2011 Blue Jays Season Thread

[Caged Great]

The jays aren't that bad, probably more towards the 70 win mark than anything.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

The jays aren't that bad, probably more towards the 70 win mark than anything.

That's awful. They were shooting for 90 wins this year. Towards 70 would be massive failure.

[MacGruber]

for those in the know, how do teams like Toronto KC and Milwaukee feel about the state of baseball? It seems like it's impossible for them to win with Boston, New York, LA, etc, spending so much money. Is there a future strike coming, lock out? Owner revolt?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

for those in the know, how do teams like Toronto KC and Milwaukee feel about the state of baseball? It seems like it's impossible for them to win with Boston, New York, LA, etc, spending so much money. Is there a future strike coming, lock out? Owner revolt?

It's not impossible. Smaller teams like TB, Minnesota, Texas and Colorado do quite well. Cubs, Tigers and Mets spend alot of money and go nowhere. I think it's quite balance. There are always new teams in the playoffs and new champions like SF last season.

Watching TB this weekend, look at their lead off guy Fuld. He's making peanuts and he ran the Jays ragged. That's all scouting, development and managing, not money.

Toronto have only themselves to blame. They are not a small team. They are owned by Rogers which is a huge national company. Toronto is a bigger city than Boston. They play in a stadium bigger than Boston. So crying poor is not an excuse. If the Jays decide that spending stupid money is stupid and want to go the poor draft/scouting way, they haven't done that right in 15 years either. They're stuck somewhere in between.

[moon]

Originally Posted by MacGruber

for those in the know, how do teams like Toronto KC and Milwaukee feel about the state of baseball? It seems like it's impossible for them to win with Boston, New York, LA, etc, spending so much money. Is there a future strike coming, lock out? Owner revolt?

Toronto should be included in the Boston, NY, LA group not the smaller market KC group.

They have the money to spend (not at Boston/NY level but top 5 in MLB) they have chosen not to spend it this year because Anthopolous thinks they are a year or two away. Either way Toronto is not close to being a small market team that can or should complain about money.

And no there does not look like a strike coming as some of the smaller market clubs don't mind the system as a team like Pittsburgh and Florida can cover their payroll with the money they get from the big clubs and end up making a profit by being so cheap with their payrolls.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by moon

Toronto should be included in the Boston, NY, LA group not the smaller market KC group.

They have the money to spend (not at Boston/NY level but top 5 in MLB) they have chosen not to spend it this year because Anthopolous thinks they are a year or two away. Either way Toronto is not close to being a small market team that can or should complain about money.

Jays are spending money but they are investing heavily on international players and the draft.

Jays are taking the best player available approach when drafting, usually means it will take a fair amount of dollars to sign the propsects.

As for the Clubs payroll, they are holding off spending until the team gains more experience.

I would bet they will spend allot more on the payroll in 2012 season.

[GirlySports]

We'll see how much they spend in 2012. There are alot of holes.
They need an ACE SP to go with Morrow and Romero.
3B and CF are holes to fill too.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

We'll see how much they spend in 2012. There are alot of holes.
They need an ACE SP to go with Morrow and Romero.
3B and CF are holes to fill too.

I would think 3rd Base will be filled by Brett Lawrie. Jays will need another starter and a player who can produce a high amount of RBIs....

[Tyler]

Is anyone else concerned that our clean-up hitter has 1HR this season?

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Is anyone else concerned that our clean-up hitter has 1HR this season?

I came here to defend him, but his OPS is tough to frame positively.

Defensively Lind has been solid.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Gozer

I came here to defend him, but his OPS is tough to frame positively.

Defensively Lind has been solid.

Most of the Jays "OPS" is way down.... For what ever reason, lots of the hitters are in a slump.. Rivera, Snider, Patterson, MacDonald, McCoy are all struggling (5 of the 9 hitters...).

E5 was hitting well but he is hurt....

Baustista is producing most of the offense.... however they are going to walk him steady.

Lind is hot and cold....

Escobar has been good.....

Catchers combined have good numbers...

[Machiavelli]

Starting pitching hasn't been great. I'm not going to look it up, but I don't think any of them have two wins yet.

I miss Marcum...

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

Starting pitching hasn't been great. I'm not going to look it up, but I don't think any of them have two wins yet.

I miss Marcum...

Correct... however...

Ricky Romero however has pitched really well, he could easily be 3-1.

Drabek has also pitched really well.... Allowing ~ 2 runs per start.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by flambers

Correct... however...

Ricky Romero however has pitched really well, he could easily be 3-1.

Drabek has also pitched really well.... Allowing ~ 2 runs per start.

Morrow looked sharp in his first start too.

I think Cecil has been an obvious disappointment this year, however he is still fairly young.

I don't mind Romero, Morrow and Drabek as your top three starters.

[koop]

Originally Posted by flambers

I would think 3rd Base will be filled by Brett Lawrie. Jays will need another starter and a player who can produce a high amount of RBIs....

They need guys on base before that is even possible.

[koop]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

Starting pitching hasn't been great. I'm not going to look it up, but I don't think any of them have two wins yet.

I miss Marcum...

stop looking at wins to judge a pitchers performance, it's a waste of time.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

That's awful. They were shooting for 90 wins this year. Towards 70 would be massive failure.

I agree, but realistically when you lose your #1 pitcher, and second best hitter and replace them on the major league team with an average reliever and Juan Rivera, you're going to see some decrease in your abilities to win games.

This year's jays are a development and harvesting team. Allow guys like Drabek, Snider, Hill, Lind, Escobar another year to see whether past success with them was a fluke (Hill + Lind) or if they're not very good. Allow the prospects on the farm teams to develop properly (Lawrie, Stewart etc.) and allow the relievers to gain enough innings to make them all type B or better free agents so we can get some draft picks for them.

With how a bunch of the prospects that AA drafted last year are doing thus far, we are going to have a bunch of great players coming up that can be either plugged in to MLB spots, or traded for good players.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by koop

They need guys on base before that is even possible.

#2 hitter with an OBP of 235.

Farrell either has to stop sounding analytical or needs to start acting like it.

[Machiavelli]

Tough to watch a team that's struggling offensively run themselves into outs.

[Machiavelli]

Wow, Patterson and Bautista with back to back homers. 4-0!