Comments on The Tao of Stieb: Waitin' on news

AA has identified he hopes to resign both Scutaro ...

2009-10-19T15:56:45.614-04:00

AA has identified he hopes to resign both Scutaro and Barajas, which leads me to believe one of the two conclusions to be true:

1) This is a posturing move to save face in front of fans in order to make it look like they tried there darndest to bring back these guys, when in reality they had no intention on resigning them whatsoever.

2) AA believes the best strategy is to bring back last years team exactly. He feels that what prevented them from winning last year was that they were not making enough money. Therefore if he pays everyone more, that will put them over the top.

The day after AA is fired.

2009-10-19T15:01:24.126-04:00

The day after AA is fired.

There really needs to be a pool on when Griff will...

2009-10-19T14:23:35.382-04:00

There really needs to be a pool on when Griff will write his first negative article about AA.

I wonder if Griff has a five year plan to rip on J...

2009-10-19T13:09:38.599-04:00

I wonder if Griff has a five year plan to rip on JP?

JET!!

2009-10-19T09:21:27.858-04:00

JET!!

I'd look into aquiring Drew, Hardy or Brandon Wood...

2009-10-19T09:16:43.914-04:00

I'd look into aquiring Drew, Hardy or Brandon Wood.

As for rebuiding, I think it would be a mistake to try and compete, that is the sure way to ensure mediocrity and the main reason the Jays have never been able to get over the hump. Just look at the Leafs.

This team needs to trade every piece that is not part of the long term plan which has value. This includes Halladay, Downs, Frasor, Encarnacion, Bautista, etc. Stock the system with young talent and then when this talent develops and it looks like they are close to being seriously competitive, only then do you spend the money to add the missing pieces.

This does not necessarily mean a total rebuild, this team can add pieces that are close, or young enough, like a Hardy, Drew, Gamel, Wood, Smoak, Baumgartner, etc.

Also, I would target a few free agents willing to sign one year deals (like Abreu this season) who will have value come the trade deadline who I can either trade for more pieces or offer arbitration at the end of the year for more draft picks.

MLBTR has an article up from the The Boston Globe ...

2009-10-18T23:33:50.602-04:00

MLBTR has an article up from the The Boston Globe suggesting that Stephen Drew of the Diamondbacks might be available in the right trade. I realize his stats compare pretty closely to Scutaro's Career year, but Drew is also only 26 and the Dbacks have a crushing need for pitching depth.

Thoughts?

With the young talent that's here and on the cusp,...

2009-10-18T19:28:21.127-04:00

With the young talent that's here and on the cusp, I prefer to think of the Jays next couple of years as a "reload" rather than a "rebuild". It makes me feel slightly better.

Griff is going to spend a lot of time attributing ...

2009-10-18T14:50:18.853-04:00

Griff is going to spend a lot of time attributing every one of the team's shortcomings to JP, and all of their successes to AA.

There's still another five years for Dick to rip into the old GM.

I'm really interested to see what Griff's writing ...

2009-10-18T14:04:05.105-04:00

I'm really interested to see what Griff's writing will be like next season now that JP's gone. I mean, I'm sure he'll still find space to take the occasional dig at him, but really, pretty much all of his articles and opinions centred around JP's supposed incompetence. Do you think we'll see a new, happier Griff? Or is he just going to find somebody else to shit on all the time?

Fuck off Parkes

2009-10-18T13:46:59.926-04:00

Fuck off Parkes

I've got a feeling that Griff's last dig at JP wil...

2009-10-18T12:06:28.385-04:00

I've got a feeling that Griff's last dig at JP will come sometime around when someone is looking for the details in his living will.

"Do you want us to unplug you and let you go, Griff?"

"J.P. was a tyrant!"

BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

You nailed it to the wall there anon. To call Gri...

2009-10-18T10:51:08.861-04:00

You nailed it to the wall there anon.

To call Griff's analogy "clumsy at best" would be overly generous, even from a theoretical standpoint (if you can even get that far) - never mind the imagery it conjures.

Maybe I'm over-reacting or reading more into it than intended, but I found it to be in extremely poor taste.

So....Griff's newest beef with JP is that he didn'...

2009-10-18T10:28:02.034-04:00

So....Griff's newest beef with JP is that he didn't embrace the principles of democracy during his 8 year reign of (t)error? He failed because he wasn't democratic enough? I guess that may be the case, but being 'democratic' may be the least of a GM's worries when the Yankees and Red Sox are rolling tanks into Griff's idyllic and hypothetical town square.

I suppose what Griff is in a way trying to say is that if you are GM of the Jays and plan on ruling with an iron fist, then at least have the audacity to be a genius (or model yourself after the Twins). If not, then you will only fail, irrespective of what division you play in.

I imagine Griff thinks that valuing input from others is a sign of 'democracy', but ultimately AA has to make the final decision and no amount of rationality can predict if it will work out in the future (this concept seems to escape some sports writers who lean too heavily on their hindsight vision). Theoretically, AA can have a legion of idiotic sycophants working underneath him and yet if they are given input to what he should do, then in theory he can democratically come to bad decisions.

Maybe Griff shouldn't play fast and loose with analogies he doesn't understand so well.