Manny v. Holliday?

In addition to being a cyborg sent back from the future to kill John Connor while hitting .340 for the Rockies on a yearly basis, Matt Holliday is a Big Scary Bat that's probably going to be on the trading block this winter as our confrere at DJF, Parkes, so kindly brought to our attention the other day.

We've got the ball rolling about on off-season roster moves and you the fans want to talk about this, so let's talk about this...

Some factoids, in bullet points:

* Holliday is under contract for 2009 at the modest price of $13.5 million, which might not even be enough to bring in one of the "B" DHs like Jim Thome or Jason Giambi this offseason

* Scott Boras is Holliday's agent and they will be looking for a "franchise player"-type deal the Jays cannot afford (because of Vernon Wells...), so it's one and out if he is acquired via trade

* Holliday, 29 to start next season, has been OPS-ing well over .900 on the road this year for those who dismiss him as a Coors' Field creation. His cumulative OPS+, park neutral, is about 150 over the past three years. That translates into Canadian.

* He's also probably the most slam dunk Type A potential free agent you can imagine, and if he walks at the end of 2009, there will be sweet compensatory draft picks. Sweeter than the caramel at the centre of a Skor bar.

* Travis Snider might be ready for spring 2009, but will almost certainly be a more polished hitter after a full year at AAA, pencilled in for full-time ML duties in 2010

Do you see where I'm going with this? While it's "only cash" to sign a free agent DH, you do end up giving up a compensatory draft pick along with laying your money on the table. And let's not forget that the sum you pay out for a free agent is going to be millions in excess of the cost of Holliday... for an inferior hitter who can't play defense, but that's another argument. So you do lose "something" by going with a free agent rather than trade.

If you do trade for Holliday instead you don't lose the pick in addition to gaining another one when he walks at the end of the year. You do lose prospects in the trade package that brings him in, but you'd at least be setting yourself up nicely to bring in equivilant talent in the next draft.

What would the Rockies be looking for as a trade package? Reasonable expectations would probably be something along the lines of what Pirates' GM Neal Huntington got in return for Jason Bay at the deadline. I know Bay's not the same calibre of hitter as Holliday, but he was controllable for 1 years + 2 months at the time of the deal whereas it's only one year for Holliday. Those prospects who went to Steeltown again? Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss, Andy Laroche, and Bryan Morris.

Laroche was/is a blue chipper who became the Buc's starting third baseman, Hansen is a non-descript reliever who has shown little of note in 2+ partial seasons in the bigs, Brandon Moss is looking like a more-than-serviceable 4th OF (no offense there, you get plenty of ABs in that role in the NL), and Morris is a 21-year-old reliever in A ball whose a long way off. Essentially what you're talking about here is a 4 for 1 prospect package made up of one "A" level talent and 3 guys you'd be charitable to call Bs.

The Rox will be impolitely rebuffed if they ask for Travis Snider, so there's no point even mentioning him here. I think I'd also assume the Lind is off table as well after earning himself a permament spot on the 25-man roster.

The Rox greatest need for 2009 is, of course, pitching, while they'd probably also like to upgrade at 2B and would likely be interested in an OF to take Holliday's place. I would also note that their only reliable lefty in the pen, Brian Fuentes, is likely to depart via free agency. A guy like Brian Tallet would not be useless to them.

I'd reckon that if they really want to seriously enter into negotiations with the Rockies on Holliday, the Jays have to be willing to entertain a package centred around either Scott Campbell or Brett Cecil. Those are real, legitimate blue chippers and you're not going to reel in an elite talent like Holliday without sacrificing one of them. The other 3 names you add on are interchangeable, but we could live without arms like Davis Romero, Brad Mills, or pretty much any other pitcher in the system. Major leaguers Jason Frasor and Brian Tallet are not useless, though they're going to be redundant here in 2009.

You might be thinking that Cecil or Campbell + is just too much to stomach for one year of Matt Holliday, and if that's your opinion you're entitled to it. I disagree. But keep in mind that Manny might well prove cost prohibitive (and he's 37 going into next year) and also ask yourself whether *declining, high-injury risk* sluggers like Giambi or Thome would even entertain the idea of coming to Toronto after what happened to Frank Thomas. Hell, the Mariners might even throw a wack of cash at Raul Ibanez to stick around, taking JP's favourite C-lister off the market.

Basically what I'm saying is that it's a big assumption that the most coveted free agent DHs are even signable and trade might be the only means of getting the bat that makes the Jays really and truly competive in 2009. Or you can just batten down the hatchs and wait for 2010. That's not a horrible idea, either.

Looking at the big picture, I'm not at all averse to making a major push for Holliday and would probably prefer that to seeking a FA solution. Personally, I think the risk/cost of going after one of the elderly free agent DHs is probably greater than that of selling off one of the organizations top 3 prospects and add-ons (who can be replaced with compensatory picks) for a year of Matt Holliday. The 60 point OPS+ boost out of the DH hole you get from a player of Holliday's calibre gives this offense a pulse and I don't feel as confident predicting the same level of production from Manny even, much less Thome or Giambi. And Holliday is cheaper, too, which leaves a bit of cash left over to splash out on a SS.

Also, we'd get a year of JaysTalk callers referring to Roy Holliday and Matt Halladay.

He who dares, wins, fellas.

-- Johnny Was

Dollars and Sense

One of the great mysteries of the universe is baseball economics. Everything from the Elias formula, to how the signing bonus is paid and accounted seems to be purposely designed to confuse the average fan. So whenever fans discuss there favorite team there is consequently more confusion than anything else about what a team can or will afford to do in the upcoming off-season.

However, in the last few years the baseball world has been greatly blessed by a number of great on-line resources which help cut through the jungle of obfuscation. Among these is the wonderful Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Every informed fan should have it bookmarked (or, have our humble site bookmarked knowing that there's a link here). It is with the invaluable information found there that I shall attempt to inform you what the Jays budget situation looks to be as we drift ever closer to another winter of wheeling and dealing.

First, some basic assumptions: I assume for the sake of this discussion that the Jays have a $100 million payroll ceiling for next season since we are a negligible distance from that figure in 2008. In my opinion, Rogers will quite possible raise that figure, and they will certainly be willing to discuss a specific increase for a specific player but you have to assume some benchmark in order to make sense so I assume essentially a renewal of the current one. That said, understand it as "approximately" since going (for instance) 225K over or under is irrelevant.

Secondly, I assume that JP was honest when he implied strongly last night that the team would exercise the option on Rod Barajas. So I will speak of him as "under contract" but be advised the technically, they have not yet made that happen.

Finally, as always, one has to estimate the pre-arbitration contracts and the amount the arb eligible guys get, but I think these are pretty close.

So, here's the list. There are 27 guys here because I include McGowan even though he won't start the year on the roster, and another pitcher will make up for that. I chose Wolfe as the familiar name but if you prefer Parrish or Richmond, so be it, the payroll impact is minuscule. A similar thought led to the inclusion of Janssen. Bolded players are under contract, the three with "*" are arbitration eligible, and the rest are pre-arb.

Halladay  14.25
McGowan    0.415
Marcum    0.42
Purcey    0.395
Listch    0.4
Janssen    0.405

Ryan   10
League    0.415
Accardo    0.4
Downs    3.75
Tallett    1.2*
Frasor    1.8*
Carlson    0.398
Wolfe    0.402

Barajas    2.5
Diaz    0.39

Overbay    7
Stairs    1

Hill    2.59
Inglett    0.42

Scutaro    1.1
McDonald   1.9

Rolen   11
Bautista   2.5*

Lind    0.42
Wells     10
Rios    5.9

The totals break down like this:

Under contract: $70.99 million (includes Barajas)
Arb-eligible: $5.5 million (estimated)
Pre-arbitration: $4.88 (estimated)

Total: $81.37 million

Now, that said, Frasor will almost certainly be traded or non-tendered (It would not shock me if he were the player to be named in the acquisition announced today of Jose Bautista). Likewise, I expect Tallet to be traded (easier to do than with Frasor, so no non-tender there) and Baustista may well be non-tendered as well (though given the uncertainty around Rolen he would also be potentially brought back for less money.

I also think that there's some likelihood that the Jays will try to include a contract in any trade they might make (for instance, you trade for Khalil Greene and you try to get them to take Scutaro in the deal).

So, bare minimum, the Jays have $19 million in play this winter. Move the arbitration contracts off the roster and you have $24-25. Again, that assumes no budget increase. And while JP made budget-conscious remarks last night, I don't see a pattern lately which would imply a static payroll budget. So while there is no doubt we can afford a Manny or a similar sort of player in 2009, what we can spend past that is uncertain.

Among the other things JP said last night is that the Jays were unlikely to pursue high-cost pitching to replace AJ (assuming AJ gets away which seems likely) and the team likes its internal options. I actually like that. I've never been in favor of a big long term deal on another SP.

(I do have a smaller idea that intruiges me but I don't want to get too far off topic here.)

One final note:

You can look at other sites which give you a different projected team total and different specific salaries for certain players. the reason this happens is signing bonuses. When I do a total I follow the contracted terms of payment of signing bonuses when Cot's tells me there is a specific schedule, otherwise I pro-rate it. Many other sites pro-rate all bonuses regardless of the contracted schedule.

So, there you have it. Discuss!

~WillRain

The Other Deuce Drops

With all the pointless fury of an incensed drunken hobo screaming at the bus shelter at the corner of Richmond and Dundas, Bob Elliot let'er fly today with what I hope is the final salvo of the JP-Scott Richmond-Team Canada affair. I expected this diatribe immediately after the loss to Japan that ended Canada's medal hopes, but I suppose that hacks work on their own timelines.

Now, I do appreciate Elliot's attempt at a Trailer Park Boys reference:

Only arrogance or a failure to understand this country, or both, would allow management to not know they were walking into a sandstorm, or whatever it is Mr. Lahey and Randy say every 10 minutes on the Trailer Park Boys.

but it's the "winds of shit" that he meant to write. I'd expect better from the second drunkest denizen of Sunnyvale Trailor Park. Elliot later overestimated the population of Canada by 3 million, though in his defense I haven't read the paper today and it is entirely possible that we annexed Lithuania in the middle of the night.

As expected, the second Moron Brother who marches lockstep with Elliot ripped into JP again over Richmond in his mailbag today:

As for Richmond and his hosing by Ricciardi, it’s a disgrace. He was called up on the eve of the Canadian team’s trip to Asia. He was promised this wasn’t just for one start – and they were right, it was for three. For those that said Richmond’s major-league experience would be far preferable to going to Beijing and pitching against amateurs, that’s total crap. Richmond watching his Canadian teammates flame out from a motel room in Syracuse rather than the Olympic Village surely ruined his major-league experience. Richmond’s presence with the Jays instead of at the front end of Canada’s Olympic rotation meant that not only was the starting pitching weaker, but the trickle-up effect made the bullpen weaker as well. Anyway, it helped the U.S. gain a spot in the medal round. “O Canada. Our home and naïve land.”

As someone who did watch all of Canada's Olympic baseball games I conceed that they would've been a better team with Richmond and might have actually beat Cuba or the United States with him on the hill in place of the roster filler they threw out there. Yet they still would've been a long shot hopeful for a bronze at best and really, does that matter? Does, say, finishing ahead of Spain but behind Britain in the final medal tally really mean one flying fuck to anyone in this country?

So far as baseball is concerned, the Olympics are not a best on best showcase and never have been. The real prize--for those who care about international baseball, and not everyone does--is winning the mlb-sanctioned World Baseball Classic that actually does showcase the best players in the sport. The most talented young members of Team Canada (Nick Weglarz and Mike Saunders) will get another kick at the can in more stylish uniforms. Rest assured that JP will not hold Richmond back then for the sake of a few spring training innings, but by that point the talent level on Team Canada might be such that he's not needed. Wrap your heads around that, fellas.

Elliot and Griffin have got their knickers in a twist over a second-rate international tournament that wasn't even televised in Canada. We get it, the game has changed much since the wonder years of the 1980s and early '90s and you don't like it, so you shit all over someone who you've chosen to associate with Change . JP is, in my opinion, a relatively easy mark for someone who wants to make a coherent, rational critique of his GM-ing, but taking major offense to the Richmond affair just reflects the bitterness of two old men whose tenures as "local baseball experts" are drawing to a close.

Elliot and Griffin need to get over it and get over themselves. They're supposed to be elder statesmen in the Jays media, but they sure don't carry themselves as such.

Dismissed.

***

Of note, sort of:

The Oracle has noted that JP will make a hard push for Brewers ace Ben Sheets in the offseason numerous times on JaysTalk and on the blerg, but Jordan Bastian at mlb.com counters that "If Burnett does opt out, Ricciardi said that Toronto doesn't intend on replacing the pitcher through free agency."

Which is it?

-- Johnny Was

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

What, me under-achive?

For all that has been said about the disappointing results of the Jays offense this year, and for all his Alfred E. Rios space cadet moments, Alex Rios seems to have been the one guy who really really liked the idea of Cito Gaston as his manager. Including yesterdays outburst against the Red Sox, Rios has a very nice result for the part of the season (50 games now) that Gaston has been at the helm.

Observe:

200 AB, 20 Doubles, 4 Triples, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 15 SB
.315 - .346 - .545 - .891

Now, let's pro-rate that to 162 games:
65 doubles, 13 triples, 19 HR, 87 RBI, 49 SB

That'd be a pretty decent year, eh?

On a less encouraging note, while looking up those stats I stumbled across something very grim about Scott Rolen. I have resolutely defended him by saying he had one horrible month which wrecked an otherwise good season. But what I discovered is that outside of a nine game hot streak in late June (in which he was incredibly hot) he was a very bad hitter from May 31 on until they shut him down. Over that period - with those nine games set aside, Rolen hit

.180/.275/.255/.530 in 161 at bats.

That means that for all practical purposes, he came off the DL in April and had 34 good games before he started struggling. That means, and I'm man enough to admit it, that the Pessimists who warned that Rolen might still have difficulty because of his shoulder are vindicated. It's inexplicable to me that everyone who is supposed to know, from Rolen to the medical people could say "everything is healthy and pain free" and yet he could still not be able to hit well for reasons that can't even be quantified and addressed. But there it is. And unless he gets it back as mysteriously as he lost it - or retires - the Jays are going to have to have big question marks regarding 3B for next year. I don't like saying it but I'll be damned if I can be accused of ducking the fact that my optimism was not born out.

~WillRain

Such Is Life

Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect that a motley collection of washed up AAAA filler, intercounty leaguers, and prospects too young to buy a beer in the US might triumph over what was essentially the Japanese all-star team and keep hopes alive over in Beijing. After losing 4 consecutive one-run games, Team Canada has now meaningless games left to play against Taiwan and the Aardvarks before calling it a day.

If the tournament was a disappointment for the Canadians, it's one that'll soon be forgotten: the World Baseball Classic next spring will provide an opportunity for redemption (though not for some of the lesser lights because Russ Martin, Rich Harden, Justin Morneau, et al are going to steal your jobs, but still).

Here in this particular Blue Jays corner of the interweb some felt the need to mock Team Canada, others cheered it on with reckless abandon, and then there were those like me who found it to be at least as watchable as the Little League World Series. And then Ed Willes wonders why there's no room for it during a cavalcade of mostly hobby sports, but I digress.

When it comes to hockey, I can admit to being a fan of the Leafs rather than the game per se and I can fully understand why some Jays fans don't have a broader interest in more exotic, non-MLB locales where the sport is played. Fair enough.

When it comes to baseball, though, I'm all in. It was worth it staying up late a few times for Team Canada to see a few interesting players in action that I otherwise wouldn't have had the chance to watch. And when it comes to countries, I generally think Canada is pretty ok. Compared to other countries I've lived in or know well, it's less murdersome than the United States, less cynical and gloomy than the UK, and far less likely to be simultaneously invaded by Germany and Russia than Poland.

On that note, here's a sop to Canadian baseball nationalism in the form of a tour d'horizon of some young Canuckers who had minor league success this year. In no particular order and with no attempt at comprehensiveness:

Nick Weglarz (OF, Indians; Stevensville, ON): Weglarz served notice that he's a Canuck to watch by socking a pair of dingers against Cuba and then by doing some rage-induced dugout renos in yesterday's loss against Japan. In his age 20 season for Cleveland's A+ affiliate, the 3rd rounder from 2005 hit .273/.400/.473/.840 with 10 HR through 99 games before being released for his Olympic obligation. Baseball America says he's Cleveland's 6th best prospect and will probably be manning left field in whatever they're calling Jacob's Field in 2011.

Mike Saunders (OF, Mariners, Victoria, BC): I'd never heard of Saunders before the Olympics and I like his game after what I saw of him. An 11th round pick from 2004, He's tall, lanky, runs relatively well, has good strike zone discipline and doubles power. The 21-year-old hit .290/.375/.484/.859 in 67 AA games this year, but scuffled a bit in a short stint at AAA (.709 OPS in 23 games) before heading off to Beijing. BA says the 6th best Mariners prospect and 2nd best minor league OF.

Phillipe Aumont (LHP, Mariners; Gatineau, QC): This tall, hard-throwing 19-year-old southpaw has had a very successful pro debut in A ball for the Mariners. Aumont, the 11th overall pick in last year's draft, has done pretty much everything right in split duties between the rotation and the bully: walks and hits per 9 are nice and low, while he's been K-ing about a batter an inning. BA says he's the M's top minor league hurler and 2nd best overall prospect. Take note also that he doesn't give a shit about the Habs despite being a Quebecker and has expressed a desire to someday play for the Jays (according to Wikipedia). Eh, eh?

RJ Swindle (LHP, Phillies; Vancouver, BC): Swindle, 24, got a brief taste with the Phillies this summer before Olympic duties took him overseas. His career minor league numbers are crazy: 1.61 BB/9, 9.05 K/9, 7.83 H/9, 0.26 HR/9, 1.05 WHIP. I'm impressed. He was a 14th round pick by the Bosox in 2004, dominated out of the bully for their A- affiliate, then got unceremoniously dumped at the end of the year. Spent two years doing quite well in independent ball before getting a brief sniff from the Yankees, who too dumped him at the end of 2006... after he put up a 0.61 ERA in 44 IP in A ball? What gives here?

I'm guessing the Bosox and Yankees were put off by the way he constantly changed arm angles and his 55-mph euphus curveball, but you can't ignore the numbers. Swindle dominated AAA at Lehigh Valley this year and has found himself the odd man out of a Phillies bullpen that's been surprisingly sturdy this year. Expect to see him back in the bigs in September.

Jimmy Van Ostrand (1B/OF, Astros; Vancouver, BC): Not to be confused with Dr Van Nordstram, Van Ostrand was a very late pick (29th round) back in 2006 who put up a very solid A line of .306/.373/.453/.826, albeit at the ripe old age of 23. He got the call to AA, where he probably starts 2009, just before the Olympics.

David Davidson (LHP, Pirates; Richmond Hill): A 24-year-old AA lefty reliever who's K'd about a batter an inning (and walked around 4.5/9 IP) through his minor league career. He burnt a hole in the sun during a dynamite 2006 campaign at age 22, but has regressed a bit since then. Might still earn himself a reputation as the Tom Thomson of somebody's bullpen someday.

Honourable mention...

Scott Campbell (2B, Jays; Auckland, NZ): He's 1/4 Canadian (what' s the threshold for WBC eligibility?), he's been tearing AA pitching a new one this year, and JP compares him to Chase Utley. Enough said.

And some recent high school grads just starting their pro careers: Michael Crouse, Stosh Wawrzasek, and Brad Furdal.

Good luck, all.

-- Johnny Was

See You in September?

As much fun as it was to slap around Beckett and the Beantowners this afternoon, the chill winds of non-contention turn our thoughts, of course, to September call-ups. That's not to say that there isn't some TINY hope we can charge back into contention but looking at the upcoming schedule, my most optimistic projections for the AL East still leaves the Jays 3-5 games out. Not that finishing within 5 games of the WC and ahead of the Yankees wouldn't be a salve on my disappointments over this season, it definitely would, but I can't hold back my opinionating under the illusion of contention.

So naturally, the thoughts turn to the future - whether might our young players depart hence?

Well, for the eager, yet uninformed, fan, the obvious assumption is the Man, the Myth, the Machine - Travis Snider. Turns out, though, that said assumption would be wrong. At least, according to Jordan Bastian. The reason for the error? Said eager fans are forgetting the Arizona Fall League. In general, a player who's going to the AFL doesn't get a September call up. Bastian informed us Friday that Snider, along with JP Arencibia and Scott Campbell were already ticketed to be three of the Jays six players to head west. The other three will be pitchers, as yet unnamed, but we can - of course! - speculate.

The obvious candidates at first glance are: Brett Cecil, Rickey Romero, Davis Romero, Scott Richmond, Brad Mills, and Robert Ray. Why Ray you asked? Because this is the year he (along with Rickey Romero) would have to be added to the 40 man roster or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft and so the Jays might want a look at him against tough competition.

How to whittle that list? OK, first things first - it's pretty much a given Rickey-Ro is going. Also, the Wiki article on the AFL states that a team can only include one foreign player among it's alloted six and that player from a region which doesn't have a winter league (I am assuming that in this context being Canadian is not "foreign"). That rules out Davis Romero.

So we have 4 possibilities for 2 spots. Another factor to consider is the "Rule of Thumb" concerning stretching young pitchers. As I have alluded to before, the Jays have tightly managed Brett Cecil's IP in order to get him through a full season. The rule says that you should limit a young pitcher to no more than 30 IP over his previous high total for a single season. There is a notable pattern of injury history when this rule is violated (see Fausto Carmona for the latest example).

Cecil's previous high before this season was 112. S o far this season he has 99.1 and he has about 3 starts left for the Chiefs. If we postulate that he posts 15-18 IP the rest of the way then he has no more than 25 available to him before he hits the ceiling. Given that the AFL has a 32 game schedule, and a SP might expect to make six starts, that put's Cecil right on the fringe of where the team would want him to go. All that said, he might go and pitch in relief.

Brad Mills is right at the ceiling now with three regular starts left. He could conceivably be shut down before the end of the AA season. He's not going. Ray is in a similar situation.

That leads me to believe that Scott Richmond becomes the rather obvious choice. I can't think of a single good argument for not sending him. And given the lack of an obvious third candidate, count Cecil in too.

So there you have, friends and neighbors, six players who almost certainly will NOT be September call ups. what does that leave us with? We know from previous years (hat tip to Thomas at Batters Box) that JP's Jays tend to call up about 5 players - usually three pitchers, a catcher, and one other guy. It should be noted here, in answer to the persistent misunderstanding, that a September call-up does NOT start the service-time clock that seems to be on everyone's mind the last few years.

The catcher is the most obvious call - JPA has other plans, Jeroloman isn't hitting AAA pitching yet, and Thigpen seems to have forgotten how. The above-pictured Robinzon Diaz is penciled in as the front-runner for the back-up job next year and has already had a couple of cups of coffee, he's in like Flynn.

Two of the three pitchers are easy calls - Brian Wolfe and Jeremy Accardo (or whoever is demoted for him if he's activated within the next two weeks). The third guy is almost certainly John Parrish. That would leave Davis Romero on the outside looking in here too. I, for one, think the young man has done all he needs to do to earn the look, and that the team might want to at least let Arny look him over in anticipation of his being a candidate for next year's pen. I can't predict D-Ro will be added, but neither would I be surprised if they found room in the new clubhouse for one more guy.

Finally, the one other position player. Some will call for Coats here, or some crusty never-will-be like Hector Luna, or ride a dark horse like David Smith. But as Thomas pointed out, the guy who best suits the situation is erstwhile disappointment, Russ Adams.

Besides having the higher profile within the organization, and the ability to play (at least to some degree) multiple positions, Adams is facing a potential removal from the 40 man roster (IMO, he won't be but at least there is some noise about it) and, more importantly, the man has been ON FIRE since the AAA All Star Break. In 104 post-ASB at bats, Adams is hitting .356 - .415 - .558 - .973 and he's gotten hotter as he moved into August. In fact, if Adams had not had the sort of June (at the plate) that a pitcher would have been ashamed of, he'd have had a respectable year. Take out June and his numbers look like this: .285 - .372 - .463 - .835

I don't see the Buck Coats and the Hector Lunas of the world having a better argument than that. Off topic but I'd really like to see Adams get a shot at playing 2B in the majors for some team next year. He is probably better right now than Tad Iguchi, or Adam Kennedy, or Luis Castillo, to name just a few.

There is also the possibility that Scott Rolen will take one more try before calling it a season. I'm not sure if you technically call it a September call up but he may well be added to the roster on September 1.

So, to filter all that down into one sentence: your September call-ups will be Brian Wolfe, Jeremy Accardo, John Parrish, Robinzon Diaz, and probably Russ Adams, with Davis Romero also a possibility.

Now you know.

~WillRain

Live Blog! Canada v. USA Olympic Baseball 15/8/2008: Operation Great White North

Good evening, ladies and gentleman and welcome to the first official live blog here at The Southpaw. Dashing Team Canada takes on our closest friends/most hated enemies from the United States at 10:19 tonight, a little under 40 minutes from now. I'd recommend that you go with the online feed here because the main CBC network will probably be bouncing all over the shop from synchronized hi-fiving to team trampoline wrestling at inopportune moments during the game.

I've racked up a bunch of music here because the online feed is commentary free. At first it feels serene not having a ginger moron blathering on about this and that, but you'll probably start to feel a little bored after two innings. I'm starting it off with Lagwagon's "Trashed", an album that wasn't great but did the trick in certain times and places a bit over a decade ago. Things will probably progress to the Cold War Kids and then we'll let the tempo of the game dictate the music.

Why live blog now? Sometimes life deals you a pair of twos and you've just got to play the hand you've been dealt. I'm struggling away at my second graduate degree and I have kind of taken a couple of gut punches over the past week learning that two former female classmates from journalism school at Carleton are working the international beat I so desperately dreamed of being a part of way back when I left Sarnhole at 18.. (If you were wondering, the first was a former dorm room rasslin' partner and is now reporting on the Olympics from Beijing for CTV, the latter, a jealous mannish roommate who engineered the breakup of your humble narrator and a smoking hot Croatian film student, most recently interviewed the Polish foreign minister for the BBC... Sloots of the first order, both of them, and you can quote me on that.) While they've got decently paying/highly rewarding jobs, I've got all of you, right?

I'm rocking the Maclay's Traditional Pale Ale, a buck a beer I wouldn't say tastes good, but it's a Sleeman's product and tastes less bad than Lakeport, the lager of choice of the proletarian underclass from Windsor to Timmins. We're 20 minutes from game time... the excitement is palpable!

It would be remiss of me not to throw a metaphorical internet high five in the direction of Lloyd the Barber at Ghostrunner on First. Not only is his blog better than a 6-way with the Polish women's volleyball team, but the Ghostrunner's taste in 1990s punk rock is beyond reproach. I salute you, sir, and thanks for the cross promotion earlier this afternoon.

10:07 - Starting lineups have been posted at the official site. The first thing that jumps out is that Adam Stern has been dropped from the leadoff spot to the Manny Lee hole at the bottom of the order. Fuck that noise, Terry Puhl! You don't sort of almost become the Red Sox CF by default only to have all your hopes and dreams stripped away from you when Theo Epstein trades for Coco Crisp for nothing!

Starters are James Avery (eh, struggling for something positive to say...) for Canada and Brett Anderson (K artist) for the US of Americans.

Michael Phelps wins gold medal number 7. I didn't even look up from the keyboard.

10:14 -

Team Canada:

11	CLAPP Stubby	2B
15	GARCIA Emmanuel	SS
20	SAUNDERS Michael	RF
40	THORMAN Scott	1B
33	WEGLARZ Nick	LF
17	FROSTAD Emerson	DH
4	ROGELSTAD Matt	3B
30	ROBINSON Chris	C
7	STERN Adam

Team USA:

24	FOWLER Dexter	CF
18	BARDEN Brian	2B
26	TIFFEE Terry	1B
17	BROWN Matt	3B
14	SCHIERHOLTZ Nate	RF
44	LAPORTA Matt	LF
7	GALL John	DH
6	MARSON Lou	C
2	DONALD Jason

LaPorta is a destroyer of worlds who went to the Tribe in exchange for CC Sabbathia in July; Jason Donald is the AA Phillies shortstop JP should've traded AJ Burnett for. Nate Schierholtz is a prospect of note for the Pirates, Lou Marson is a promising young catcher in the Phillies system. The other names are unfamiliar to me, but Dexter Fowler might be a serial killer.

10:20 - Ok, we have lift-off here. Well, sort of. A count down followed by a commerical for something I wouldn't buy even if I did have money. It's overcast and communist looking at Wukesong Baseball Field, 26 C, 55% humidity, some wind and various other shit. Canada and the US both have a win and two losses, though I doubt any of their players get a warm and fuzzy feeling of accomplishment in beating Canadians at baseball. This is a must win game for the Canuckers, well, maybe "should really try to" win.

In Mandarin, Canada is "Chan-a-da". Get used to it.

10:24 - Lagwagon has been fired up. I think the last time I listened to this album was way back, Victoria Day Weekend 1997 when we got kicked out the Pinery at 4 a.m. on Monday morning after Newman got caught by the 5-oh with an open beer. Rather than dumping it in the forest before running away. he set the cup down on the road then ran. We barely had time to dump the hot box tent in the forest before smokey arrived back at the site.

The main network is covering long distance gay-walking rather than cutting away to the ball game.

10:28 - The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out to a Chinese midget. Do you ever wonder if the standard for midgetry is different in Asia? 4' 11" for a man qualifies you here in the West. Also, did you know that the wartime manpower shortage had grown so acute in Canada by 1917 that the army had to relent and admit midgets to labour battalions? Knowing's half the battle.

Canada's the road team here and we're on the verge of finally seeing the first pitch...

Fuck, Anderson is a southpaw. There's maybe one, two max, righty Canadian bats. It's beyond comical.

10:34 - Stubby Clapp chooses not to beat out a broken bat infield single. Why so many people lose their shit for this guy is beyond me. Manny Garcia follows by knocking the first pitch he sees for a routine grounder to second. Mike Saunders comes up, he's got some pop, though it'd be nice to see the guys face a righty some day. Routine fly straight to the centrefielder. Evil Imperials about to hit.

10:38 - Dexter Fowler is an African-American, so that means he can't be a serial killer. My apologies. He certainly did not kill the ball there, flying out in shallow left rather than stabbing himself an extra base hit. Brian Barden has his shit pushed up on some sloppy breaking balls. Terry Tiffee probably has the most effete name in the history of manhood. Unsurprisingly, he grounds out to second.

End of 1, good guys and those guys knotted at 0.

It's the sing-along part of "going south" and this brings back some great memories...

10:45 - Former Braves first baseman Scott Thorman leads off the Canadian second. Here's his line against ML lefties from 2007: .176/.227/.221. Don't get your hopes up. Nick Weglarz, socker of 2 home runs against Cuba, follows that fly out to the third baseman with a single to right. Rally time? Another lefty up... Emerson Frostad? Who is this ninja? He wears 44, which is a bit presumptive.

Fuck yeah! Slugger McGrew doubles over the left-fielders head to cash the first run.

Matt Rogelstad, another lefty, grounds out advancing the runner to third with two outs. A righty! Chris Robinson turns his platoon advantage into a first pitch ground out to end the inning.

Good guys up 1-0.

10:57 - Matt Brown, woop-dee-do I got ML at bats for the Angels this year, Ks. Schierholtz goes down with a wimper in true Pirate fashion and Matt LaPorta comes up to the dish. He Ks...
Avery is definitely not pitching like a dude who kind of got pushed around a bit in AA this year...

11:03 - Adam Stern leads off the Canadian third and slashes foul balls all over the park with the focus of a man who's not thinking ahead to an awkward, sexually-charged hallway conversation with fellow Londoner Jessica Zelinka after the game... before striking out swinging. Speaking of dames, Stubby Clapp singles to left and iTunes racks up some Laura Veirs? No, go back and erase that. I can't let people know I have her on my iPod. Manny Garcia beasts a TRIPLE to deep right scoring Mrs. Stubby Clapp! Good guys up 2-0!

Three games into the tournament and I've become a real fan of Mike Saunders (Mariners, 21, .859 OPS at AA West Tennessee this summer), who just grounded out to drive in Canada's third run. He's a tall, lanky outfielder who can hit doubles and stole bases in the low minors. Minimal flash, but I wouldn't be too surprised to see him in the bigs sometime in 2010.

Scott Thorman singled and went to second on a wild pitch before Weglarz flew out to end the inning. Canada 3-US 0.

11:17 - My day/night is just made by the first comment of the live blog from Adam. Cheers, brother! How's it going?

Stubby Clapp just does a passable Aaron Hill impression on a diving snag on a line drive that was tailing away from him. Colour me impressed.

Whatever, I do like Laura Veirs and I'm not ashamed to tell anyone.

11:19 - The main network decides to check in and I don't like this mojo. What the fuck, like anything they've covered over the past hour was more deserving of air time than this. Dexter "not a serial killer" Fowler did NOT strike out on that big loop Chris Robinson tried to sell by running half way to the dugout... A fly out to left does it on the next pitch anyway. Canada coming up.

Dunno if you saw the Canada-China game Adam, but the crowd was weirder then. Their chant of "Go Chinese team!" was somewhat quaint...

11:24 - we are joined by mathesond, welcome aboard!

I can't find any stats for this Frostad guy, who just grounded out but didn't on an errant throw from Jason Donald (the guy I wanted for AJ Burnett at the deadline), but he looks like an intercounty leaguer. Alright, this is getting annoying... the tv feed is ahead of the online feed, I'm a bit torn about reverting to cable seeing as how little importance they've put on airing this game.

Donald poochs his jump on a liner from ADAM STERN that goes for a single, but Stubby Clapp grounds out to end the inning. And we're back to some random inconsquential event on the main network.

11:31 - Lloyd the Barber graces us with his presence and women's rasslin' comes on the main network, Asian women's rasslin'. Coincidence?

11:34 - Oh snap, Brian Barden takes Avery deep to put the Americans on the board. Avery's been good through 3, too good for someone with his track record against these fine young crew-cutted Yankees.

Canuck music? I'd much rather throw on some Swingin' Utters. This is a working class Canadian team, so it's not inappropriate. I remember seeing them at Molly Maguire's in Ottawa way back and Johnny Peebucks was sitting alone before his set, head down on the table and crying. One of our party was bold enough to go ask him how he was doing; he said he missed the birth of his first child because of the tour...

Wolf Parade?

11:38 - Blair had some extremely disparaging comments for the baseball facilities in Beijing, but seriously... are they expected to invest millions in a nice ballpark on prime downtown real estate? They have a 6-team league that plays a 3-game season in front of no fans. After we graduate me and the Mrs. are going to write our first book on baseball in China. Like so many things American, the existence of the sport there is a product of wishful thinking. I was actually pretty impressed that the Chinese assembled a competitive women's fastball team for a sport that was coming off the Olympic roster. They lost to Canada 1-0 last night after loading the bases with none out in their last AB.

Still... LaPorta beaned.

Cito needs to get out there and yank Jason Frasor, I mean James Avery.

11:44 - Avery surrenders another run and has not been yanked. Three scoreless innings would've been a nice return on him, a real nice return, but Terry Puhl is riding the wild here for some unknown reason.

First punk show: Bad Religion/Supersuckers/Blonde Redhead at the State Theater in Detroit, aged 15. The awesomeness of that day will never be recaptured, not even if I'm the first man to set foot on Mars.

The pitching change finally happens....

11:49 - Are you watching this women's rasslin'? It's much more erotic than me and Phil Gosse in the offensive lineman weight class back in grade nine gym. Rando Canuck reliever gets out of the jam.

11:52 - That Japanese dame had a superb ass, I'd feel no shame in losing to her.

I know they've scored 4 runs already, but are you kind of wondering how an entire country is incapable of producing any right-handed hitters? This shit should get balanced out a bit in the WBC with Jason Bay and Russ Martin, but Justin Morneau, Mark Teahen, Matt Stairs et al. are all wrong-handed hitters, too.

Canuckers go 3 up, 3 down, it's up to the bully here. This is the important part...

11:57 - In case you were wondering, that imposing communist-looking building there beyond the left-field wall is a slogan factory. Manny Garcia does a disservice to token Latinos everywhere booting that ball and handling the throw from the pitcher on the following play with the grace and agility of Russ Adams, but at least he got the lead out (erasing his error).

I went with The Specials. Entirely inappropriate, but what can you do.

It feels like each successive reliever the Canadians trot out will be worst than Josh Towers to the power of 10. If this lead holds, I'll dance a jig in front of a crowd of disinterested looking trust-fundettes outside the DB Weldon Library. Chris Robinson should run to the dugout after every two strike pitch...

And the Yanks score again on a double, puta madre!, this sidearmer's a shitballer of the first order. He looks like he's on the verge of tears, fucking hell, eye of the tiger there, ninja, this is the Olympics! Well, let's not repeat that hirsute relief effort in the 6th! Where's Paul Quantrill?

12:10 - A half dozen insurance runs would be nice here against Joe Blanton's left-handed cousin. We get a double there from Frostad, and Rogelstad knocks a swinging bunt right down the line to put runners at the corners with 2 out. Eh, eh????

Unsurprisingly, the Yanks are warming up another lefty. A retarded computer simulation could manage this game...

12:18 - USA manager Judge Roughneck comes out to yank Joe Blanton's left-handed cousin (for another lefty). This guy Brian Duensing is a Twins farmhand and didn't not suck in AAA this year. In true Minny fashion, he Ks or BBs no one, giving up an unhealthy dose of hits but not taking the knock you'd expect.

And he Ks indistinguishable lefty number 7 to end the inning.

12:25 - Word is that Davey Johnson is the Boss at the end of Resident Evil 4.

Shitballer number 2 got a nice 3 up, 3 down inning there and I take back any disparaging remarks I might have made towards him or his family earlier.

12:45 - Maximum unpleasantness. None of these Canadian relievers are fit to pitch for Josh Towers' softball team. Maximum unpleasantness: having to proof-read English-Chinese translations when you're clearly drunk.

Live Blog! Tonite!

Just a friendly reminder that I'll be live-blogging tonight's Olympic baseball matchup between the masculine Canadians and our best friends/main enemies from the US of America starting at around 10:30-ish from the Silver Fox Lounge that is my living room. All are welcome and the libations will be flowing at break-neck speed.

If you happened to miss it early this morning, the Canuckers fell 1-0 to the Good Koreans, who got a masterful complete game shutout from southpaw starter Hyunjin Ryu/Ryu Hyun-Jin and a solo homerun from second baseman Keunwoo Jeong. Seeing as Canada pretty much only has left-handed hitters, the opposition is having a field day running out lefty starters, though Ryu does have quite an impressive pedigree in the Korean League. Canada did have plenty of chances to score--including a man on third in the 9th--but hit worse with RISP than the Jays of April/May.

Though Team Canada aquitted itself well against the highly touted Cubans yesterday, it likely needs to win 3 of its next 4 to advance to the next round, which means taking at least one against the US or Japan. (The other two games are against Taiwan and Neederlands). A daunting task, indeed.

-- Johnny Was

Update on Ibanez

According to Rotoworld, it was the Tigers who claimed Ibanez, and that means the claim never got as far as the Jays.

~WillRain

Olympic Baseball Update: Brace Yourselves For The Shit Storm

Team Canada fell 7-6 to the Cubans in an exciting, dinger-filled see-saw affair this morning that will produce a torrent of criticism of JP Ricciardi from local haters Richard Griffin, Bob Elliot and Bob McCown because, sad to say it, this was a game the Canadians might have won had they trotted Scott Richmond out as originally planned.

(A bit of a warning, the box scores at CBC are pretty shitty. There's no record of who had extra base hits, walked, stole bases, errors, etc., not to mention who scored the runs. BUT the game recap article goes into great depth if you're not averse to actually reading instead of looking at numbers. If you want a proper box score, go to the official site.)

Canada started Brooks McNiven, a 27-year-old career minor leaguer with shitty peripherals out of Terrace, BC who was originally selected by Gord Ash in the very late rounds of the 1999 amateur draft, and he gave up two ER in 2 IP of work. He was followed by Jon Lockwood, a 26-year-old Torontonian who never advanced beyond A+ ball and now appears to be out of the game professionally, and he gave up 3 ER through 3. Former major leaguer Chris Reitsma gave up one earned in his inning of work, but otherwise the bullpen was solid.

It's pretty hard to argue that Richmond wouldn't have put up a much stronger effort than the 5 IP cobbled together from McNiven and Lockwood, though I mention this without malice. There's no question that a big league team has to put its own interests, not to mention use of players that it's paying, above those of a national team, even if you're talking about the only ML club in the country. I'm still kind of disappointed about the way that all played out, but I won't shit on JP for it. Still, don't expect Team Canada Manager Terry Puhl to do JP any favours by smuggling Cuban shortstop Eduardo Paret out of the country in a duffle bag at the conclusion of the tournament.

On the offensive side, promising Indians prospect Nick Weglarz of Stevensville, ON stole the show, socking a pair of dingers and going 4 for 4 with 3 runs and 3 RBI. Mariners farmhand Mike Saunders of Victoria, who homered in Canada's opener against China, launched another 2-run dinger. Stubby Clapp, who actually did get a 25-AB cup of coffee with the Cards in 2001, got a pair of hits and drew a walk, while my personal favourite Londoner (after Rachel McAdams) Adam Stern went 0 for 5 out of the leadoff spot.

Elsewhere, the US shut the Neederlanders out 7-0, China surprisingly held Korea to a 0-0 tie through 6 when the game was called due to rain, and Japan took it to Taiwan 6-1.

Canada continues onward and upward with two games tomorrow (EST), Korea (6 a.m.) in the morning and USA (10:30 p.m.) in the evening. Full sched here, though mind the 12-hour time difference.

Jeff Blair has kind of been forgotten since he went over to Red China a few weeks back, but he did sneak in time for a (long) commentary piece on baseball at the Olypmics the other day. Short version, he doesn't think it's ever coming back because (Eurotrash) IOC members don't appreciate the game and the MLB has nothing to gain financially by releasing players for the Olympics, especially when it has it's own potential money-maker in the World Baseball Classic.

You can respond to this either one of two ways. A) I never really cared about Olympic baseball, so I'm going to continue to ignore it; or B) This is the last crack, I'm going to start following Team Canada now even though I had little or no interest in the past. Since a good portion of my shit is in boxes and I've got precious few diversions to keep me occupied until the move at the end of the month, I'm going to go with B. If you're not feeling it I've got absolutely nothing against you or your point of view.

Live blog tomorrow night against Team USA, all are welcome to chug PBRs, swear, and carry on in an inappropriate manner.

JAYS SHIT:

* Our highly esteemed colleagues over at The Mockingbird and Ghostrunner on First have joined us on the Dave Purcey Express. Welcome aboard fellas, there's room for everyone! If there is one Eternal Truth about Big D, it's that the Detroit Tigers cannot put bat on ball when he's on the mound. Through 10.1 innings over 2 starts they've only managed 4 hits against him (drawing 10 walks which I will now conveniently overlook) and scored only 1 run. Give 'em shit, buddy!

Purcey still needs a nickname and I'm really unsatisfied with "Bigfoot" as suggested at Batter's Box the other day. Did you know that Dave Winfield's (6' 6") nickname when he played in Mexico was "El Gigante Negro"? I don't speak Spanish, but I'm going to guess that means "the big negro" anyway. "Big Whitey" for Purcey? No? Something better?

* In unsurprising news, Scott Downs "is likely headed to the disabled list after spraining his ankle on Wednesday night" according to Rotoworld.

* MLB to introduce instant replay at the end of August? Why not 5 years ago?

-- Johnny Was

Down and out for the count

I'm sure most of you saw last night, Scott Downs sprained his ankle - the Jays have no idea how long he'll be out for. My guess, is that he's probably done for the year if it's a bad sprain. Even if it's just a small sprain, it might not be a bad idea to just shut him down for the year since we're pretty much out of it.

As I pointed out a couple of days ago, Downs was only one of the best relievers in all of baseball. So this is a pretty big loss for a team, even one with as much depth as the Jays. Parrish is likely going to be the guy called back up, although it would be interesting if Brian Wolfe or Davis Romero was recalled.

My big question though, is why was Downs coming into the game with a 4 run lead? It's not a "save situation" (which I think is stupid to use your best relievers, anyways, but thats for another time), so you don't need to use your closer. Ryan apparently couldn't pitch, so with a 4 run lead Cito opts to go to his best reliever.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but due up that inning was Placido Polanco (Right handed hitter), Magglio Ordonez (right handed batter) and Miguel Cabrera (right handed batter). I get that Downs is capable of getting out right handed hitters, but Downs shouldn't have been in the game to begin with. You know why?

BECAUSE THE JAYS HAD A 4 RUN LEAD!

I'm sorry, but there's absolutely no reason to use Downs with a 4 run lead heading into the 9th with 3 right handed batters up when you have Shawn Camp (hadn't been used since the 10th) and Brandon League available in the bullpen. You can give Downs a day off, and save him for a situation he's actually needed in. Hell, use Carlson if you want. But don't waste Downs with a 4 run lead. If you can't trust another reliever to get 3 out without giving up 4 runs, then the bullpen is in a lot more trouble than we thought.

While I'm not directly blaming Cito for the Downs injury, he shouldn't have been out there last night for that situation.

Twitchy.

The Definition of "No Risk Move"

So, word on the wire is that Raul Ibanez was claimed on waivers Tuesday afternoon but no word yet on who the lucky winner was.
Ibanez is obviously no Manny Ramirez, but for the uninformed, he's only hitting like this in Seattle:

.286

.351

.481

.832

That slugging and OPS would both be second only to Adam Lind on the Jays and the OBP would rank third. The man has 18 HR and 60 RBI and I don't need to tell you where those would rank.

The ever-informative MLBTR blog notes that among teams even remotely in the race, the claim order goes like this:

1. Tigers
2. Rangers
3. Blue Jays
4. Yankees
5. Twins
6. White Sox
7. Red Sox
8. Rays
9. Angels


Now, it's reasonably safe to say the Tigers and Rangers didn't make the claim, it's also pretty safe to speculate that once you are past the Jays the Twins and Rays seem the most likely candidates. Now, in my not-so-damn-humble opinion, making the claim was and is a no-brainer for the Jays.

Why? Because of the "three true outcomes" of a waiver claim in August:

1. The M's pull him back and we know we don't have to face him in the TB lineup the rest of the year

2. The M's give him to us and we end up paying roughly 1.25 million for a guy who will get you two draft picks next year which is a good bargain

3. You work out a deal in which you trade guys you are willing to give up for the player and the resulting draft picks (and you can bet your ass that would be "B list" guys, not Cecil or JPA).

The only way you can possibly fuck this up is by trading away too good a prospect to close the deal and if JP were going to do that he would have done so on July 31. The only way it is a bad idea is if the Big Boss won't stretch the budget that much which, again, they were willing to do just two weeks ago.

IF in fact the Jays did NOT make the claim then you can disregard any further happy-talk about management thinking we still have a puncher's chance of contention. this is the very model of a no-risk move.

~WillRain

Oh Canada! Misplaced Drunken Nationalism Finds A New Hero

It went a little bit off the rails there last night, but I still think that was my best post ever even if few people actually read it in full. If socio-economic circumstances, boredom, a creepy Stubby Clapp obsession, or insomnia have similarly inspired you to watch some Team Canada baseball action from Beijing, here's what's coming up this week.

It's pretty much all 6 a.m. or 10:30 p.m. EST starts--CAUTION: everything listed here is Beijing time, which is exactly 12 hours ahead of Toronto--and games aren't moving along any faster than a typical MLB match up despite the lack of enforced commerical breaks. I would strongly suggest watching the commentator/graphic-free online feed at cbc.ca/olympics over going with the main network because it won't cut away for random events you probably have no interest in watching. The picture quality is as good as a mlb.tv broadcast and the mic picks up pretty much everything on the field sound-wise, which is kind of cool.

Former replacment player/Sportsnet Jays analyst Warren Sawkiw and veteran anchorman Jim Van Horne do the commentary when the broadcast is on the main network. Sawkiw was panned for his radio work during a brief stint as Jerry Howarth's broadcast partner and Van Horne is probably best known for his impressive mustache, but they're no more annoying than Jamie Campbell and Pat Tabler. Why the CBC doesn't insert commentary/graphics into the online feed when they've already got a team on the ground producing the TV broadcast is a bit odd, but I'll take what I can get.

Next up for Team Canada is Cuba at 6 a.m. on Thursday. The Cubans have won gold at the last three Olympics and are probably more into international baseball than any other country on earth, so I expect they're out to prove something seeing as it's coming off the docket for London 2012. The Cubans kind of slapped Japanese phenom Yu Darvish around a bit this morning, beating the Nipponese side 4-2. And Kenny Williams doesn't look all that bad for signing former Cuban homerun king Alexei Ramirez, now does he? These dudes are for real. Scott Richmond would've got the start for this one, so expect another dose of shitting on JP if Canada loses by a small margin. This should be a good'un for a bunch of reasons

It's another 6 a.m. start for Canada against Good Korea on Friday. The Koreans came back to score 2 in the 9th to beat Team USA 8-7 this morning in what must've been an exciting game. Haven't heard of any of the American hurlers, so it's possible the Yanks underestimated the opposition. From what I recall of the WBC in 2006 the Koreans don't have any conventional relivers, all Mark Eichorn-esque submariners. Cool! Another lost art, like the knuckleball.

Finally, a night game. Double dip Friday as Canada takes on the Americans at 10:30 p.m., which ironically is a night game followed by an (early) morning game. Did that just totally blow your mind? If there's any interest, I'm totally up for live-blogging this one, too. The American side features some interesting prospects like world-destroyer Matt Laporta and Jason Donald, the Phillies AA shortstop I was hoping JP would trade AJ Burnett for...

Sunday is an off-day.

JAYS SHIT:

The Tigers show us that there's more than one way to find yourself sniffing .500. Tell me a rickety, unreliable bullpen headed up by the Ghost of Todd Jones isn't just as frustrating as a lineup that's incapable of socking dingers? At least the Jays excel at pitching and defense, whereas our erstwhile enemies in Motown might score runs but have to come to terms with a GM who mortgaged the future by trading for a bunch of aging sluggers and Dontrelle Willis. The future is no brighter on the other side of the St. Clair River.

More awesomeness. One of my poolies (the only Tiger fan in the league) sends this dispatch from Detroit after catching yesterday's game at Comerica:

FYI: The wife and I were in a Detroit shopping mall yesterday at lunch, and spotted AJ Burnett. He was being dragged around by his wife/gf. The tats on his glove arm confirmed it. Apparently his gameday routine includes eating junkfood in mall food courts.

I thought about asking him for his autograph... but then remembered that I'm not 13.

Townz

Is anyone surprised by that?

-- Johnny Was

Canada-China Olympic Preliminary

Spent the day painting and repairing shit around this apartment I've lived in for the past two years before we move out at the end of the month. There's no way the rental office doesn't notice the giant hole in the wall I shoddily patched over, but it was my first time working with plaster and I'm hoping I can get away with my indiscretion without losing hundreds of dollars in security deposit money.

So anyway, this is what it's like being an unemployed grad student, staying up late to get drunk alone off home-made wine and write a live blog no one will read live for a sporting event very few of you care about. I was talking to my brother on MSN about the game earlier tonight but he lost interest and stopped replying, so I'm reducing to doing this instead.

Welcome to my world.

I've been whinging quite a bit about the Jays of late, so I'm going to attempt to give you something enjoyable and positive to read about the Scott Richmond-less Team Canada. It's hard to figure out who's who with no commentary, but I'll do my best. I was hoping to see some of Brett Lawire, the 16th overall pick by the Brewers in the June amateur draft, but he's not in the starting lineup. Try to contain your disappointment.

11:29 - So this is how Chinamen design a ball park? This place is colder than a Klondike Bar. I'd rather watch intercounty league teams go at it in Stratford than see a game here. When I was on a prolonged sojurn in Beijing with the Mrs. two summers ago I had her make some calls for me in the hopes of catching a CBL game or two to provide a break from the intense heat and over-crowding (figuring that a ball game in China is the last place you'd find too many people).

The only problem was that when we got through to the club they had no idea when or where their next game would be played and were somewhat baffled that anyone actually wanted to come see them play. When I asked about buying a t-shirt or jersey the secretary responded with total incomprehension.

11:30 - I'm watching the CBC feed online because the main network is carrying swimming and gymnastics even though Canada has no chance of winning either event. Here on the baseball feed there's no commentary, just park sounds, and it's absolutely serene. It's pure baseball, players chatting to each other, fists smacking gloves, the crack of the bat, clapping, the PA. No inane chatter from Darren Fletcher about hot dogs, no Jamie Campbell losing his shit when the other team has a late-game rally, not even Wilner updating out-of-town scores from the Fan HQ.

This is blissfull.

11:35 - London content! Adam Stern batting leadoff, flies out. Still, more Adam Stern to come.

11:37 - Number 11, let's assume that was Stubby Clapp (confirmed later by the defensive graphic), flies out deep to left where Wang Chao makes a nice little snow cone catch. Wang's got some faux Oakley's on and wears them like someone who aspires to play in the bigs.

11:38 - Michael Saunders, an outfielder in the Mariner's system who had a nifty little season at AA, is one lanky motherfucker who looks like he's got pop. He launches another routine fly right to the centre fielder. The Canuckers go three up, three down, but put three balls in the air. Chinese starter Bo Tao could be in for grief.

11:40 - Chris Begg (spent last year at the Giants AAA affiliate posting atrocious peripherals but winning 12 games nonetheless) gets the start for Team Canada, gives up a leadoff single but induces an inning ending double play ball from China's 3-hitter Feng Fei. I missed what happened to the 2-hitter pouring some wine...

11:48 -Some guy who looks like Corey Koskie leads off the second with a grounder right to the first baseman. Nick Weglarz a promising 20-year-old OF in the Indians system, singles to right, then Jimmy Vanostrand hits into an inning-ending double play... Bo Tao just got his last three hitters to put the ball on the ground, so maybe there's more to his game than I first thought.

11:54 - Wang Wei leads off the Chinese second and grounds out weakly to second. Zhang Yufeng punches a single over Stubby Clapp's head to right, Li Lei follows up with one more of the same. Chinese rally! The crowd is chanting "Wang Chao", alternating between dames and dudes. It's kind of eerie and cool, who knows where they came up with this because it's not part of anyone else's baseball culture. Wang chases some bad breaking shit down and away, striking out to end the threat.

12:01 - What's the square root of Matt Rogelstad, Chris Robinson, Emmanuel Garcia? Three up, three down. We're once through the order and I can recall only one, maybe two, righty bats in the Canadian lineup against the lefty starter. Ok, I get it, everyone here plays baseball under duress while day-dreaming of playing in the OHL.

12:07 - Just so you know, every hitter on both teams uses double flap-helmets just like the ones you used to wear in little league. I wonder if they have one helmet per player or share them? We'll find out if someone calls timeout before their at bat with the bases loaded to switch that tight 4th helmet no one wants to wear with one of the bigger ones worn by a baserunner.

The Chinese go down quicker than a French hooker in their half of the 3rd.

12:12 - Adam Stern! Canada has gone three innings without scoring against a team from a country where no one actually plays baseball. One of the stern-looking Asian umps growls at the the mincing Olympic mascots to get the fuck away from the field. Stern shows bunt, but pulls it back, just messing with you... And again with the bunt... I know you're fast Adam, but come on here, let's "turn it loose" as Rance Mulliniks would say. Hey hey! Stern ends up flying out to second base, manager Terry Puhl looks unimpressed with his limp-dicked offense.

Some "Stubby" chants from die-hard Canada fans, random crowd exhortations of the sort you'd hear in little league. "Commmmeeeee Onnnnn! Swwwwiiiiiing!" Ah, why didn't I think of that? And Stubby punches a single up the middle.

The Chinese starter Bo thinks Stubby is going and throws over frequently. Paid too much attention to the baserunner and gave up a single to Saunders. And Bo's clearly rattled... Oh, snap! Corey Koskie lookalike (I later find out it's Scott Thorman of Cambridge, Ontario, a first baseman in the Braves system who somehow got almost 300 Brad Wilkerson-esque ABs last year) smacks a 3-run homerun to deep right. Canada up 3-0!

12:28 - The network switches over to baseball and I see from a CBC graphic that Warren Sawkiw and Jim Van Horne are doing the commentary. I'll stick with the online feed. No, I can't... It was nice being at peace with my thoughts for three innings but I'm starting to get lonely.

Selina has joined me in the living room and informs me that the crowd is chanting "Go Chinese Team!" They do that at every sporting event, especially volleyball, she tells me. Was I supposed to talk to her about something? Perhaps, but I continue blogging...

A Chinese player doubles to left to lead off the bottom of the fourth, but Wang Wei K's, next dude grounds out weakly to the pitcher advancing the runner to third with two outs, then Begg K's a goateed Chinaman to work his way his way out of the inning.

If you were wondering why the Chinese kind of suck ass at baseball compared to the Japanese, Koreans and Taiwainese, it's because Chairman Mao banned baseball as a decadent American influence in 1959. Baseball certainly wasn't worth a trip to the gulag, so memories of Babe Ruth barn-storming in Shanghai in the '30s had almost all been forgotten by the time the ban was lifted in 1975, a year before Mao's death. Maybe Nixon softened him up? In any event, baseball in China had gone from niche sport than pulled in a few curious locals in its heyday to a diversion roughly on par with chess boxing in terms of fan support today... MLB has spent some serious cash developing baseball academies in China and the Yankees made bit of a PR splash by signing a pair of Chinese players in 2007, but the sport doesn't yet have much cache as far as the average Chinese sports fan is concerned.

12:40 - Canada puts a pair of men on base and this game that had been ripping right along faster than I can type grinds to a halt. Liu Kai warming in the bullpen and it looks like the Chinese coach is going to call the Politburo to ask permission to make a pitching change.

Stern back up, two on, none out. Shows fucking bunt again, gay! "Turn it loose", Adam! You're playing China, one of your biggest fans is watching this in the wee hours of the morning and wants to see a big hit. The goateed Chinese third baseman, playing shallow to defend against the bunt, makes a crazy back hand on the ground ball down the line and stumbles over the bag for the force out. Nice play, really nice play, and he's laughing himself silly.

12:44 - Chinese manager Jim Lefebvre comes out to make the pitching change. Bo cruised through the early going and leaves having surrendered 3 ER in 3.1 IP with runners on second and third and only one out.

12:46 - Liu (Yankees prospect) is a tall 20-year-old lefty with a good fastball and he's raw... just fired a pickoff throw to second into centrefield, would've pegged a day-dreaming Manny Garcia if he'd hit the shortstop. Rob Ducey is going to tear a strip off Garcia for that Rios-esque brain fart, but a run scores on the error. Clapp walks and the bases are loaded, this is where you pile it on and make the Chinese wish they'd never taken up the sport...

The Chinese are warming a third lefty, Cheng Yuji (spelling?)...

Saunders K's on some bad, bad heat, and Thorman's back up again, Sawkiw thinks he needs a good Olympics to get his way back to the bigs. I'm guessing that mastering AAA pitching might be a surer ticket, but I'm not a member of the paid media. Liu fires a wild pitch about 6 feet off the plate and another run comes in to score. The wheels are coming off here for China. And then he beans Thorman. Retribution? No, this kid just can't throw strikes and he's probably nervous as shit playing in front of a packed house of 12000, which is roughly 11990 more than he's ever played in front of before.

12:55 - Lefebvre yanks Liu, hopefully for someone who can throw strikes. The new pitcher gets a fly out to end the inning, Canada up 5-0.

Van Horne mentions that if one team is leading by 10 the game can be called after 7 innings. Only the Texas Rangers would protest that rule and I have been given some hope of getting to bed before I feel the need to open a third bottom of wine.

1:01 - The main network cuts away from the game for a news update about the lip-synching scandal from the opening ceremonies. This is worse than 10 consecutive autotrader.ca ads; I'd be more shocked if the CCP hadn't chosen to lip-synch.

Begg puts 'em away, three up, three down. And we head to the sixth.

1:07 - The main network isn't going back to the ballgame, even though it's after one a.m. and only drunks and insomniacs are still watching. Every Team Canada booster who lost their shit at JP for calling up Scott Richmond, take fucking note. The main TV network in this country can only bear to show 40 minutes of a baseball game, that's where it stands on the list of national priorities. After going through the run down of every competition we lost pathetically, perhaps they'll switch back to a game Canada is actually winning.

1:10 - Adam Stern! Man on first, none out. Stern walks, Van Horne and Sawkiw have no idea what position he plays (CF), guessing that he's a shortstop. Nice try, fuckers. I'm more lucid and knowledgable after two bottles of wine and a day of painting in a poorly ventilated bathroom.

Stubby Clapp hates the mercy rule, choosing to end the inning by flying out pathetically even if it means running the risk of extending this game beyond 7 innings.

11:15 - Sawkiw and Van Horne are jawing about the future of Olympic baseball, speculating that it will return in 2016 if either Chicago or Tokyo puts up a winning bid. Baseball was dropped for London in 2012 because Eurotrash IOC members couldn't accept that MLB wouldn't release its best players for the Olympics. Sure, tell the Yankees they don't need Jeter and Rodriguez for 3 weeks to compete in an amateur tournament.

Begg gets 'em three up, three down again, and we've got to go back to Ian Hanomansing for another inane update about nothing anyone cares about.

1:24 - Thorman gets beaned again, this time by Chen Yunji, and it looked deliberate. Weglarz K's, but Thorman steals second. That's just a "fuck you for beaning me", but I'm wishing they could hurry up and score 10 so I can go to bed and hopefully not get yelled at for my stealth drinking in the living room.

Thorman scores on the single, but whoever hit it got greedy going for second and got thrown out. That's how you kill a rally.

1:32 - Some Chinese guy doubles to right and the Chinese crowd is back in it... and then the silence is deafening. Begg is so Josh Towers-esque that I'm expecting the Chinese to score at least one off him, but they keep chasing bad, bad breaking shit out of the zone with two strikes. We all have our weaknesses I guess.

1:34 - The CBC main network is playing some "women's" beach volleyball match between Brazil-Australia instead of switching back to the ball game. I can't imagine how that's more relevant to Canadian viewers than a game that Canada is playing in in a sport they're actually kind of good at. I would check those Aussie dames for cocks because they just don't look right...

1:40 - China has runners on first and third with one out (?) and Canada has made a pitching change. Number 22, side-armer. Chinese fans are trying to go crazy with "Chiiii-na!" chants and I'm kind of hoping they put one across.

I spent a couple of years studying in Britain in the early 2000s and got into international rugby, Six Nations, World Cup, etc.. I remember watching a game back in 2002 when England ran up the score against Romania, a newcomer to the sport, something like 108-0. After the game the Romanian coach said that no kids in his country would ever want to play the game after such a humiliation.

Engerlund!

6-0 Canada after 6 complete.

1:45 - I'm busting for a piss and the one bathroom here in this 2-bedroom apartment is occupied for the long term... Will I let one fly off the balcony? I won't have to see these people after the end of the month...

1:48 - I rocked that piss and it's up to you to guess where.

Canada has a runner on second, and it looks like Saunders is up.

1:51 - Another Chinese powwow on the mound, fucking hell do these guys take their sweet time.

I'm kind of seeing what Terry Puhl was saying about this team needing to score runs. If you can't mercy some Chinese scrubs, fear Cuba. Before I finish writing that the Chinese centrefielder takes a bad route on a shallow fly off the bat of ADAM STERN! That's a triple, biatches, and Canada needs 3 more for the mercy. So much as I can surmise there's a man on third with one out? It's hard to tell without commentory or any sort of graphics. And I'm more than a little bit drunk.

1:58 - Li Weiliang is the new Chinese pitcher, indistinguishable from the last three in stuff, form or physical appearance. I hear jostling from the bedroom and should probably join the Mrs, but I'm going to push this as long as I can. I've had a good run...

2:01 - Fuck yeah, Mike Saunders takes Li deep to right!?! Was there anyone on base at that point? It's impossible to tell with this bare bones online production. I don't even know what the score is, but we're that much closer to the mercy rule.

The inning ends, fuck yeah, Canada up 10-0. Stop those railroad-builders here and now and I get to go to bed now with minimal marital strife. Do me this one solid Team Canada.

2:04 - Just got an earful, this ends here and now. Let's assume Canada won 10-0.

-- Johnny Was