756 replies to this topic

[bens80]

In many ways, they still seem like a forgotten team in the AL East, as all the "Sleeping Giant" rumblings of the last few offseasons still have yet to provide a team much better than mediocre in the standings.

That being said, this is a team with a solid front office and a restocked minor league system (led positionally by d'Arnaud, Gose, Marisnick and a solid stable of arms) who rather quietly but effectively solidified the back end of their bullpen (which seemed to be their biggest weakness last year) with the Santos and Frasor trades and the signing of Darren Oliver.

When I look at the Blue Jays, despite early off-season rumblings that they may be heavily in on Darvish and/or Fielder (still plausable for Fielder, I guess) they seem like a team ready to enter 2012 with what they have and whose early plans seem to be around determing whether a group of their current "post-hype" players (Rasmus, Snider/Thames, Arencibia, Morrow, and Drabek) can take the next step in their development before charting their next course of action.

Thoughts on the Blue Jays?

[BSLChrisStoner]

NBC Hardball Talk: http://hardballtalk....year-extension/

[BSLChrisStoner]

Escobar worked out great for the Jays. If Rasmus puts things back together, that would be huge for them.

Snider is still very young, 24 next month, but the Jays need more from him. Lawrie over a full season will be something to watch.

If they got Cecil back to his 2010 levels, and Drabek came on; they could be a force. Romero and Morrow are nice 1, 2 at the top. Romero never seems to get the attention he deserves.

[BSLChrisStoner]

NBC Hardball Talk: http://hardballtalk....e-as-setup-man/

[BSLChrisStoner]

FanGraphs: Top 15 Prospects
http://www.fangraphs...onto-blue-jays/

[BSLChrisStoner]

FanGraphs: Morrow's Left On Base Blues
http://www.fangraphs...-on-base-blues/

[BSLChrisStoner]

Baseball Digest: Morrow's Time
http://www.baseballd...8/morrows-time/

[FlavaDave10]

The Jays are my sleeper pick for a wild card team. Excluding Arrencibia, they have no holes in their infield if everyone stays healthy:

C- Arrencibia (who is just keeping the position warm for D'Arnaud)
1B- Adam Lind
2B- Kelly Johnson
SS- Escobar (Probably the most underrated shortstop in the AL)
3B- Lawrie/Encarnacion

Their outfield has a ton of potential and a ton of depth:

LF- Rajai Davis/Ben Francisco (I see them getting rid of Eric Thames, he's the odd man out)
CF- Colby Rasmus
RF- Jose Bautista

As far as DH, I could see them using Snider/Lawrie/Encarnacion. Even if they have injuries, they have the depth to be able to slide guys in. That's scary.

Their pitching staff will determine if they will contend for a wild card spot or not. If guys like Romero and Morrow can build off of last year, Cecil can rebound and be what he was in 2010, and Alvarez and Drabek can take the next step forward, I could easily see them as a wild card team this year. They have guys in their bullpen who can fill in as starters, which is always a good thing.

This team is going to be REALLY good in a few years. Possibly as soon as this year.

[BSLChrisStoner]

MLB Daily Dish: Complete Organizational Chart
http://www.mlbdailyd...izational-chart

[BSLChrisStoner]

Beyond the Boxscore: 2012 Preview
http://www.beyondthe...ronto-blue-jays

[BSLChrisStoner]

Baseball Analytics: Travis Snider on the Outside
http://www.baseballa...he-outside.html

[BSLChrisStoner]

FCPBaseballReport: http://fcpbaseballre...ally-jays-time/

[BSLChrisStoner]

MLB Dirt: Can Ricky Romero Repeat 2011?
http://mlbdirt.com/2...ro-repeat-2011/

[SportsGuy]

Their bullpen is going to be so good this year.

[BSLChrisStoner]

We will take a deeper look at the Jays later today, or tomorrow.

I'm happy to see that Rasmus is struggling out of the gate (2 for 21).

Not sure if Drabek ever fulfills his promise, but I'm a big believer in his stuff. He started Tuesday vs. Boston, and got the win. 5.1 ip, 3 hits, 1 er, 3 bb's, with 4 k's.

[Coker]

It looks like the whole lineup is struggling, other than Kelly Johnson, and I guess you could make a case for Encarnacion with his .796 OPS, due to his .500 SLG%.

I'm really interested to see if Brandon Morrow has finally turned the corner. He looked good last start, but those 3K's are a little worrisome. Not to mention Henderson Alvarez.

[SammyBirdland]

Blue Jay Punch!

[BSLChrisStoner]

Tao of Stieb: This Tricky Thing with Thames and Travis
http://taoofstieb.bl...thames-and.html

[Chris B]

Blue Jays signed Vlad Guerrero to a minor league deal.

[SammyBirdland]

How many game suspension will Lowrie get? Looks like someone may have been getting into Bautista's pill bottles...






Backstory:

Jays down 4-3, Brett Lawrie batting with a 3-1 count bottom of the 9th. Pitch; its a good 3 inches outside of home plate, Brett tosses hit bat, hes half way down to first, umpire calls a strike. Lawrie doesn't react, he stops comes back picks up the bat for the next pitch. Pitch; chest height, Lawrie tosses his bat takes 3 steps towards first, umpire calls strike, and the gif is what ensues.
EDIT: for the record, the broadcasters and commentators all were bashing the umpires calls, analysts were saying this umpire does not deserve to umpire in the MLB. If theres a video of it on MLB or some other source (since the MLB is anal about videos on other websites), I would appreciate it being posted because those were 2 of the worse calls I have ever seen.

Video: http://www.sportsgri...re-helmet-beer/

These umps can't call outside pitches for CRAP with this new positioning...