2013 Toronto Blue Jays

[Majingir]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

Oliver is clearly dogging it until he gets traded to a contender.



I agree with you, I was expecting an 81-84 win team and some bright spots but right now it's become a horror show of epic proportions. I can't think of a Toronto team in any sport with the kind of expectations that have sucked this badly. The only thing that comes close is that season when the Raptors got Olajuwon but I believe they made it to the playoffs that year so it wasn't THAT bad.

This is like a tire fire and heads are DEFINITELY going to roll. The fans aren't going to swallow any kind of excuses from Beeston, AA etc etc. At this point in time I'm taking the Gregg Zaun approach and feel like there are only 6 untouchables on the roster Bautista, EE, Rasmus, Dickey, Lind and I forget his last untouchable but for me it'd be Jannsen.

That Raptors season wasn't hyped up much. And he didn't even do much at all for Raptors either. Toronto media was trying to bill it as some sort of dream team(Hakeem and VC together) lol.

And the untouchables on Jays I'd have are:
EE,Bautista,Reyes,Janssen,Loup,Cecil,Delabar,Dicke y(just because us trading him would basically make the Mets deal look HORRIBLE. At least give him another season to see what he can do).


lol,the 4 worst strikeout seasons in Jays history have been the past 4 seasons.(Our batters average over 7 strikeouts a game!).

Ever since 2010 basically the Jays have been putting up franchise worse(or real close to franchise worse) numbers in SO MANY CATEGORIES!

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

At least Olajuwon was well past his prime at that point, and everyone knew it. They were more happy the Raptors actually attracted a name. I mean the guy was nearly 40.

But it is a tire fire down at the Dome to be sure.

I have nothing against Dickey, and I know there's the muscle stuff, but damn it looks like the naysayers who cried "38 year old knuckleballer from last year's terrible NL East" for the oft-injured d'Arnaud and Syndergaard was a wash at best. I'd kind of rather have Syndergaard back, but I understand the sense of the move at the time so I can't hate. Wouldn't mind seeing Dickey traded to a contender. His contract isn't awful, so I can imagine he could be attractive to a Texas or St. Louis. It is sad to think the rotation looks like it needs a complete rebuild.

It is incredible Josh Johnson is making $16 million for the season he's having. That is a dark thought for Jays patrons. He's done it in the past, I know, and he has a physical makeup that makes everyone drool. But we can't be Al Davis here, and must be real that Johnson more resembles the John Rausch end of outsized pitchers this year.

I really do like what Reyes has shown. I'd say he's untouchable. That kind of player is near impossible to replace.

I've expressed my feelings about Lawrie on here before, and am not fond of him, but I'm still hesitant to move him on account of his defense.

Time for Oliver to go back to Texas, and then call it a day.

At this point I feel bad for Gibby. Say what you will about the Bautista batting second thing, but that didn't make the starting rotation implode this year. I feel he has done a pretty good job. He probably won't be back though.

Just a bizarre year. If you were to tell me Adam Lind would be a .300 hitter again, and Bautista and EE would be 30+ HR 100 RBI guys, and the Jays would be one of the worst teams in baseball I wouldn't believe how bad the rotation would have to be.

JPA needs to go. He has the IQ of a walnut, and has demonstrated this both on and off the field this year. It feels like Tampa is a way better team with Jose freaking Molina at the C than Toronto with JPA.

One thing is clear here—Jeffrey Loria always gets the last laugh. He's got the World Series ring, and he ain't paying the bill on Johnson, Buerhle, or Reyes for a last place team. In the future, if he offers you a deal, think twice!

Sometimes I feel like the Toronto sports fan's greatest shortcoming is their love of the athlete with character or personality. Maybe we need to be more ruthless like Boston sports fans. They tore last year's team to pieces, and you saw Beckett, Gonzalez, and Crawford go.

[Majingir]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

Sometimes I feel like the Toronto sports fan's greatest shortcoming is their love of the athlete with character or personality. Maybe we need to be more ruthless like Boston sports fans. They tore last year's team to pieces, and you saw Beckett, Gonzalez, and Crawford go.

Not so much the fans, but management. Look at what MLSE has become ever since Leiweke has taken over. Sure he's only been there for a few months, but the way he got rid of BC wasn't just like "We felt ___ had to go", he flat out said he didn't like BC. And criticizing how the Leafs pictures in dressing rooms and stuff are just from 40+ years ago saying how that needs to change. He even somewhat bashed the fact that Leaf seats are empty to start games and stuff(we all know why...)

That's the type of thinking Toronto teams need. No more of this nice image, just accept the role of mean and aggressive and do what it takes to win, stop being nice to everyone and covering things up for the fans.

[SPTO]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

That's the type of thinking Toronto teams need. No more of this nice image, just accept the role of mean and aggressive and do what it takes to win, stop being nice to everyone and covering things up for the fans.

JP Ricciardi tried that when he was in Toronto and got bashed over the head for it. Mainly because he didn't produce results and went through managers like underwear. There's a difference between being ruthless and being mean for the sake of it. At least Ricciardi at the very least reorganized the minor leagues though didn't quite restock it. (That was more AA) I'm thinking the Jays need to poach the Rays assistant GM and grab Dave Martinez. The Rays organization is probably the best run organization in all of baseball IMO especially with how they have a PLAN when it comes to their pitchers in the minor leagues in that they have to have FB command and pitch at one level for a full season before being promoted.

I doubt that's going to happen though as AA is going to get a reprieve solely on the basis of how acclaimed his moves were in the offseason. I do think that if this team continues to circle down the drain for the remainder of the season that there's no doubt Gibby is going to (unfairly) pay the price. There were a lot of things wrong with how the Blue Jays went about things as the Gibby hire seemed like AA bringing in someone he can control after Farrell left and to top it off they throw a recently retired pitcher into the fire as the pitching coach rather than bringing someone with experience. Hell, I'd have kept Bruce Walton fer cryin' out loud!

I just hope the Blue Jays don't go into cost cutting mode though as Nadir Mohamed is stepping down as Rogers CEO and I read an article saying that the company is going to be doing a lot of cost cutting across the board. Although to me it looks like the Jays are going to at least break even what with the bigger than normal attendance this season.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

I just hope the Blue Jays don't go into cost cutting mode though as Nadir Mohamed is stepping down as Rogers CEO and I read an article saying that the company is going to be doing a lot of cost cutting across the board. Although to me it looks like the Jays are going to at least break even what with the bigger than normal attendance this season.

I hope this doesn't happen. If it does the Jays will have a ruined reputation within baseball again.

[Majingir]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

Rogers going into cost cutting mode....They had over a billion dollars in income in 2011!


If that happens, I really dont know how much faith in Canadian sports anyone can ever have if Rogers/Bell owns most of the country and are acting like the cheapest companies imaginable.

[AC]

Highly doubt Rogers' cost cuts impact the Jays.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

[bhurst99]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

No, it isn't, lmao

If you put 25 Emilio Bonifacios on a roster managed by Joe Torre and they went 30-132, is Joe Torre a bad manager?

It would mean you have a terrible, terrible GM. LOL

[SPTO]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

This team has crushed my soul. I won't be watching anymore games this season except the season finale.

[Majingir]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

Jays....

[AC]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

I never had a soul to begin with, but if I had had one, it would be stomped on by now. Can't do this anymore.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

I can't decide if AA is the most unlucky GM or a terrible one. His moves often seem good, and logical, but always blow up in his face. Granted, Bautista, and EE "worked out," but those moves didn't have specific intent behind them to get 3 and 4 hitters. All of his moves where he intends to significantly improve some aspect of the team always fails or the team ends up worse.

If I hadn't ended up going to the University of Oregon and experienced some sports joy the past few year, the state of Toronto sports would have me even more depressed than it does.

[bhurst99]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

I can't decide if AA is the most unlucky GM or a terrible one. His moves often seem good, and logical, but always blow up in his face. Granted, Bautista, and EE "worked out," but those moves didn't have specific intent behind them to get 3 and 4 hitters. All of his moves where he intends to significantly improve some aspect of the team always fails or the team ends up worse.

If I hadn't ended up going to the University of Oregon and experienced some sports joy the past few year, the state of Toronto sports would have me even more depressed than it does.

It's not really clear if you were suggesting Bautista and EE were acquired by AA but in fact Riccardi brought them to the Jays.

One of the most disappointing aspects of this season is that there is no starter you can count on to be the ace next season. It's still the biggest hole on the roster.

It will be interesting to see the budget for next season. The fans have come out in droves but ownership has to be wondering why they paid $120 million for a last place team.

Hopefully, they'll bounce back against the Astros this weekend before this turns out to be the worst home stand in team history.

[bad_philanthropy]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

It's not really clear if you were suggesting Bautista and EE were acquired by AA but in fact Riccardi brought them to the Jays.

One of the most disappointing aspects of this season is that there is no starter you can count on to be the ace next season. It's still the biggest hole on the roster.

It will be interesting to see the budget for next season. The fans have come out in droves but ownership has to be wondering why they paid $120 million for a last place team.

Hopefully, they'll bounce back against the Astros this weekend before this turns out to be the worst home stand in team history.

For some reason I thought AA was GM when Bautista came in. As far as EE is concerned I meant when they let him go in the offseason two years ago since he was basically a marginal utility guy, and then had a change of heart and got him back off waivers or something from Oakland was it? Having him turn into a the player he has could not have been expected when they claimed him back.

To your comment about the fans—I agree. They've been nothing short of fantastic this season supporting the team at home and on the road. The contingent of Jays fans at pretty much every road destination is damn impressive. In fact they've done a great job the past two seasons.

[SPTO]

Re: 2013 Toronto Blue Jays

As far as the team spending money next year? I think the Jays will still be one of the bigger spenders but I think we'll see smaller type of moves. I'd like to see more "grind it out" type players who don't fit the mold of a power hitter who can go cold on a dime. They REALLY need to get a 3B or 2B in here next season ASAP.

I also think that with the horrible season the Jays have had this year that they're gonna go way under the radar and the fact that there's no WBC will mean the team gets to spend a FULL spring training together will help. The Blue Jays are in a similar position as the Phillies (though honestly a bit more dire) in that they have pieces that are valuable to contending teams. AA would be smart to unload those guys and get mid level prospects and guys who are MLB ready or are already on a roster.

I also think that the Jays need to have a more conventional bullpen size next year so that they have more bench players as we've seen countless games where they've had to put in guys in tough situations who don't put fear into anyone's hearts.

Damien Cox had it right last night on Sportsnet when he said that the pressure that some of the players are getting this year has put a heavy weight on them but it's nothing compared to what it'll be like if this team struggles mightily next year as this city is known to turn on players/teams very quickly that aren't named "Maple Leafs".