Buffalo Boy's Blog
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Going Old School
Jays/baseball fans, what do you think about the new logo? So far the reviews Im reading and the one Im giving here are great! I love it, slimmed it down a little more modern looking but all the elements from the old logo are there.
Now, go get Prince Fielder and a closer to fill the new jerseys so we can show these things off in October!
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
Keep Your Hands Off Our Manager
Keep your hands off our manager! Thats the message from Alex Anthopolous today and good! The Boston Red Sox screwed up their situation all on their own and there is absolutely no reason for John Farrell to talk to the Red Sox when we have a perfect fit for him in Toronto.
He signed the contract last year for a three year deal and the Red Sox know damn well he is under contract with the Blue Jays so stay out of our cupboard. The Red Sox screwed up with Terry Francona and deserve no sympathy from anyone, nevermind the Toronto who is trying to overtake them in the AL East. Farrell had a great first season as Jays skipper and there is no reason to think he is not going to fine tune this team for a run next year.
Now that we said no to them on Farrell, I say we pluck Johnathan Papelbon out of the free agent market on day one of free agency. We need a stud at the back end of that bullpen, the way I figure it, if we can get a guy who can cut our blown saves down from 22 which was the league worst down to oh say 3 or 4 then we can be in the playoffs next year with 18 more wins which would put us at around 99 wins by my math and teach the Red Sox a lesson for trying to steal our manager at the same time.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
Fix The Jays- Get a CLOSER
We don't need much to fix this team. Overall the starting pitching is good, the offense is more than sufficient...but when you look at the pen, 20 blown saves. The two that get the majority of the opportunities Frank Francisco and John Rausch are 11/16 and 11/15 respectively. That sucks.
If AA has one mission this offseason its to go out and sign or trade for the best available closer on the market. Enough with patch work bullpens, this team hasn't had a good closer since BJ Ryan and before that it was probably Duane Ward/Henke days. Hell right now who wouldn't settle for Kevin Gregg back, was he perfect no, but he was consistent and he certainly didn't blow over 30% of his opportunities.
I actually wouldn't mind seeing Jesse Litsch take a stab at the role next spring, but that doesn't mean you don't go out and try to get a stud in this organization. That might, right now be the biggest piece to get this team over the hump.
If you win say 10 of those 20 even that you have leads in late in games maybe you are within shouting distance of just the wildcard.
Get a closer and fix the Jays.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
Going for Broke
Im going to come right out and say it......The Toronto Blue Jays will make the playoffs this year. They won 85 games last year and with Aaron Hill and Adam Lind returning to form, a break out season for Brandon Morrow and Travis Snider, arguably the strongest bullpen in the AL East with four potential closers and their new manager John Farrell who has all the tools o f a great manager, this team will at worst finish as the AL wild card this season.
My reasoning is simple. The Yankees and Rays both took steps backward, the Jays added depth that they haven't had over the last 15 years in guys like Octavio Dotel, John Rausch, Frank Francisco in the bullpen and Corey Patterson and Scott Posednik on the bench. Everyone knows this team is young and up and coming but its the vetarans they added in the offseason that will put this team over the top.
The Yankees who typically corner the free agent market didn't and they got older and developed more questions than answers for themselves. The Rays lost without getting equal talent to replace what they lost. Carl Crawford is a huge hole that they filled basically with Manny Ramirez....have fun with that.
So, mark my words, on March 13th, I have predicted the Toronto Blue Jays will make the playoffs this year for the first time since 1993.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
Thank You Shaun Marcum
Shaun Marcum was traded today to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for second base prospect Brett Lawrie who is from British Columbia, a Canadian native who has the tools to be a great player at the big league level.
Shaun Marcum leaves after a resurgent year in 2010, and while some Jays fans are probably scratching their heads, two aces in two years, let me remind you, they survived the trade of Roy Halladay and came back last season and won 85 games. Marcum is good, but he is no Roy Halladay.
Marcum stabilized the youth in the rotation last year and without him I shutter to think of what last year could have been and for that Marcum deserves full marks, but he is going on 30 years old and despite the relatively injury free season last year he still has a history of Tommy John surgery and that will always pose a threat to his resurgence.
The Jays are also about 8 pitchers deep still in potential starters and these are not push over type guys they have probably the most talented depth chart for a starting rotation in the AL.
So I would like to wish Shaun good luck and Im glad we sent him to the NL and to all Jays fans, relax, we will be okay, we have Cecil, Romero and Morrow and others.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
We Got a Leadoff Guy
We got our leadoff guy! Rajai Davis hit .284 last year and stole 50 bases for the Oakland A's, this is a good....no great trade by the Jays. This is the speediest guy we have had at the top of the order since Devo and he can play all three outfield positions.
Here is the Jays lineup as of today, granted more moves are on the way:
1. Rajai Davis- Left field
2. Aaron Hill- Second Base
3. Adam Lind- First Base
4. Jose Bautista- Third Base
5. Vernon Wells- Center Field
6. Travis Snider- Right Field
7. ??? DH
8. Yunel Escobar- Shortstop
9. JP Arencibia-Catcher
Im assuming Lyle Overbay will not be resigned so we need a DH. Manny Ramirez anyone? We will need a little depth as well on our bench and unless the Jays go out and find a third baseman, we are going to have to start Jose Bautista at third. Either way I like the balance Davis brings to the lineup.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
Get Busy This Offseason
Now that Jose Bautista has crushed the Toronto Blue Jays home run record and has officially broken the 50 home run mark I think we can safely start talking offseason for the Jays.
This offseason needs to capitalize on the renewed buzz in Toronto around this team, around the fact that if you can get this team 10-12 more wins via free agency and improving in a few key areas, this team has a shot to make a real run at this division, not in five years, not in three years but next year.
Alex Anthopoulus, the young, yet impressive new Jays GM has had a very, very successful year after taking over a turbulent franchise from JP Riccardi, I think it was safe to say that morale amongst fans after the Halladay trade last offseason was at an all time low.
But something happened. We all forgot this team had talented pitching behind Doc. They have two of the best lefties in baseball in Brett Cecil and Ricky Romero and a rejuvenated Shaun Marcum. They also have a much more talented Brandon than the one they shipped to Seattle to get Morrow. If Brandon Morrow continues to make progress, Brandon League for Brandon Morrow will be the biggest steal pulled off by any GM in the history of this franchise.
Vernon Wells may earn some of his contract and Jose Bautista....well, JP Riccardi did something right by getting this guy and Cito, well Cito took a guy who couldn't hit 15 home runs and now he has gone out and hit 51 and 52.
You could even argue that the ten games this team needs to gain in the standings is already on the roster. If Aaron Hill and Adam Lind have just .75% of the seasons they had in 2009, this team probably wins 10 more games and could easily be talking wildcard.
So, Alex Anthopoulus needs to go running out of the free agency gates this offseason and compete for some talent this offseason, Edwin Encarnacion is not going to work anymore. The experiment is over. I want Scott Rolen back who though injured for times this season has had his best offensive season in 4 years and still playing great defense. Since that won't happen, well find someone who can do something similar.
Lyle Overbay, you made up some ground this season but no dice on next year, your contract is up and its time to go fishing for something better. Or maybe we use a stop gap guy in there for one more year and go after Prince Fielder in 2011, either way, do something.
Revamp the bullpen a little. Please, no more Jason Frasor, I can't do it anymore. Kevin Gregg might be the worst closer ever to have 35 saves.
This is a grand opportunity, go out and make some moves this offseason, the time is right to strike while the buzz is up and fans are interested again. Spend a lil, trade a lil, either way, make some waves this offseason that make this team a contender and I promise the Dome formerly known as Skydome will be rocking next year.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
The Record Will Fall
George Bell is my favorite Blue Jay of all time and his team record of 47 home runs barring injury or a big time slump is probably going to fall sometime in early to mid September.
George Bell in 1987 had the following numbers:
.308 batting average, 111 runs, 47 home runs and 134 RBIs, the single greatest offensive season in Blue Jays history arguably in terms of power. Though Paul Molitor probably had a better season in 1993 overall.
Jose Bautista is 8 home runs away from breaking the record George Bell set in 1987. He hit two more tonight to give him 40 on the year. So far Bautista's season looks like this:
40 home runs, 83 runs scored, 95 RBIs. At the pace hes going Im wondering if the RBI mark Carlos Delgado set of 145 might not get a run. Bautista could come close but hes definitely on pace to crush the home run mark.
Im targeting the weekend of September 11th/12th, Im going to try as best I can to find myself sitting in the stands watching the Jays live that weekend to either watch Bautista hit the 48th or his 50th. At the pace hes going it may be 50 he gets to, if so thats fine. But I want to see him break my favorite players record. Its been a fun year watching this team again, seeing either of those two feats would cap off a year that has turned a lot of attention back on this team.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
Another One Hitter....Whoopdy Friggin Doo!!!!
These things are getting all too common this year. Another one hitter, the second by a Blue Jays pitcher in a little over a week. Same thing happened last night as the last one too. I sat down around 10:00 to watch the first couple innings and Shaun Marcum looked fantastic so I stayed right there with it.
I was up until the final pitch, though not nearly as mind blowing as the 17 strike out game by Brandon Morrow. Shaun Marcum struck out a measly 5 batters, however he walked only one, the lone hit was a big one too, a home run to Conor Jackson for all you one-hitter, "who got the one hit in that start", trivia buffs.
Don't look now but Cito has this team within 9 games now with another three series coming up to end the month against Boston, New York and Tampa with a series in there against Detriot as well. All those teams could pose a threat to the Jays wild card hopes and all are ahead of the Jays in the league standings.
I'm not going to make any bold "we will make the playoffs predictions", Im just having fun watching a team, I have been a die hard fan of, again for the first time in a long time. Like truly having fun. Win or lose this team is young and exciting to watch and the players act like they care. At the very least, my lone prediction is that we will catch the Boston Red Sox. That is saying a lot too since the Red Sox have owned us this year considering what last offseason suggested to fans, the majority of which were wrong about this team that would be as good as making the playoffs, anything above and beyond that would be icing on the cake.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
The Deadline Approaches
At the start of the Jays season the general mood in Toronto and amongst fans was simply that Doc had gone and there was no where to go but down and keep sinking.
Suffice it to say this team has done anything but sink, its proven that it can play with the big boys in the division and may not be as far away as some had thought.
A few things before I get into trade deadline stuff, I wanted to mention the good things about this club since Alex Anthopoulus has taken over:
1. They are much more aggressive scouting players and have proven it with several risky and not so risky signings notably of Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. It was a $10 million deal that not only outbid the Yankees but was the most given by the organization to an amateur player....ever. Who says they won't spend.
2. Vernon Wells is back.
3. Jose Bautista...hes got 30 bombs after tonight. Don't trade him, how could you? Hes got a year left, time to make a long term deal with him and hes got an outside shot of hitting 50 home runs which would be a club record. Want to see the seats full in September? Keep him and watch the countdown to 50.
4. No injuries, knock on wood.
5. The pitching staff is young but talented and holding together. Shaun Marcum is back, Romero had no sophmore slump and Brett Cecil and Brandon Morrow have held their own. We officially have not one but two of the best lefties in the American League in Cecil and Romero, how many can say that?
6. The first major trade of Alex Anthopoulus' career as Jays GM was a short term success so far. Yunel Escobar is worth the price of admission to watch him play defense and he can hit too, Might be the most exciting player since Alomar and White defensively.
Okay, now on to trade deadline stuff:
1. Lyle Overbay- What are we waiting for? Probably for someone to take on the salary considering Lyle just isn't the hitter we got 4 or 5 years ago. You are probably going to have to package him up with John Buck but that will work out perfect because we have Brett Wallace waiting patiently at Las Vegas, I say patiently because he is only hitting .301 with 113 hits, 24 doubles and 18 home runs with 61 runs and 63 RBIs This guy can mash.
2. John Buck- he was signed to a one year deal and is going to get lots more this offseason so hes got to go and we have to get something in return, might even get a team to over pay on him because hes still young. Plus we have another guy waiting even more patiently than Brett Wallace, our future catcher JP Arencibia is tearing it up in Las Vegas, he is hitting .309, 29 doubles, 29 home runs with 63 runs and 74 RBIs. What are we waiting for? if Wallace and Arencibia were steaks they'd be so ready they'd be well done/burning on the grill. They are ready for the majors already.
3. Aaron Hill and/or Adam Lind- Both under performing yet last years numbers are still fresh in a lot of teams heads so this is a move you make if you get a team to overpay for one or both. Id prefer to keep Hill over Lind only because Hill offers you the fact that he is a great hitting second baseman and they are few and far inbetween. Maybe you can land yourself a quality bullpen arm, possibly a quality closer with one of them.
4. Don't trade Bautista, see above.
5. Scott Downs- Hes 34, a lefty out of the bullpen and thats valuable for contenders, its a money move but seriously, we can do better than downs next year. Downs for Chamberlain for a low risk, high reward type deal? Get Joba out of the pressure cooker in NY and maybe he relaxes a little and pitches to his capability.
Overall this team I think its safe to say has surprised a lot of people, they are 13 out of first in the toughest division in baseball. They have a realistic shot at catching the Boston Red Sox in the standings which would be huge for this organization, to show they can fit right in there with the big money teams. Especially for a team that hasn't spent the money yet. They have fought the Yankees tooth and nail, gave Tampa a good run in their series with them and they have played Boston tough as well. Plus we proved that we are far and away better than the Orioles 11 straight againt the O's, we are definitely not last place material.
Go out this offseason and revamp the bullpen, tweak the pitching staff and this team could contend next year. Alex said when its time to spend the organization will spend, this offseason while sooner then expected may be the time. to spend a little to fill in the gaps.
Category: Toronto Blue Jays
