Quote:
Originally Posted by mrkajz44
Someone said that they've lost their swagger ever since Price left, and I sort of agree with that. I agree with the decision to let Price go at that price (heh), but then it looks like you are not trying to field the best team. Damned if you do, damned if you don't sort of thing.
The use of this bullpen is maddening though. Storen is obviously battling, so why does Gibbons continue to run him out. Sure, the other arms in the pen are less proven and might crack under the pressure, but Storen is doing that anyway. Floyd was great in spring training, and I know his supposed to be more of a long man, but why not trot him out there instead? The bullpen is constantly evolving anyway - just makes no sense to me.
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I said that, and I 100% feel that is the case. People can throw whatever stat out there they want, but the fact of the matter is this team was a mediocre .500 team until they acquired David Price and now they are a mediocre .500 since they watched him leave. Notice who is on top of the AL East.
The acquisition of David Price told the Jays players they meant business, they were trying to win, and were willing to pay the cost to do so. Every player around the league took notice when they acquired him. Letting him walk without even making an offer, and AA taking his ball and going home (pretty obvious it's because he wasn't going to be given the resources necessary to make some moves) set this franchise right back to where it was. A team that does enough to not finish last, but not enough to win. And with that, went the Jays swagger. We are right back to being a purgatory for baseball players that want to win.
I'm not even saying they needed to resign Price, but they needed to make an effort, and if they determined the term was too much, they needed to go out there and get another big name and fill some holes. They didn't do a damn thing other than reshuffle some chairs and plug one hole at the expense of another.
Not resigning at least one of Edwin or Bautista prior to the start of the regular season also sent a terrible message. It's pretty obvious to everyone that they have no intention of bringing either of these guys back. These guys aren't fully engaged. They are just putting their time until they move on. They didn't retain a single piece that they acquired for last year's run outside of Tulo (Price, Rever, Lowe, Hawkins, etc.), and didn't replace a single one of them. What kind of message does that send?