2012-2013 Toronto Blue Jays Off Season Thread

[whosurnabby]

I agree. His offensive numbers are not a threat to opponents but he is a very reliable defensively and makes a great steady backup when called upon. His role maybe a mentor not only to Arencibia but probably Travis D'Arnaud in the future.

Also, Mathis was a BOSS when it comes to blocking the plate. There was this one game near the end of the season where he caught Moises Sierra's laser from RF and blocked the runner -with ease- at homeplate. That play ended the game and it was one of the most exciting victory in a forgetful season.

link: http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/video/p...layerName=Jeff Mathis

Yup. I will miss Jeff Mathis. Noodle bat but he has an excellent glove and high baseball IQ...Here's hoping things work out for him in Miami!

[VERVE]

Originally Posted by whosurnabby

Also, Mathis was a BOSS when it comes to blocking the plate. There was this one game near the end of the season where he caught Moises Sierra's laser from RF and blocked the runner -with ease- at homeplate. That play ended the game and it was one of the most exciting victory in a forgetful season.

link: http://miami.marlins.mlb.com/video/p...layerName=Jeff Mathis

Yup. I will miss Jeff Mathis. Noodle bat but he has an excellent glove and high baseball IQ...Here's hoping things work out for him in Miami!

I remembered that play well. I was so pumped after that play at the plate. Mathis blocked the plate and it was the tying run coming in to score but a great throw from Sierra-a one hopper- and Mathis caught it then turned around and bam. The runner (I believed it was against the Rays) was called out and his face bloodied after the collision. After that, Mathis stood up showed the ball in his glove to the ump, and said "Oh yeah!". Yes, it was so thrilling esp when the game ended at that last out.

I have to apologize to Mr. Mathis, although his numbers were not tremendous, he had at least one or maybe two 4-hit games for the Jays last season.

[VERVE]

I had not realized John Gibbons was such a "young" (42 yr old) manager the first time around for the Jays. No excuses, but it might explain how he could be viewed as one of the guys which if not handled well, could back fire when he has to be firm while wearing a different hat.

In terms of his coaching, if my memory serves me right, I remembered he wanted his players to make the pitchers throw alot of pitches and they did it well later on while being patient at the plate. It was similar to the Yankees's approach. As well, he did not encouraged aggressiveness at the bases much(such as stealing bases) and not pressuring the oppositions pitchers often. Not sure however, if it was Gibbons or Gaston that a few suicide squeeze plays... (recalling one against Pettitte).

[Hockey]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

Yes it has. The Jays open the season with a home series against the Indians. Last year they opened the season playing the Indians but on the road

So that means they play in Seattle during the week again?

Was hoping for a weekend series in Seattle.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by Hockey

So that means they play in Seattle during the week again?

Was hoping for a weekend series in Seattle.

Looks like they play in Seattle August 5-7, which is Monday-Wednesday.

[TitovFTW]

Originally Posted by moon

Not saying that Zaun is the be all and end all but he was on the Jays teams with Gibbons and he said that Arnsberger handled the bullpen and Butterfield handled most of the day to day stuff.

Obviously Gibbons could have had a bigger role than Zaun said or could again get other competent guys to fill those roles but it does raise questions about how great Gibbons is/will be in the day to day handling of the bullpen.



Washington maybe but Leyland must have had the greatest collection of players ever to manage to go to the WS as many times as he has if he is one of the worst managers in baseball.

In terms of managing his bullpen in terms of who's coming in and out it was all Gibbons. There's a big difference between who handles the day to day stuff of the bullpen, and who gets brought in at certain moments. Amazing that BJ Ryan only got up once and didn't pitch that entire season. AA was with the Blue Jays during that time and spent a lot of time yesterday harping on how good he was with the bullpen.
He also was incredibly savvy in terms of platoons and not afraid to bat Catlanatto and Rios lead off. He is very modern in his approach to managing and it's incredibly refreshing. The same can be said for the handling of his bullpen and the way he turned a lot of relief pitchers into elite relief pitchers with the situations he put them in.

Jim Leyland is the worst. A quick search of the internet will give you more then enough reasoning why Tiger fans despise him and he has made idiotic decision after decision. Lucky for him he had the best pitcher in baseball and two big bats and played in the worst division in baseball. Jim Leyland is a truly awful manager. There might be intangibles we don't see off the field, but in terms of his tactical managing, he is without question one of the worst.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by VERVE

In terms of his coaching, if my memory serves me right, I remembered he wanted his players to make the pitchers throw alot of pitches and they did it well later on while being patient at the plate. It was similar to the Yankees's approach. As well, he did not encouraged aggressiveness at the bases much(such as stealing bases) and not pressuring the oppositions pitchers often. Not sure however, if it was Gibbons or Gaston that a few suicide squeeze plays... (recalling one against Pettitte).

JP brought in a batting coach that tried to duplicate the "see too many pitches" pitches approach of Yanks/Sox; Gibbon's opinion on the matter wasn't clear to me.
Led to a lot of two-hit inning with no runs.

I think that was part of the reason Cito and his "swing away" approach was so successful in the following seasons - guys had been held back from swinging in...say....every 1-1 count for three seasons and a) were raring to go b) had a keen eye on common opponents and c) other team's had a detrimental scouting report on it.

(plenty of idle speculation in there, and the situation if just an example)

DJF has a podcast up stroking their bats about the return of Gibby.

[VERVE]

Originally Posted by TitovFTW

In terms of managing his bullpen in terms of who's coming in and out it was all Gibbons. There's a big difference between who handles the day to day stuff of the bullpen, and who gets brought in at certain moments. Amazing that BJ Ryan only got up once and didn't pitch that entire season. AA was with the Blue Jays during that time and spent a lot of time yesterday harping on how good he was with the bullpen.
He also was incredibly savvy in terms of platoons and not afraid to bat Catlanatto and Rios lead off. He is very modern in his approach to managing and it's incredibly refreshing. The same can be said for the handling of his bullpen and the way he turned a lot of relief pitchers into elite relief pitchers with the situations he put them in.

Jim Leyland is the worst. A quick search of the internet will give you more then enough reasoning why Tiger fans despise him and he has made idiotic decision after decision. Lucky for him he had the best pitcher in baseball and two big bats and played in the worst division in baseball. Jim Leyland is a truly awful manager. There might be intangibles we don't see off the field, but in terms of his tactical managing, he is without question one of the worst.

BJ Ryan might have been injured (elbow surgery) that particular year with his 3 or 4 appearances (2007?). I know the Jays were missing that leadoff hitter/runner esp when Shannon Stewart left for Minny and for awhile, they had to experiment. You are right, Gibbons did manage the bullpen well. One year, the Jays had either the top or second best era in the league with their relievers under Gibbons.

[CaramonLS]

The biggest complaint about Gibbons that I've seen as far as lineup management goes, was that he was a "Slave to the save", as many other managers are (bringing in your closer when you are up by 2-3 runs and not in a situation where you really need it).

His onfield management was solid IMHO.

Just the stuff behind the scenes I am not so sure about. The problem is that the stuff off the field is just as important if not more important than the onfield management.

[Sylvanfan]

Just before Gibbons was removed as manager, I seem to remember the Jays were really struggling offensively. They brought in Gaston, and Gene Tenace, and the team started hitting the ball reasonably well again. So although there is something to the idea of make the opponents throw a lot of pitches...it is tougher to hit if you are staritng out with a 0-1 count before you consider swinging the bat.

But he did do a good job of using platoon guys like Matt Stairs, Reed Johnson, and Frank Catalonotto to get top production. He will have a few ego's to handle so it will be interesting to see how that works out. But I think he'll be okay with a guy like Lawrie because I think he's a highly competitive player, who does care about team success. Hillenbrand whined about getting benched for a game and put some message up about play for yourself which Gibbons rightfully challenged.

[jschick88]

Traded Marlin Mark Buehrle: 'I was lied to'

The first of the Miami Marlins included in a 12-team blockbuster trade with the Toronto Blue Jays has broken the group's silence.

"Just like the fans in South Florida," Buehrle said in a joint statement released with his agent, Jeff Berry, "I was lied to on multiple occasions."

Throughout the recruiting process, the Marlins made repeated assurances about their long-term commitment to Mark and his family and their long-term commitment to building a winning tradition of Marlins baseball in the new stadium.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/gameon...ed-to/1720047/

[Jiggy_12]

I guess I can see why he's angry, but at the same time these comments to the media need to stop. You are a blue jay now and there is nothing you can do about it. Keep your comments to yourself and go earn your millions by pitching for a team that wants you and wants to win with you.

[TitovFTW]

Good news is he did give the Jays a ringing endorsement in his statement and seems excited to join the team. That should squash any rumors of him not wanting to come to Toronto

[OzSome]

I don't follow the Blue Jays as much as I used to...during the Alomar/Joe Carter years.

Isn't John Gibbons the guy who claims he was in a military or something but in truth he wasn't. Or am I mixing him up with another guy? Anyways, i am a bit excited to see the changes for the Blue Jays. Hopefully they have success with their bullpens this time and also on the starting rotations. Good luck Blue Jays!

[habernac]

That was Tim Johnson who lied about Vietnam.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by habernac

That was Tim Johnson who lied about Vietnam.

oh okay thanks.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by Jiggy_12

I guess I can see why he's angry, but at the same time these comments to the media need to stop. You are a blue jay now and there is nothing you can do about it. Keep your comments to yourself and go earn your millions by pitching for a team that wants you and wants to win with you.

Why? they got screwed by Miami. I don't blame any of them for being pi$$ed. He basically said, I'm mad, screw Miami, but I'm moving forward as a Jay. No big deal.

However I do think that if non-movement was so important to them, why not just go somewhere, where you can get the clause in your contract. To sign a contract giving the option to move the player to the team, you have to know there's going to be a risk that you are moved despite what anybody says.

[TitovFTW]

Took this evening to catch up on Jays audio. Josh Johnson was on the Dan Lebetard show. My lord Dan Lebetard is the absolute worst, stuck on a island in Miami where he thinks he is somewhat relevant. He tried to pretty much get Josh Johnson to say Canada sucks and he was angry about the trade. It was nothing short of pathetic. Johnson talked about his wife being hesitant at first, they had just bought another house and spent their entire time in Florida but then she talked to Frank Thomas' wife (Of all people) who said how much she loved Toronto and other players wife's who said the same thing. Johnson sounds really happy and is incredibly well spoken.

Article on Sportsnet about John Buck selling the rest of his teamates on Toronto and talking about how cool it is to travel to Detroit or Seattle and the type of following they get. For the most part, baseball players really rave about Toronto. It's got so much to do, it's safe, you're not TMZ material like in Boston and it's so multicultural that it's great for attracting players with different backgrounds.

Jays have also given Cezas Izturus as minor league contract/ camp invite. He had a pretty disgusting slashline last season in the majors but would be great to have in AAA Buffalo.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Flames in 07

Why? they got screwed by Miami. I don't blame any of them for being pi$$ed. He basically said, I'm mad, screw Miami, but I'm moving forward as a Jay. No big deal.

However I do think that if non-movement was so important to them, why not just go somewhere, where you can get the clause in your contract. To sign a contract giving the option to move the player to the team, you have to know there's going to be a risk that you are moved despite what anybody says.

It certainly seemed odd for Buerhle who supposedly cares a lot about where he plays but I imagine the huge paycheck he got convinced him to forget about his concerns about where he plays.

[Matty81]

The thing that has surprised me the most in the last couple days of Marlins trade talk was the revelation that Anthopolous has received more than 8 million dollars from Miami in the deal (AA stated this on McCown).

Wonder how much he got - anybody heard anything further?

I keep thinking, and it's totally only MLB the Show style trading because he probably wouldn't even sign here.. that if the Jays are really in it to go for a title this year, they should give Greinke the 150/6 he wants and flip Buerhle for prospects. Adding just 27 million to the payroll over the next 3 years to upgrade from Buerhle to Greinke and get prospects to boot would be awesome. Big risk in years 4-6 but he's only 29 and I think he'll still be good when he's 33-35. I think given Buerhle's reservations about his dog and stuff you could trade him and not look like a total dick.

Since I'm full on dreaming anyway what I'd really love to see is going all in and keep them both. Also make Adam Lind run laps around the outside of the stadium during games all year.