2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

[Travis40]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

Darvish is having problems with his command, but his offspeed stuff was still filthy. It's still early in the spring, but I'm really excited about what Darvish can become.

[SPTO]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

Now he said he was joking and reporters didnt pick up the sarcasm

Reading the actual quotes from the article posted here you'd think he was being 100% serious. It sounds like he's just covering his ***. What a tool. This sounds like the comment he made about Toronto at the WBC. It seems to me that Chipper, while a good guy by nature has a tendency to say some really stupid things.

[Jgainsey]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

That's kind of how sarcasm works...

[SPTO]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

That's kind of how sarcasm works...

Yes yes, but if it flies above reporters heads and they can frame him as being serious than it makes him look kinda silly IMO.

Anywho, if he is joking than I guess it worked and we were all fooled by it.

[TCM]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

Cleveland hitters had some really embarrassing swings against Darvish today.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

From what I've seen of Hanley are 3rd so far he could be way better defensively at 3rd then he was at SS

[SPTO]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

The Jays are trying a grand experiment today having E5 in the outfield. I wonder how he'll do as i'm not listening/watching the game.

[sweny5632]

The Jays are trying a grand experiment today having E5 in the outfield. I wonder how he'll do as i'm not listening/watching the game.

Well he must like the outfield, he is 3 for 3 with 2 HRs and 4 RBI. Not sure defensively how he's doing

[SPTO]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

McGowan did great today throwing 3 innings and only allowing an unearned run and even more important for the Jays is the fact that Kyle Drabek also had 3 innings with one unearned run as they've completely retooled everything about him from his mechanics to the type of approach to pitching. I'm hearing that he'll be sent down to Las Vegas though in order to keep working on those things and will be called up later in the season.

[McNasty2113]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

I am very happy with how things are going with Aroldis Chapman in ST. Only 1 walk so far very promising. That and he has revived a split finger fastball he used as a SP in Cuba back into the mix. Really hope he can put it all together just think if Cueto continues how he did last year and Latos lives up to his potential the reds top 3 could be dominant in the near future.

[SPTO]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

Something I didn't realize til I heard it earlier today. The Blue Jays as of this moment have won 10 games in a row this spring. Now normally that wouldn't matter much but the Jays have wanted to build a culture of winning and this is one of those things that while small, can mean a lot down the road.

It's also not like it's a bunch of minor league guys that have been putting up the offense either as a lot of the runs have been coming from regulars or guys just on the cusp of being on the big league club this season or next season for sure.

[55]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

Wins and/or losses in Spring Training mean nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Just because your team is playing a certain way during the spring (win at all costs) doesn't mean that the teams you happen to be opposing along the way are.

Hell, there are World Series winning teams that have won less than 5 games in an entire spring.

Fact is, the Jays are a fourth place team trapped in a division with two other teams that are juggernauts with a gigantic payroll and a third that has their front office, management, general management and pitching staff completely outclassed in every way imaginable.

Spoiler

At least they're not the Orioles.

[Ragequit]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

Wins and/or losses in Spring Training mean nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Just because your team is playing a certain way during the spring (win at all costs) doesn't mean that the teams you happen to be opposing along the way are.

Hell, there are World Series winning teams that have won less than 5 games in an entire spring.

Fact is, the Jays are a fourth place team trapped in a division with two other teams that are juggernauts with a gigantic payroll and a third that has their front office, management, general management and pitching staff completely outclassed in every way imaginable.

Spoiler

At least they're not the Orioles.

fact of the matter is that the Tampa Bay Rays fans are too ignorant to see the fact that the Toronto Blue Jays have the ff. that they don't have:
a) LARGEST market in MLB...we have a whole country to bolster fan support and tv ratings soon...hell we've set records in MLB attendance and have had the biggest payroll in MLB during the glory years. the lockout killed all the momentum of baseball in our country, but prior to that, the Jays have been top 5 in attendance from 85-93'
b) farm system that's #2 in all of MLB atm. we could develop these guys or flip them for MLB All-Stars whenever we want to.
c)you wanna talk payroll? Rogers is the RICHEST owners in MLB. It's been a known fact here in Blue Jays land that once we are "on the hunt," the money/financial restraints will be gone. We can spend with the "big boys" when the time is ripe.
d)Alex Anthopolous is a GREAT GM and has a specific vision for this team. if we are "in the race" come trade deadline time, he has all the options in the world and money will not be an issue.

Are we in contention yet? NO. Will we be owning the AL East in the future? HELL YES. And it starts next year or the following after. fact of the matter is that free agents like winning and once the Jays start "winning," then they will start to play here and ignore that Toronto has that horrid carpet, that ugly ballpark, those empty blue seats, the weak Canadian Dollar, the empty stadium, and the fact that it is too damn cold here in the north to play baseball despite the obvious (the Jays play in a retractable roof stadium).

To sum it up to you kind sir, the Toronto Blue Jays are the "sleeping beast" that the rest of the AL East hopes that will never wake up from slumber.

even Brian Cashman knows that,bud, so stop posting inorant posts, please. ====>http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yanke...#ixzz1pBrIj0qT

[SPTO]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

Wins and/or losses in Spring Training mean nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Just because your team is playing a certain way during the spring (win at all costs) doesn't mean that the teams you happen to be opposing along the way are.

Hell, there are World Series winning teams that have won less than 5 games in an entire spring.

Fact is, the Jays are a fourth place team trapped in a division with two other teams that are juggernauts with a gigantic payroll and a third that has their front office, management, general management and pitching staff completely outclassed in every way imaginable.

Spoiler

At least they're not the Orioles.

I'm not going to endorse everything ragequit said above but he makes a lot of good points. I never said the Blue Jays are playing "win at all costs" in spring training and it is true that teams can have horrid records in the spring and win it all. Hell, I think the '92 and '93 Jays teams had rather pedestrian spring records. My point is that the organization is trying to foster a culture of winning and it helps to be on the ground running.

Do I think they're going to win the AL East this year? Nope, but a lot of baseball people out there are going ga ga over this organization with plenty of great press. That doesn't mean a damn thing but it shows that the people in the know are as ragequit said "sleeping beasts". The strength of the Canadian dollar and the fact that there may be natural turf at Rogers Centre in a couple years at the earliest will help them attract top flight free agents and the winning helps as well.


ANYWHO.....

Bret Lawrie put himself out of yesterday's game as he had some groin stiffness. He says it's nothing to worry about and he's day to day. Ricky Romero finished his allotted innings yesterday but also had some groin stiffness as well though it's so minor that it wasn't really reported much.

[55]

Re: 2012 Spring Training Discussion Thread

I'm just saying, results are all that matter. Three teams in the AL East have played in a World Series in the last five years and the Blue Jays aren't one of them. Hell, they've never even won their own division since the realignment and haven't tasted the postseason in nearly twenty years.