Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Remember when September call ups were exciting?

There was a time, back when Toronto had something akin to a Major League Baseball franchise, that September call ups were fun.

You'd hear about the next generation of Jays who were chomping at the bit to get some playing time down the stretch, and then in the waning days of another frustrating season, you'd catch a glimps of Shawn Green, Shannon Stewart, Kevin Witt, Josh Phelps, Vernon Wells, Mauro Gozzo or whoever. These were the guys who may have been something somewhere down the road, and there was a sense of anticipation in seeing them get a few PA's or IP's in the last few weeks of the season.

This year, the Jays decided to add to our profound sense of disappointment in this shit-show of a season by calling up three dudes of marginal value and no interest to us as a fan.

Joe Inglett. Brian Wolfe. Dirk Hayhurst.

That's it. That's all.

No Arencibia, or Dopirak, Fabio Castro or Kyle Philllips. And certainly no Jeremy Accardo, apparently because this team would prefer to not make use of the assets at its disposal.

Maybe the Jays will add one of the aforementioned players after the Triple-A season concludes, or maybe they'll give us the chance to see some of the other driftwood that has been amassed on their 40-man roster (Bill Murphy, anyone?)

But Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick...Doesn't anybody within this organization give a shit about this team? Doesn't anybody have half a notion about doing something to help stoke the rapidly cooling embers of the fanbase's enthusiasm for this team? Are we supposed to be thrilled by the fact that J.P. "likes our team" and the assemblage of rag-tag minor leaguers parading as an active roster?

22 comments:

The Ack said...

....and some people were saying I jumped the gun on the weekend. Not that I'm proud of being right. Fucking brutal.

Seriously.....if you aren't going to recall any actual prospects, you should at least be making the statement that you want to put out the best team to help you win games. The callups - so far - accomplish neither.

Jeff said...

Dirk I think you can make a case for. Pitched well in AAA, pitched well in the majors. Went back down when other players came back off the DL.

And, if they're thinking about trading Frasor in the offseason, you could do worse in finding a candidate to being a serviceable righty.

Inglett I don't get. You know what you have in him and he'll get his shot in Spring Training to make the team next year. Much rather have Dopirak.

And apparantly Jeremy Accardo doesn't like baseball.

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

GARFOOSE!!!!1

And Ack, remember, you've got to remain positive until the end of September. Then the leash is off.

Tao of Stieb said...

To be fair, I still like Hayhurst, and I thought that he pitched well when he was up...although he was rarely used.

I can see him on the team next year...the other two? Not so much.

Also, if you want a reason why Accardo didn't get the call, check out this story from the weekend with the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/56171742.html

stonedog said...

Accardo deserved better from this organization, but then again, so did we.

Dick move, JP. Dick move. It's bad enough the team doesn't much look like it's trying any more, but for the front office to clearly indicate that they're also packing it in?

When Halladay doesn't give a fuck about this team, I guess that gives the rest of us a green light, too.

The Ack said...

eyeb, I'm trying dude, I really am. But. It's. Hard.

agreed & also to clarify, I'm all for more Hayhurst.

stoendog is right, "Dick move, JP. Dick move. It's bad enough the team doesn't much look like it's trying any more, but for the front office to clearly indicate that they're also packing it in?"

I'm getting pretty close to my wit's end with the moves the team is making. I still remember Cito using the line "we want to have a look at another player" when they last demoted Accardo.....and then recalled Casey Janssen, who's spent parts of what, the last 3 seasons with the team? Just fuck off and tell us what Accardo did already. Hit on JP's wife? Punched Arnsberg in the face? What??

This all speaks to the bigger picture, though, doesn't it? Nobody knows what the fuck is going on, and management isn't giving the impression that they do either.

Lovely.

Bitey said...

They need Inglett to be the designated pinch runner now that Johnny Mac's playing 3rd everyday.

"There's really no rhyme or reason to some of the decisions that are made, and that's out of your hands as a player," Accardo said Saturday before the 51s' x-x win/loss over/to Reno at Cashman Field. "All you can do is pitch, and pretty much this whole year I've thrown well. I feel better than I ever have, and my stuff is as good as it's ever been."

Ha.

Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...

We don't know why Accardo is being shafted. We likely never will. I'm of the belief that there is indeed a reason. Hopefully we'll find out. And hopefully it's better than "the player doesn't like baseball."

sager said...

Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick?

Someone listened to the Dead Milkmen way back when.

Tao of Stieb said...

eyeb: You took the words right out of my mouth. I fully anticipate that we'll hear how we don't really know what goes on and what the Jays reasons were, but that Accorn doesn't like baseball and has a bad attitude...blah blah blah.

I could give a shit, honestly. I don't want a roster full of nice guys. I want a roster full of son'bitches who can play.

Tao of Stieb said...

@Sags

Don't even get me started on my rant about rooting owls.

Steve G. said...

On the plus side though, guys named Dirk are cool. If his pitching career doesn't pan out, he sounds like a great guy to go drink some beers with at the bar while you hit on coeds.

Voodoo Matt said...

Burrow Owls.

Colin said...

I liked Hayhurst so I'm glad to see him back. The other two I couldn't care about less. Still, maybe we'll see Dopirak and/or Accardo when the PCL season is over.

To be fair, we already have Ruiz and Snider, if they were called up today instead I think the mood would be a little different.

Jays Ownership said...

Hello fans, we appreciate your concern

Here are some vomit-inducing reasons for not calling up anyone worthwhile:

- We are trying to lose as many games as possible to get a higher pick in the 2010 draft
- Bringing guys up requires paying them major league paychecks for a few weeks... ugh! That could maybe add up to a few hundred grand for all these guys. (You know, similar magnitudes of cash that kept us from signing our picks)
- We are trying to lose as many games as possible to get a higher pick in the 2010 draft (to ensure our pick is protected when we go out and sign lots of type-A free agents this offseason)
- We hate you

Haha... only kidding on the third one guys

Blue Jays Ownership said...

Don't forget to order your Blue Jays themed iPhones! Oh, and flex packs will be going on sale soon. You can buy all the games you want to see except for Red Sox, Yankees, and Tigers games. Those will be sold out of their respective teams' home box offices.

OK Blue Jays!

Anonymous said...

As the season has worn on, I've noticed the blog posts in BJdom have become increasing desperate and somewhat lacking in the logic department.

Anonymous said...

travis snider got called up

Anonymous said...

i heard that alex rios and scott rolen were best friends

Tao of Stieb said...

Burrow Owls! Indeed...Thanks Mattt, my memory of those days fails me.

It must be something in the water.

Voodoo Matt said...

It'syou trying to forget something painful with your favourite sports team. It's affecting other parts of your memory.

Alex said...

At this point, if Accardo isn't saying what it is then it's probably his fault.