Dunedin Dispatches: Week 2

Following the same format, not bothering with a link dump since that's done better elsewhereby guys getting paid to do it.

Item: Get ready for the Fasano Flop! Apparently Sal Fasano has come up with a technique to both block the plate and avoid massive home-plate collisions. How cool would it be to add something new to the grand old game that no one ever thought of before?

Item: as the paid press is wont to do, there are several very similar stories today about the role mark DeRosa is trying to play in refining Mr. Incredible, aka Brett Lawrie. At one point DeRosa is quoted making a comparison between Lawrie and The National's Bryce Harper(!)

Item: Brandon Morrow employs on-line site to demonstrate to Ricky Romero one of the places where he went wrong last year. It seems Romero lost confidence in, and almost stopped using, the sinker which had been possibly his most effective pitch in 2011. Morrow found data which showed that Romero's use of that pitch had dropped by half from 2011 to 2012. This is cool not only in that it motivated Romero to go out today and focus on regaining the polish he once had on his sinker, but also as an insight into how at least one member of the staff is looking for not-so-obvious information in an effort to make himself and his team better. The only question in my mind is - why don't the Jays have someone in their employee looking for just this sort of data?

Item: Casey Janssen is taking it slow. So slowly that no one seems to speak with confidence about him opening the season on the active roster. No one is  really worried about the long term recovery, but given the number of out-of-options players they have to manage, and the awkward situation concerning who will actually be the closer, a couple of weeks on the DL might be just what the management could use right now. Ultimately, it would give them a couple of more weeks to decide about fence-sitting guys like Jefress and Cecil, and it would also allow them to more naturally flow into a "co-closer" situation with Janssen and Santos. I'd guess that the Jays would ultimately be stronger if Santos got the bulk of the classic save situations, while Janssen got both the 4-inning-or-more save situations and was also available for the very pivotal 7th and8th inning situations. You might end up with Santos having 30 saves and Janssen having 10 or 12, but with the latter every bit as crucial to the success of the pen as the former. The flip side being that Santos probably would NOT be as effective in those more-than-an-inning tasks as Janssen would. The problem, as always, is whether or not they can see past the baseball cliches associated with being the "capital C" closer, and the resulting worries about hurt feelings and such like.

Item: Some are not convinced Mekly Cabrera might not face further punishment. I'd be pretty stunned by that but, also, seeing Bonafacio getting a chance to run wild would be kinda cool. Pro-rate his steal numbers from last year and imagine him following Reyes in the batting order.

Item: Jays acquire another big high-strikeout reliever for bargain basement prices. Michael Schwimmer might be, say, Jeremy Accardo...or he might be Jeremy Accorado, (if you don't know what that means, check out his career stats) but either way, if you can get a guy who might in theory contribute something to the major league team for Art Charles, you do that all day and all night. Charles is never going to suit up for a major league game.

Item: John Farrel sets new standard. For a long time, the classic "in-joke" around the Jays was "it's not a lie if we know the truth" but that meme may now have been supplanted when John Farrel said in an interview yesterday "if I recall correctly, I was traded." Right. Came as a complete shock to ya, eh? If I'd had any cle that the Jays would bring back Gibby, I'd have founded "firejohnfarrell.com a year ago.