So now that we're a man down in the outfield, idle minds have turned to The Great Big Giant Pasty White HopeTM Travis Snider. The Jays should think about calling up the top prospect says the Sun's Mike Rutsey. Why not bring him up? asks the Globe's Robert McLeod (who, it should be noted, has doubled back to fix his erroneous info in the first version of that article which stated that Snider was hitting .286 in Syracuse when he is actually hitting .268 with New Hampshire FC.)Even the Oracle of Jarvis Street Mike Wilner has raised the prospect of raising the prospect to the Majors.
To be honest, we'd love to see him there, but then again, we'd love to a lot of things just for kicks. Thankfully, our sense of reason and judgment steps in and sets us straight.
Essentially, there are three reasons that we don't want the Jays to call Snider up.
Reason the first: Because it will start his clock in terms of Major League service time. We'd rather have that year tacked on at the end when he'll be 27 and hopefully leading the powerhouse Jays to another playoff berth as opposed to now, when he'll be thrown to the sharks in a meaningless season.
Reason the second: Because while he is showing some power and ability to produce runs in Double-A, he still has a sub-.800 OPS in the Eastern League (.794). We don't anticipate that he would up that number against big league pitching.
Reason the third: Because there are other options. Notably, Buck Coats or Kevin Mench, who are already on the 40-man roster, and who could step in and park their asses on the bench to watch the ongoing adventures of Wilkerson in Whifferland.
Hey man, we're just like you. It's a shite state of affairs in a shite season, and maybe we just want a little joy to help us forget about all the pain. Maybe we just want a sniff of something new and young and vibrant to help put a spring in our step. But sometimes, you gotta push those feelings way back in your mind, because that way leads to oblivion.
Or so we hear.
(Photo: Dean Lima/HardballWarriors.com)
He would be an immediate favorite of Cito's if he brings those shades up from New Hampshire with him.
ReplyDeletethey're right to call up mench and leave snider down on the farm. calling him up would be a toronto maple leafs style move. there's no need. use mench, even sign sexson to mash lefties, but leave snider alone. he isn't the saviour...yet.
ReplyDeleteFor reals...they're from the Oakley Cito 1992 collection.
ReplyDeleteAt 3:51 this afternoon, Mench got the call. Hopefully the Jays can find the gigantic caps and helmets for him in time for his arrival.
ReplyDeleteStill with the irrational man love for Buck Coats, eh? I guess we all need something to believe in in this godless post-modern era.
ReplyDeleteWe're coated in Buck love.
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, once he got over his April adjustment period, he's posted an .841 OPS since the last game in April but the counterpoint to that is that he's sucked in a major way in July so even if it were otherwise a good time to call him, it'd be crazy to do it in the middle of a big slump.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they didn't.
~Will
Where did you get this photo of Snider?
ReplyDeletewww.HardballWarriors.com?