2011/12 Toronto Blue Jays Off-Season

[The Big Chill]

Those blue ones are just fantastic. I may have to purchase one/gift request one. Now hopefully we can see how they look in the playoffs.

[Caged Great]

Some roster moves

Jays lose Cole Kimball and Brian Jeroloman to waivers (Pirates and nationals) Guess the Nats wanted Kimball back

Jays acquire Andrew Carpenter from the Padres (he posted a 1.79 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in 60 1/3 innings)

Also added to the 40 man roster, McDade, D'Arnaud, Molina and Crawford

[CofR]

Fantastic jerseys! Especially love the alternate blue.

[ricoFlame]

the unis are awesome, just a great choice moving forward.

[browna]

Solid jerseys...the blue is bright, the embroidered logo pops out, the updated fonts for the front, back, and numbers on the back are very very nice.

The removal of any and all black is fantastic. A pretty much perfect re-brand.

[Cheese]

didnt see this posted yet...

Jays have released Adam Loewen and Jesse Carlson


The Jays finished last season with a starting outfield of Jose Baustista, Colby Rasmus and Eric Thames with Rajai Davis as the fourth. The spectre of Travis Snider rejoining the mix, the possibility that Edwin Encarnacion may morph into an outfielder at some time and a group of prospects at Double A New Hampshire gives them a lot of players for few roster spots.
Loewen, the 27-year-old native of Surrey, B.C., rejoined the Jays as an outfielder in September, making a triumphant return to the major leagues for the first time since he was a pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles organization in 2008.

the Jays also jettisoned surgically-repaired pitcher Jesse Carlson, 30, who had missed the entire 2011 season after a rotator cuff operation.

[bluejays]

I really like the font, the alternate blue, and the retro-updated logo of the new jerseys. I'm not fond of the grey they chose for the away jerseys, but the alternate blue more than makes up for it. I'm obviously not a fan of the Leafs, but I think there was some thought into incorporating that same blue into the Jays uniform as it really is a great shade. All in all, I'm not sure they'll sell well because it doesn't quite have the edge this past seasons had, but it looks good.

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

Originally Posted by fleury

I really like the font, the alternate blue, and the retro-updated logo of the new jerseys. I'm not fond of the grey they chose for the away jerseys, but the alternate blue more than makes up for it. I'm obviously not a fan of the Leafs, but I think there was some thought into incorporating that same blue into the Jays uniform as it really is a great shade. All in all, I'm not sure they'll sell well because it doesn't quite have the edge this past seasons had, but it looks good.

Saw Brett Lawrie with it on tonight - looks great!

[REDVAN]

I was a fan of the black shirts though. They looked great in that jersey design. Oh well, times change.

[OBCT]

The new jersey designs are fantastic!!

[flames_fan_down_under]

AL MVP announcement in about 30 minutes. Jose Bautista has a good shot at it.

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

AL MVP announcement in about 30 minutes. Jose Bautista has a good shot at it.

Verlander wins and rightfully so imo.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Not taking away anything from Verlander who had an incredible season, I disagree with pitchers winning the MVP award.

[JayP]

Verlander won because he had 24 wins (not because of his ability to get players out) and because Bautista/Ellsbury's teams didn't make the playoffs.

Verlander shouldn't have come anywhere near the MVP award. He had a great season and was deserving of the Cy Youn, but Halladay, Kershaw, and Lee all had better seasons than him. I understand they're in the NL, but it's not as if Verlander had a special season (like the ones Pedro had when he first went to the Red Sox where there wasn't a pitcher even close to him).

It's hilarious that Verlander is the AL MVP over Bautista, but Halladay or Kershaw weren't even considered for the NL MVP over Kemp. Just goes to show how out-dated stats like wins still have way too much importance.

EDIT: After looking at the voting, how the hell did Michael Young get a first, second, and third place vote? That's hilarious.

[dustyanddaflames]

Ya Michael Young did have a good season, but how he ever managed to land a first place vote on a stacked Texas Rangers club is laughable. Pretty sure that vote must have came from Texas, as I could think of five better candidates off the top of my head.

As for the Verlander MVP title, was deserving. I think he was of more consideration simply because no batter really ran away with the title... To me, it was a case where the opposition did less to win an MVP than Verlander did to win it (not taking away from his season either).

[flambers]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

Not taking away anything from Verlander who had an incredible season, I disagree with pitchers winning the MVP award.

Yep I second this,

There is no way a pitcher should take this award. Sure he had 24 wins.... however a Starting pitcher plays every 5th game.

Position players; play 80% more than a starter....

However, Verlander had a great season.....

[octothorp]

Yeah, to me this is a lot like Theodore winning the Hart. Comparing the impact of pitchers to positional players is a lot like trying to compare the impact of goalies to skaters, and it has more to do with assessing impact than the number of games a pitcher plays in.
In the end, these are guys who shouldn't be considered unless they had a truly epic, greatest-of-all-time season. Verlander gets to be remembered as one of only a few pitchers to ever win an MVP, for a season that wasn't really that much greater than the average Cy Young performance.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by dustyanddaflames

Ya Michael Young did have a good season, but how he ever managed to land a first place vote on a stacked Texas Rangers club is laughable. Pretty sure that vote must have came from Texas, as I could think of five better candidates off the top of my head.

As for the Verlander MVP title, was deserving. I think he was of more consideration simply because no batter really ran away with the title... To me, it was a case where the opposition did less to win an MVP than Verlander did to win it (not taking away from his season either).

You're right, I found this link from DJF. He had Bautista at 7th....

http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/ar...s-mvp-one.html

I agree with you in that there was no real standout batter that separated himself from the pack and that's likely the reason Verlander's performance stood out.

I just find it funny that this is the performance that warrants a pitcher getting the MVP award. Does this set the standard from now on? Pedro Martinez struck out sixty more batters than Verlander in '99 and had a lower ERA and won 23 games, but didn't win the MVP. Just seems strange to me.

[Gozer]

According to FanGraphs WAR, Michael Young was the eight best player on his team in 2011. In limited action in the field, he was judged to have cost his team the ninth most runs in the American League among qualified players. Sure, he led his team in RBIs with 106, but please try to remember this: RBIs speaks far more as to who is batting in front of you than individual skill. To show you what I mean by this, consider that Young had 73 more plate appearances with runners on base than Adrian Beltre did this season and within those 73 extra chances, he had a single more run batted in than the Rangers full time third baseman. One.
While a lot of scorn, from myself and others, is bound to be directed Grant’s way, it should also be remembered that Young received a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth place vote, four seventh place votes, seven eighth place votes, four nine place votes, and two tenth place votes. Once again, all of this for a player that was the eighth best on his team.

-Parkes @ Getting Blanked

[flambers]

If a pitcher is going to win the MVP, then I say they should get rid of the Cy Young award.