The Fresh Prince of Toronto

Everybody say it with me "You can't stop Adam Lind! You can only hope to contain him!!"

I know there's no empirical evidence he keeps being this good but, ya know, just DAMN.

Speaking of being good, I noticed something tonight and posted it over on Wilner's blog but then figured, why not give it a higher profile 'cause it's just, ya know, cool and stuff.

It's a fun stat, even despite their relative ages.

If you double Adam Lind’s at-bats, he falls just three short of the total Evan Longoria has, so let’s do that and see what kind of comparison we have:

AL: .302 - .337 - .545 - .882 — 22-8-18-70
EL: .278 - .352 - .533 - .885 — 27-2-22-71

Tell me that's not some cool shit...

~WillRain

Urging Caution

There was definitely some excitment last night hearing JP announce on JaysTalk that phenom Travis Snider had been called up to AAA, which probably puts him on track for a mid-season call up next year. Snider is undoubtably the most exciting young position player to come through the Jays system since Vernon Wells came up to stay in 2001 and good or ill in 2009, it'll be a pleasure to watch Snider develop with big club.

And there there was some trepidation.

There's little more than 3 weeks left to play in the high minor leagues and Snider's promotion to Syracuse at this point amounts to nothing more than a brief peekaboo at the next rung up the ladder. If it must be said that he played through an elbow injury early in the season, it should also be noted that he hasn't dominated AA either (.258/.351/.456 in 333 ABs).

It's a feather in his cap to make the jump from high A ball to AAA in his age 20 season, but that pat in the back could've also come in the form of a September call-up after finishing out the year in New Hampshire and semi-regular PT in the bigs for a few weeks. Added benefits: give the fan base a glimpse of the future (and sell a few extra tickets to otherwise meaningless games), get the kid a taste of the bigs, then let him start 2009 fresh in Syracuse. No harm done.

I'm urging caution with Snider because two-thirds of the Jays current outfield is made up of promising young hitters who were rushed (by JP) through AAA and stalled during their first go at a full-time job in the bigs. There's no catch-all model for all hitters, but I'd hate to see the same happen to Snider next year after all the promise he's shown early in his pro career.

After dominating AA at age 22 (.923 OPS) in 2003, Alex Rios was called up to Toronto the following year despite scuffling (.665 OPS) through a brief 185-AB pit stop in Syracuse. While his first two seasons in the bigs weren't an unmitigated disaster, it was clear at the time that his game wasn't quite ready for prime time. Two years of service time were burnt for a .721 OPS season with 1 HR and a .703 OPS with 10 HR. Rios was knocking, but he hadn't yet kicked the door down.

Adam Lind followed a similar path, though he was promoted even more aggressively. He probably could have hit anything, anywhere back in 2006 as he actually got better with each successive call up, but he still only ended up with under 300 AAA ABs (and that after only about 2/3 of a season at AA) before coming up as Reed Johnson's injury replacement in 2007. We all know how that ended up, though there's little doubt now that he's a capable big league hitter. Nevertheless, that early promotion did some serious damage to his overall development, something that JP seems quite aware of these days.

I could go outside the organization to cite a few other examples of hitters who were imprudently rushed to the bigs, though none looms larger than Billy Butler, the young Royal whose game most closely resembles Snider's. Maybe Snider is born to hit and can handle the call to the bigs next year at age 21, but the risks of an aggressive promotion schedule have to be weighed against the long-term consequences for both the player and the team. As excited as you all are for him, don't assume that he should be a Jay in 2009.

-- Johnny Was

Baby steps

Adam Lind has been on fire since he's made his return to the bigs. He's now hitting 350 since his recall, and has solidified his role as the left fielder of the future.

Lind has done a terrific job so far hitting for both average and power. Right now he's hit 5 home runs in those 80 at bats - nobody can keep that up, but he's got an outside shot of leading the club in HR's by the end of the year. What's even more impressive is that he's hitting lefties, and to this point doesn't look like he needs to be platooned.

If there's one thing to worry about with Lind, it's that he hasn't been walking lately. He's really taken Cito's aggressive approach to heart. Since his recall he's struck out 8 times (which is pretty impressive considering it's been 80 at bats), but he's only walked 3 times. Lind's hit 384 since the all star break - so right now it's not a big deal if he walks that much. But since the all star break his OBP is 364. It's a small sample size (6 games), but it's never a good sign when the OBP is lower than the batting average.

Going forwards, the next big challenge for Lind is going to be drawing more walks. He was a career 318 hitter in the minors, so it's possible he could hit around 300 in the majors, and not need to walk as much while showing some power. But for him to be that dominant, middle of the order hitter that we all know he can be, he's going to have to show that he can get on base without getting a hit.

Twitchy.

Wake me up, I must be dreaming

It's only one game, but I think Cito & Tenace have already made a big impact on the team. It's been mentioned before that their goal was to get this team to be more aggressive earlier in the count, and get back to doing whatever it was that got them to the majors - pulling the ball, hitting to all fields - and sticking to that game plan.

The scouting report on the Jays as a team was obviously to get ahead in the count, knowing the Jays would take some pitches, and once ahead expand the zone and take advantage of a pitchers count. But tonight, when Arroyo through fastball after fastball down the middle, the Jays jumped on it and crushed everything Arroyo threw at them.

Alex Rios hit a HR for what seemed like the first time since 2006. I'm really hoping that he's starting to find his groove, rather than him just taking advantage of a ridiculously bad Arroyo. Rolen and Zaun also joined in on the HR fun, and it was nice to see Rolen show some power. As I mentioned earlier, he had a 100 AB streak where he was basically a good singles hitter with discipline.

Adam Lind only went 2-5 last night, driving in a run and boosting his average to 185. He's hitting 500/556/875 since his return to the majors, in a grand total of 8 AB's. If we can call him a bust after 19 at bats, then we should give him an MVP award based on 8 AB's too.

Edit: I forgot to add that I'm really hoping that this offensive outburst has more to do with the Jays being aggressive, and not because Bronson Arroyo sucks.

Lost in the offensive outburst was the return to form of AJ Burnett. He pitched 8 dominant innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 ER, 3BB and 7K's. Tallet was pretty good in the 9th as well, allowing no hits, no walks & striking out one. I still feel a little nervous when he's pitching, but you have to admire the depth of the Jays bullpen that with a 13 run lead, the Jays can trot out a pitcher with a 2.17 ERA heading into the game (now 2.10).

Considering the struggles of virtually every bullpen in the game, it would be wise for the Jays to trade a couple of relievers for prospects or even in a package to help them acquire an upgrade in the lineup. Tallet, Frasor and Wolfe could all be moved, and considering the market for relievers the Jays could expect a decent piece in return. Well, not for Frasor, but for a lefty with a 2.10 ERA who can get RH batters out, and a young, cheap RH reliever in Wolfe, they should be able to get a return.

If any of the names I mentioned are traded, the Jays will not have to go out and find a new reliever. They have several options in AAA, most notably Davis Romero.

The big question on my mind is where do the Jays go from here? The best case scenario is that the offense starts performing to pre-season expectations, and is a middle of the pack AL lineup. Not a great one, but with this pitching staff, enough to have a very competitive season. The other scenario, one we've seen too many times over the past 4-5 years, is that after a big win like this the Jays lose the next two games 2-1 and 6-3. I think tonights game of Halladay vs Harang (who up to this year had been one of the most underrated starters in the NL) will go a long way too showing us if the Jays are for real or not.

Twitchy.

Can I get an Amen?

I just got home from work, otherwise I would have posted this earlier:

"The Blue Jays were in need of a pitcher after placing starter Shaun Marcum on the disabled list before Saturday’s game. Outfielder Adam Lind was recalled to take his roster spot, and new manager Cito Gaston said the team wanted Lind to play everyday".

It's about damn time. I don't need to go over the reasons why it's a good move, because I've mentioned it in almost every post. But I'm looking forward to seeing Lind playing LF for the future. Let's hope he gets off to a better start this time around!

In other news...

"The Toronto Blue Jays optioned outfielder Kevin Mench to Triple-A Syracuse after losing their seventh game in a row Saturday night and recalled right-handed pitcher Brandon League."

League is back! About damn time too. I don't know why they're bringing him up to essentially replace Marcum's spot - I figure Purcey would make more sense, or even John Parrish. The article points out League never started in the majors, so it's possible (read: damn near impossible) that League will start in Marcum's place.

Damn, League AND Lind called up in the same day. I'm pretty damn happy right now. There might actually be a reason to watch a game or two...

Twitchy.

Quick Hits

There's too much news around Jays land for it to go unremarked upon here, at least in brief. What follows is more an attempt to give you an omnibus of the developments, rumors, and speculations out there than to expound on them (albeit you know I can't entirely refrain from comment).

Item - Shaun Marcum has been placed in the 15-day DL, will miss at least two starts and visit Dr. Andrews. Anyone NOT in a state of terror about this is not a Jays fan. In the short term, the impact is minimal. There are so many off days between now and the break that we will only need a fifth starter once before the Yankees series that closes out the first half. That's probably going to be John Parrish this time. Long term, say all the prayers you know that this is mild and not the harbinger of Tommy John surgery.

Item - AJ Burnett's name keeps coming up in connection with the Phillies. The decision here, from their perspective, likely turns on whether it is best to act swiftly and get more starts, or wait and get in on the presumed Sabathia sweepstakes. The Phillies don't have stellar prospects but Greg Golson and Kyle Drabek have some appeal.

Item - JP apologized to the Reds and Adam Dunn for his brainless moment Wednesday night. Dunn was not forgiving but Jocketty noted that JP had mentioned to him that he had just found out he had to fire the manager and half the coaching staff. While the flub is indefensible, I for one am inclined to sympathize with a man who - while under astounding stress - said something stupid. Perhaps it is easy to dismiss JP as a cold calculating bastard but maybe, just MAYBE, the guy really did feel crushed by the idea that he had to put four men he had hired, at least one of whom was a long time close friend, on the unemployment line. Maybe he's human.

Item - Adam Lind was called up when Marcum hit the DL. This is great news provided he gets to play. Cito was, back in the day, notorious for favoring veterans but I do not think for a minute that Lind, given how he has been handled before, was called up to sit. In fact, I would say he'll play every single day and this will be because either (a) we all know that the odds of contending are getting so long there's no point in the pretense; or (b) he's going to be featured in hopes he rips up major league pitching and makes himself a valuable chip for - presumably - Jason Bay. In any case, we can all agree that the greatest crime of all would be to sit him in the majors while Wilkerson got to play.

Item - Uncle Dick speculates that JP is on very very thin ice and cites the fact that Cito is exactly the sort of move JP would not have made (which may well be true but not for the reasons Griff cites) and smells of Godfrey (which is hardly news) - but also because, so he claims, Godfrey was incensed by the Dunn Incident.

Item - Doc was said to be "day to day" after the liner off his head, but the initial report is that he is good to go for his next start. If he had had an Aaron Hill-like reaction then there could be no doubt that the team is in free-fall for the foreseeable future. It is, IMO, beyond bizzare that this runaway train of losses is compounded by so much other bad news.

Item - last report says Hill, btw, is still out indefinitely. Safe to say until at least the break. Blair reports the concussion specialist told the team he should do nothing baseball related for at least two weeks.

Item - Mench is out and Brandon League is recalled. Obvious moves, not worth in depth comments.

~WillRain

Condolences to my fellow Jays fans

As I'm sure you've heard by now, Armando Benitez and the Jays parted ways today. I don't feel like quoting the article, but suffice to say the Jays told Benitez "it's not you, it's me". Brian Wolfe was brought up to replace him.

Oh, Armando, we hardly knew you. I remember it like it was yesterday - that game against the Orioles that you blew by giving up a 2 run HR, costing us the game (note: it was yesterday). I'll always cherish your return to the National League - you gave up a walk, and an ER in 1/3 of an inning. And that time again Minnesota - your Jays debut - when you gave up another HR and a walk in 1/3 of an inning. Oh Armando - fly free! I'm sure you'll find a team again! The Yankees need an aging MR to fill in for Joba, and you'd be the perfect fit!

In other Jays news - Vernon Wells is back, to which I can only say WTF!!11?!!111? I didn't expect him back till late August, so this is both a good sign for the Jays and a bad sign for my medical career.

Alex Rios continues to stink up the joint by hitting 269/345/346 over his past 26 AB. I don't think the pressure of his contract has gotten to him, but something is clearly wrong with Rios. Is he coasting because of the contract as John Brattain suggests?

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but would it kill the Jays to use Stewart's sprained ankle as an excuse to bring Lind up? Stew's one for his past 21 - Lind went what, 1 for 19 and was optioned to AAA. Look for Stewart to be DFA in the next couple of days as the Jays don't appreciate slumping offensive players.

Twitchy.

These Are The Daves I Know

It was good, bad and ugly all wrapped up in one for young David Purcey down on the farm against the Richmonds tonight. It was 5 and out for the young southpaw after the Chiefs put up a 5 spot in the top of the 6th to go up 8-1, making his continued mound presence kind of redundant. They might've squeezed another inning out of him, but it really didn't seem worth the bother when he'd reached 90 pitches and had been sitting on the bench for over half an hour. The Syracuses ultimately won a 12-2 laugher even though they tried to give the opposition a sporting chance by leaving Adam Lind on the bench.

As an aside, which of the Kids in the Hall do you resemble most? Sadly for me, it would be Mark McKinney.

Purcey was uncharacteristically hittable on the night, surrendering 6 hits (including a double and a triple) over his 5 inning start. He surrendered only one walk and struck out 2 but got into a lot of deep counts as evidenced by a pitch count of 93 (58 for strikes). Really? The box score doesn't lie. He was successful in keeping the ball on the ground, getting 7 ground outs to 4 fly outs, a positive sign. And it was just the one earned run in a winning effort, so that ERA still looks nice and sparkly.

For the year, Purcey's numbers look more fabulous than Elton John at the Princess Diana-Prince Charles wedding. 57 K :19 BB in 50.2 IP, 1.95 ERA, .194 BAA and a GO/AO of .88. You're not biting on this? Fickle.

If he doesn't stick, well, he doesn't stick. But the indicators for success are all there. As I said last time, you're a right hypocrite if you think 19 ABs aren't enough to evaluate Adam Lind yet 2 starts (one in a sand box park against the sluggingest of slugging lineups in baseball) suffice it to show that Purcey doesn't have the makings of a successful big leaguer. You're not a hypocrite are you, eh?

-- Johnny Was

Bombs Away

I thought I was the resident fantasy baseball expert around here. I'm sure it's been said by others before, but the Jays are starting to operate like a fantasy baseball team.

	4/20 Adam Lind	(Tor- LF)	Add	Free Agents	Blue Jays	JP
	4/20 Frank Thomas	(Tor- DH)	Drop	Waivers	Blue Jays	JP

Ok it took me way too long to set that one up...but after that a week's worth of bad head to head performances Lind was down. And after a bad week from Stew, Wilkerson & Mench were brought up.

Now, I'm a huge fan of making tons of moves...but in fantasy baseball. You're not going to win games by doing this in real life. At least not with these players

The saddest thing over the past couple of days has been Joe Inglett starting in LF. Let me say that again - Joe Inglett is apparently higher on the Blue Jays depth chart than Shannon Stewart, and Adam Lind. Really? Inglett? Yeah, Inglett has a 718 OPS, but I mean, you have nothing to gain by using Inglett in LF. You don't win in this division by playing it safe. You win by taking risks that have huge rewards, such as playing Adam Lind.

While I'm on the topic of bitching at stupid moves - why the fuck was Scutaro DHing in the doubleheader last night? Why not put him at 2B and give Aaron Hill the game off or something? I realize Hill's the better defender, but you don't DH your bench players while playing your starters in a double header. If both of these guys are going to play anyways, you might as well DH Hill so that he gets his rest. I know Hill got the game off the other day, but give Hill or Rolen the DH spot in the doubleheader if you're going to use Scutaro.

Johnny mentioned an article about Lind being a 780 OPS LF yesterday, but I gotta say I don't agree with that. He's capable of a 280/340/460 line, and to me that's his floor. I don't think I'm being totally unreasonable here, as his minor league line is 318/380/509. That's nearly a 900 OPS (it's 889), so why would that person even suggest that Lind is pretty much a 780 OPS player? To me, that's bullshit.

I do agree that by showing no faith in him he has no trade value whatsoever. Considering some people think the season is over, or almost over, there's nothing to lose by giving Lind a shot in LF. The upside is that he could develop into an 800 OPS LF, who we'd pay about 390,000$ or whatever the fuck the minimum is. That's a hell of a lot better than paying Reed Johnson whatever the fuck he got, on top of too much money to Stewart, and the minimum to Butter Fingers Wilkerson. On top of that, we wouldn't need to spend shitloads of $$ or prospects acquiring a LF when we already have one for the next year or so. He'll move over to 1B or something when Snider comes...

Since I'm just ranting at this point, heres's another thing - this offense is just so one-dimensional. Right now, we're just a singles or walks club. There is 0 power, be it from doubles, and more importantly for HR's. I don't care about the BA with RISP - I mean, that wouldn't be a huge problem if say we were hitting 200 but at least we were hitting HR with guys on. Ok, it would be a problem, but you get what I'm saying. Can anybody remember the last time anybody hit a HR when we needed one? We had one the other day by Rolen, and beyond that I think the Stairs HR to win the game 1-0. But outside of that, we've had no HR. And that's what's killing this team. Back in 06/07 I remember Sportsnet showing some stat that 50% of the Jays runs came from HR. I know the team has changed a bit since then, but I'm sure that it's the same basic idea with the Jays.

More than anything, that's the reason they won't score. There isn't any pure speed - be it on the bases, or stealing speed. Rios steals the occasional base, sure, but not enough to be considered a base stealing threat. When he's on, you don't get worried like you would an Ichiro or a Crawford. The Jays are a station to station club. But if they're not showing power...well...this is what ends up happening. They get a couple singles, a couple walks, but never enough to really do any damage.

I know what I'm saying is pretty obvious, but if the Jays don't hit HR's, they're not going to win games. They got the OBP, they have a decent BA most of the time, but the Jays need the HR to score.

It's one thing for me to say it's the problem, but I'm not quite sure how to fix it. Giving Lind his reps in LF should give us better production, but Lind isn't really a HR guy. He's more like Overbay. Rolen is a guy who has a high slugging potential, but he's not a true HR guy either. Things' will get better when Overbay. Hill & Rios get out of their slumps, but even then none of them are really HR guys. It's like this team was built for the 3 run HR, except there aren't any true HR hitters.

Twitchy.

Bad, Bad Mojo (Lifted?)

It's gone comically bad when your first rally since Friday is cancelled out by an unassisted triple play at the hands of Tribe two-bagger Asdrubal Cabrera in the top of the 5th inning. Shaun Marcum's absolutely dealing, but I think we all know how this is going to end...

AJ Burnett had a solid effort in the first end of the doubleheader, though he disappointingly came one out short of Doc Halladay Special Complete Game Loss. We can't even fucking lose right. It's now time for all of us to bow our heads and pray, pray that he doesn't get injured before the trade deadline. There were some massive highs and some crushing lows during his tenure here, but the flaky right-hander is most definitely superfluous to our needs going forward.

MLBastian checks in with our fearless leader pregame and we learn that Accardo won't throw for 2 weeks (not that he needs to be rushed, the absence of the only weak spot on the staff is almost refreshing) and that Wolfe has started playing "light catch", whatever that is.

Oh, and about that annoying wheezing sound that is the Jays death rattle?

Ricciardi met with reporters briefly and was asked if there was anything else he could possibly do to try to imrpove Toronto's laboring lineup. So far this season, the Jays have released Frank Thomas, signed Brad Wilkerson and traded for Kevin Mench. Beyond those tweaks?

"I think we're done. This is our team," Ricciardi said. "These are the guys we've made our bed with and I don't really see us being able to do a lot at this point. We've tried to do some little things in getting Mench and Wilkerson in here to try to shake up the lineup a little bit and maybe give Gibby a few more options, but I really don't see us being able to go out and do anything major at this point."

Ricciardi originally said "these are the guys we've shit our bed with" but the Toronto press corps collectively decided to clean up the quote. Apparently noone mentioned Barry Bonds again, being too obvious a means of radically improving a power-free lineup, for fear of having their head ripped off and used as a commode by the furious GM.

Seeing as how negativity and sadness has been running rampant, I just might as well get around to linking to this article on Adam Lind by Christina Kahrl at Baseball Prospectus. I don't want to give anything away because it's a very well-written piece, but give it a miss if you don't want to hear that Adam Lind projects as little better than a slightly above average .780 OPS hitter. And with that I just gave away the crux of the article...

I think Jamie Campbell has said "traditional doubleheader" about 5000 times tonight, each reference more annoying than the last. I actually muted the first 45 minutes or so to listen to the second DJF podcast, which had considerably less swearing than the first I'm sad to report. Cathal Kelly of the Star bailed on them at the last minute, an unfortunate turn since he inevitably would have had to answer questions about whether colleague Richard Griffin really has any idea that people are calling him out on his extreme bullshit.

My impression of the whole endeavour (the podcast) is pretty positive and the blog translates well to audio. Am I immature to note that the format works best when the DJFs are constantly insulting each other and swearin'? The musical interludes are kind of weird, though. It sounds like they're supposed to be intro music for a new segment, but no one says anything until they're completely finished. I'm sure the kinks will be worked out in time, or not, either way. You have to say thanks when someone entertains you for free, so, "Thanks!"

And then something unthinkable happens (while I went to clean up a piece of dog shit in the hallway. We have a Pekingese puppy that we've litter trained--which is great--but if we don't smell/flush her turds right away, she picks them up in her mouth and treats them like a chew toy. Any helpful advice on getting her to break this nasty little habit?), the Jays score 3 runs in the 10th and actually win the game, 3-0.

Wilner notes on JaysTalk that John Gibbons probably would've been fired had they lost the night cap. Hrmph.

So long, bad mojo?

-- Johnny Was

The Roundup

I was going to choke out a "still in it to win it post", but I didn't really have the stomach for it after reading the latest Richard Griffin piece to lead off my morning. And I know what you're thinking, what did he write this time? He didn't do anything egregious, it's just the subject matter of his reportage.

If you've intimated that Will is the rational, level-headed one, I am the mystical, hysterical yin to his yang. Normally, I place great stock in stats and cold hard numbers, but I cannot escape the sinking feeling that the Jays 2008 season may well die somewhere on the road between Minnesota and Philladelphia regardless of what the standings say.

The Jays will have their work cut out for them this afternoon and evening at the Jake/Progressive Field, where they have been inexplicably incapable of winning, period. It's like the Bermuda Triangle of losses; the last graphic I saw showed them at 1-13 over their last 14. The Twins are like cockroaches, especially in their own building (where one of our outfielders always seems to lose a fly ball in the ceiling), and will be a test over three games. Philly is Philly, an offensive juggernaut without the benefit of a DH. And I note without irony that we're exactly one-year removed from the 9-game losing streak that killed the 2007 Jays five weeks into the season.

(Being mystically-inclined, I'm secretly hoping that my unbridled negativity will inspire the club to a nifty little winning streak, but would never admit to it for fear of jinxing my well-laid plans.)

On to the Griff piece that put me in such a foul mood.

Somebody is this close to talking his way out of town and that somebody is... Shannon Stewart? The Jays bullwhip approach, collective front office ADD, doublespeak and whathaveyou appear to be taking their toll on the veteran left fielder.

"This is like a bad dream," the 34-year-old veteran said before the Jays were rained out here (they're scheduled for a doubleheader today). "Things happen in life that are unexpected. I went through a lot in the off-season. It was kind of difficult just because of the situation. I knew I wasn't going to be the guy (here). The way I look at it, I was more like insurance. I've had the opportunity to play, but it's been weird... "I don't think people really understand how hard it's been on me," Stewart said with no hint of self-pity. "Not saying just the (lack of) playing, but a lot of stuff. It's been difficult. It's been more of an eye-opener because I didn't think it was going to be like this. What can you do? If you don't go out there, if I don't play well, then the other guy's got to play. I haven't lit it up. To be honest, I haven't felt comfortable since the spring.

"The reality of it is that this role that I'm in, I'm not doing anybody any good right now. I'm not doing the team any good. I'm not doing myself any good. It's like, what am I going to do next year? Hopefully, I'll keep working till I find it. They might want to do something else. It might get to the point where they might want to bring in other guys and see what they can do."

As a human being, Stew has always come across as one of the better sorts. Never crossed anyone, never spoke out of turn. His career was over for all intents and purposes despite a fairly decent 2007 until JP bailed him out with a low ball contract offer in February. He signed on as a bench player, Matt Stairs' platoon partner in left, and has probably been used more than most of us would've envisioned two months ago.

He has, however, been hitting all over the lineup, been proclaimed "the guy" in left and seen young kid Adam Lind deemed the starting left fielder all in about the span of a week. I really don't blame him for feeling a little bit confused and disappointed. By bringing in Kevin Mench and Brad Wilkerson, the bold, profane handwriting is clearly on the wall. Mench was the more rational of the two as a platoon DH to compliment Matt Stairs, but don't kid yourselves that Wilkerson and Stewart aren't auditioning for the same roster spot once V-Dub returns in about 2 months (+?) time.

Stew got his job when JP dumped Reed Johnson and may now it lose it with an equally unceremonious departure from the club to which he'd given his all. The hard part to swallow is that once again a very small amount of Benjamins will probably be the deciding factor on whether he or Wilkerson sticks. Stew was about a million bucks cheaper than Johnson and Wilkerson--paid the pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum--would be a million cheaper still if JP drops the axe on Stew by the All Star Break.

I just want the club to win and, in the end, have no objections to any roster shuffling that makes the club better regardless of the players involved. I've even voiced more support for the amoral "Sign Barry Bonds" set. But it all just sits ill, the aforementioned bullwhip approach, collective front office ADD, doublespeak and whathaveyou. Shannon Stewart has made over $33 million from baseball, roughly half that paid by the Jays, so I can see why he might be thinking retirement or Japan would've suited him better than this soggy drama in Toronto.

ELSEWHERE:

* Like the Montreal Canadiens he adores so much, Eric Gagne has choked and stunk up the joint when it mattered most. That was an ill-spent $10 million. Nevertheless, I can't help but wonder if Gagne's struggles don't mean that Brewers GM Doug Melvin won't come calling for a reliever since he and JP have had fruitful trade relations in the past. After Billy Beane, there's noone JP likes doing business with more than the erstwhile Canucker in Cheeseheadland.

* This is one of the most remarkable pieces of sports journalism I've ever read. I was sort of surprised when TJ Simers of the LA Times wasn't laid out by Androo Jones during this "interview", but then again it's entirely possible that everything in this story is fictionalized. Bon Apetit!

* What is this, April Fool's? Manny Ramirez wants a Gold Glove? I actually don't think it's that bad an idea to give him, the whole process being the mockery that it is.

-- Johnny Was

Well Shit

I've been pretty busy lately, but after seeing Wells' injury, I have to say that despite my lack of an MD, and with keeping in mind the fact this is totally unofficial and my opinion, that Wells is done until a best case scenario of August, and late August at that.

Recently I hurt my wrist in a similar fashion as Wells - landing with all my weight on my wrist. I managed to cushion the blow on snow, and managed to deflect some of the weight, so that I didn't crush my wrist like he did. Still, I pulled a tendon, and it took me over a month to heal. And I heal pretty damn fast, and faster than the doctor's estimated time of 2 months.

Wells, on the other hand, looked like he absolutely destroyed his wrist. A break would be a good thing, as it would mean the bone would fully heal and there wouldn't be many long-term issues. A sprain, or a pulled muscle, would be the worst possible news. Soft tissue injuries (sprains) never fully heal, so he'd have to deal with lingering pain every now & then for the rest of his life.

The reason I suggest August - the bone has to heal, and that might just take a month. But after that, he'll have extreme difficulty squeezing, or holding, or applying pressure with the wrist. I know it took me a month of using a tensor band to be able to function, and even now my wrist isn't 100% up to strength. So I'm thinking since Wells got it even worse, he'll be out 2-3 months, and even then he won't be 100%.

As I was writing this my friend sent me this link from TSN:

Wells suffered a fractured left wrist diving for a ball during Friday's game against Cleveland. He is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

Accardo is sidelined with right forearm tightness. The righthander is 0-3 with a 6.57 ERA.

Both have been placed on the 15-day DL.

As I suspected, the injury would take around 2 months to heal. I assume that's the physical injury - he won't have any strength in his wrist, and I will guarantee right now he will have zero power when/if he returns in July or August. Look at Overbay or Derrick Lee of the Cubs as other wrist injury victims who took a year to gain strength back.

So don't kid yourselves - Wells is done for the year. He may be back in uniform on the active roster, but he'll be a glove man, and not an offensive player. I say this not out of pessimism, but from personal experience. I really feel for Wells as I understand what he's going through, and it's not going to be pleasant.

I haven't been following the Jays much, so the Accardo injury was a surprise. But at least we have some depth, and ironically it comes in the form of Benitez:

To fill the roster spots, the Blue Jays recalled infielder Joe Inglett from Syracuse and selected the contract of pitcher Armando Benitez from Syracuse.

So yeah, Inglett comes up as a utility guy, and Benitez comes up as the new RP. I figured Benitez would have little value, but he might be a key guy if this keeps up. Interesting that Wolfe stays down, but I mean Benitez would have been a FA had he not been brought up so it makes sense.

Wilkerson has new value in that he can be a capable 4th OF, able to play all 3 OF positions and 1B. Although he'll probably start in RF, which will be disappointing at some level if he plays like he did in Seattle. Lind needs to be looked at and given the job for the rest of the season sooner, rather than later. Unfortunately, I don't see this happening till June/July when we're out of the race, and Wilkerson & Stewart are batting 240 with a 669 OPS.

The Wells news is just killer though. I'm not buying 6-8 weeks, because IMO that's only for the physical damage to heal, and not the time frame for him to regain any meaningful amount of strength. Like I said before, he might somehow make the active roster in Late July or Early August, but he'll be totally ineffective with the bat because his wrist is going to have no strength. Vibrations from the bat, squeezing of the glove - that's gonna hurt like a bitch.

I really wish I had better news for all of you. We should all buy some of Colbert's Wrist Strong bracelets for Wells, cause he's gonna need em...

Twitch.

They figured it out!

Alright, so I'm still pissed that Gibbons and crew decided that Lind shouldn't start, though Stewart did have a pretty good game. Part of it was the fact that Nick Swisher isn't a real CF, and misplayed everything hit to him, but I'll give Stew credit for hustling and getting some key hits.

On that note, and not to steal Johnny's roundup - I couldn't resist this early bit of good news from the blue jays official site:

McDonald's move from the bench to short was to serve as a late-inning defensive replacement for David Eckstein. Gibbons had been reluctant to use McDonald instead of Eckstein in the late innings of close games this season, but that has suddenly changed.

"He may be the best defensive shortstop in the game," Gibbons said about McDonald. "If he was just very good, we probably wouldn't do it, but with what he can do out there -- take away runs -- it's the right thing to do.

"By no means is it a reflection on the other guy."

I gotta say, I'm pretty proud of Gibbons for changing his mind. A week ago on Jays Talk, JP said this wasn't going to happen. So it sounds like Gibbons found his Cahones, and is planning on using McDonald as a defensive replacement. Earlier I wrote a letter to JP explaining how important this was, so I'm feeling pretty ballin now that Gibbons has come to his senses and plans on using McDonald in the later innings.

Mac's the best defensive SS in the game, and when we have a lead he's the most important guy on the field. This next part is from the original Blue Jays article:

Also on Monday, Gibbons moved Eckstein down into the lineup's ninth slot -- a switch that seems to play into the new line of thinking. If McDonald enters late in a game, he can slide into the No. 9 spot, where he typically hits in the order. Gibbons said making the mid-game switch might depend on how soon Eckstein is due to bat.

"It depends on where Eck is in the lineup," Gibbons said. "If he's still coming to the plate, we probably won't [play McDonald] until the ninth. If he's out of the way, we may do it in the eighth. Who knows?"

So there's no chance they'll do it when Eck has a potential AB left, but for the most part they'll bring him in when they have a lead, as they should. Can't be too angry with that, but in a one run game starting in the 7th inning or later, I think Mac's defensive value is greater than Eck's offensive output. But it's pretty hard to complain about them realizing how stupid it was to use him as a pinch runner...

When we had big Frank here," said Gibbons, referring to Frank Thomas, who was released by the club on April 20, "we also needed pinch runners -- one guy for him and another guy for maybe the catcher. Now, we don't really need that as much."

I don't know about you guys, but this quote just cracked me up. The Jays didn't spend 3 million dollars to make McDonald a pinch runner - and if they did, why didn't they trade or sign someone who's sole purpose is to steal bases and run really fast? I guess this means from now on that Lind or Scutaro are going to be pinch runners in the future (my bet's on Lind being the primary PR). I think that's an excellent use of Lind's service time. You know, he'll learn how to run around the bases, which is pretty important to know. I bet he's forgotten how to do that since he hasn't really been on base much in his last 20 plate appearances. So guaranteeing him a chance to be on the bases by having him pinch run for Zaun instead of watching him fail by trying to get on via a hit will allow him to continue his development by running around the bases, an extremely important skill. It makes so much sense now why we should let Stewart go 0-4 in LF while providing equally shitty defense!

Wow, I totally lost my train of thought after that...so yeah, great move to bring in McDonald, and I'm still pretty pissed that the Jays gave up on Lind after 20 AB. That would have been like giving up on McGowan last year after 2 starts. And I mean, giving McGowan an opportunity to figure it out on the major league level didn't pay off in the long run....

No wonder Lind pressures himself so much. They claim that he has the starting job, and they'll be behind him whatever they do. But when he doesn't hit 367 or whatever it was when he was in AAA, they put him on the bench and essentially tell him "we have no faith in you, kid". It took McGowan till his 5th start to start producing (the fourth being the famed May 23 start where Zaun & Gibbons called him out for not using the Curve), and there was no talk of taking McGowan out, bad as he was. Even if there was, it was foolish, because it was obvious the kid just needed to adjust. So why are we taking Lind out of games before he has a chance to prove himself? It took McGowan essentially from his May 3rd start to his May 28th start before we had any results - it took Lind from April 26th to May 4th to determine that Lind is useless. But I'm sure playing 2 games in a row followed by an offday over a week and a half is enough time to prove oneself in the majors.

Twitchy.

The Roundup

To borrow a quote from Cosmo Kramer, the Jays' month of May has been "a story of love, deception, greed, lust, and unbridled enthusiasm." Bringing it back from the near abyss, a long-ish winning streak, and three shutouts over the past week? The only explanation must be that the various moons of Endoor are in some sort of strange and favourable configuration.

I need to put the success of our arms and the feebleness of our bats into perspective:

* 6 games into its season, TFC has scored 8 goals and allowed 9 whereas division leader Columbus has scored 11 and allowed 7
* 5 games into May, the Jays have scored 15 runs and allowed 5

I don't know if that really means anything or is fair, but the numbers stand for the themselves.

Bastian has a new mailbag up. If you listen to JaysTalk or read The Oracle, Bastian is pretty redundant. And I say that as someone who really finds no fault with his work. We had some pretty high hopes for him in the pre-season when he started blogging during spring training, but working for the Company (MLB) appears to have injected his work with a certain degree of boringness. Where's the unbridled enthusiam, Jordan?

Speaking of The Oracle, J-Mac in for defense in the 9th? Eckstein to the bottom of the order? I'd like to think that Wilner has finally beat Gibby and JP into submission and resources will be used a little more rationally from here on out. High five!

Griff... he doesn't like naming Lind the starting LF then demoting him to a bench role a week and a half later. And I pretty much agree entirely with that argument. Not the usual horseshit about "sticking to the plan" or Reed Johnson, but the first part about Lind.

Blair noddingly approves of Gibby's constant lineup tinkering, but wonders if he's "gone to the whip hand." Some interesting footnotes on Lind:

Yesterday, he effectively benched left-hand-hitting prospect Adam Lind (1-for-19 in six games) with the full support of general manager J.P. Ricciardi. Shannon Stewart batted second and started in left field as Gibbons ran out his 28th different lineup in 33 games.

The Lind decision is interesting, since Gibbons pushed privately for Lind as an antidote to Thomas. And when Lind and now healthy Scott Rolen were both in the fold, it was clear that Gibbons felt that, finally, he had a team with which he was comfortable.

So what happened?

"You'd like to just kind of settle in on one thing and leave it there, but we've been searching for some things," Gibbons said. "We brought Stewart here for a reason. He never seemed a guy for a part-time role. Stewart's a contact guy. He's always hit at the top of the lineup. I think he [Lind] is ready for the majors, but he's just not hitting now. Right now, we want to get something going."

What that means I don't know because I don't speak Boomhauer, but it seems to bode ill for young Adam Lind this year.

I'm just going to blurt it out: if the organization doesn't have any confidence in Lind, which his "indefinite" benching in favour of Shannon Stewart indicates, we might as well trade him...

to Pittsburgh for Jason Bay.

The case for Bay:

* he's off to a solid .266/.400/.459 start, dampening concerns about a balky knee
* he's a righty, yes, but like Scott Rolen hits right-handed pitching very well (career .875 OPS against righties, .932 against lefties)
* he's a superior defender than Shannon Stewart
* bringing him in would reduce Stew to platoon DH and 4th OF, which is more in line with the role we brought him in for
* he would cost us only about $4.5 million from here on, which is no more than what we're paying David Eckstein this year
* relatively speaking, attendance hasn't been bad (6th of 14 in the AL), but a Canadian star would put butts in seats regardless of how you feel about the marketing strategy of bringing in homegrown talent

Why Pittsburgh should want Lind:

* 2/3 of the Pirates OF (Bay and Xavier Nady) are on their way out this year because of budgetary restraits and someone has join Nate McLouth and Steve Pearce as the inheritors of the Barry Bonds/Bobby Bonilla/Andy Van Slyke legacy
* PNC favours lefty power of the sort Lind provides
* Adam Laroche, the lefty first baseman brought in from the Braves for last year, has rebuffed club efforts to extend him with extreme prejudice, which means the club will be without the sort of lefty middle of the order presence its park demands
* the Buccos want Chase Headley of the Pads (3B/OF) ever so much, but have been thus far unable to pry him away from Kevin "not Josh" Towers; it's time to start looking at secondary trade targets, Huntington

I feel better getting that out of my system and will leave it be from here on out. A Lind-Bay deal makes emminent and imminent sense to me, but I realize a good number of you would be strongly opposed. We'll just agree to disagree then even if I secretly know that I'm right and you're wrong.

-- Johnny Was

YBD Award - May 2008

It pains me, it really does, to give the (false) appearance of jumping on the bash-Gibby bandwagon but I cannot be silent. It may be the first week of the month but I think there's enough stupidity here to easily nail this month's "You Big Dummy Award."

According to MacLeod, John Gibbons has apparently allowed his job-security panic to trump his good sense. Good ol' Gibby has decided that Shannon Stewart will do more for his continued employment than young stud Adam Lind. Here's the relevant quote:

Gibbons said the plan is to have Stewart take a regular turn in the lineup for the time being.

“Stewie's always hit and we still think he's going to,” he said. “The best way we feel to get him going is to give him some regular time and see what happens. He's always hit at the top.”

Gibbons would not speculate what the immediate future holds for Lind, who was hitting at a .365 clip down in Syracuse.

“You don't want you top guy sitting around,” Gibbons said. “That doesn't do him any good because he's a hitter. A hitter's got to be hitting, they've got to be swinging, getting at-bats.”

What does that imply to you? It looks to me like Gibbons is ready to cut bait on Lind for now and ship him back to AAA where he has nothing at all left to prove. That would be a massive blow to any player's confidence. Gibbons is prepared to block the guy who is said to be the future of that position, a 25 year old who has demonstrated that AAA holds no challenge for him, and possibly permanently scare his confidence . . . to make more at bats for Shannon-fucking-Stewart?????

Tell me this is some kind of sick practical joke!

Look, you can argue all day long about Reed Johnson vs. Shannon Stewart. I think it was a bad call but I think it's close enough that there is no definitive slam dunk winner in that debate. But this?

THIS???

THIS is monumental legendary "Ruben Sierra over Shawn Green" insanity.

If Gibby is so paranoid over his job, then extend his ass or fire it - we can't afford to do stupid shit like this in a mindless panic.

~WillRain

Adam Lind and the Chicken Littles

And so it begins. Blue Jays' left fielder Adam Lind, all of 19 at bats into his most recent call up and shockingly the author of only a single base hit in that time has already provoked the ire of certain thought-leaders in the Chicken Little contingent of Jays fans.

Already the doom and gloom comments have begun on the call-in shows and the forums and the blog comments. Take this for example in response to Mike Wilner's Sunday blog:

" . . . I feel embarrassed for his family, friends, and former coaches when I see him at the plate. OK, that is a harsh exaggeration. I bet I’m not the only one worried about Lind. What do you do if Lind goes, say, 5 for his first 15 games? He’s about 1 for 19 in six games so far. I’ve heard it said that for batters to sustain hitting streaks into double figures, they have to be a really good and consistent hitter. It’s not just a bit of luck at that point. Well, on the other hand, if a hitter gets blown away for two straight weeks is there a fundamental problem? He was hot before the call up. Maybe Lind just isn’t the guy. I’m praying to the baseball gods that I’m wrong about Lind . . ."

Now, to be sure, these are the early birds . . . those who can't wait to board the train headed for the cliff, but yet, I have to ask - what is it with these people? Why the obsession to assume impending disaster on every day? Are they just the sort of people who are convinced the must take the stairs lest the elevator cable suddenly snap or does it only apply to their sports teams?

Anyway, if the Advance Recon Party for the Chicken Little Corps is already out scouting for a position on the failure of Adam Lind, then let me take point on countering the doom and gloom not just with photo's illustrating what a clothes horse the man is, but also with a comparison to another young player you might be familiar with. We'll call one of them "Player A" and this other guy "Player B"

Player A began his major league career with a bang. In September of 2006 he blew through the AL taking names and kicking asses. And succeeding as often against Jared Weaver, Kelvin Escobar, or Jake Westbrook, as against the inexperienced late season nobody. His line in 31 days in the majors was .367, .416, .600

Player B also enjoyed an uproarious first month in the majors. After the same number of days in the majors as Player A, Our Man was hitting .382, .438, 549. Both players, of course, enjoyed widespread praise from all but the most confirmed pessimist.

Player A returned to the majors just a couple of weeks into the next season when injuries opened the door. In the first two weeks all seemed well and he ended that month with an .886 OPS. Then the wheels came off and for two miserable months he struggled with nary a bright spot to be seen. He was sent down at the All Star Break and returned to have a decent but not spectacular September.

Player B also failed to maintain the momentum of his first month. He posted a .607 OPS over the entire second half of that same season.

Player A now gets his third, and presumably permanent, shot at the majors and he gets off to a 1 for 19 start. That, combined with his fall off the cliff in his previous season leads some to question if he, indeed, has major league ability at all.

Player B? After that miserable second half, he still started the next season in the majors, and he did so in such pathetic fashion that he was, as of mid-May, sitting on a .192 BA and a .495 OPS after 120 at bats. Deafening were the howls of the unbelievers. "Another JP bust!" they cried. "More evidence the man cannot draft at all!" they pointed out. "Another Russ Adams!" they slurred. "Clearly the man needs to be in the minors because he can't hit major league pitching!" they concluded. Some even insisted the man be released. Almost alone I insisted the player was a good hitter, with the potential to be a great hitter. I was called a deluded pollyanna. So great was my delusion that I was not shy about saying the player reminded me of a young Paul Molitor with less base-stealing ability. Clearly, the CLC insisted, the guy was a bust.

So what happened? The rest of that season, Player B hit .319 and finished with a .795 OPS. The next year, he matched those stats over a full year and convinced the baseball world that even more was yet to come.

His name is Aaron Hill, and I take not a little satisfaction in recalling the insistence of the Chicken Little Corp that he was a bust about 2 years ago. I suspect that I will yet enjoy a similar satisfaction when Adam Lind proves his doubters wrong. Lind is going to be a very good major league hitter, on the order of John Olerud (absent the peak year in 1993). He simply needs time and patience.

~WillRain

The Roundup

I kind of feel for the Sox after their loss yesterday even though, in general, I find Ozzie Guillen to be one the least sympathetic characters in the game. The events that transpired during the Jays 3-run third were deliciously mischievous: Rios made a minor base-running blunder, but the umps blew the call on what should've been a double play, we go on to score some runs, etc. It's exactly the sort of thing that had been happening to us during the Week of Suck just past.

Ozzie's defense mechanism when backed into a corner is to drop more F-bombs per square sentence than a druken sailor with Tourette's sydrome. (By the way, I recommend Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn as far and away the best, saddest book I've ever read about a private eye who suffers from Tourette's).

Put the kids to bed, because here's some pure, unbridled, rage-filled Ozzie:

"We won it a couple years ago, and we're horse[bleep]," Guillen said sarcastically before the Sox (14-15) lost to the Blue Jays 4-3 and fell below .500 for the first time since April 3.

" The Cubs haven't won in [100] years, and they're the [bleeping] best. [Bleep] it, we're good. [Bleep] everybody. We're horse[bleep], and we're going to be horse[bleep] the rest of our lives, no matter how many World Series we win.

"We have the worst owner (Jerry Reinsdorf). The guy's got seven [bleeping] rings, and he's the [bleeping] horse[bleep] owner."

Hi,

My name is Ozzie. I'm an intensely-talented manager who consistently outperforms his Pythag on a yearly basis. And I'm a... swear-aholic. [polite applause].

And just what in the hell were they doing in the visitor's club house before the game? Fidlin writes:

Over in the White Sox clubhouse, they had some sort of pagan ritual going, trying to energize their anemic offence. The less everyone knows, the better, but it did involve maple bats (not syrup) and inflatable dolls.

If they've got country white dudes like Jim Thome practicing Santeria, be afraid, be very afraid. Somebody pass me a sacrificial goat so we can counter hex them!

Actually, it looked like this (cheers MacLeod, for the uncensored version):

Visitors to the Chicago White Sox clubhouse yesterday were – how should we put this – rather surprised by the site of two inflatable female dolls perched on a couch.

The dolls were surrounded by the game bats that the White Sox were going to use later on that day against the Blue Jays.

One of the bats was inserted in a delicate spot, but the doll didn't seem to mind.

“You've Got To Push” read a sign one of the dolls was holding. “Let's Go White Sox,” said another.

Hrm, that's moderately to extremely sexist.

It's Dusty-Vazquez in the finale of this four gamer as the Jays try to sweep the pale hosers out of town and I can't believe I'm writing this after that roadtrop from... On deck are the Tampa Bay Rays fresh off being swept at Fenway. Those britches a little big, fellas?

The Oracle lists his favourite Jays blogs and we are, woot woot!, on the list. It's an honour, sir, to be skim read by you. And believe me, Mr. Wilner, we are indeed trying to contribute to the downfall of society; I have a list of those to be lined up against the wall once the revolution begins. Hahahahaha.

And speaking of the blogosphere, is All Your Base Are Belong to Rios now defunct? I'm giving their link to the Ghostrunners, whose bizarre sense of humour and collection of Descendents cassettes dovetails nicely with my own unique world view.

The Oracle did address a topic of interest on JaysTalk yesterday, namely, what do we do with a very crowded bullpen full of quality arms? Brian Tallet and Jason Frasor haven't pitched since the last vernal equinox, Brian Wolfe is set to come off the DL in a fortnight or so, and Brandon League is still kicking about in AAA. Let's make a trade!

Last year the Pads traded 2-month rental Scott Linebrink, a slightly better than average 7th inning guy, to Milwaukee for three players, including lefty K machine Joe Thatcher. Back in '06, the Nationals sent two relievers, Gary Majewski and Bill Bray along with assorted flotsam and jetsam to the Reds for Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez. Perhaps that doesn't look like such a slam dunk victory for the Nats now, but Majewski and Bray both flamed out while Kearns and Lopez are major league starters. The point is that these surplus, semi-redunant relief arms may not be valued much by us, but someone will overpay for them.

I'd have to figure Tallet should be the most likely to be traded because he's got 2+ solid seasons under his belt and will be arbitration eligible next year. If Frasor is to be used less often then Shawn Camp, he could just as easily be included in a package. Think shortstop, JP, because we're going to need a new one next year.

On a final note, the question of Adam Lind's struggles at the dish. Let him play fulltime regardless because he is certainly an integral part of the future. There's no reason to think a kid who hit .367/.415/.600 in his first month in the bigs won't start smacking the ball around. You clamoured for him, you got him, so stick with your man.

ELSEWHERE:

* Roger Clemens says he's "sorry" for mistakes he's made in his personal life. Don't tell us Rog, save it for the Mrs.

* Dontrelle "Watchoo Talkin'bout?" Willis tweaked his knee on a rehab assignment and doesn't look likely to return to the Tigers' rotation any time soon. Jim Leyland is promising "changes" after his club was swept out of Minny on the weekend, which can only mean that he's switching brands from Marlboros to Camel Wides (and going to demand a whole lot more small ball out of a big ball lineup).

-- Johnny Was

Lind Up, Inglett Down

Thanks to Rotoworld for making my day...

Blue Jays optioned infielder Joe Inglett to Triple-A Syracuse.

Inglett hit .303/.351/.394 in 33 at-bats while helping to fill in for Scott Rolen.

Blue Jays recalled outfielder Adam Lind from Triple-A Syracuse.

Lind, who likely would have been recalled as soon as Frank Thomas was released if not for a sore neck, was hitting .356 with four homers for Syracuse. He figures to start against practically every righty the Jays face, making him a nice asset in AL-only leagues. Shannon Stewart should receive less playing time.

The last part makes me very happy.

The Adam Lind era has begun. No pressure buddy, but we really need you to save the offense...

Twitchy.

The Roundup

First, the apologies.

Perhaps I was overly quick to assume that Gibbons was rotating his few good players through rest days for no particularly good reason, but it came out yesterday that there's been a flu bug going through the clubhouse. Why this wasn't stated a few days ago is unclear, but anyway, perhaps Gibby should team up with Don Cherry to shill for Cold fX? Sorry, skip! I'll never doubt you again.

Last night's JaysTalk was pretty solid because there was actual stuff to talk to JP about rather than the typical nitpicking/Chicken Little routine of most callers. John Lott of the National Post provides a quick and dirty summary here. The good news is that Scott Rolen will most likely be activated tomorrow. The bad news is that JP really sees no rush to promote Adam Lind (hence the above pic) and will leave him to demolish AAA pitching while Shannon Stewart trolls for walks, interspersing them with the rare single, on the big club.

Yes, and true to my prediction yesterday, he did mention that Shannon Stewart is a "lifetime .300 hitter."

Now, JP has a weird thing about not wanting to make players feel like they're entitled to anything for fear that it might undermine their work ethic or competitive drive. I don't mind that. It is, however, blatantly obvious to all that Lind is "the guy", but I suppose we're going to have to wait for an injury for him to get his turn. If, as JP admits, the team is getting on base at a great clip but isn't scoring because of a low SLG%, you'd think there'd be all the more reason to callup a youngster with a 1.000 OPS in AAA. I find this massively disappointing.

Wilner has been one of the loudest voices in the draft Barry Bonds movement, so it's no surprise that he concludes that JP probably wants to sign him, but Godfrey and Ted Rogers/money are obstacles. Overbay's struggles were mentioned, but in his case--not Frank Thomas' of course--20 games is too small a sample size to jump to any conclusion. Mmmhmmm.

Jesse Litsch is not about to lose his job, according to Bastian. When Gibby blew up on him the other day it was kind of like a dad finding out his son has been smoking weed: he felt really let down, but he'll probably let things slide, because, you know, they're blood. And because everyone goes through that phase.

Blair reveals that the press in TO and TB, the players, and everyone aside from a less than sellout crowd thinks it's an awful idea to play regular season games at a spring training facility. It's actually kind of offensive, really. The Bosox and A's get to play in front of 50, 000 screaming Japanese fans in Tokyo, the Dodgers and Padres get to play the first MLB exhibition game in China, and we play in front of a crowd that's possibly 50% under the age of 10. Just a detour on the way to Space Mountain.

Blair also shares our concern for the precipitous decline in Lyle Overbay's power production.

Are the A's going to sign Frank Thomas or what? MLBTR says there's more than one team expressing interest. It would amount to a massive bitch slap to JP from his mentor Billy Beane if the Big Shit Disturber did indeed go back to Oakland.

On a related note, Marc Hulet at Fangraphs expects the Jays to promote Travis Snider aggressively. He figures JP wants to prove his drafting prowess to one and all, adding a second impact player drafted under his watch to the roster (Aaron Hill being the first). There's that Marcum guy, too, but interesting nevertheless.

ELSEWHERE:

* We were lucky to play the Tigers when we did, because now they're wringing the necks of the opposition like supper chickens.

-- Johnny Was

Double Take

Brandon League - You still know who that is right? I know, been a while since we heard the name and all. So I figured being his biggest supporter I'd give you an update on how he's done so far.

He was sent down what, around April 10th? Well he's pitched in 3 games so far. I thought they said he was being sent to AAA to actually...you know...pitch often. But hey, what do I know? Anyways, so far he's pitched 4.1 innings, with a 3.5 GB:FB ratio, and 4 K's. Awesome, right? Oops, he's still walking every other batter - he now has 5 BB to go along with his 4 K's.

My solution - Brandon obviously can't see the catcher - he needs new prescription glasses! Duh! Get on it, Brandon!

As for last nights game, it's obvious this team can't string together a rally. Here's a reason why, look at the hitters batting sixth to second - Barajas, Zaun, Diaz, Inglett, Eckstein, Stewart.

Yeah, that's really gonna get'er done. We're lucky if we get 2 of those guys on base within the same game. Now, look at the players occupying those spots a week from now:

Rolen, Overbay, Zaun, Lind, Eckstein, Hill.

Now, you can argue about the order of them, but it's pretty clear that those guys are gonna be in that general area of the lineup. Notice how at least 4 of them can hit for power, and all of them have average to above average on base capabilities? They need Rolen & Lind up ASAP - might as well let Rolen adjust in the MLB, cause his replacements aren't doing any better.

But at least with that lineup, there are zero auto outs, which will allow this team to create...and I know this is a foreign concept for the Jays....A RALLY.

The pitchers aren't stupid either. They know the offense isn't getting it done, and I'd bet that they're pressuring themselves to throw a perfect game everytime out, cause let's be honest, we're gonna need one every time out just to have a shot in any game. With Rolen & Lind up here, who make the lineup deeper and allow the team to actually string some hits together, there's a chance that the Jays might score a few runs. And if they do that, I guarantee the pitching will improve knowing that they can allow a run or two (but thats all!) and still have a shot to get a W at the end of the day.

Twitchy.