept of what constitutes a pitching staff and how that staff is employed.
 

Rather than spending in excess of $30 million, (or much, much more) on five starting pitchers, plus something like $8 million on one closer, plus an additional $12 million or so on 5 or 6 middle relievers, why not this: a group of 12 pitchers that pitch an average of 3 innings per game. 

On this roster, there are no starters, there are no closers, and there are no set-up men. They are interchangeable parts of an elite roster that can be mixed and matched to provide the best matchups every game.

Instead of your $50 million average pitching roster that is prone to breaking down, you could have an elite pitching roster at a cost of $30 million that is much less prone to injury.

Imagine the following pitching roster (approximate 2012 salary in brackets):
Vinnie Pestano ($490K)
; Jason Grilli ($1.1M); 
Joaquin Benoit ($5.5M); 
Sean Burnett ($2M)
; Mike Adams ($ 4.4M);
 Scott Downs ($5M)
; Sergio Romo ($1.6M); 
Matt Thornton ($6M)
; Luke Gregerson ($1.6M)
; David Hernandez ($1.25M); 
Sean Marshall ($2.4M); 
Tyler Clippard ($1.65M).

This staff would cost $33 million; give you an ERA of around 2.00, a WHIP of around 1.00, and a crazy K/9 innings rate. Basically, you'd have the best pitching staff in the entire league - by a mile.

If you employed a consistent strategy of rotating them in every 3 innings you get additional benefits: each pitcher would top out at about 120 innings per year, thus reducing arm/elbow/shoulder strain etc.; every game the opposing team would rarely have a batter see the same pitcher twice, which would in effect lower batting average against even further (batters can't develop rhythm, learn from previous at-bats, etc).

And the biggest benefit of all might be the extra cash available to spend on the offence. Imagine if the Jays maintained their current payroll parameters, but spending $20 million more per year on offense while carrying an elite pitching staff. WIN-WIN.

Scott Postma, Waterdown

A- I don't know what they're putting in the water in Waterdown, but that's so crazy it just might work. No, just kidding. There's no chance it will work and not because it does not have merit, but because innovation is something that must be widely accepted and at that point it is no longer innovation.

Recall that Canadian hero and Hall-of-Fame old schooler, Ferguson Jenkins had a shot as pitching coach of the Cubs for about half a season. His idea was that the Cubs would go back to a four-man rotation and throw a lot more between starts. The problem is that 29 of 30 teams still used the five-man rotation and all the kids coming up through all the systems were training to pitch every fifth day. Fergie may have had a good idea, but the players he was dealing with were not prepared to jump into such a system. The same with your 12 pitchers times three innings scenario.

These are humans. There are injuries, failures, etc. Looking back and analyzing what players have done in the past is different than actually having them go out and do it live.

Q-A big fan, but you've grumbled a few times about the Jays' draft strategy this season, and I'm still not clear about why you don't like it. It has been many years since players were selected solely on the basis of their talent level, and strategy has always played a large role. What is so different about the way the Jays approached the draft this year?
Neil Paris, Toronto

A-Maybe I'm just a grumpy old man, but the new draft rules were instituted for bad reasons, as a soft salary cap in a sport that has managed to be very competitive with no salary cap, and teams like the Jays have invented ways to beat it.

I didn't agree with the new rules when they were announced and I don't agree with the Jays drafting an embarrassing list of undeserving baseball players from Rounds 4-10 and signing them for a total of $31,000 then using the savings to go after the guys they really want.

The report is that the Jays were within $541 of reaching the 5-percent over slot and thus losing a high draft pick in the 2012 draft. When an accountant needs to be in the draft room with a calculator then something is wrong with the system. The players union threw high schoolers and collegians under the bus and traded off their signing rights for something that card-carrying union members wanted.   

Q-Richard ...
How in the world did the Jays miss out on Ben Sheets?? Desperate for pitching, and they couldn't have taken a flyer on him .... and I gather he was unsigned as of June 30 this year?

 It's still early days on Sheets with the Braves, but my goodness, what was to lose?
David Williams, Oakville

A-That's a silly question. How did the Jays miss out on Ben Sheets? You've got to be kidding. The free-agent world is filled with guys like Ben Sheets and every team invites a couple of Ben Sheets to spring training or stage private off-season workouts in the hope of catching lightning in a bottle.

Wait until the end of the season before evaluating the Sheets experiment. It's like being in a hotel and pulling the blanket up over you and nestling down into a comfortable bed to watch Baseball Tonight. Everything is great, then six hours later you wake up and find out you've been short-Sheets-ed. What looked and felt great at one point turned out to be a mirage. Time will tell, but this is not the 2004 Ben Sheets.  

Q-Given the plethora of injuries to pitchers on just about every team, isn't it maybe time to consider adding a 26th man to the roster just to have that extra arm available instead of the constant - and confusing - shuffling of minor leaguers up and down?
J.D. Tamblyn, Lindsay

A-I have long been a proponent the past three or four years of adding two more players to every major-league roster and making it 27 active.

Back in the 80s, most teams went with a 10-man pitching staff meaning there were always 15 position players. That six-man bench, seven in the NL, made managing and second-guessing much more interesting. But the Jays for a while this year were carrying eight relievers and five starters, meaning there were just three players on the bench, one of them being a backup catcher that must stay on the bench in case of a catcher injury. Not much managing to be done.

The idea of 27 major-league players would cost each team about $1 million additional in salary plus travelling and living expenses for the season if they chose rookies with particular skill-sets, but that's chump change considering the money that's thrown around for nothing these days.

How about 27 players on the roster, but you must designate 25 of them to be active each night. That means that you could have your eight relievers, but activate just seven of them, or even six of them each night and give yourself more versatility as a manager. The union would love it and it would benefit the competitive nature of the game. It would not be favoured by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce that has seen a tourism boom of flights in and out of town since the Jays moved there. 

Q-Hi Richard.
Re the Jays pitchers' injuries: Your colleague Kennedy's column has the list. It appears as "bad luck". Nothing wrong with the basic routine. BUT what if the young ones lack fastball command? And therefore are taught-encouraged to throw pitches that can hurt? And, worst of all, get sent to T. John surgery as a matter of routine.

Is it too conspiratorial to think that THIS in fact has become the system? That the surgery means teams can load up on pitchers with lots of breaking pitches and their pain be damned. What a shame it would be if 100 years after the sidearm and submarine pitchers of yesteryear 
(throwing with a much more anatomically healthy motion - ours arms after all do HANG DOWN -) went the way of the dodo bird we now have a situation where almost no one pitches complete games, medical science rebuilds the broken. There are many ironies in this tale. It deserves more analysis.

Charles Novogrodsky, Toronto

A-How about this 10-man pitching staff of all-time sidearmers/submariners: Carl Mays, Ted Abernathy, Kent Tekulve, Dan Quisenberry, Mark Eichhorn, Steve Olin, Mike Myers, Chad Bradford, Byung-Hyun Kim and Mike Venafro. By contrast, the Royal Canadian Navy has just four submarines.
As for your conspiracy theory, I'm as big a fan of conspiracies as anyone alive, but this one about intentionally damaging elbows to perform Tommy John and bring them back healthy tests even my conspiracy-consumed brain. I wonder why Tommy John never copyrighted his name. If he was paid every time someone mentioned the surgery he'd be a very wealthy man.

Q-Hi Richard,
It seems to be the Year of the Pitching Injury. The last couple of seasons have seen more and more pitchers heading off to Dr James Andrews' clinic, but this year is ridiculous. A second Tommy John surgery for Drabek? Are managers tougher on pitchers? Are pitchers trying to throw harder? Or is it a statistical anomaly?
Cheers,
Paul B, England

A-I have a theory that won't be very popular at the Commissioner's Office. I believe that the new MLB drug policies have affected the number of pitchers that get injured. It's not just recreational drugs and steroids that are banned. The banned stimulant list includes 56 types of drugs:
Adrafinil Amfepramone (diethylproprion) Amiphenazole Amphetamine Amphetaminil Armodafinil Benfluorex Benzphetamine Benzylpiperazine Bromantan Carphedon Cathine (norpseudoephedrine) Chloroamphetamine Clobenzorex Cropropamide Crotetamide Dimethylamphetamine Ephedrine Etamivan Ethylamphetamine Etilefrine Famprofazone Fenbutrazate Fencamfamine Fenethylline Fenfluramine Fenproporex Furfenorex Heptaminol Isometheptene Meclofenoxate Mefenorex Mesocarb Mephentermine Methamphetamine (methylamphetamine) Methylenedioxyamphetamine Methylephedrine Methylhexaneamine (dimethylamylamine, DMAA) Methylphenidate Modafinil Nikethamide Norfenefrine Norfenfluramine Octopamine Oxilofrine Pemoline Pentetrazol Phentermine Phenpromethamine Prenylamine Prolintane Phendimetrazine (phenmetrazine) Propylhexedrine Pyrovalerone Sibutramine Tuaminoheptane.
The trade-off of cleaning up baseball is long-term gain for short-term pain. That's a good trade-off for the athletes well-being as humans in the long-run as they age, but right now, baseball is an everyday grind and 162 games is something that the human body is  not equipped to handle. For years, baseball players found artificial help to get through the season, but now they are being tested and penalized. The trade-off may be more trips to the DL. In addition, with the success rate for Tommy John surgery rising to 83-88 percent, clubs and players seem more ready to have the procedure done sooner rather than later so they can resume their careers while still young. 

Q-Hi Richard,
Just watching Sunday's Indians game and wondering about Derek Lowe. A crafty veteran who still has the right stuff - could he be the "Jack Morris" piece to next year's pitching puzzle? I believe he's a free agent after this season.

Cheers,
Rod Salloum, Vancouver

A-It's an insult to Jack Morris to compare him to Derek Lowe. The answer is no.

Q-Richard:
What's going on with the Jays pitchers. There have been too many with season ending injuries that are requiring surgery. It's too coincidental to have this many pitchers out in one season. Is it poor training or poor preparation. The bright side is that over the course of the next two years they will be back.
Doug Peat, Dorchester

A-See my column on Tuesday. The Jays are studying the issue.

Q-Hi Richard -
Baseball more than any other of the Big 4 North American sports places a strong importance of the history of the game. This year they're celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park. Wrigley Field will be 100 in 2 years. (Personally I think it’s a sewer). But stadia such as Rogers Centre seem to lack a connection to the past (Other than the names listed on the Level of Excellence).

Could you suggest that they return to acknowledging 5th deck homers or those off the Windows restaurant) with permanent markers of where the balls landed for the Jays and other teams. Perhaps marking the seat where the ball landed with a different colour with a name and date. Might add some history to an otherwise sterile building.
Bo Buczko, Toronto

A-I agree with you about the hidden history of the Rogers Centre, uh, SkyDome. I would go back and have a fan poll about the 10 greatest moments in Dome history starting with Joe Carter's home run and commemorate them in a museum-like area of the main concourse. Maybe bring in the players involved in the 10 moments for a dedication of that area some time and keep adding new ones as they occur.

Let's see, No. 10 moment on my list would be Paul Godfrey bringing hot water to the taps of the main floor washrooms back in the summer of '05. Ah, those were the days.  

Q-Hey Richard
Love your work and appreciate your time to interact with the everyday Jays fan. I am hoping you can clarify something for me. With the trade deadline fast approaching, all you hear from the media is that with all of the injuries the Jays have faced they can't possibly be buyers this year. How does the loss of a few fringe starters affect their chances of making the playoffs? It's not like anyone could possibly believe they would succeed with any of the three rookies as the #3 starter so they were going to need to add pitching anyways.

 I get the loss of Morrow, but he appears to be on his way back and will certainly be healthy by the late push in September. And I would understand if Bautista was done for the year, but the way I see it this team could be right there to the end with one or two solid to great starters and at least one more reliever. Their offence is clearly as good as anyone right now. Am I completely off base? 

Also, a fun hypothetical trade question. Morneau for Lind. Who says no?
Jon K, Aurora

A-As you are suggesting, the injuries to pitchers may have been a painful blessing in disguise. Sometimes AA has the ability to overthink a situation. He did not chase Gio Gonzalez hard in the off-season because he didn't believe he threw enough strikes to be successful in the uber-patient AL East. GG then went to the NL East and became an all-star. As a result, AA goes out and gets J.A. Happ whose walks to strikeouts and walks to innings would lead one to ask the same questions about competing in the AL East. We forget that Anthopoulos is still learning his craft as well.

The painful blessing is that AA now realizes that he should have sacrificed inventory for veteran help in the off-season. They had confidence that Chad Jenkins and Deck McGuire would be ready by the time injuries hit, but the ended up with Joel Carreno and Jesse Chavez. They need help and they likely were not going to win with the five men that started the season, especially of the plan was to shut Hutchison down at 150 innings. Morrow will be back in mid-August if he stays healthy.
     
Q-Reading about Warren Cromartie's Montreal Baseball Project fills me with nostalgia about the great Expo teams.
 My question for you is this - If Montreal is able to resurrect a baseball team (AA or AAA since I don't think that they will be able to support a MLB team at this point), who do you think will be the likely MLB team to establish a farm system in Montreal?

In Edwin's recent contract I see the influence of Jose Bautista. You can see that the two get along really well and complement each other in the line-up. After watching the Home Run Derbies the past three years I can see the same sort of respect and admiration being expressed between Bautista and Big Papi (Ortiz wanted Bautista on the home run team in 2010 and this year he acted as an adviser to help him).  I know it's a long shot, but do you see the Jays aggressively pursuing Ortiz as a FA based on Bautista and Ortiz's perceived mutual respect and admiration.

I can easily see a line-up of Bautista in RF batting third with Big Papi as the DH batting fourth and Edwin playing 1st Base and batting fifth hitting a combined 100+ HRs - A modern re-creation of the Yankee's Murderers Row.
 That, coupled with an aggressive move to acquire a proven veteran pitcher like Cole Hamels or Cliff Lee would be enough for them to not only compete for the 2nd WC position but quite possibly win the Division
Forever an Expo's fan -

PS - Did you pick Miami's park as one of the worst because of the owner's former association with Montreal?
Mike Tremblay, Vernon, BC

A-Montreal would need an acceptable ballpark and would need solid ownership and would need to start at A or Double-A. The affiliate team is impossible to pinpoint at this point. Ottawa is in there as well. It would be nice to have them both with pro baseball.

As for Papi and Bats and Edwin, if the Jays were to pursue Ortiz in the off-season it would not be because he was friends with Bautista. There is no room for sentiment in baseball – unless it involves Dustin McGowan. At some point Papi is going to run out of bullets and that's a case where you're risking getting a player as he falls off a cliff with an empty gun.
The Jays are moving towards contending and it will be interesting to see which player inspires them in the off-season to spend money and take that final step to fill in the starting pitching hole.    

As for Miami's Stadium, the people who orchestrated the building of the stadium are friends of mine from the Montreal days, but in person the facility was a disappointment. However, if I had a ranking of best and worst owners, I would rank Marlins ownership the same as the stadium. THAT would be because of the owner's former association with Montreal.

Q-Hi Richard.
There are now other pitchers injured – Perez and Frasor. We were lucky that Alvarez is okay, but is he really okay? Morrow, Drabek and Hutchison are injured. And all the talk is going towards who can the Jays trade for? But let's change the focus. Who is going to figure out why all these injuries to pitchers have happened over the years? I am sorry but when you look back over the last few years at the pitcher injuries it appears to me that this is something more than bad luck. It continues to occur, and it is not being addressed.

 Let's look at the history that I can find on the internet:

In March 2006 a heading on the Jays' website said Scott Downs is the latest pitcher to go down; Downs was slated to step in as the temporary fifth starter in the first week of the season so A.J. Burnett can continue his steady recovery from an elbow injury in March. In April 16, 2006 the Jays took A.J. Burnett off the 15-day DL. Seven days later, Burnett was back on the DL again, citing a sore right elbow. On June 11 2006 left-hander Gustavo Chacin was headed to the DL with a strained left elbow. When the Jays activated Chacin, they placed Pete Walker on the DL with a shoulder injury. Walker came off the DL on June 28, and was back on it by July 8 with a right shoulder strain. On August 9, Justin Speier went to the DL with tightness in his right forearm.

In April 2007, pitchers that went to the DL with arm injuries included Brandon League, B.J. Ryan, and Gustavo Chacin. In June, AJ Burnett took his usual position on the DL. On August the 13, Brandon League again hit the DL in time for Burnett to return. 

Reliever Casey Janssen also suffered an injury that wouldn't see him return until early 2009. He missed all of 2008 due to shoulder problems.

In 2008, trips to the DL with arm related issues included Brian Wolfe, Shawn Marcum twice, Dustin McGowan twice and Brian Tallet. Their 3-4-5 pitchers in 2008 all underwent Tommy John surgery: Jesse Litsch, Marcum and McGowan. Dustin McGowan had right labrum surgery after the 2008 season. After the 2008 season Shawn Marcum had Tommy John surgery to repair ligaments in the pitching elbow. Marcum and Litsch underwent Tommy John surgeries in late 2008 and early 2009 respectively.

In 2009 Ricky Romero and BJ Ryan were placed on the disabled list. Others that have made a stop on the DL that year included Ryan, Ricky Romero, Bobby Ray, Casey Janssen, Scott Downs, Scott Richmond, and Roy Halladay.

In 2010 Richmond and Dirk Hayhurst were injured. 
A few years ago when these injuries occurred we were saying wait until Drabek and others came. OK we waited and now Drabek and Hutchison are injured. We traded for Morrow and he is injured. Now we are being told to wait again. How many more times do we have to go through this? Have the same training staff been with the team all this time? Is there any way to look back over the past six years and compare injuries to Jays pitchers to the injuries to the other 29 teams' pitchers? I strongly suspect that the Jays would be no. 1.Why is the cause of the problem not being addressed?
Bruce Hutchison, Winnipeg

A-What's your point?

Q-Hi Richard,
I'm curious to know what is the cost/fee to perform Tommy John surgery? And do the Blue Jays receive a discount for their frequent business on the procedure?
Thank you
Omair Rana, Chicago

A-I asked AA and he said it's paid for by insurance so he's not really sure how much it is. That's the same attitude I have with my bills at home. Just sign it.

As for any discount, I'm not sure if there's a 2-for-1 special ever but I d know that I have been told never have Tommy John surgery on a Friday afternoon when the doc is headed to the cottage.

Q-Hi Richard
Always enjoy your column. Lots of talk about baseball rather than salaries or rumours.
 One of the most fascinating stereotypes in baseball involves small (short) right-handed pitchers. A small, left-handed pitcher is crafty and baffling. Whitey Ford (yes, I'm old) was the classic, Hall of Fame, crafty lefty. Small right-handed pitchers are, well, little guys. I recall that when the Expos got Pedro Martinez from the Dodgers, the experts lamented that he was a small, right-handed pitcher. i.e. not good. Ramon would have been a better guy to get. Should we in Jayland be pleased or worried about the Jays signing Marcus Stroman who's just a little guy?
Timothy Daniels, Toronto

A-There has been an unnatural bias against short right-handers. But there have been some good ones, led by Pedro Martinez, Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown, Smokey Joe Wood, Tim Lincecum, Tom Gordon and Jason Frasor. Stroman is a good one and that bias is disappearing. He will get a chance, perhaps as early as September, but, if not, he will surely get a spring training invite next year.

Q-Hi Richard,
Just wondering about something. When there is a rain delay, what happens with the players that are already on base, do they have to stay there until they continue play or call the game?  I heard someone on radio say that they have to stay on base, and when once the umps decided to continue a game the next day 
the poor guy had to stay all night. Is this really true?
Anne Guenther, North York

A-A fine question with which to end the mailbag. Someone left my catcher in the rain and I'll never have that recipe again.

This has improved quicker than i think we all envisioned. I'm not surprised, but definitely encouraged. Because he was in significant pain that night and the three days following that, there's been a lot of improvement. All that is positive and that's not just because of what he states, but the actual strengthening and the exercises and the treatment he's going through. That's being tested and once he's out of the woods, symptom free, that's when we'll put a bat back in his hands. The next thing he's doing is there's been more manipulation of the wrist side to side rather than just straight on exercises, so that's the progressive steps. There's been no reproducing of that discomfort in those controlled settings.”

Farrell suggested bautista may be swinging a bat and taking live batting practice by the end of the week.

Certainly over the years there would have been players ready to come back prior to the end of a disabled period, but with 15 days, that can never be considered a mistake, more like erring on the side of caution. Some players on the coin-toss, ready-or-not side of  15 days actually benefit from the enforced time out and are encouraged not to push the envelope, not to rush back to the field. It's really never a situation that's embarrassed any team. You know what they say about “better safe...”

 

 

Richard Griffin’s Bullpen: Blue Jays draft class exposes flaws in new MLB rules

The Jays may have concocted and executed the draft model for other teams in the future, while at the same time exposing the flaws in the new rules under the current bargaining agreement.

The Jays had a budget of over $8 million for their 14 picks in the first 10 rounds. GM Alex Anthopoulos gave away rounds four through 10, selecting all grateful college seniors to fund the first three rounds and seven picks.

The strategy worked, as the Jays snapped up six of Baseball America’s Top 45 prospects, including right-hander Marcus Stroman, the closest to being major-league ready and outfielder Anthony Alford, the best athlete in the draft who the Jays are allowing to fulfill his commitment to quarterback at Southern Miss. But that is not the spirit of the draft. The Brewers, among many other teams, chose players that they believed fit the slot money that was attached to that pick.

The Jays, using their high-low strategy, signed 32 of their 44 draft picks overall, including all 14 in the first 10 rounds, but just 18 of the 30 between Rounds 11-40 that were slotted at a maximum of $100,000. The Jays were willing to go over their slot by 4.999-percent, in order to be penalized money by MLB that will be re-distributed to others, but not a future draft pick. They accomplished that.

The one player that they missed out on they would have loved to have signed was left-hander Ryan Kellogg, a 12th rounder from Whitby, Ont. Kellogg was a star on Canada’s Junior National Team that toured Florida in the spring. His personal highlight was facing Jose Bautista and popping him up to shortstop. Kellogg will attend Arizona St. University and be eligible again in the 2015 June draft.

If he remains healthy, Kellogg will likely be in the top half-dozen rounds of the draft next time. The Jays would have had to overwhelm Kellogg beyond the $100,000 offered. He had been expected to be drafted higher, but the club held firm to its offer. Many teams dealing with high school players included an education package above and beyond the bonus, so it’s not just about an education.

The Jays are thrilled with their draft and experts have rated them amongst the most successful organizations at interpreting and utilizing the new rules of slotting and penalties.

THE RANT: MR. OCTOBER SHOULD STICK TO HIS BEST CONVERSATION TOPIC, HIMSELF

Hall-of-Fame outfielder, Mr. October, Reggie Jackson shot off his mouth again last week and bit off far more than he can chew. In a far-ranging interview with Sports Illustrated, Jackson gratuitously ripped into some of his fellow Hall-of-Famers, saying that guys like Kirby Puckett, Phil Niekro, Don Sutton, Jim Rice and the late Gary Carter were not really Hall-worthy.

The fact the Kid had just passed away and was laid to rest this spring makes the Jackson rant disgraceful. Reggie also questioned Bert Blyleven’s credentials, insisting that he wasn’t the best pitcher of his era, that Jack Morris was the dominant pitching force of the ’80s. Yes, Morris deserves to be in, but so does Blyleven who, by the way, dominated Reggie during his career. Oh yeah, the current Yankees’ senior adviser suggested that current Yankee Alex Rodriguez’ stats should be questioned since he has admitted some steroid involvement earlier in his career. Jackson has since been advised to stay away from the club by ownership, while still hanging on, for the time being, to his title.

Now Reggie is a charming, opinionated guy that can be an entertaining raconteur, as I have observed in lively, funny visits to manager’s offices with both Felipe Alou and Cito Gaston. But his best stories should remain about himself. This other stuff is beneath what Reggie should represent as one of the game’s best clutch hitters — at least in the post-season.

Besides, as an active American Leaguer, when would Reggie have seen Carter catch enough to form an opinion? Reggie insists that if the writers are going to vote in players that have been linked to steroids that there will be a general revolt among current members in terms of a willingness to attend the inductions. That is a legitimate observation, but Reggie, just shut your mouth when it comes to the deservedness of others to rub shoulders with you on stage in July at the Hall-of-Fame. Hey Reggie, in a fight, I would take Rice to pummel you. And he still might choose to do so. In any case, through the ball club, Jackson issued a half-hearted apology.

“In trying to convey my feelings about a few issues that I am passionate about, I made the mistake of naming some specific players,” Jackson said. “This was inappropriate and unfair to those players, some of which are very close friends of mine. I think there are ways to speak from the heart without hurting people, and I’m disappointed that I didn’t take greater care in expressing my views.”

MLB POWER RANKINGS

Last week’s rankings in parentheses

1. New York Yankees (1)

2. Texas Rangers (2)

3. Washington Nationals (3)

4. Chicago White Sox (5)

5. Los Angeles Angels (4)

6. Boston Red Sox (6)

7. Cincinnati Reds (12)

8. Pittsburgh Pirates (7)

9. San Francisco Giants (10)

10. Los Angeles Dodgers (9)

11. Atlanta Braves (14)

12. New York Mets (8)

13. Baltimore Orioles (11)

14. Tampa Bay Rays (13)

15. Oakland A’s (18)

16. Detroit Tigers (19)

17. St. Louis Cardinals (16)

18. Cleveland Indians (15)

19. Arizona Diamondbacks (17)

20. Toronto Blue Jays (20)

21. Miami Marlins (21)

22. Milwaukee Brewers (22)

23. Philadelphia Phillies (23)

24. Kansas City Royals (24)

25. Seattle Mariners (26)

26. San Diego Padres (27)

27. Minnesota Twins (25)

28. Chicago Cubs (29)

29. Colorado Rockies (28)

30. Houston Astros (30)

BLUE JAYS WEEK IN REVIEW (45-44, tied-4th AL East)

With the all-star break taking up the majority of the work week, the Jays came back on the weekend to take two of three from the contending Indians, wrapping up the season series against the Tribe with four wins out of six games. After losing 1-0 to Justin Masterson on Friday, the Jays came back to win 11-9 behind the big bats in the middle of the lineup and 3-0 behind Carlos Villanueva.

On Sunday, with closer Casey Janssen having pitched two straight games, manager John Farrell stayed with Darren Oliver following a six-pitch eighth inning, allowing him to work the ninth for his first save since last April 27 against the Jays for the Rangers.

The Jays enter the new week having to go 45-28 in the final 73 games in order to win 90 games, which is the minimum to contend for the second wild-card spot. They need help.

In the meantime, the Jays got good news and bad news on the injury front.

The good news was that right-hander Brandon Morrow threw a pain-free bullpen session on Saturday and was expected to try it again on Monday on the way to returning to the mound for at least one rehab start in the minors later in the month. Morrow injured his left oblique on June 11.

The bad news is that injured closer Sergio Santos tried again to throw a bullpen on Saturday, with the pain in his right shoulder forcing a painful Jays decision. Season-ending surgery.

“The recovery time was taking longer than normal, so that’s initially when we backed him down to address some strengthening issues, or take the approach of rehab and strengthening,” Farrell told reporters. “As he got back through his throwing program, flat ground and long toss — he felt good in that regard — but when he gets on the mound with that increased intensity, that’s where he feels the discomfort. So that’s where the surgery is the next step.”

The date of the surgery and the exact diagnosis of the shoulder pain with Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles had yet to be determined. Santos was obtained by the Jays for prospect Nestor Molina last December. A former shortstop, the 29-year-old Santos had been signed following the ’11 season by the White Sox to a reasonable multi-year contract — then traded. The Jays owe him the rest of this year, at $1 million, plus $6.5 million guaranteed for 2013-14 and $2.25 million in buyouts for the three option seasons 2015-17. The best case scenario is that he comes back next spring and he earns his salary.

The bad news kept on coming for the Jays. During the all-star break, the club announced that left-handed reliever Luis Perez, who began the season looking like an all-star, has suffered a torn UCL and would likely have to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Perez (elbow) joined a list of eight injured Jays pitchers that includes Santos (shoulder), Morrow (oblique), Jesse Litsch (shoulder), Dustin McGowan (shoulder), Kyle Drabek (elbow), Drew Hutchison (elbow) and Robert Coello (elbow). Hutchison was expected to pick up a baseball and begin a throwing program by the end of July with September the earliest return. McGowan’s progress has stalled again, while Litsch, Drabek, Perez and Santos are done for the year.

The Jays continue to struggle with the secondary arms in the bullpen. At the end of June they attempted to option Coello, who had not pitched well, however they were forced to change that assignment to a disablement when Coello reported pain in his arm. You are not allowed to option an injured player, meaning that Coello will earn his major-league salary and accumulate major-league days of service while he is disabled. It also likely means he will never wear a Jays uniform again.

Another secondary reliever, righty Jesse Chavez was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on the weekend. He entered Saturday’s game vs. the Indians with a seven-run lead to start the eighth. The Tribe went single-homer-walk-homer and Chavez packed his post-game bags. Chad Beck was recalled.

Farrell trusts Jason Frasor, Oliver, and Janssen. He has trouble any time he has to bring in Francisco Cordero, Drew Carpenter, Beck, Sam Dyson and Aaron Loup. The left-hander Loup was recalled to replace Perez. He had an impressive major-league debut on Saturday, retiring all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings with an 11-4 lead. It may be a different story at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park with a game on the line.

 

All-Star performance: The Jays’ lone all-star representative, Jose Bautista, had a busy week. He finished as runner-up to Prince Fielder in the Home Run Derby, hitting 20 homers in all. He played the first four innings of Tuesday’s All-Star Game, going 0-for-2, with a busy defensive day, chasing NL extra-base hits all over the field and making a diving, inning-ending catch to end an inning. On Wednesday, Bautista flew to Los Angeles for an appearance at The ESPYs award show and to promote his appearance in ESPN Magazine, the Body Issue.

Encarnacion signs: The Jays also announced the signing to an extension of Edwin Encarnacion. The 29-year-old Dominican agreed to a three-year extension, plus a club option for 2016. The salaries are $8 million for 2013, $9 million for 2014, $10 million for 2015, plus another $10 million club option, with a $2 million buyout.

The Jays now have eight players under contract though 2015 and beyond. Signed through 2017 is Sergio Santos; through 2016 are Bautista, Ricky Romero, Adam Lind and Encarnacion; through 2015 are Yunel Escobar, Morrow and McGowan.

AL ROUNDUP

Tigers ace Justin Verlander was pounded for five first-inning runs in the All-Star Game in Kansas City and he thinks he knows the reason why. He had never allowed five runs in any career start in K.C., but he was cranking it up over 100 m.p.h. in his 35-pitch frame, something he does not normally do in a regular start until he settles in after the early innings. “I know nobody wants to see me throw 90 m.p.h.,” Verlander said. “They like to see the 100 mph fastball. So, hey, I gave them that. It’s not like I was trying to give up runs; I went out there and gave everything I had. It’s just different than the way I normally pitch, which I feel really kind of messed me up.” With the importance of the all-star game in terms of the World Series, it’s not that Verlander was taking it lightly, but he did find something out about himself. He shut down the O’s for his 10th win on Sunday... Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine just won’t let anything fade away. With the White Sox set to visit on Monday, Valentine rekindled the Kevin Youkilis feud, blaming the popular Sox icon for not being willing to forget. Valentine just has an annoying, smug way of expressing himself. When asked to comment before Sunday’s game in Chicago, Youk refused to take the bait. His bat will do the talking in this series, which is something Red Sox management is likely not too happy about... The Red Sox are quickly returning to some semblance of themselves. Centrefielder Jacoby Ellsbury came back on the weekend and left fielder Carl Crawford is slated to return on Monday night... The Jays have had some interesting travel situations due to their Triple-A affiliate being in Las Vegas, but nothing like Angels’ rookie outfielder Cole Calhoun. The youngster was called up because of a nagging Torii Hunter knee problem. Calhoun played in the Triple-A all-star game in Buffalo. He flew Buffalo to Salt Lake City to Reno. Was recalled and flew Reno to Phoenix to Philadelphia to Newark, with a limo to Yankee Stadium. His luggage and equipment didn’t quite make the same trip, ending up in Detroit one city ahead of the Angels... The Yankees’ Robinson Cano talked about his choice of Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo for the AL Home Run Derby team. Apparently, at Angels Stadium, Cano went out on the field to ask Albert Pujols if he was interested in the Derby. “I see this big guy hitting balls into the rocks and I said ‘I have to have this guy on my team.’” The rest is history. Trumbo hit some of the longest shots in the Derby, but not enough of them... The Angels have had some keys to their resurgence, but none bigger than when they traded for closer Ernesto Frieri from the Padres. I remember the Jays were in Anaheim and they announced in the press box the Frieri deal and I just shrugged like, ‘So what.’ This streak is so what. Frieri went 26 1/3 shutout innings after joining the Angels, with the streak coming to an end on Saturday on a 3-run homer in New York by Mark Teixeira. The Angels hung on to win that game. “I’m a human, man,” Frieri said. “You can touch me if you want. I knew that was going to happen some time. I always kept saying to God, ‘When I give up a run, please don’t let it cost us a game’ and that’s what happened.”... The A’s resurgence into the wild-card and AL West mix has been credited to the dazzling array of young pitchers the A’s always seem to come up with. However, it should be noted that led by newcomers like centrefielder  Yoenis Cespedes the A’s have hit 92 homers, whereas last year at the same time they had just 47 round trippers. Cespedes had his first four-hit game on Sunday... The Rangers started the season like a 110-win team, but the offence has come back to earth. Josh Hamilton is 2-for-23 and has seen his average drop to .301. He has mentioned his busy all-star break schedule as a fatigue factor, but it can’t have been as rugged as Jose Bautista’s... It turns out the White Sox and GM Kenny Williams also need starting pitching and are looking at the same guys as GM Alex Anthopoulos and the Jays. By the way, Molina is 4-8 with a 5.01 ERA at two levels of the White Sox organization.

NL ROUNDUP

Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is a master of deflection. With his team continuing to struggle, the controversial one has called Nats rookie Bryce Harper out. Guillen noticed that Harper’s bat may have been pine-tarred a little too high and complained to umpires during the kid’s first at-bat. Recall that after George Brett’s famous Yankee Stadium meltdown many years ago, the pine tar rule was clarified so that the only penalty is the bat is taken out of play. Nothing is reversed. In any case, the next time up, Harper looked over to Ozzie and waved his new lumber with a smile. That drove Guillen crazy and he ranted after the game. Hey Ozzie, “Just win, baby.”...The Braves have obviously decided that SS Tyler Pastornicky, a former Jays farmhand obtained in the SS Yunel Escobar trade is no longer their shortstop of the future. After injuries to SS Andrelton Simmons and veteran backup SS Jack Wilson, even with Pastornicky on the bench, manager  Fredi Gonzalez tried Martin Prado at short for the first time in his career then the next day traded with the Reds for minor league SS Paul Janish who will play every day. One has to wonder why the Reds would help the Braves in the midst of a pennant race. They obtained minor-league RH Todd Redmond... There hasn’t been a more “cheeky” ending to a MLB game this year than Friday night’s ninth-inning comeback win keyed by Everth Cabrera’s steal of home. Nursing a one-run lead with two out and runners on first and second, with two strikes on the hitter, the Dodgers’ closer Kenley Jansen walked off the back of the mound to clean his spikes and Cabrera took off for home on a straight steal attempt. A stunned Jansen turned and fired the ball off the screen allowing the trail runner, Will Venable, to score behind him. The Dodgers were then unable to score. Elias Sports says that the last time a tying or winning run scored on a steal of home in the 9th inning or later was August 22, 1982 by Glenn Brummer of the Cards against closer Gary Lavelle and the Giants. Uhh, in 2008, in Lockport, N.Y., as manager of the Oakville A’s, I had a 15-year-old kid, catcher Jason Deichert steal home in the final inning, two outs, to tie the game against a slow-delivering, flame-throwing lefthander. Sorry, Elias... The Cubs have some pretty good chips to deal at the deadline. Right-hander Ryan Dempster tossed six more shutout innings on Saturday to run his streak to 33 straight, while fellow righty Matt Garza twirled seven shutout innings on Sunday on the way to a sweep of the D-backs. Dempster’s is the longest scoreless streak by a Cub since Ken Holtzman in 1969. The Cubs record is 35 and 37 straight by Bill (not the Spaceman) Lee in 1938. Big Bill finished that season with a 22-9 record and a 2.66 ERA... The Phillies have good news with the return to the rotation of Roy Halladay on Tuesday... The Braves brought Ben Sheets back to the majors after two minor-league starts and two years off since his last MLB appearance July 20, 2010 for the A’s... The Jays were at one time first runner-up in the Aroldis Chapman sweepstakes. Granted, the Cuban fireballer is a bit of a social loose-cannon, with his off-the-field trouble and his on-field forward rolls, but he is a major talent. On Sunday he struck out the side for his 13th save, ending the game with a 102 m.p.h. fastball. In Chapman’s last 7 innings he has allowed 2 hits with 2 walks and 18 strikeouts. They swept the Cards.

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL HISTORY

7/16/09 Ed Summers of the Tigers tosses 18 shutout innings against the Washington Senators, with no decision in a 0-0 tie, the longest shutout in baseball history... 7/16/20 The Bambino, Babe Ruth, against the Browns, sets a single-season home run mark with his 30th homer of the year, breaking his own mark of 29. He would go on to hit 54 homers... 7/16/41 The Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio extends his hitting streak to 56 games, going 3-for-4 in a 10-3 victory over the Indians... 7/17/41 The streak comes to an end for Joe DiMaggio as Al Smith and Jim Bagby of the Indians hold him hitless... 7/17/90 The Twins turn two triple plays in the same game against the Red Sox, but lose 1-0... 7/18/27 The Georgia Peach, now playing for the A’s, Ty Cobb doubles against former teammate George Gibson of the Tigers giving him 4,000 career hits... 7/18/70 The Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays bounces a single to left field against Mike Wegener of the Expos for his 3,000th career hit... 7/19/10 The great Cy Young records his 500th career victory, 5-4 over the Washington Senators... 7/21/73 The Braves’ Hank Aaron smashes his 700th career home run in an 8-4 loss to Ken Brett and the Phillies... 7/21/75 The lead-footed infielder Joe Torre of the Mets grounds into four double plays in a game vs. the Astros.

Birthdays this week: Lee Elia 75, Torii Hunter 37, Razor Shines 56, Joe Torre 72, David Segui 46, Dick Scott 50, Bengie Molina 38, Tony Oliva 72, C.C. Sabathia 32, Mike Bordick 47, Moe Drabowsky 77, Dave Stieb 55, Scott Sanderson 56, Tim Johnson 63, Cliff Johnson 65, Sparky Lyle 68.

JAYS MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

AAA-Las Vegas (52-42) lost 12-5 to Sacramento on Sunday. CF Anthony Gose was 2-for-3 with a triple and a homer. He is hitting .293. RF Moises Sierra is hitting .295 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs. 1B Yan Gomes was 2-for-4 with a homer and is hitting .339... AA-New Hampshire (37-57) beat Portland 5-1 on Sunday. 3B Mark Sobolewski was 3-for-4 and is hitting .264. SS Ryan Goins was 2-for-4 with a homer and 2 RBIs. He is hitting .339... A-Dunedin (10-14) lost 5-2 to Fort Myers on Sunday. 3B Kevin Ahrens was 2-for-3 and is batting .250. C Koby Clemens is batting .310 with an OPS of .886. RHP Asher Wojciechowski is 7-2, with a 3.57 ERA. RH Dan Barnes is 1-2 with a 1.98 ERA and 22 saves... A-Lansing (14-9) beat Cedar Rapids 6-2 on Sunday. Canadian RF Michael Crouse has come down from Dunedin and was 2-for-3 with three runs and a double. RH Anthony DeSclafani (7-3, 3.26 ERA) allowed two runs in six innings. RH Noah Syndergaard is 6-2, 2.93 ERA. RH Aaron Sanchez is 8-1 with a 1.41 ERA. LH Justin Nicolino is 4-2, 2.98 ERA. LF Kevin Pillar is batting .322 with 35 steals... A-Vancouver (17-12) beat Boise 5-4 on Sunday. LF Matt Newman was 2-for-4 with 2 homers. C Jorge Flores was 2-for-5 with 2 runs and a double. RHP Javier Avendano is 3-1, with a 2.08 ERA and 32 Ks in 26 IP... A-Bluefield (9-14) was rained out on Sunday. CF Dwight Smith, Jr. is batting .247 with 3 homers and 11 RBIs. LH Daniel Norris (1-1, 3.31 ERA) has fanned 20 batters in 16-1/3 innings. RH Roberto Osuna is 1-1, 1.13 ERA... Rk-Blue Jays (6-18) RH Francisco Gracesqui is 3-0, 0.00 ERA. Brock University’s 3B Shaun Valeriote is batting .238. First round June pick OF D.J. Davis is hitting .234 with 2 HR and 3 RBIs.

ONE FOR THE ROAD:

The All-Star Game is not as much of a three-day party as people might think, especially with the Home Run Derby finally settling in as a Monday evening event that ends at around 11 p.m. Eastern Time. Monday’s All-Star Gala used to be a closed session for the participating players and their families, club executives and their guests and the media. In those days, everyone used to go. The GMs actually came to the All-Star Game and had a chance to discuss trade with about three weeks left to the deadline. In any case, this year’s gala was held in a huge party tent between Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead, home of the Chiefs. The best stunt of the event was the bars made out of ice. Advice No. 1 is when leaving a tip for your bartender try not to leave coins, as they tend to freeze to the bar. Of course with temperatures at 33 C and the bar shrinking faster than the polar ice cap, the party’s last call called itself.

The best time I had was after the game itself. With an afternoon flight Wednesday, it was a chance to head over to the clubbing area of K.C.’s Country Club Plaza. Went to a club with live rock ‘n roll featuring a guy that sounded at times like Van Morrison and at others like Kurt Cobain. Had some Bar-B-Q pork, that, if not invented in K.C., was certainly perfected in this town. There was a big guy sitting in on drums wearing a Justin Verlander jersey, about 6-8, 260 lbs. He was introduced as Aiden Smith, a backup linebacker for the San Diego Chargers in town for the all-star game. Sounded fishy and I would have to push the BS buzzer on that one, but it worked out for him, anyway as he was swarmed by the local women buying him drinks and chatting him up following the set. Bottom line is he wasn’t a bad drummer. When the live music was done, I headed down the street for an upstairs patio on a beautiful Midwest evening overlooking the street, with a cold Heineken and a hot DJ. Life is good.

Richard Griffin’s Bullpen: Blue Jays prospect Anthony Gose shines at Futures Game

KANSAS CITY—If the Futures Game is a springboard to the major leagues then Blue Jays prospect Anthony Gose’s future is indeed bright.

In the third inning of Sunday's Futures Game at Kauffman Stadium, when the baseball jumped off the bat of 20-year-old Cardinals prospect Oscar Taveras, it clearly had extra bases written all over it. There were runners on first and third with nobody out for the World Team when the pitch was crushed. Gose broke quickly, raced back, left his feet and dove head-long in his finest Jim Edmonds imitation, snaring the ball in the end of his glove and sliding to a halt.

Impressive.

But the play was not over.

Gose popped to his feet and, flat-footed, threw a one-hop strike to first baseman Jonathan Singleton, barely missing doubling off Rangers’ prospect Jurickson Profar, who also had assumed it was going to be a hit. The U.S. team managed by George Brett went on to crush the World and its manager Bernie Williams 17-5, so the great defensive play early in the game was sort of lost in translation. But for those paying attention, it may have turned the tide for Team USA.

“It felt good to go out there and make a play like that and hopefully I can see it on TV tonight,” a smiling Gose said. “I'm hoping for my family and friends and everybody, so it was exciting. From the moment that they informed me I made the team through the whole game, it was exciting. A lot of talent on the field at one time. The group of guys that was here was pretty impressive.”

Even before Sunday’s game, the Jays knew that what they had in Gose was already pretty impressive. They had pinpointed him as a trade target as far back as the negotiations with the Phillies for Roy Halladay in December of ’09. But instead, they settled for Michael Taylor who they immediately rolled over to the A's for Brett Wallace. Oh well.

But when Gose was later included in a deal to the Astros for Roy Oswalt in 2010, Alex Anthopoulos leapt to the bat phone with Astros GM Ed Wade, moving Wallace to Houston for Gose. It is now paying off.

Success in the Futures Game many times translates into a trip to the major leagues often by the end of the next calendar year. The rapid rise happened for right-hander Henderson Alvarez a year ago. In addition to the great catch, Gose bounced a single through the right side, advanced to second when the throw missed the cutoff man and scored in the third inning. It was a great day for the 21-year-old.

 “Everybody here belongs around everybody, it's not just one person,” Gose said with a huge smile as he packed his baseball stuff for the trip back to Vegas. “The organization wouldn't have sent you if they didn't believe in you, think highly of you. So everybody here is sent for the same reason and everybody's a big piece of their organization.”

But what do the Jays do with Gose? The talented outfielder has risen steadily through the system, from A-Dunedin, to AA-New Hampshire, now to Triple-A Las Vegas, but the next step is his final step. The pleasant Jays' dilemma is that some time between spring training and right now, Colby Rasmus stepped up and took a stranglehold on centre field, putting up numbers, making plays, smiling and styling through the last two months like he, himself, belonged in Kansas City with the MLB all-stars. Gose has noticed and is in awe.

“What he's doing is unbelievable,” an admiring Gose said. “He's hitting .330 in the last two months, with 16 home runs. How can I not notice? It's unbelievable. The team up there is doing great. They've had some unfortunate injuries. Some pitchers and a couple of guys, so, other than that they're playing great. Just some unfortunate things have come their way.”

The great thing about baseball spring training is the opportunity it allows for players competing for the same position to get to know one another. They can stand around in the outfield together, they perform their fundamentals together, they hit in the same groups at batting practice and they locker next to one another for seven weeks. Baseball friendships last a long time and seem to cross all differences in background, personality and age. It's one of the nice things about baseball clubhouses.

“Colby, I told him he's probably one of the best defensive centrefielders in baseball,” Gose recalled a spring training conversation. “What he's doing is special and it's something that he's done early in his career.  He's doing it again now.”

In fact, the Jays have clearly been looking for a solution to their centre field glut, which led them one day this month to post a 51s starting lineup with Gose in left field. Try not to be so subtle, guys.

“It's hard to sit here and say I didn't think about it,” Gose laughed. “I've always played centre field my whole career. So coming up here it was always centre field, centre field, centre field. They told me to play left. Naturally thoughts crept into my head but, like I said, everybody up there's doing their job and they're playing well. Rajai (Davis) is a real big catalyst for the team. Colby at the top of the lineup, Raj at the bottom, and those guys. What they've got up there right now is really special and it's really doing well. They're performing. So, I'm back in centre and I'm playing and hopefully sometime I get an opportunity, whether it's this year, next year or down the road.”

Gose is batting .290 in his first season in the Pacific Coast League, with four homers, 38 RBIs, 75 runs scored and 29 stolen bases. When the 6-1, 190 lbs., speedster arrived in the organization, it was believed he needed about 1,500 more minor league at-bats, from the start of 2010, in order to matriculate to the majors. He now has 1,382 in that time frame. That time is coming.

But he's not there. Every year, the learning curve continues. In 2011 at New Hampshire, they did not allow him to bunt, made him swing the bat, looking for more power. It was a teaching tool.

 “Last year was finding the swing,” Gose explained. “I mean (batting coach) Justin Ashore did an incredible job with me getting me ready, getting me started on the path and finding the swing. Last year they just let me swing freely. It felt great. I was just hacking away. Then this year with (Chad) Mottola (in Vegas) just kind of fine tuning it and fixing the little things. I feel I've been able to be consistent and good things have happened for this year.”

At Triple-A, the organization has allowed Gose to add the bunt back into his repertoire of offensive weapons and he feels it has paid dividends, completing him as a top-of-the-order guy.

 “I'm bunting again,” Gose said. “I don't know how many hits I have on bunts, but I've been bunting a lot more, sacrificing a lot more. I think last year I only bunted five times the whole season. I think two of them were for hits, the others were for sacrifices. This year I've used it quite a bit and it's really helped me. It keeps me afloat when I'm not doing too well. It keeps me going, get a hit here and there and keep things rolling, getting on base.

“I'm hoping that's what my game will translate to, being the all-around guy, being able to help the team at whatever it is. To be able to hit the ball out of the park, hit the ball in the gaps, just been the all-around guy offensively. That's what everybody wants to be, the five-tool guy, per se, and help the team at any point, with anything that you can do.”

Gose found himself in the unaccustomed position of batting ninth in the Team USA order at the Futures Game. Why? Because the leadoff man was Reds' uber-prospect, SS Billy Hamilton, a man that already has 100 steals at A-Bakersfield. That total makes Gose look like lumbering Thomas on the base paths. Gose accepted and understood batting ninth. He spoke to Hamilton with admiration.

 “I asked him how do you do it? He said 'I just run' and I understand because that's what I would tell people when they asked me how I did it, I just run,” Gose said.

Which was essentially one of the problems when Gose arrived with the Jays' organization. He just ran. In 2010, combined at two Florida State League stops, Gose stole 45 bases but he was caught 32 times. That is an unacceptable ratio and the Jays have preached stealing in the right situations on the right counts. He has been listening and it's all been part of the process.

 “There's obviously situations, I've learned that as I've come along,” Gose said. “My first year I had a lot of success and I just ran. The next year I tried to just run and I had a terrible success rate. Last year was putting it together and thinking, being smart.

 “I had (manager) Sal Fasano, a great major-league catcher, who could nit-pick things, find things between the pitcher and catcher to help me out a lot. Mashore, with some of the drills we did, and this year it's the same thing. Find the right time, pick your moments, be smart about it. But I completely understand what (Hamilton) says, 'I just run,' because he's just running.”

For his part, Gose is on a run that will see him in the major leagues as early as Sept. 1. He must be added to the 40-man roster in any case at the end of the year, so why not bring him up for the final month, have him soak up the major-league atmosphere, maybe pinch run a little and the Jays can ponder their dilemma of what to do with all of these outfielders. It's a nice problem to have.

One solution might even be to think about moving Jose Bautista to first base, a position he has showed he can handle. He would need to agree and even with re-signing Edwin Encarnacion, he could be the DH again. There's plenty of time to work that out, but in the meantime, Gose is working hard to force himself into the equation. The future for the Jays’ young outfielder is very soon. 

THE RANT: TOO MANY UMPIRES SPIKE BACK

The Brewers have made it clear. They are interested in trading former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke by the trade deadline if the price is right. As such, the Minute Maid Park home plate scout seats were bristling with radar guns on Saturday for Greinke's last outing before the break.

But just four pitches in, Greinke raced over to cover first base, took a feed from first baseman Corey Hart and was a hair late as the Astros’ Jose Altuve beat him to the bag for an infield hit. The first batter, Jordan Schafer had tripled and he scored from third. No big deal, right? Wrong!

As Greinke ran past the umpire with the ball, making that great circle route back to the mound, he slowed down, got mad and spiked the ball in the infield dirt, having it bounce out towards second base. Greinke is a different cat anyway. He's not wired the same as most pitchers, most players, so it may have seemed a little unusual, but not malicious and not in the direction of the umpire as some Canadian third basemen from Langley, B.C., have been wont to do with other items of equipment.

In any case, first-base arbiter Sam Holbrook, who likely believes fans come to see him make his calls, immediately tossed Greinke from the game. Then he tossed manager Ron Roenicke. That's a clown move, bro'.

When a player strikes out, or when a player is called out on a close play at first base, you often see a helmet bounce or batting gloves, etc. The normal penalty, at the discretion of the umpire is a small fine and a written report to the central office in New York. That's enough.

That's fair, but Holbrook made the moment all about him. It's just another example of an umpire wrecking a good thing. It's happened all too often this season and needs to stop. Is there anything baseball can do except review a play like that and suspend Holbrook. But they likely won't.

So, because Greinke's being heavily scouted and because he's not playing in Kansas City, the right-hander volunteered to start Sunday's game in Houston, maybe for scouts. Guess who was working the plate? Correct, Sam Holbrook.

Now the umpire's not the reason Greinke was not very good on Sunday, lasting just three innings, but his presence didn't help and the fact that Greinke was forced so far out of his routine that any other result than three innings and out, would have been a shock.

Looking ahead, Greinke is also scheduled to start on Friday coming out of the break. That will be three straight games for his team, something that has not been done in MLB since Urban “Red” Faber of the White Sox did it in 1917. Faber started both ends of a twin bill in Chicago, then took a train overnight with his teammates to St. Louis and tossed a 16-hit complete game against the Browns.              

Baseball has the capability and responsibility to right wrongs. Someone should compile a video of all the umpire-player, umpire-manager confrontations, analyze them and do something about it. There's always been conflict with umpires, going back to forever, but this year has been ridiculous.

MLB POWER RANKINGS

Last week’s ranking in parentheses

1. New York Yankees (2)

While Derek Jeter’s average drops, Robinson Cano’s production rises towards MVP 

2. Texas Rangers (1)

Yu Darvish signing looking pretty good as rest of rotation gets healthy

3. Washington Nationals (4)

Bryce Harper late pick for ASG said “Surprised ... try to remain mellow, calm.”

4. Los Angeles Angels (5)

Dan Haren injury seems short-term but hampers their charge to top

5. Chicago White Sox (10)

Sox bullpen loaded with rookies and that’s a tough call in Aug.-Sept.

6. Boston Red Sox (7)

Sox lost Dustin Pedroia but get unexpected energy from Pedro Ciriaco 

7. Pittsburgh Pirates (12)

If GM Neal Huntington truly believes, he will be big time deadline “buyer”   

8. New York Mets (8)

Hard to believe that David Wright won't be starting at third base at the all-star game

9. Los Angeles Dodgers (13)

Lost SS Dee Gordon to thumb injury then started scoring runs again

10. San Francisco Giants (3)

Made their rush to top of division and have settled down. Melky's the one

11. Baltimore Orioles (11)

Right now, O's, Bucs and Nats sitting in playoff position

12. Cincinnati Reds (6)

Manager Dusty Baker still taking shots at Tony La Russa for all-star snubs.

13. Tampa Bay Rays (9)

David Price quietly making his case for Cy Young

14. Atlanta Braves (14)

Chipper Jones gets late all-star call at the only park he has not played in.

15. Cleveland Indians (15)

Hanging around in the hunt for AL Central. Have a puncher's chance

16. St. Louis Cardinals (17)

Yadier Molina leaves on bereavement leave and misses all-star show

17-Arizona Diamondbacks (16)

D-backs will need another miracle second half to repeat playoffs

18. Oakland A's (20)

Starting staff is young and talented and Josh Reddick is a steal

19. Detroit Tigers (19)

Need to find a contributing second baseman and one outfielder 

20. Toronto Blue Jays (18)

Alex Anthopoulos still likely to look for help rather than throw a man overboard

21. Miami Marlins (21)

Fish prez David Samson upset Giancarlo Stanton not replaced by teammate. Zero Marlins

22. Milwaukee Brewers (23)

Zack Greinke will be first since Red Faber in 1917 to start 3 straight team games

23. Philadelphia Phillies (22)

Ryan Howard is back with Chase Utley, but too little too late? 

24. Kansas City Royals (24)

Biggest game at home in years and 24 of 25 Royals have to pay to get in

25. Minnesota Twins (26)

If any team can be pegged for a good second half, usually the Twins

26. Seattle Mariners (25)

M's futile hitting recently is AL equivalent of NL Dodgers

27. San Diego Padres (27)

They have Carlos Quentin and Chase Headley as chips at the deadline

28. Colorado Rockies (28)

Pitching coach Bob Apodaca calls it quits during mile-low year on mound

29. Chicago Cubs (30)

Finally made a move up through the rankings from last to second-last

30. Houston Astros (29)

Rid of world's biggest first baseman (Carlos Lee) and led by smallest second sacker (Altuve) 

JAYS WEEK IN REVIEW (43-43; tied-4th AL East)

The Jays had a pedestrian week, going 3-4, entering the all-star break at .500, with a 43-43 record.

The bad news was there is no predictable return date to the rotation for Brandon Morrow. The good news is that the struggling ace Ricky Romero posted a quality start against the first-place White Sox on Saturday. The fact that he lost is secondary to the fact that he pitched well.  

Manager John Farrell said Morrow was throwing pain-free of the left oblique strain that had forced him out of the game on June 11, but that he occasionally felt it, even on a sneeze. That can't be considered him being on the verge of a return.

The Jays opened the week splitting a four-game set against the Royals at the Rogers Centre. However they lost the series finale on Thursday, 9-6 with a chance to win the series three games to one, then flew to Chicago and lost the first two at U.S. Cellular, to drop a game below .500. On Sunday they jumped on rookie Dylan Axelrod early in the series finale then hung on to win 11-9 with Casey Janssen efficiently picking up his 12th straight save without a glitch.

Left-hander Brett Cecil was given a 4-0 lead in the first inning on a pair of two-run homers by Colby Rasmus and Edwin Encarnacion, then had his disturbing issues with shutdown innings continue, giving three of those back immediately on an opening-inning three-run blast by former Jay Alex Rios. 

Cecil continues to be paired with catcher Jeff Mathis, who homered in the game, his fifth of the season, coming in the fourth off rookie Brian Omogrosso. That total ties his most since hitting five in 2009 and is four shy of his career best of the nine that he hit with the Angels in 283 at-bats in '08.

At the end of the week, even with all of the campaigning by Jose Bautista for a very deserving Encarnacion to be included on the AL all-star roster, it turned out that Joey Bats is the lone Jays representative in Kansas City. In terms of “sizzle” for the mid-summer classic, having Harper replace Stanton is a solid choice.

It seems after a third solid outing by left-hander Aaron Laffey that he will remain in the mix for the short term. One thing is certain, he did not lose his job to 49-year-old Jamie Moyer, who was quietly released from Triple-A Las Vegas a couple of days after his second start, which had been the length of his agreed to tryout with the Jays. If Laffey had spit the bit, maybe Moyer would have been given a shot, but the journeyman lefty, Laffey, continues to give Farrell innings every time out.

Moyer was told that the Jays would not recall him in the short time left before the all-star break. They offered to let him continue pitching for the 51s, but that number was becoming too close to his actual age, so he declined and is likely to retire — clearly not by choice. The Jays and Moyer sort of knew it was coming, the end was near. The Triple-A team flies commercial and when they travelled to Reno and Moyer was set to pitch in that other Nevada gambling town, it was reported he did not have a return flight to Vegas booked with the rest of the team, even before he had started. Toronto or bust!

It was like he was playing black jack and hitting on 17. The odds were never good.

Besides, Canadian right-hander Shawn Hill has even become a more solid choice at Vegas with a chance to contribute if the Jays were to need yet another fifth starter in the majors.

The other guy already on the staff that is a solid pro and one of the leaders of the young Latin pitchers, is Carlos Villanueva. I wrote a column on his leadership during the week and the 28-year-old right-hander is backing it up with some solid starts, from a better prepared position than a year ago.

The Jays continued to hang in this week, but realistically have to be considered more out than in, trailing the second wild-card by 2 1/2 games at the break, but needing to crawl over a passel of other contenders in what is looking like a solid Bud Selig initiative to maintain interest in extra markets throughout the summer. There are 10 teams within 2 1/2 games of a playoff spot.

 Injuries: A new addition to the lineup of the limping is Brett Lawrie. The exciting sophomore leadoff man felt some discomfort in his back during the game on Saturday and left the game, probably a veteran move. He had done the same thing in Milwaukee with a wonky knee after a slide on the wrong hip, but bounced back strong in Miami.

The Langley Flash sat out the finale in Chicago on Sunday, meaning he will have almost six full days off before returning to the lineup on Friday vs. the Indians. That is only good news if he takes care of it during the break when he will be away from the trainers, away from the clubhouse, on his own.         

AL ROUNDUP

 The funniest video clip of the week came late on Sunday, from Rangers Park in Arlington. The Twins were batting when a huge clap of thunder shook the high home plate camera and quickly cleared the field. It could have been a disaster but turned to high comedy as macho ballplayers melted down into God-fearing puddles of goo. Twins outfielder Denard Span tweeted that it sounded like “Jesus was coming.” Denard, would that be Alou or Figueroa? In any case, the reaction of former Expos outfielder and current Twins 1B coach Jerry White was priceless. White's arms spread wide and he quickly crouched down, creeping over to first base  umpire Jeff Kellogg, perhaps trying to use him as a human lightning rod. Hilarious. The Rangers are going to be tough to beat in the second half. They have several underachievers in their current lineup, led by all-star catcher Mike Napoli, but the rotation is back in full voice coming out of the break: Derek Holland, Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, Roy Oswalt and Colby Lewis... As for Napoli and his selection in a transparent Rangers fan assault on stuffing the ballot box and the Internet that victimized White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, the ever-outspoken Pierzynski had some interesting things to say about his fine offensive season being overlooked by AL manager Ron Washington. “He had an opportunity to and he didn't do it,” Pierzynski said of Washington's half-hearted apology. “Obviously, he can feel as bad as he wants, but he didn't feel that bad.” Now, normally I'm not a big Pierzynski fan, but the way he then went out and handled this situation was great. Playing at The Cell on July 4, in the second inning, Alexi Ramirez singled to right. Pierzynski rumbled around third base and rolled over Napoli in a home plate collision to score. That's my style of baseball... Speaking of the White Sox, six of seven pitchers in their bullpen are rookies, with the only veteran being lefty Matt Thornton. That might explain GM Kenny Williams' recent claim from the Pirates of 26-year-old reliever left-hander Danny Moskos off the waiver wire. Hmm. What other team needs pitchers as much as the Chisox? Because of injuries you could easily make an argument for the Blue Jays and if they had also claimed Moskos during the waiver period, because of being lower in the current standings, the Jays would have ended up with him. So why not? He's an arm with a pedigree. Moskos is a former fourth overall pick by the Bucs in June '07 out of Clemson University. Ah, maybe that's why. Clemson is a notorious killer of long pitching careers under head coaches Bill Wilhelm ('57 to '93) and Jack Leggett ('94-now). Think Brian Barnes, Billy Koch, Kris Benson, Matt White and others. The institution of learning wins a lot of games, but does not produce what should be the corresponding number of quality MLB pitchers. Maybe the Jays think that same way, otherwise an underachieving former first-rounder is right up their alley... The A's have surprised the world winning 22 of 34 games to get back to .500. The A's staff has an AL leading 3.38 ERA and beat the M's in extra innings on Sunday. There may be a reason, one of the strangest ever, for the low-scoring on Sunday — other than two pathetic offences. “It was a little rough with the white baseball and the white seagulls and the sun. At the end of the day, we fought through the seagulls and we won,” A's second baseman Jemile Weeks said of the bad hitting background at the Coliseum. Where's Dave Winfield when you need him? Oh yeah, last time I saw him, Winfield was popping up to pitcher Rollie Fingers on Sunday afternoon in a slow-pitch celebrity softball game at Kauffman Stadium. Yikes.

NL ROUNDUP

The Marlins may, in hindsight, have made a supremely bad decision when they agreed to be the focus of the sports reality show The Franchise for an up-close-and-personal TV series. Manager Ozzie Guillen may soon feel like a changing his view of reality, by heading over to Cuba to look for a part in another proposed reality show Keeping up with the Castros. How bad is it? On Sunday, closer Heath Bell blew his sixth save and is in danger of being replaced. Ozzie's star third baseman Hanley Ramirez made an out and punched a dugout cooler, tearing up his knuckles for two stitches and coming out of the game. “I don't pay attention to stupidity. That made me mad,” Guillen said of his volatile star. Outfielder Giancarlo Stanton had arthroscopic knee surgery and is out six weeks just as first baseman Carlos Lee arrived. And prez David Samson is complaining that there are no Marlin all-stars without Stanton and that outfielder Justin Ruggiano should have been invited. David, you've got to be kidding... How anxious are the Cubs to showcase right-hander Ryan Dempster to interested teams? On Sunday, in the final game before the all-star break, the Cubs activated the classy Canuck and saw him toss five shutout innings against the Mets after being on the DL with tightness in his lat since June 18. Unless he is traded during the break, Dempster will start again on Friday vs. the D-backs. He is now 4-3, with a 1.99 ERA and is a free agent at the end of the season. He would look good in Jays blue... I'm not a big fan of the Braves’ Chipper Jones but you have to feel happy for him going to the all-star game in his final season. Coincidentally, Kauffman Stadium was the only current park of the 30 in which Jones had never played. Jones has played in 44 different ballparks, 15 of which are no longer in use. That still comes up short of Jamie Moyer and his 50 ball parks that he has twirled in... So how much has the Pirates operation been affected by the recent success? They are in first place at the break for the first time since Barry Bonds weighed 190 lbs. They have sold out the beautiful PNC Park nine times. GM Neal Huntington is looking to add a starting pitcher (competition for the Jays) and a corner outfielder (hmm? Rajai Davis, a former Pirate? Travis Snider? Eric Thames?). And A.J. Burnett is the fifth Pirates pitcher in 75 years to have at least 10 wins before the all-star break... You may have to pull a sheet over the Braves' playoff hopes if they are forced to use righty Ben Sheets in their second-half rotation. The 33-year-old former first rounder in '99 has missed the '09 and '11 seasons and is working his way back at Double-A for the pitching strapped Braves. The team may have lost sensational rookie SS Andrelton Simmons with a fractured left pinkie on Sunday. He hurt it on a headfirst slide into the foot of the Phils’ Chase Utley. The Futures Game featured just one Canadian this year, right-hander Kyle Lotzkar from Delta B.C. The 22-year-old was signed to the Reds by former Jays' Canadian scouting director Bill Bychowski, in the first round, supplemental in 2007. Lotzkar worked an inning on Sunday and was thrilled to be at AA-Pensacola just one step away from the majors. Lotzkar had Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2009 season, but at the same time had a 3-1/2 inch screw implanted in another part of his injured elbow. He understands that he needs to work out differently to protect his new body parts, but when he's on the mound he claims he never thinks about it.  

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL HISTORY

7/9/46 Ted Williams dominates in the AL's 12-0 all-star win at Fenway Park. The Splendid Splinter bangs out four hits, including two homers and four RBIs... 7/9/68 an impressive string of four future Hall-of-Famers lead the way in a 1-0 NL victory -- Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver... 7/9/76 Larry Dierker of the Astros no-hits the Expos at the Astrodome. The pathetic Expos went on to win 52 games in the year of the Olympics in Montreal... 7/9/91 Cal Ripken Jr. slams a three-run homer off the Expos' Dennis Martinez at the SkyDome giving him All-Star MVP... 7/10/32 So you think some of today's franchises are cheap? Hall-of-Fame manager Connie Mack decides to save money for a one-game makeup in Cleveland by taking just TWO pitchers on the trip from Chicago to Cleveland in order to save train fare. The best laid plans, etc. The A's starter, Lew Krausse, managed to go just one inning, handing the ball to an unfortunate guy named Eddie Rommel. The game went 18 innings and Mack had no other pitchers. Rommel's line: 17 IP; 29H; 14R; 13ER; 9BB; 7K. He faced 87 batters and did not pitch again for another 41 days... 7/10/34 LHP Carl Hubbell fanned five Hall-of-Famers in a row, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin... 7/11/14 Babe Ruth makes his major-league debut with the Red Sox, beating the Indians 4-3 as a starting pitcher... 7/11/61 Relief pitcher Stu Miller is famously and literally blown off the mound at Candlestick Park in mid delivery, committing a balk for a 3-3 all-star tie that went to extra innings before the NL won... 7/11/49 Maybe it had something to do with the All-Star Game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, but Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe became the first African-Americans to play in the All-Star Game... 7/13/82 The All-Star Game is played outside of the U.S. for the first time. At Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Dave Concepcion homers off starter Dennis Eckersley for a 4-1 win. Five Expos were in the starting lineup... 7/14/67 Braves Eddie Mathews hits his 500th career homer against Juan Marichal of the Giants... 7/14/68 a year to the day later, Braves Hank Aaron hits 500th career homer vs. Mike McCormick of Giants... 7/14/70 Pete Rose in one of the most replayed all-star moments in history runs over catcher Ray Fosse of the Indians for the winning run in the 12th inning. That play cemented baseball's all-star game as different in intensity than other sports and served to send Fosse to a premature end to his career.

Birthdays this week: Andre Dawson 58, Bob Bailor 61, Joey McLaughlin 56, Ron Fairly 74, Bill Caudill 56, Pepe Frias 64, Donn Clendenon 77. 

JAYS MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

AAA-Las Vegas (50-40) had no game on Sunday. LF Travis Snider is hitting .317 with nine homers, 46 RBIs and a .959 OPS. DH Eric Thames is hitting .323 with two homers and 19 RBIs. SS Adeiny Hechavarria is leading the team with 58 RBIs. Canadian RHP Shawn Hill is part of a horribly mediocre rotation supported by a pretty good offence. Hechavarria and reliever Chad Beck were named to the PCL all-star game... AA-New Hampshire (36-52) split a twin bill with New Britain, losing 4-0 and winning 5-4. 3B Mark Sobolewski, 1B Mike McDade, SS Ryan Goins, RHP Sam Dyson and RHP Yohan Pino (4-3, 3.34 ERA) were named to the Eastern League all-star game. CF Jake Marisnick was promoted from Dunedin. OF Kevin Bailli is hitting .370 with a homer and 5 SB. The top two starters, RHP Deck McGuire (4-9, 6.01 ERA) and Chad Jenkins (4-7, 5.20 ERA) have started 33 of the Fisher Cats 88 games... A-Dunedin (7-11) beat Tampa 4-2 on Sunday. SS Kevin Nolan has 5 HR, 39 RBIs, with 12 steals. RHP John Stilson is 3-0, 2.82 ERA. LHP Sean Nolin is 7-0, 2.35 ERA. RHP Asher Wojciechowski is 6-2, with a 3.87 ERA... A-Lansing (10-7) beat West Michigan 5-3 on Sunday. RH Noah Syndergaard allowed one run in 6 innings and is 6-2 with a 3.06 ERA. LF Kenny Wilson was 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and 28 SB. RF Chris Hawkins was 4-for-4 and is batting .289. RH Aaron Sanchez is 8-0 with a 0.63 ERA. He has struck out 70 batters in 62 2/3 innings. LF Kevin Pillar is batting .319 with 34 steals... A-Vancouver (14-9) lost 10-6 to first place Everett on Sunday. 3B Balbino Fuenmayor is hitting .316 with three homers and 20 RBIs. RHP Javier Avendano is 3-0, with a 0.45 ERA and 25 Ks in 20 IP. RHP Ian Kadish is 1-0 with a 0.79 ERA and 20 Ks in 11 IP... A-Bluefield (7-12) lost to Burlington 6-5 on Sunday. C Santiago Nessy hit his third HR and is batting .308. 2B Christian Lopes was 3-for-4 with his 3rd HR. LH Daniel Norris (1-1, 3.52 ERA) has fanned 18 batters in 15 1/3 innings... Rk-Blue Jays (6-12) RH Francisco Gracesqui (3-0, 0.00 ERA) has struck out 17 in 13 innings.  

ONE FOR THE ROAD

Flew out to the all-star festivities from Pearson on Sunday morning. Why is it that every airport landing in the American Midwest that I've been involved in since 1977, charter or commercial, has seemed like it is the rock-and-roll equivalent of touching down through a combination tornado, hurricane, cyclone and tsunami, with airplane wings flapping — unintentionally, of course — and uneasy flyers squeezing the armrests and whimpering like babies. Get a grip.

Such was the case with the Kansas City landing. And, also, I wonder whose idea it was to build the Royals' home Kauffman Stadium nowhere near actual Kansas City, out in the middle of the Show Me State. Someone should have showed them. Take a cab, go along back roads, up along some river and through the woods. Suddenly, around a bend you are surprised by the looming sight of Arrowhead Stadium with Kauffman Stadium over on the left. They are beautiful, but why way out here?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q-Hi Richard,

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

All the best,

Aaron Hickey, Sydney, Australia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jason Sinnarajah, San Francisco

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

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

Handshake.

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

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

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

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

Dave Walker, Scarborough

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

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

Q-Richard,

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

Scott Cochrane, Niagara-on-the-Lake

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

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

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

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

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

Chris Hiuser, Tecumseh

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

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

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

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

Q-Richard,

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

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

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

Thanks
,

Scott Fraser
, Appleton, Wisconsin

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

Q-Hello Richard,

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

Thanks again,

Selby Martin, Toronto

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

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

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

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

Tony Baer, Baraboo

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

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

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

Q-Hi Richard,

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

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

Seth Bernstein, Toronto

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

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

Q-Hi Richard;

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

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

Thanks Richard,

Art Hilderman, Winnipeg

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

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

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

Tony Baer, Baraboo

Q-Hi Richard,

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

Bill Reynolds, Toronto

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

Q-Hi Richard,

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

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

Andrew Blakeney, Toronto

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

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

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

Gus Bolin, Keene, ON

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MLB POWER RANKINGS

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

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

2. New York Yankees

Finding their highly-paid rhythm without Mariano and Pineda

3. Texas Rangers

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

4. Washington Nationals

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

5. Tampa Bay Rays

Both Rays and Nats building dynasties upon past failures

6. Atlanta Braves

Will need to make sure bullpen stays fresh to avoid collapse

7. San Francisco Giants

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

8. Chicago White Sox

Ventura, Mattingly, Matheny. Who needs managerial experience?

9. Cincinnati Reds

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

10. Los Angeles Angels

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

11. Baltimore Orioles

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

12. New York Mets

This is unbelievable renaissance because Collins had been horrible manager

13. Miami Marlins

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

14. Cleveland Indians

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

15. Boston Red Sox

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

16. St. Louis Cardinals

Sans Albert, sans Berkman, but avec Freese and Beltran

17. Toronto Blue Jays

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

18. Detroit Tigers

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

19. Philadelphia Phillies

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

20. Pittsburgh Pirates

Say what!!!!!!

21. Seattle Mariners

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

22. Arizona Diamondbacks

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

23. Oakland A's

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

24. Minnesota Twins

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

25. Milwaukee Brewers

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

26. Kansas City Royals

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

27. Houston Astros

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

28. Colorado Rockies

Manager Tracy likes to climb his mountains late in the season

29. San Diego Padres

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

30. Chicago Cubs

Theo Epstein is a genius. Discuss.

THE ESSAY: BASEBALL’S BEST HITTER IS JOEY VOTTO

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If healthy Votto is Hall-of-Fame bound.

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

THE RANT: JUNE DRAFT CHANGES ARE A JOKE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AL ROUNDUP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NL ROUNDUP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL HISTORY

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

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

 

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

 

MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

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

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

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

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

ONE FOR THE ROAD

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

Mailbag: Does Jose Bautista's frustration with umpires hurt his reputation?

The Texas Rangers are coming to town on Monday and the three-game series against the AL champs is well worth the price of admission. The powerful Rangers have been to the World Series two years in a row and seem even stronger this season.

How good are they? Consider that the Rangers rank first in the AL in runs scored, batting average and slugging and boast a team OPS of .847. And, oh yes, Yu Darvish is pitching the first game vs. the Jays on Monday, bringing a large entourage of Japanese media with him.

The Jays will continue on after hosting Seattle and Texas to tangle with the remaining AL West teams, the Angels and A's on the coast. Fans should have a good idea at the end of the coast trip as they head to Minneapolis, how the Jays stack up this season.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery from the latest physical setback to the tenacious Dustin McGowan and on to the mailbag.

Q-Hi Richard,

Been following you on twitter lately. Thanks for the replies and the RTs. My question for you is what's the deal with Bautista? And NO I'm NOT talking about his stats! Rather, from my perspective, he seems more cocky this year when dealing with umpires (e.g. will make faces when borderline pitches go against him, talks back to umps, etc).

I have a three-part question for you about this:

1: Is this actually happening or am I just noticing it this year because he's off to a slow start (e.g. this is a non-issue when you're hitting HRs)?

2: Assuming it isn't just in my head, does behaving this way hurt get you a bad rep among umps? In other words, is this going to come back and haunt Bautista? 

3: Assuming it earns Jose a bad rep, whose job is it to talk to Jose about it (e.g. Farrell, AA, teammates)?

Thanks,

Francis P., Ithaca, NY

A-I think cocky is a poor choice of words. Yes, Bautista has changed his demeanour this year unintentionally, but as you suggest, a lot of the facial expressions and anger come from frustration. I do believe the whiny reaction is hurting him with umpires and maybe even hurting his teammates by association, with the same umpires.

The Jays don't want to be known as a whiny team, although the Yankees are the worst at it and it doesn't seem to affect them too much. Since Jose is the clubhouse leader it's up to him to regulate himself. Trust me, he knows it's happening and he talks freely about the frustration and the close calls that don't go the Jays way. When he starts hitting it will ease.

Q-Hi Richard,

Two comments that maybe you can elaborate on.

John Farrell's use of his bullpen has not improved over last year and may in fact be worse.

Thames stat line for April will be worse than Snider's from last spring yet all we hear is that he will have a long leash, while Snider leads the world in every major offensive stat at AAA.

Matt Meisner, St. Catharines

A-In answer to your bullpen comment, I honestly believe that this year's Jays' pen is much easier to figure out than was the relief corps in 2011. Farrell has already been better this year after a season of experience.

At the start of last season, recall the Jays' closer role was up in the air. Frankie Francisco was supposed to be it, but he had always been a notoriously slow starter and was injured at training camp to boot. Jon Rauch became the closer by default, while Octavio Dotel was the equivalent of a right-handed specialist, with little ability to retire lefty hitters. 

Of course Dotel now has a World Series ring and looked great down the stretch with the Cardinals. He said he had been misused in Toronto. Marc Rzepczynski was a poor man's Scott Downs, whom he was replacing, and Jason Frasor was, well, Jason Frasor. Casey Janssen had not yet come into his own at the start of last season and Carlos Villanueva it seemed was the complement every five days to Jo-Jo Reyes, until taking over as a starter himself. Then came the trade with the Cardinals for Rasmus that decimated Farrell's bullpen.

This year is easier. I could manage this pen. Santos is the closer with Francisco Cordero as the setup man in the eighth. Janssen, Frasor and Darren Oliver are the seventh inning combo, while Luis Perez has come on like gangbusters passing everyone on the depth chart. Villanueva can be a solid long guy but hasn't had many opportunities. How do you screw that up as a manager. Farrell can't do anything about births or injuries that have cost Santos games, so to say he has not handled the relievers as well as lat year is somewhat a case of perception over reality. The 16 innings of relief in the first two games in Cleveland certainly did not get the pen off on a regular path and rhythm.

As for the Thames/Snider debate, this seems to be one of the hot topics of the season thus far. Snider has done this before in the minors, ripping it up then coming back to the majors and levelling off, falling off and returning to the minors again. Both Thames and Snider are Jays' assets. They are both young and they are both valuable either here or elsewhere without the thought of kicking either one to the curb. The situation will play itself out.

Q-Hi Richard,

Do you think Eric Thames will last in left field for the Jays? Looks like he's an average defender, with average speed, and average batting, with not much power. It also appears he doesn't have a plan when he's at the plate and has taken some awful swings. At this point I think Davis is a better option for the Jays. Your thoughts?

Paul Rudan, Campbell River, B.C.

A-Thames is an average to below average defender. He has average speed. It's tough at this early stage of his career to rate his batting average and his power. He has started to gain more plate discipline where he does not as often get himself into pitchers' counts by swinging at off-speed pitches down and out of the zone, but he's not all the way there. That perception of how a player looks on any swing should be minimized. That's why the rules give you three strikes, so you can have some awful swings on pitches that you guessed wrong on and then in the same at-bat, bounce back and get a big hit.

As for Davis, I love the reserve role that was outlined for him with the Jays this spring. A disrupting weapon in late innings off the bench and an occasional starter in the outfield against certain left-handers depending on matchups. He is not an everyday player, but he can be a significant contributor.

Q-Hi Richard,

I know the Jays made a committment to Thames to start the season, but when does that change? 
Snider has a hit in every game this year in Las Vegas and either a 2B or HR in 8/10. How much longer do we have to wait to see the true future left-fielder take his place? Thanks,

Adam G., Brooklyn, NY

A-These things have a way of taking care of themselves. If Vegas manager Marty Brown and 51's hitting coach Chad Mottola were adamant that Snider needed to play in Toronto and had nothing else to learn at Triple-A then I believe the move would already be made.

GM Alex Anthopoulos is not about winning games in Las Vegas or New Hampshire. He is about winning games in Toronto. I like Snider as much as anyone and to me, it was a coin flip at spring training, but their feeling was that it was Thames' job to lose and he didn't lose it. If Snider is gaining confidence with his great start, that's good for him.

Q-I like Eric Thames and his game but I am sad Travis Snider wasn't able to crack the lineup or live up to his lofty promise after such a strong start to his career. I am hopeful there is a place for him on the club at some point in the future if he can earn it as he just looks like he can be such a force if he can ever put it all together. My question is, should the Jays remain injury-free in the outfield and should Snider somehow NOT get traded this year do you think he would be a lock next year as the 4th outfielder considering how he would be out of options and the Jays seem to hate seeing players lost to another club for nothing? All the best and keep the bag coming...the best Q&A blog out there!

Aaron Hickey, Sydney, Australia

A-I remember being stunned in Minneapolis at the old Metrodome watching from the press box when Snider crushed two home run balls off the upper-deck facade in right field in the same game at the start of the '09 season. With his humble attitude and respect for his old coaches, his father and the game of baseball, it looked like the sky was the limit. Less than a month later he was gone back to the minors -- and that was not the last time he has been yo-yo'd to the farm. His defence improved last spring under the tutelage of coach Torey Lovullo, but he still has trouble with consistency at the plate. He's a year younger than Thames and they are both still not to their prime baseball years. Sometimes we are all too impatient.

As for next season, yes Snider will have no options left, but that is not a reason to keep him as a fourth outfielder. Between the end of this current year and the start of next year, it says here that the Jays will entertain offers for one of the two outfielders and that one of them will be traded.

Q-I haven't heard any talk of the Jays hosting the all-star game again. How long before that happens? It's been 20 years. With this up and coming team it would've been a perfect opportunity to put the Jays on the map again with the all-star festivities within the next few years.

Kam H., Richmond Hill

A-The Jays hosted the All-Star Game in 1991, the second full season that the SkyDome was open. It was the traditional carrot on a stick for the city of Toronto handed to them for building a new stadium. It's been 21 years since T-O hosted the midsummer classic and there are 30 franchises. Do the math. Besides, all-star games have become most times a bribe, a reward to municipal or state governments that are willing to bend over for baseball and take one for the team, usually by building a new stadium using some public money, then in a glitzy announcement they are awarded the big game from Bud Selig so they can present a questionable study that shows that hosting the game brings in a jazillion dollars in tourist money. If baseball is fair, then the Jays would get the next game in 2022.

Q-”Prince has been to the post-season one time and, in fact, Jose Bautista has as many WS rings." could possibly be the dumbest response to a very legitimate question I've ever heard in my life. 

For me, you lost all credibility with that answer. To insinuate that Prince's lack of rings at the relatively young age of 27 in a very team oriented sport such as baseball somehow justifies AA's non pursuit is at best moronic and at worst a frightening sign of your limited baseball knowledge.

Nolan Michael, Toronto

A-You are certainly pulling out just a small part of the response and opinion that was given in that mailbag and presenting it as me saying it is the only reason for not pursuing Prince Fielder. Why is it that stats aficionados universally seem to have absolutely no sense of humour or sense of the absurd or the ability to see the game as a game. They are like the Christian right. Everything must be black or white, right or wrong and if your opinion does not agree with my opinion then you are wrong...and an idiot to boot. The great thing about opinions in baseball is that everyone can have one and since it's an opinion it can't be right or wrong. That's what makes the game so arguably great. God bless you Nolan.

Q-As far as your comeback player of the year assessment goes, your criteria doesn't seem to hold for past winners like Aaron Hill and Cliff Lee - granted both came back from injuries (so maybe this is additional criteria)? Hill, for instance, never has a pre (nor even post) award OPS close to Rasmus' 2010 total. Similarly, Lee only had one decent year prior to his win and it was at 2.3 WAR versus Rasmus' 3.2 of 2010 (WAR being perhaps the best measure across these diverse positions).

Yes, Hill's previous .291 batting average and Lee's 18-win season stand out, but the value of Rasmus' OBP, defence, baserunning, and more shouldn't be underrated even if the focus on traditional stats tends to do that. You may be right about how many Comeback Player voters feel, but it doesn't negate the fact that Rasmus' 2010 was superior to the pasts of other winners and a monster 2010 could (and perhaps should) facilitate his being honoured thusly.

Derek Maisonville, Montreal

A-The comeback-player is not even an official award, so it's hard to say who the voters are, but one thing I do know is that if you are coming back from serious injury, you have a far better chance of winning it than, say, a Colby Rasmus who surely had a great OPS as a 23-year-old then slumped for a couple of years, maybe because of factors like “manager-angst” and “urban sprawl”. If you're young and healthy and coming back to some good numbers like Rasmus, that shouldn't and doesn't mean squat. I never doubted those readers that said Rasmus 2010 numbers were very good. But does that suddenly mean every hot rookie who encountered the sophomore jinx should be a comeback-player-of-the-year candidate. I just know and undersand how the comeback award is voted for and a guy like Rasmus has no chance. Besides, he's not coming back to defence, because defence, like rust, never sleeps.

Q-I think they should do something about the hitting coach, like replace him. What do you think ???

John Finch, Burlington

A-Many times, a major-league hitting coach is the one to take the fall for a team's failure to hit. Admittedly, it was a tough transition for Dwayne Murphy from Cito Gaston's philosophy where a 10-pitch at-bat, as Adam Lind put it this spring, would draw Gaston's response of “What took you so long,” to the John Farrell response of high-fives all around for wearing a starting pitcher down, even if you end up making an out.

Farrell believes that the weakest point of any team is its middle relief and if you can get to that early then you have a better chance of winning. Murphy had to convince some of his same pupils, the ones he had earlier convinced to be uber-aggressive under Cito to change their philosophy again. It's not easy and Murphy probably has the easiest target on his back if the offence continues to founder. But who knows, by the next mailbag they may all have turned it around and the Jays offence could be on a significant roll.

Q-Hi Richard,

Still anticipating your infamous mailbag. I know it's early but how much longer can the Jays wait for Lind to come around? I've had enough. I believe more in Thames' hitting ability than Lind. The Jays offence is a big question mark thanks to the lacklustre production of Joey Bats (whom I think will end up with a .265/30/95) and non-leadoff hitter Escobar. I really would like to see Davis playing almost every day. His career avg. is around .275. The lineup would be more productive with Davis leading off followed by, Johnson, Lawrie to start off and I'd put Colby to bat ahead of Lind. Any thoughts? April's a soft schedule and they should take the most advantage from it.  Any thoughts? or am I off in your opinion?

Kam H., Richmond Hill

A-The Jays' offensive success all comes down to the success of Jose Bautista. That's just the Jays' bottom line to winning and he knows it, his teammates know it, the fans know it and opponents know it. Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion hit better when Bautista is on a roll. If it was up to me and there was a clean slate for the Jays' lineup, I might at this point go: Johnson, Lawrie, Bautista, Encarnacion, Lind, Escobar, Rasmus, Arencibia, Thames. But that's just me.

As I discussed earlier in the mailbag, I prefer Davis in the role he fills right now. In the 8th or 9th inning, if Rajai is starting you will never be sure when he is going to be coming up or if he ever does come up in those key innings, you can't be sure whether he is going to reach base. Meanwhile, if you have him on the bench through seven innings you can control when he reaches base as a key weapon in late innings in a close game.

April may be a soft schedule and they needed more wins, but the thing about this year's Jays is that they are going to be better in August than they are in April, especially when it comes to the young startng pitching, which has been better than expected already. So that improvement should offset any issues about the schedule.

Q-I commend the work of AA in the last couple years and I believe that the Jays are two players away from truly contending for the next few years and that the dynamite lefty arm of Aroldis Chapman would be a great addition as the #3 starter.  What would it take to pry Chapman loose from the Reds and do you think that the addition of a top-3 lefty is needed? I don't want to wait for the kids in the minors! GO JAYS & GO SPOS 4EVER

Dave Loney, Ottawa

A-I'm with you about commending the work of AA, but from there on out with the rest of your letter I need to comment. When the Jays are finally contending, they don't want it to be for simply the next two years as you suggest. They want sustainability in contending and that means tapping into their own minor leagues for future bargaining chips in trade in areas of need and tapping into the farm system for solid major-league talent to replace other solid major-league talent. The Jays are two years away from opening that long-term door to future opportunity, especially with regard to outfielders, catchers and young starting pitchers. The cupboard is full.

As for your pitching suggestion, the Jays had their chance already at signing Aroldis Chapman when AA decided not to enter the Reds' stratosphere of over $30 million for four years for the Cuban free-agent. They will not go there, but they do have some minor-league talent that can be similar-type impact guys at a great financial savings. The Jays are being patient in that regard, understanding that help is on the way, but, for the record, they were foiled in their bid to get Chapman's teammate Mat Latos from the Padres.

Q-Did you see the latest SI power rankings based on team WAR? 

The Royals are ranked #7 while the Jays are down at #20.  The article says that the Royals are due for a turnaround based on their team WAR.
 My question is what do you think will happen in the likely scenario that the Royals finish near the bottom of the league?  Will FanGraphs admit that WAR is just plain wrong?

Eric E., Toronto

A-”WAR, huh, yeah, what is it good for
? Absolutely nothing, uh-huh. 
WAR, huh, yeah, what is it good for? 
Absolutely nothing
. Say it again, y'all.” Edwin Starr.

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

Well I've been impressed and excited by the start so far, and I'm not greatly worried about AA's 'failed attempt' to get a #2 or #3 starter in the offseason. I just look at all the home-grown possibilites and wonder which one is going to be this year's Juan Guzman. Although with a longer career trajectory, of course. Who do you think has the best chance of that?

Bryan Willis, Vancouver

A-The failure to get a #2-3 starter like Latos or Yu Darvish is what will cost the Jays a chance to contend this year. I agree that there will likely be a Juan Guzman-type surprise performer pop up either later this year or early next season, but the Jays needed someone solid all year in 2012 if they were going to seriously contend for a wild card. What it would take now is a huge season from Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow, plus someone else stepping up in the second half. I have a hard time seeing Henderson Alvarez as that guy because, despite his solid repertoire, he's won just once in 14 starts and despite the low regard in which Ws are looked upon, that is how they rank teams in the official standings.

Q-Hi Richard.

Why do the Jays have so many call-ups from Double-A? You would think they would come from Triple-A Las Vegas. Also, why do they say the Triple-A Pacific Coast league is so 'hitter-friendly'? Thanks!

Terry Fallat, Espanola

A-Basically. Double-A can be seen as a league for talented young players on the way up. Meanwhile Triple-A is a balance, a mixture of players on the way up and players on the way down. It is a holding tank for potential major-leaguers to fill in with the big club due to disablements.

In the Jays' case, they purposely don't send many of their best young pitchers, kids on the way up, to Las Vegas because it is such a hell-hole for pitching. Organizations know that before a player can establish himself as a major-leaguer, he needs to experience failure. Ask Ricky Romero. Ask Travis Snider. Ask Kyle Drabek. Most top draft choices never failed as kids. They never did in high school and they never failed in college. But it's a given they are going to fail as pros.

So, for your young pitchers, do you want their first failure to be at Triple-A? Not really. Pitching in Vegas and in the PCL is nasty. Most parks are at altitude where the ball carries. The air is light, the winds blow and the infields are rock hard and uneven because of the weather, usually hot and dry.

Meanwhile at Double-A, in the Eastern League and Manchester, New Hampshire, it's more sublime for the Jays' young stars – New England clam chowder, Sam Adams, warm summer nights and young baseball players just like you. Plus, in the Jays' situation, the kids are confidently aware from precedence that they might be just one step away from the majors. Trust me, the Jays would love to have their AAA affiliate somewhere like Buffalo.

Q-Richard,

I have a quick question on scoring in baseball. When the Jays use their funky defensive set up where the third baseman is lined up behind first base like against Tampa's Luke Scott. When he grounded to Lawrie is it still scored as ground ball to third and put out at first even though it was a ground ball to right field. How would it make sense in the box score later?

Brian Runciman, Oakville

A-That's one thing I have never agreed with. Yes, you're right, the play to Lawrie was scored a 5-3, so if you were looking at your official scorebook a year from now you would believe the pull-hitting Scott had gone the other way, unless you also chart direction. It basically is just a bookkeeping notation so that when the official scorer is adding up putouts and assists after the game for the league records, he has the right players involved and doesn't have players changing position for a batter at a time.

Recall that in the Cleveland series in extra innings, Farrell brought in a five-man infield with Omar Vizquel emerging from the dugout to replace Eric Thames, standing next to second base and giving the Jays three men on the left side of the infield and two on the right. Well, even though Vizquel never left the dirt of the infield, he was listed as the left fielder because he replaced Thames. It's now the only time he has played the outfield and is silly because he didn't really play the outfield. There has to be a better way because it does not re-create the game with accuracy and isn't that what scoring a game is all about?

Q-Hi Griff,

What is up with Joey Bats? I have seen him take more "ugly" swings this year more than ever. He was always patient to me, but now seems to be reaching at balls out of the strike zone. Is this cause for concern? Another point, Brett Lawrie is also struggling. Is he up too soon? I love my Jays, but this series with Baltimore is giving me fits.

Anton Forde, Freeport, Bahamas

A-Bautista has taken a lot of ugly swings, especially at balls up in the strike zone. He seems to be popping a lot of balls up and is not hitting as many balls on the screws as he has the past two seasons. It's cause for concern only if it continues indefinitely. Bautista is an intelligent player, an intelligent hitter. Once he gets back to only attacking balls in the strike zone, the numbers will all rise.

Lawrie is not up in the majors too soon. He is a free swinger that makes contact. He is a major-league player and will continue to get better.

Q-I was wondering if you believe there would be any benefit in signing someone like Vlad Guerrero as a threat off of the bench. Is he too expensive to have around as a pinch hitter and sometime DH? He's past his prime, no doubt, but he would also represent much more of a game changer than Ben Francisco, I think.

Mark Twain, Charlottetown, PEI

A-The Jays have worked hard since the Frank Thomas debacle to not hire aging one-dimensional hitters that can only DH. Vlad has reached the point where he is just such a player. Like Johnny Damon, Guerrero would not be an expensive sign at this stage of his career, so that's not the reason. But a player like Edwin Encarnacion is exactly what the Jays seek in a DH so that he can play a position in the nine inter-eague games in NL ballparks each year. Besides, Vlad has led an active life in baseball and may be done as a player. Your comment on Ben Francisco is a good one. If they don't have a defined role for Francisco, since he now doesn't even go in for defence ahead of Rajai Davis, then he has little use as a fifth outfielder.

Blue Jays mailbag: Let the season begin

Opening Day is at hand!!

All right, we know. The A's and M's have already opened their seasons with a two-game series in Japan, but for most of us, Opening Day arrives the middle of this week and the excitement is building in the form of quickened pulse and racing heart.

If the final weeks of spring training are any indication, there already seems to be a certain edge to baseball entering 2012. On Sunday there was the ugly bench-clearing between the Indians and Rockies precipitated by Ubaldo Jimenez drilling Troy Tulowitzki in the elbow, an act called cowardly and classless by Rockies manager Jim Tracy.

How about Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine and his grating personality. You know he's going to be in the middle of some ugliness before too long. Or loose cannon Ozzie Guillen as manager in Miami. Ditto to his effect on the NL East. In any case, even if it's just straight-up MLB baseball without the WWE extras, we're looking forward to the Jays on Thursday afternoon in Cleveland at the field formerly known as Jacobs.

On to the mailbag.  

Q-Hi Richard,

I want to get an understanding of the McGowan's contract. Kudos to him for showing such determination and "no quit" attitude. Did AA sign him so that he wouldn't possibly botch or pull a Ricciardi like losing Chris Carpenter? Also, with the guaranteed contract can he still be sent down (options)? That's what I really want to know. When and if Dustin makes his first start this season I'll be there to give him a standing O!

Sincerely,

Kam H, Richmond Hill

A-There are some solid reasons why signing McGowan to the contract the Jays offered makes sense for everyone. Both McGowan and the Jays realized that they owed each other a degree of loyalty after three years of the pitcher's intense and single-minded rehab, but how would that mutual admiration be translated into reality? It has always been a nice sports sentiment, but what form could it possibly take?

It turns out this two-way street has been paved by two guaranteed years, 2013-14, for a total of $3 million, plus a club option for $4-million in 2015. McGowan, because he was on the major-league disabled list for the entire length of his string of injuries, starting in 2008, had been accumulating major-league service time and, thus, would be eligible for his six-year free agency following the '12 season. The Jays understood this and basically gave him a contract the equivalent of a fourth-and-fifth-year arbitration-eligible player, plus a $4 million non-guaranteed year that will depend on health. Fair.

The Jays pre-empted McGowan's free agency instead of waiting until the end of the '12 season, a year for him that would have clouded the issue, because it will really be a success simply if the right-hander completes it in good health. They offered the contract now instead of having to negotiate the free agent deal at the end of the season and having any pesky, non-representative stats and results that probably won't be that impressive, stand in the way. The Jays decided to take all doubt out of the equation and get the deal done now. A load has been removed from McGowan's shoulders and he can go about his most recent rehab from the plantar fasciitis back in Florida with a clear head and a singleness of purpose, with the goal of getting back into the rotation ASAP.

Yes, the McGowan situation can clearly be compared to the way that the Jays mishandled Chris Carpenter, refusing to guarantee him a 40-man roster spot while he was rehabbing from a shoulder injury, then allowing him to go to the Cards as a free agent, seeing him overcome his injury and go on to win a Cy Young and World Series. The new McGowan contract does not add any minor-league options. He's all out. So if the Jays ever want to send him to the minors, he would have to clear waivers, which likely would not happen.     

Q-Hey Richard,

Why has there been no movement on MLB Network coming to Canada? It would be such a benefit to the popularity of both MLB and the Blue Jays here in Canada... and would be especially great for those of us who don't want to sit through 25 minutes of hockey coverage to see a few minutes of baseball highlights on the major sports networks. I know there are CRTC regulations to consider, but the NFL Network has been able to make its way here. When will they show us baseball fans the same respect?

Ian Murray, Toronto

A-I have wondered about that ever since the MLB Network debuted. It seems to me if it hasn't happened yet that we can purchase a feed of the MLB Network on cable in Canada, that it can only be because Rogers does not want it to happen because its content night serve to diminish the Sportsnet brands – ONE, Ontario, East and Pacific and all its already included baseball programming. Otherwise, it seems it could have easily been added to cable's monthly sports package. I'm not a CRTC expert, but Canadian content? Hell, when they started out three years ago, Toronto-native Hazel Mae was one of the stars of their news desk and don't Canadians always litter the on-field landscape. Then there's the Jays. Of course, I've been wrong before, but otherwise why wouldn't it be available.

Q-Hi Richard,

Should we be worried about Colby Rasmus' spring? BTW, I can't help but notice a change in your optimism. You know it's just spring training, but the kid in you seems to think this team may just compete!

Ryan B., Toronto

Q-If Colby Rasmus continues this spring as he did last year, will he be the Jays' centre fielder for the whole season? Would Anthony Gose be ready to replace him?

Tom Lurvey, Winnipeg 

A-The common thread in the above questions is Colby Rasmus. Any prediction of how he will perform once the bell rings for the regular season would be a guess. He's a hard read. Can all the scouts that predicted stardom for Rasmus as a Cards' prospect be wrong? But it's now up to him.

However, there is no doubt that he will remain the centre fielder throughout the year unless he is injured or traded. They value his defence. The Jays in the first half of last season had a horrible outfield defence that set the young starting rotation back tremendously. Rasmus's glove helps the pitching move forward.

As for Gose's arrival, when the Jays acquired him from the Astros they believed he needed 1,500 more minor league at-bats. He has about 1,000 since then. They will let Gose complete the year in Vegas.

Finally, as per my added optimism regarding the Jays, other readers have noticed the same and commented on my seemingly increased belief regarding the Jays ability to compete.

After much self-pondering I have arrived at the belief I have been afflicted by a sort of sporting Stockholm syndrome. I believe I have spent so much time in close Jays' confinement at spring training, arriving early in the morning to the clubhouse and leaving late at night, that like a kidnap victim that absorbs and starts to sympathize with the plight of his captors, I believe I have become a reluctant convert much like Patty Hearst back in the day taking on the alias of Tania and robbing a Wells Fargo bank shoulder-to-shoulder the Symbionese Liberation Army in the '70s. It's now “Let's go Blue Jays, let's play ball.”

Patty Hearst (Google it, kids).

Q-What year did the Blue Jays have their last winning Grapefruit League season? Please tell me it was in the early 90's, if you catch my drift.

Ronnie Lucas, Belleville

Q-Hi Richard.

Hope this isn't a dumb question but I'll ask it anyway does the current spring training record mean for the Jays with respect to the regular season? Are they peaking early or is this a good thing and what are the benefits? I asked my buddies the question, it has us all scratching our heads.

Alex Glowach, St. Albert  

A-This is another popular question, the significance of the Jays' stunning spring training record. There are two main reasons for a fab spring record.

1. An organization that may feel it needs to win games in the spring in order to sell tickets at home. That usually follows up a disappointing regular season the year before and an ownership that applies the pressure on the manager and GM.

2.An organization that is deep in talent, especially young pitching, all the way through the upper levels of the minor leagues.

The latter is the explanation for the Jays' spring. It usually doesn't mean anything to the regular season. 

The Jays in their first year under John Farrell were 16-14 in  Grapefruit League play last year. The second-year manager swears he's not trying to win all these games this spring, that the goal is getting the individual players ready for the season and staying healthy.

The Top 4 previous Blue Jays' spring records: 21 wins in '89; 19 wins in '85; 18 wins in '88 and '00. In two of those four seasons that followed the most successful springs, the manager was fired – Jimy Williams in '89 and Jim Fregosi after the '00 season and in a third year, after the '85 schedule, Bobby Cox quit to go to the Braves. As for the World Series years, the Grapefruit League records were 13-18 in '92 and 11-19 in '93. The Jays in relation to .500 marks in the spring have been 13-19-5 in 38 years.     

Q-Long time reader, and I will throw a few short thoughts to you.  

If Lind isn't the guy at first, why not move one of the two catchers over a la Delgado, then you wouldn't have to lose either and both can become integral parts.

 

Adeiny should get a look with the big club if Johnson stumbles in April, let him have a month and see if there is anything he can adjust in June in Vegas.

Good to limit the innings of the kids in the minors so that they have bullets, will they do this for Kyle as well?

Snider or Thames? Who will be a Jay in 2013 if you only keep one.

Ian Serota, Thornhill

A-The question of first base and having two catchers is one the Jays are going to have to address very soon.

For now, Adam Lind is locked in at first and Arencibia is the catcher. When D'Arnaud is ready for the majors at the end of 2012, first base might become an option for Arencibia. He developed well as a receiver last year, but J.P. must show similar progress in his hitting and on-base abilities in '12.

Hechavarria, once he gets his legs under him at Triple-A will be ready to come up on option and fill in should either Johnson or Yunel Escobar be forced onto the disabled list. The 22-year-old Cuban's defence is already magic. But if Johnson and Escobar stay healthy, they will play unless traded.

Drabek has pitched 153+ innings in each of the past three seasons, but not at the major-league level. If it turns out that Kyle is in the majors all year, they will likely limit him to about 170 innings because the stress level is definitely higher at the major-league level. But he is further along than McGowan.

As for Snider or Thames in 2013? I think that will take care of itself and sometimes it becomes who the other team wants or the quality of the player they offer. Anthopoulos is flexible in terms of listening.      

Q-Richard,

Just got back from Tampa after spending 4 days there watching the Jays, getting some sun and the occasional adult beverage (the 99 cent beers at the Tilted Kilt is no joke). Even saw you a couple times and was thinking I should say hi, but decided against it. Hard to believe someone has to work in that stadium when it is so amazing just to be a fan.

Is Rasmus going to pick it up? He seemed to be the only guy who wasn't hitting the ball the past 4 days, and as we sat there and watched him he reminded us of Rios, seems like he has potential, but has defintiely not put it together. Any chance he flames out this year and the team makes a move, to either Gose or someone else to fill the gap? Love your writing, thanks,

Bryan Chandler, Ottawa

A-It seems to me that Rasmus's spring performance remains the biggest concern among Mailbag contributors this week.

Colby will likely get a full year to prove himself offensively before the Jays make a decision on his long-term future, or not, with the team. With Gose on the rise, with Thames and Snider still on board and with other talented young outfielders like Jake Marisnick, in the hopper, Rasmus, unless he turns it around, could only be short-term in centre field.

And yes, the Tilted Kilt at Happy Hour is a wonderful thing. Prior to the start of the Grapefruit League schedule, I went over to the Kilt, hard by the Phillies ballpark in Clearwater, for their 50 cent wings, 99 cent domestic pints and a very strong wireless signal, perfect for a hungry blogger in late February. It was great and cheap. Feel free to say hello at the stadium next spring...and thank you for calling what I do “work.” 

Q-Hi Richard,

Love the blog! Two questions. First, I loved the way Snider and Thames performed this spring, and I'm sure the brass was too. Everyday I check the papers thinking that I am going to see one of them traded. I'm even more worried that it will be Snider. Is one of these guys trade bait right now? Second, I also love the McGowan signing, but is this more of a reward for the work he has put in during comeback, or his he really poised to be a contributer over the next couple of years?

Colin W, Ottawa

A-In the Snider/Thames case, the Indians are one team currently looking for a viable starting outfielder, but unless a significant prospect was to be coming back in return, why would Anthopoulos consider doing it. It's a long season and it's likely that Snider will get his chance back in the majors at some point during the schedule.

Snider is 24, Thames 25, but Snider is now using his final option. As for McGowan, yes it's partially about the reward and yes, he can be a contributor if healthy, but if not, the guaranteed money is easy to absorb in the grand scheme of things.

Other players, future free agents and their agent representatives, always tend to notice the little things that any team does to define itself. The McGowan signing is one of those things. It's a return to the values under Pat Gillick and Peter Hardy.

Q-Hi Richard,

I like your blog and columns, and, like you, I'm a former Expos fan. I'll keep them in my heart for quite a bit still, I'm sure. I'm wondering about the somewhat bizarre trend in your columns and blog posts lately of avoiding to name the Dunedin stadium by its current name at any cost (the Florida Auto Exchange Stadium I think it's called now).

Do you have a specific gripe about the current sponsor? Are you going to start naming Rogers Centre the "stadium formerly known as Skydome"? Let's see how long it will take Rogers to get nasty with you after trying that kind of stunt a couple of times.

Patrice Maltais, Scarborough

Q-Hi Richard,

It's nice to have the vicarious thrill of hearing all Spring Training when we can't make it to Florida. Thanks for the rich commentary. But I'll bite on one issue: What's the deal with all of the mentions of "the stadium formerly known as Grant Field"? Is this your personal reference to losing out on the Prince Fielder sweepstakes?

Bryan Willis, Vancouver

Q-Hey Richard,

Why do you keep mentioning the Jays are playing in a stadium formerly known as Dunedin Stadium? It is akin mentioning the stadium formerly known as the Skydome. Thanks,

Martin Hugh, Toronto 

A-Who knew that my daily spring tribute to “the artist formerly known as Prince” would cause such consternation among readers. The three questions reprinted above are mere examples of the righteous indignation and head-scratching confusion that my “stadium formerly known as Grant Field” daily designation of Florida Auto Exchange Stadium produced.

Here's how the tradition came about.

First, admit it, that's not an easy name to remember and when the Jays moved their spring operations from the Mattick complex to the stadium, as they do at the start of March each year, it became a frustrating daily question. “What the hell's the name of this place again?” I would ask Gregor Chisolm of MLB.com.

The daily frustration was compounded by the fact that in most spring parks, the stadium name is proudly displayed on the scoreboard, but at FAES the only place it's visible is on the concrete wall behind home plate which, frustratingly, is right under the press box window and not visible from where I sit. I got tired of asking every day.

Besides, have you ever driven by the Florida Auto Exchange on Main Street Dunedin?

It looks like a ramshackle white shed with a bunch of abandoned cars parked in haphazard fashion. How and why did they decide it was a good idea to sponsor the Jays' ballpark. How could they afford it?

It makes me want to buy my own spot on the outfield fence next year promoting Richard Griffin's Mailbag with a big sunburned headshot of me smiling out at Jose Bautista as he patrols right field. Maybe the eyes could be made to move back and forth. That would be nice. How much could that cost, really, if FAE can afford to sponsor the whole park?

By the way, I like that reader's idea of “was it a reference to not signing Prince Fielder.” I wish it was.  

Q-Richard,

Something that has bothered me for months is people, some reporters included, talking about Blue Jay starting pitching depth.

While I will concede maybe by 2014 I see the type of depth I like evolving, let me pose the following to you, I will give you Romero (Cy Young candidate I believe). I will also count Morrow although he sure reminds me of a younger A.J. Burnett at this stage of his career. And I will even say Henderson Alvarez appears to be the real deal but what is the track record of big seasons by 21-year-olds?

However Cecil will not make it through the entire season throwing the way he is and I think the Jays know this. McGowan is a great story but best case scenario is he does well and gets shut down at 150 innings and worst case is he blows his arm out.....sadly this can't be ruled out.

Who is next in line after these two? Kyle Drabek still seems to be struggling with control and I am not even counting mentally. Drew Hutchinson is young and all seem to agree he needs more seasoning?

As much as I love this team I just can't consider them a serious playoff contender and don't understand why they were so steadfast that they needed to acquire a number 2 quality starter when frankly I would have been happy acquiring a guaranteed "innings eater" with middle of the road ability?

Thanks ,

Mike Davies, Hespeler

A-The Jays' pitching depth is real but not yet fully arrived. There is no Jo-Jo Reyes on the depth chart this year, which is the real sign of progress over where it was a year ago. The opening day rotation is simply the starting off point.

The Jays have averaged 12 different starting pitchers over the past three seasons. Here is one man's depth chart of pitchers that could realistically be ready to be among this year's dirty dozen: Romero, Morrow, Alvarez, Cecil, Drabek, McGowan, Aaron Laffey, Chad Jenkins, Deck McGuire, Joel Carreno, Drew Hutchison. That's a solid 11. The 12th is always a surprise.

What I don't understand, however, is your suggestion that an innings-eater with middle-of-the-road ability would have been better than acquiring a No. 2 starter. If they had obtained a guy like Mat Latos or Yu Darvish, it would have been a nice fit, albeit at different cash values, and people would now be talking about the Jays having a legitimate chance to contend in the bold, new, two-wild card world. But they will really need someone that is already here to step up big time like Morrow or Alvarez in order to contend this year. It remains a possibility if Morrow is indeed not A.J. reincarnate – which he's not.   

Q-Hey Richard,

Big fan of your work and I was wondering If I am the only Jays fan who wants to see Rajai Davis get the bulk of playing time this year over Colby Rasmus.

My only concern here is fielding because we know Rasmus is the much better option defensively. My point is we already have what Rasmus can give us on the team but nobody else offers what Davis has in terms of changing a game with his speed.Also he is a career .274 hitter. I do believe and had an injury-plagued down year last year but also hit .280 and over .300 the previous two seasons in Oakland... I'll admit there is just something about Rasmus I don't like. I agree that it was worth taking a chance on him with the trade where we gave up very little and will gladly eat my words if he lives up to his potential but how long of a leash will he get this season because he was absolutely brutal last year even before he hurt his wrist or hand or whatever. Maybe I'm way out to left field on this one you get to see the guys in Spring Training so what are your thoughts...

Chris McMillan, Marsvilles

A-I believe that Jays' outfield defence is one of manager John Farrell's biggest personal concerns at the start of '12 as a way to make this pitching rotation as good as it can be...or at least to give them the opportunity to prove what they can truly do when given outfield support. Recall last season's start with an opening day injury to Rajai Davis that brought into play Juan Rivera and Corey Patterson on a daily basis until the Rasmus deal.

Even when Davis returned, it was not contributing to an optimum defensive situation. His major defensive asset is being able to outrun his mistakes.

Farrell loves Davis off the bench. As a fourth outfielder, Farrell is guaranteed that in the 8th or 9th inning  Davis can be available as a weapon to disrupt pitchers and maybe advance to scoring position in a close game. If he's in the starting lineup, you can't always choose when he comes up or reaches first base in a close game to become “the disruptor.”

As a player off the bench, you can always make that decision. Davis will get a number of opportunities to start games in centre field against tough left-handers or when Rasmus is a little nicked up or needs a rest. Davis is now in his best role, the one that was described for him when he was first acquired, even before Vernon Wells was dealt to the Angels.

Q-Dear Richard,

I have had just about enough of Adam Lind, especially against left-handed pitching. Is there any indication that if his hitting is not improved by the all-star break that we will see David Cooper, Mike McDade, or Yan Gomes in that position.

Craig Armstrong, Toronto

A-The first step would be to move Lind out of the cleanup role as the first line of protection for Jose Bautista. That move down the order is already going to happen against left-handers, with Bautista, Encarnacion and Lawrie going 3-4-5 in the platoon lineup. Whether Lind bats down in the order or gets the day off vs. lefties will be the only early question.

Against right-handers, Lind came on late in the spring and despite being sidelined briefly with back woes, began swinging the bat much better. He will be given plenty of rope against right-handers, which is the majority. If Lind is DL'd, Cooper would be the first player called up and Encarnacion would likely get the majority of reps at first base. The only way Yan Gomes sees the majors is as a backup catcher if Jeff Mathis is forced to the DL. 

Q-Greetings Richard,

I just finished reading your Q&A from Feb 23 and would like to respond to one of your comments. You had respond to a listener at the time that Encarnacion should be the full-time DH and nothing but that beg to disagree with you but have you ever looked at his career statistics? They are horrid! Have a look at his career statistics from BaseballReference.com and you will see a player who has never had more than 3 good months out of six each year during his 7 years in the Majors. If he was a pitcher I would consider him to be the Josh Towers or Jo-Jo Reyes from the world of DH's or crap infielders. Please take the time and look then explain to me why you would consider him for something full-time? FYI yes it is friggin cold here in the really far south. I get to have a 20 month straight of winter....Fun Wow!!

Petr Von Rolt, The South Pole Station.

A-Our views on this issue are polar opposites. You likely would have been opposed to giving Jose Bautista the opportunity to play every day back in 2010 because of his previous history. Look what you would have missed out on.

I look at Encarnacion's splits last season between right-handed and left-handed pitching and his offensive performance as a DH and first baseman compared to his horrible stats as a third baseman, which is at least understandable because three days before the start of the '11 season he was parachuted into the hot corner so that Bautista could move back to right.

Watching Edwin swing the bat every day last year, the potential always shone through in terms of power and hitting the ball hard. He is a free agent at the end of the season and is in the right place to succeed as a full-time DH and reserve at first base, third base and in left field. He can be a very useful player.   

Q-Dear Richard,

The Jays are reluctant to send their best young pitchers to Las Vegas for fear of hurting their confidence because the PCL is such a hitters' league. However, wouldn't it make sense to at least send their college grads (e.g. Jenkins and McGuire) to Las Vegas to see if they can handle the pressure? In any case, they better find a new AAA site soon since within a year or two they have far too many good young arms to leave them all at AA .

Thanks,

Bill Reynolds, Toronto

A-I agree. I'm not so sure they need to send Jenkins and McGuire to Vegas to see how they handle pitching inside a pinball machine, but I get your point. The future problem is they do have too many good young starting pitchers coming up from behind to maintain the same policy of Double-A or bust.

The Vegas affiliate contract is expiring at the end of the year and they would love to find a place like Buffalo that is closer to T-O and easier on starting pitchers. Maybe Ottawa, but the International League would need to transfer an existing franchise or else add two teams.

The Jays don't own their affiliates. Once again this year, they have tried to avoid exposing their young studs to Sin City, with Jenkins, Carreno, Hutchison and McGuire all starting out in the forests of New Hampshire. Meanwhile, at Vegas are guys like Nelson Figueroa, Tim Redding, Scott Richmond and, likely, Aaron Laffey.

Q-Hi Richard,

I totally understand the concept of options on players and making sure they are managed properly so talent isn't needlessly lost.

Where I have trouble with AA on this is when he has those conversations with players and tells them that if they were out of options and fighting for a job, they have the inside track. I think that does a disservice to players with options and also doesn't motivate the ones without options.

I know that in the real world where you and I work, a strategy like that wouldn't fly.

Whatever happened to putting the best team you have out there? If a player is out of options and there is no place for him, then trade/cut him so that 1) you have the best team on the field, 2) you make the player who worked the hardest to win the job happy 3) you give the player without options another chance to catch on with another team. Your thoughts?

Mat Saturn, Toronto

A-If you take the uniqueness of the messages in baseball out of the equation, there is not much to criticize about sitting your employees down and outlining for them a no-holds-barred summary of where they stand professionally.

The CBA's system of “minor-league options” doesn't exist in many other occupations.For instance, The Star would never sit me down in January and decide that if there was no room on the baseball beat they might send me to, say, the Oakville Beaver for more seasoning.

Just because Anthopoulos and manager John Farrell told the players where they stood prior to camp did not guarantee them jobs. They still had to work hard in the spring to win the position, while the guys behind them on the depth chart had to work just as hard to maintain their “we got next” status.

It's those kids that come to spring training and think they have a chance with a good spring training, it's those kids that are devastated by their demotions that need to be spoken to realistically at the start of camp. If anyone actually stops working hard because they know where they stand, you don't want them.

Q-Hey Richard,

Me, Adam Lind, and Kelly Johnson have a bet going for who you think has the best shot at winning comeback player of the year this year based on what you've seen at spring training. It is me right?

Colby Rasmus, Toronto courtesy of M. Siddall

A-Sure Colby, but in most cases there has to have been one really, really good year in your past to come back to in order to be a comeback candidate. Maybe you can be a breakout candidate instead.

 

Mailbag 04-02-12

by Richard Griffin

 

Opening Day is at hand!! Alright, we know. The A's and M's have already opened their seasons with a two-game series in Japan, but for most of us, Opening Day arrives the middle of this week and the excitement is building in the form of quickened pulse and racing heart. If the final weeks of spring training are any indication, there already seems to be a certain edge to baseball entering 2012. On Sunday there was the ugly bench-clearing between the Indians and Rockies precipitated by Ubaldo Jimenez drilling Troy Tulowitzki in the elbow, an act called cowardly and classless by Rockies manager Jim Tracy. How about Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine and his grating personality. You know he's going to be in the middle of some ugliness before too long. Or loose cannon Ozzie Guillen as manager in Miami. Ditto to his effect on the NL East. In any case, even if it's just straight-up MLB baseball without the WWE extras, we're looking forward to the Jays on Thursday afternoon in Cleveland at the field formerly known as Jacobs. On to the mailbag.  

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

I want to get an understanding of the McGowan's contract. Kudos to him for showing such determination and "no quit" attitude. Did AA sign him so that he wouldn't possibly botch or pull a Ricciardi like losing Chris Carpenter? Also, with the guaranteed contract can he still be sent down (options)? That's what I really want to know. When and if Dustin makes his first start this season I'll be there to give him a standing O!

Sincerely,

Kam H, Richmond Hill

 

A-There are some solid reasons why signing McGowan to the contract the Jays offered makes sense for everyone. Both McGowan and the Jays realized that they owed each other a degree of loyalty after three years of the pitcher's intense and single-minded rehab, but how would that mutual admiration be translated into reality. It has always been a nice sports sentiment, but what form could it possibly take? It turns out this two-way street has been paved by two guaranteed years, 2013-14, for a total of $3 million, plus a club option for $4-million in 2015. McGowan, because he was on the major-league disabled list for the entire length of his string of injuries, starting in 2008, had been accumulating major-league service time and, thus, would be eligible for his six-year free agency following the '12 season. The Jays understood this and basically gave him a contract the equivalent of a fourth-and-fifth-year arbitration-eligible player, plus a $4 million non-guaranteed year that will depend on health. Fair.

The Jays pre-empted McGowan's free agency instead of waiting until the end of the '12 season, a year for him that would have clouded the issue, because it will really be a success simply if the right-hander completes it in good health. They offered the contract now instead of having to negotiate the free agent deal at the end of the season and having any pesky, non-representative stats and results that probably won't be that impressive, stand in the way. The Jays decided to take all doubt out of the equation and get the deal done now. A load has been removed from McGowan's shoulders and he can go about his most recent rehab from the plantar fasciitis back in Florida with a clear head and a singleness of purpose, with the goal of getting back into the rotation ASAP.

Yes, the McGowan situation can clearly be compared to the way that the Jays mishandled Chris Carpenter, refusing to guarantee him a 40-man roster spot while he was rehabbing from a shoulder injury, then allowing him to go to the Cards as a free agent, seeing him overcome his injury and go on to a Cy Young and World Series. The new McGowan contract does not add any minor-league options. He's all out. So if the Jays ever want to send him to the minors, he would have to clear waivers, which likely would not happen.     

 

 

Q-Hey Richard,

Why has there been no movement on MLB Network coming to Canada? It would be such a benefit to the popularity of both MLB and the Blue Jays here in Canada... and would be especially great for those of us who don't want to sit through 25 minutes of hockey coverage to see a few minutes of baseball highlights on the major sports networks. I know there are CRTC regulations to consider, but the NFL Network has been able to make its way here. When will they show us baseball fans the same respect?

Ian Murray, Toronto

 

A-I have wondered about that ever since the MLB Network debuted. It seems to me if it hasn't happened yet that we can purchase a feed of the MLB Network on cable in Canada, that it can only be because Rogers does not want it to happen because its content night serve to diminish the Sportsnet brands – ONE, Ontario, East and Pacific and all its already included baseball programming. Otherwise, it seems it could have easily been added to cable's monthly sports package. I'm not a CRTC expert, but Canadian content? Hell, when they started out three years ago, Toronto-native Hazel Mae was one of the stars of their news desk and don't Canadians always litter the on-field landscape. Then there's the Jays. Of course, I've been wrong before, but otherwise why wouldn't it be available.

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

Should we be worried about Colby Rasmus' spring? BTW, I can't help but notice a change in your optimism. You know it's just spring training, but the kid in you seems to think this team may just compete!

Ryan B., Toronto

Q-If Colby Rasmus continues this spring as he did last year, will he be the Jay's centre fielder for the whole season? Would Anthony Gose be ready to replace him?

Tom Lurvey, Winnipeg

 

A-The common thread in the above questions is Colby Rasmus. Any prediction of how he will perform once the bell rings for the regular season would be a guess. He's a hard read. Can all the scouts that predicted stardom for Rasmus as a Cards' prospect be wrong? But it's now up to him. However, there is no doubt that he will remain the centre fielder throughout the year unless he is injured or traded. They value his defence. The Jays in the first half of last season had a horrible outfield defence that set the young starting rotation back tremendously. Rasmus's glove helps the pitching move forward.

As for Gose's arrival, when the Jays acquired him from the Astros they believed he needed 1,500 more minor league at-bats. He has about 1,000 since then. They will let Gose complete the year in Vegas.

Finally, as per my added optimism re the Jays, other readers have noticed the same and commented on my seemingly increased belief regarding the Jays ability to compete. After much self-pondering I have arrived at the belief I have been afflicted by a sort of sporting Stockholm syndrome. I believe I have spent so much time in close Jays' confinement at spring training, arriving early in the morning to the clubhouse and leaving late at night, that like a kidnap victim that absorbs and starts to sympathize with the plight of his captors, I believe I have become a reluctant convert much like Patty Hearst back in the day taking on the alias of Tania and robbing a Wells Fargo bank shoulder-to-shoulder the Symbionese Liberation Army in the '70s. It's now “Let's go Blue Jays, let's play ball.” 

 

 

Q-What year did the Blue Jays have their last winning Grapefruit League season? Please tell me it was in the early 90's, if you catch my drift.

Ronnie Lucas, Belleville

Q-Hi Richard.

Hope this isn't a dumb question but I'll ask it anyway does the current spring training record mean for the Jays with respect to the regular season? Are they peaking early or is this a good thing and what are the benefits? I asked my buddies the question, it has us all scratching our heads.

Alex Glowach, St. Albert

 

A-This is another popular question, the significance of the Jays' stunning spring training record. There are two main reasons for a fab spring record. 1-An organization that may feel it needs to win games in the spring in order to sell tickets at home. That usually follows up a disappointing regular season the year before and an ownership that applies the pressure on the manager and GM. 2-An organization that is deep in talent, especially young pitching, all the way through the upper levels of the minor leagues. The latter is the explanation for the Jays' spring. It usually doesn't mean anything to the regular season. 

A recent spring study shows the Jays in the first year under John Farrell last year were 16-14 in  Grapefruit League play. The second-year manager swears he's not trying to win all these games this spring, that the goal is getting the individual players ready for the season and staying healthy.

The Top 4 previous Blue Jays' spring records: 21 wins in '89; 19 wins in '85; 18 wins in '88 and '00. In two of those four seasons that followed the most successful springs, the manager was fired – Jimy Williams in '89 and Jim Fregosi after the '00 season and in a third year, after the '85 schedule, Bobby Cox quit to go to the Braves. As for the World Series years, the Grapefruit League records were 13-18 in '92 and 11-19 in '93. The Jays in relation to .500 marks in the spring have been 13-19-5 in 38 years.     

 

 

Q-Long time reader, and I will throw a few short thoughts to you.

1.      If Lind isn't the guy at first, why not move one of the two catchers over a la Delgado, then you wouldn't have to lose either and both can become integral parts.

Adeiny should get a look with the big club if Johnson stumbles in April, let him have a month and see if there is anything he can adjust in June in Vegas.

Good to limit the innings of the kids in the minors so that they have bullets, will they do this for Kyle as well?

Snider or Thames? Who will be a Jay in 2013 if you only keep one.

Ian Serota, Thornhill

 

A-The question of first base and having two catchers is one the Jays are going to have to address very soon. For now, Adam Lind is locked in at first and Arencibia is the catcher. When D'Arnaud is ready for the majors at the end of 2012, first base might become an option for Arencibia He developed well as a receiver last year, but J.P. must show similar progress in his hitting and on-base abilities in '12.

Hechavarria, once he gets his legs under him at Triple-A will be ready to come up on option and fill in should either Johnson or Yunel Escobar be forced onto the disabled list. The 22-year-old Cuban's defence is already magic. But if Johnson and Escobar stay healthy, they will play unless traded.

Drabek has pitched 153+ innings in each of the past three seasons, but not at the major-league level. If it turns out that Kyle is in the majors all year, they will likely limit him to about 170 innings because the stress level is definitely higher at the major-league level. But he is further along than McGowan.

As for Snider or Thames in 2013? I think that will take care of itself and sometimes it becomes who the other team wants or the quality of the player they offer. Anthopoulos is flexible in terms of listening.      

 

 

Q-Richard,

Just got back from Tampa after spending 4 days there watching the Jays, getting some sun and the occasional adult beverage (the 99 cent beers at the Tilted Kilt is no joke). Even saw you a couple times and was thinking I should say hi, but decided against it. Hard to believe someone has to work in that stadium when it is so amazing just to be a fan. Is Rasmus going to pick it up? He seemed to be the only guy who wasn't hitting the ball the past 4 days, and as we sat there and watched him he reminded us of Rios, seems like he has potential, but has defintiely not put it together. Any chance he flames out this year and the teams makes a move, to either Gose or someone else to fill the gap? Love your writing, thanks,

Bryan Chandler, Ottawa

 

A-It seems to me that Rasmus's spring performance remains the biggest concern among Mailbag contributors this week. Colby will likely get a full year to prove himself offensively before the Jays make a decision on his long-term future, or not, with the team. With Gose on the rise, with Thames and Snider still on board and with other talented young outfielders like Jake Marisnick, in the hopper, Rasmus, unless he turns it around, could only be short-term in centre field. And yes, the Tilted Kilt at Happy Hour is a wonderful thing. Prior to the start of the Grapefruit League schedule, I went over to the Kilt, hard by the Phillies ballpark in Clearwater, for their 50 cent wings, 99 cent domestic pints and a very strong wireless signal, perfect for a hungry blogger in late February. It was great and cheap. Feel free to say hello at the stadium next spring...and thank you for calling what I do “work.”. 

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

Love the blog! Two questions. First, I loved the way Snider and Thames performed this spring, and I'm sure the brass was too. Everyday I check the papers thinking that I am going to see one of them traded. I'm even more worried that it will be Snider. Is one of these guys trade bait right now? Second, I also love the McGowan signing, but is this more of a reward for the work he has put in during comeback, or his he really poised to be a contributer over the next couple of years?

Colin W, Ottawa

 

A-In the Snider/Thames case, the Indians are one team currently looking for a viable starting outfielder, but unless a significant prospect was to be coming back in return, why would Anthopoulos consider doing it. It's a long Jays' season and it's likely that Snider will get his chance back in the majors at some point during the schedule. Snider is 24, Thames 25, but Snider is now using his final option. As for McGowan, yes it's partially about the reward and yes he can be a contributor if healthy, but if not, the guaranteed money is easy to absorb in the grand scheme of things. Other players, future free agents and their agent representatives, always tend to notice the little things that any team does to define itself. The McGowan signing is one of those things. It's a return to the values under Pat Gillick and Peter Hardy.

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

I like your blog and columns, and, like you, I'm a former Expos fan. I'll keep them in my heart for quite a bit still, I'm sure. I'm wondering about the somewhat bizarre trend in your columns and blog posts lately of avoiding to name the Dunedin stadium by its current name at any cost (the Florida Auto Exchange Stadium I think it's called now). Do you have a specific gripe about the current sponsor? Are you going to start naming Rogers Centre the "stadium formerly known as Skydome"? Let's see how long it will take Rogers to get nasty with you after trying that kind of stunt a couple of times.

Patrice Maltais, Scarborough

Q-Hi Richard,

It's nice to have the vicarious thrill of hearing all Spring Training when we can't make it to Florida. Thanks for the rich commentary. But I'll bite on one issue: What's the deal with all of the mentions of "the stadium formerly known as Grant Field"? Is this your personal reference to losing out on the Prince Fielder sweepstakes?

Bryan Willis, Vancouver

Q-Hey Richard,

Why do you keep mentioning the Jays are playing in a stadium formerly known as Dunedin Stadium? It is akin mentioning the stadium formerly known as the Skydome.

thanks,

Martin Hugh, Toronto

 

A-Who knew that my daily spring tribute to “the artist formerly known as Prince” would cause such consternation among readers. The three questions reprinted above are mere examples of the righteous indignation and head-scratching confusion that my “stadium formerly known as Grant Field” daily designation of Florida Auto Exchange Stadium produced. Here's how the tradition came about.

First, admit it, that's not an easy name to remember and when the Jays moved their spring operations from the Mattick complex to the stadium, as they do at the start of March each year, it became a frustrating daily question. “What the hell's the name of this place again?” I would ask Gregor Chisolm of MLB.com. The daily frustration was compounded by the fact that in most spring parks, the stadium name is proudly displayed on the scoreboard, but at FAES the only place it's visible is on the concrete wall behind home plate which, frustratingly, is right under the press box window and not visible from where I sit. I got tired of asking every day. Besides, have you ever driven by the Florida Auto Exchange on Main Street Dunedin? It looks like a ramshackle white shed with a bunch of abandoned cars parked in haphazard fashion. How and why did they decide it was a good idea to sponsor the Jays' ballpark. How could they afford it? It makes me want to buy my own spot on the outfield fence next year promoting Richard Griffin's Mailbag with a big sunburned headshot of me smiling out at Jose Bautista as he patrols right field. Maybe the eyes could be made to move back and forth. That would be nice. How much could that cost, really, if FAE can afford to sponsor the whole park? By the way, I like that reader's idea of “was it a reference to not signing Prince Fielder.” I wish it was.  

 

 

Q-Richard,

Something that has bothered me for months is people, some reporters included, talking about Blue Jay starting pitching depth. While I will concede maybe by 2014 I see the type of depth I like evolving, let me pose the following to you, I will give you Romero (Cy Young candidate I believe). I will also count Morrow although he sure reminds me of a younger AJ Burnett at this stage of his career. And I will even say Henderson Alvarez appears to be the real deal but what is the track record of big seasons by 21 years olds? However Cecil will not make it through the entire season throwing the way he is and I think the Jays know this. McGowan is a great story but best case scenario is he does well and gets shut down at 150 innings and worst case is he blows his arm out.....sadly this can't be ruled out. Who is next in line for these two? Kyle Drabek still seems to be struggling with control and I am not even counting mentally. Drew Hutchinson is young and all seem to agree he needs more seasoning? As much as I love this team I just can't consider them a serious playoff contender and don't understand why they were so steadfast that they needed to acquire a number 2 quality starter when frankly I would have been happy acquiring a guaranteed "innings eater" with middle of the road ability?

Thanks ,

Mike Davies, Hespeler

 

A-The Jays' pitching depth is real but not yet fully arrived. There is no Jo-Jo Reyes on the depth chart this year, which is the real sign of progress over where it was a year ago. The opening day rotation is simply the starting off point. The Jays have averaged 12 different starting pitchers over the past three seasons. Here is one man's depth chart of pitchers that could realistically be ready to be among this year's dirty dozen: Romero, Morrow, Alvarez, Cecil, Drabek, McGowan, Aaron Laffey, Chad Jenkins, Deck McGuire, Joel Carreno, Drew Hutchison. That's a solid 11. The 12th is always a surprise.

What I don't understand, however, is your suggestion that an innings-eater with middle-of-the-road ability would have been better than acquiring a No. 2 starter. If they had obtained a guy like Mat Latos or Yu Darvish, it would have been a nice fit, albeit at different cash values, and people would now be talking about the Jays having a legitimate chance to contend in the bold, new, two-wildcard world. But they will really need someone that is already here to step up big time like Morrow or Alvarez in order to contend this year. It remains a possibility if Morrow is indeed not A.J. reincarnate – which he's not.   

 

 

Q-Hey Richard,

Big fan of your work and I was wondering If I am the only Jays fan who wants to See Rajai Davis get the bulk of playing time this year over Colby Rasmus... My only concern here is fielding because we know Rasmus is the much better option defenesively. My point is we already have what Rasmus can give us on the team but nobody else offers what Davis has in terms of changing a game with his speed. Also he is a career .274 hitter I do believe and had an injury plagued down year last year but also hit .280 and over .300 the previous two seasons in Oakland... I'll admit there is just something about Rasmus I don't like. I agree that it was worth taking a chance on him with the trade where we gave up very little and will gladly eat my words if he lives up to his potential but how long of a leash will he get this season because he was absolutely brutal last year even before he hurt his wrist or hand or whatever. Maybe I'm way out to left field on this one you get to see the guys in Spring Training so what are your thoughts...

Chris McMillan, Marsvilles

 

A-I believe that Jays' outfield defence is one of manager John Farrell's biggest personal concerns at the start of '12 as a way to make this pitching rotation as good as it can be...or at least to give them the opportunity to prove what they can truly do when given outfield support. Recall last season's start with an opening day injury to Rajai Davis that brought into play Juan Rivera and Corey Patterson on a daily basis until the Rasmus deal. Even when Davis returned, it was not contributing to an optimum defensive situation. His major defensive asset is being able to outrun his mistakes.

Farrell loves Davis off the bench. As a fourth outfielder, Farrell is guaranteed that in the 8th or 9th inning  Davis can be available as a weapon to disrupt pitchers and maybe advance to scoring position in a close game. If he's in the starting lineup, you can't always choose when he comes up or reaches first base in a close game to become “the disruptor.” As a player off the bench, you can always make that decision. Davis will get a number of opportunities to start games in centre field against tough lefthanders or when Rasmus is a little nicked up or needs a rest. Davis is now in his best role, the one that was described for him when he was first acquired, even before Vernon Wells was dealt to the Angels.

 

 

Q-Dear Richard,

I have had just about enough of Adam Lind, especially against left handed pitching. Is there any indication that if his hitting is not improved by the all star break that we will see David Cooper, Mike McDade, or Yan Gomes in that position.

Craig Armstrong, Toronto

 

A-The first step would be to move Lind out of the cleanup role as the first line of protection for Jose Bautista. That move down the order is already going to happen against lefthanders, with Bautista, Encarnacion and Lawrie going 3-4-5 in the platoon lineup. Whether Lind bats down in the order or gets the day off vs. lefties will be the only early question. Against right-handers, Lind came on late in the spring and despite being sidelined briefly with back woes, began swinging the bat much better. He will be given plenty of rope against right-handers, which is the majority. If Lind is DL'd, Cooper would be the first player called up and Encarnacion would likely get the majority of reps at first base. The only way Yan Gomes sees the majors is as a backup catcher if Jeff Mathis is forced to the DL. 

 

 

Q-Greetings Richard,

I just finished reading your Q&A from Feb 23 and would like to respond to one of your comments. You had respond to a listener at the time that Encarnacion should be the full-time DH and nothing but that beg to disagree with you but have you ever looked at his career statistics? They are horrid! Have a look at his career statistics from Baseball-Reference.com and you will see a player who has never had more than 3 good months out of six each year during his 7 years in the Majors. If he was a pitcher I would consider him to be the Josh Towers or Jo-jo Reyes from the world of DH's or crap infielders. Please take the time and look then explain to me why you would consider him for something full-time? FYI yes it is friggin cold here in the really far south. I get to have a 20 month straight of winter....Fun Wow!!

Petr Von Rolt, The South Pole Station.

 

A-Our views on this issue are polar opposite. You likely would have been opposed to giving Jose Bautista the opportunity to play every day back in 2010 because of his previous history. Look what you would have missed out on. I look at Encarnacion's splits last season between right-handed and left-handed pitching and his offensive performance as a DH and first baseman compared to his horrible stats as a third baseman, which is at least understandable because three days before the start of the '11 season he was parachuted into the hot corner so that Bautista could move back to right. Watching Edwin swing the bat every day last year, the potential always shone through in terms of power and hitting the ball hard. He is a free agent at the end of the season and is in the right place to succeed as a fulltime DH and reserve at first base, third base and in left field. He can be a very useful player.   

 

 

Q-Dear Richard,

The Jays are reluctant to send their best young pitchers to Las Vegas for fear of hurting their confidence because the PCL is such a hitters' league. However, wouldn't it make sense to at least send their College grads (e.g. Jenkins and McGuire) to Las Vegas to see if they can handle the pressure? In any case, they better find a new AAA site soon since within a year or two they have far too many good young arms to leave them all at AA .

Thanks,

Bill Reynolds, Toronto

 

A-I agree. I'm not so sure they need to send Jenkins and McGuire to Vegas to see how they handle pitching inside a pinball machine, but I get your point. The future problem is they do have too many good young starting pitchers coming up from behind to maintain the same policy of Double-A or bust. The Vegas affiliate contract is expiring at the end of the year and they would love to find a place like Buffalo that is closer to T-O and easier on starting pitchers. Maybe Ottawa, but the International League would need to transfer an existing franchise or else add two teams. The Jays don't own their affiliates. Once again this year, they have tried to avoid exposing their young studs to Sin City, with Jenkins, Carreno, Hutchison and McGuire all starting out in the forests of New Hampshire. Meanwhile, at Vegas are guys like Nelson Figueroa, Tim Redding, Scott Richmond and, likely, Aaron Laffey.

 

 

Q-Hi Richard,

I totally understand the concept of options on players and making sure they are managed properly so talent isn't needlessly lost. Where I have trouble with AA on this is when he has those conversations with players and tells them that if they were out of options and fighting for a job, they have the inside track. I think that does a disservice to players with options and also doesn't motivate the ones without options. I know that in the real world where you and I work, a strategy like that wouldn't fly. Whatever happened to putting the best team you have out there? If a player is out of options and there is no place for him, then trade/cut him so that 1) you have the best team on the field, 2) you make the player who worked the hardest to win the job happy 3) you give the player without options another chance to catch on with another team. Your thoughts?

Mat Saturn, Toronto

 

A-If you take the uniqueness of the messages in baseball out of the equation, there is not much to criticize about sitting your employees down and outlining for them a no-holds-barred summary of where they stand professionally. The CBA's system of “minor-league options” doesn't exist in many other occupations. For instance, The Star would never sit me down in January and decide that if there was no room on the baseball beat they might send me to, say, the Oakville Beaver for more seasoning. Just because Anthopoulos and manager John Farrell told the players where they stood prior to camp did not guarantee them jobs. They still had to work hard in the spring to win the position, while the guys behind them on the depth chart had to work just as hard to maintain their “we got next” status. It's those kids that come to spring training and think they have a chance with a good spring training, it's those kids that are devastated by their demotions that need to be spoken to realistically at the start of camp. If anyone actually stops working hard because they know where they stand, you don't want them.

 

 

Q-Hey Richard,

Me, Adam Lind, and Kelly Johnson have a bet going for who you think has the best shot at winning comeback player of the year this year based on what you've seen at spring training. It is me right?

Colby Rasmus, Toronto courtesy of M. Siddall

 

A-Sure Colby, but in most cases there has to have been one really, really good year in your past to come back to in order to be a comeback candidate. Maybe you can be a breakout candidate instead.