Seriously, we're way overtaxed with real life adult world work commitments, and with only limited access to the interwebs. So do us a solid, and entertain us with your wit and insight in the comments.A few suggested topics:
-A.J. Burnett: Wouldn't the Jays be better off keeping him until the end of the year and taking the draft picks when he walks?
-Brandon League: Will he ever throw a strike again?
-Jason Frasor: Do you miss him sometimes? Do you think of him wistfully, and remember a time when he used to pitch for the Torontos?
-100 RsBI hitters: Do you miss them, or can you live without them for yet another year. (For that matter, would you be a danger to yourself or others if no member of the Jays were able to drive in even 90 this year?)
-Posts like these: Inclusive engagement with the blog's readers, or lazy dereliction of duties?
-The imperial "We": Annoying and unnecessary in the post-Will Leitch blogosphere? Or less annoying than a perpetual stream of "I".
The highest pick we could hope for would be 16th overall as the others are protected if AJ qualifies as a type A. I am not confident that he will. The only thing to do is wait and see what is offered at the deadline. If it's good, you absolutely have to take it. In regards to the bullpen, why can't the team take an extra bench player? I would rather take a chance and bring up someone from the farm and see if they might make it as a big league player. The only way to find gold is to dig for it.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'll bite. But not on your questions -- they are simply meaningless distractions.
ReplyDeleteThis team had the best record in all of baseball in May, and who wasn't around to fuck things up in May? VW, ol' buddy.
I say the Menchkersons somehow pulled us through, or caused our expectations to be so low that we blew them out of the water, so let's drop not only Burnett but every high end player available (Halladay, Wells, Rios, Rolen, Hill, don't be shy ... Overbay maybe) and stack Triple A to the tits with slightly-below mediocre types, and just keep 'em in the line-up from time to time. At least if we loose, it won't suck so bad ... and we can point to how low the payroll is. Revolution!
Or, yeah, keep Burnett and hope he'll win enough games to snag us a reasonable couple of draft picks when he leaves.
So, because I love the Tao, I'm gonna bite on your questions, but you better fucken' respond, or it's OVER.
ReplyDeleteAJ.....so, here's the thing.....if we can't get a decent high-end prospect back, I'd rather take the pick(s). Even if he doesn't qualify as a Type A, we still get the supplemental pick, and quite frankly, I'd much rather at least let myself believe that whoever is drafted there will be an impact player down the road, than watch Edgar fucking Renteria or Bill Hall sloth it out for a year or two, while the team carries on at .500.
League......he's still alive? Seriously? He didn't die in a tsunami or something?
Frasor.....last man out of the bullpen, I don't know. Frasor makes me feel apathetic and not much more. You just can't trust the guy for a clean inning in a tight game. Gibby knew it, Cito knows it, the other teams know it.....and I'm pretty sure at this point, even J Frasor himself knows it.
100 RsBI......OK, I'll say it. Fuck the "seamheads", I want one and place overexaggerated importance in the stat. There, I said it. I'm gonna go old school with that one.
Posts like these.....hey dude, I'm married too....I feel you.
annnnnnnd, OUT.
i'm biting too, on all of it.
ReplyDeleteAJ: if we can get a dope shortstop out of him, fuck it, i'm all for a trade. if it's not an improvement over eckdonald, fuck it, take the picks when he walks. cut and dry.
League: he will throw a strike again. i'm just glad to finally see him get in a game. fuckin cito! (i didn't just say "fuckin cito"...sorry, cito, love you man)
Frasor: Can't say i really miss him. he had his opportunity to become a major part of this bullpen. not this year, but last year. he didn't take it. guys like tallet and downs did. let's trade frasor if we can.
100 RsBI hitters: i miss them like you'd never imagine. if we don't have a hitter with 90 RsBI, i will truly have a breakdown. a team with rolen, wells, overbay and rios should absolutely have at least one 90 rbi man. it would be a travesty, an utter travesty, if we don't. oh, the humanity.
Posts like these: inclusive engagement with the blog's readers. i like to pretend that you care what i think.
The imperial "We": not as many people do it as you'd expect. so you keep doing it.
Cheers Tao.
The Jays are in need of a bat and without this bat they won't have a chance in making it out of the AL East basement. Trade Burnett for a bat. If we can't get a bat, trade him for a few prospects/draft picks.
ReplyDelete"This boat is sinking!"
Hopefully JP has made up his mind on what he is going to be (seller/buyer) when the non-waiver trade deadline comes. I just hope he does something and not just sit on his ass.
Does Brian Colangelo have a brother we can hire as a GM??
AJ - It's going to take a serviceable shortstop and a nice prospect in my eyes to compensate for the 1st round pick that might come from AJ staying the full year. If it's someone that can come in and produce in the lineup, I'm all for it, otherwise I think I'd rather just take the picks. The Marlins had a shot at names like Joba Chamberlain, & Colby Rasmus with the supplemental pick they got from losing AJ in 2006.
ReplyDeleteAs to how i feel 'in general' about AJ: AJ is EXACTLY as he was advertised coming from Florida.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/burnea.01.shtml
2006 (first full year in Toronto) - 10-8 21GS 118K 3.98ERA 1.30WHIP
2001 (first full year in Florida) - 11-12 27GS 128K 4.05ERA 4.23 1.31WHIP
2007 (best year in Toronto) - 10-8 25GS 176K 3.75ERA 1.18WHIP
2002 (best year in Floria) - 12-9 31GS 203K 3.30ERA 1.18WHIP
2008 (final year of opt-out with Toronto) - 8-7 18GS 108K 4.74ERA 1.47WHIP
2005 (final year in Florida) - 12-12 32GS 198K 3.44ERA 1.25WHIP
In both situations, he also managed to jump into a shallow free-agent market for pitchers.
So there shouldn't be any surprise about what AJ has brought to the Toronto, because he's done exactly what he did in Florida. Flashes of brilliance, mind-blowing stuff, yada, yada, yada.
This winter he'll be over-priced again and signed by some team thinking they're just one healthy season of 'good AJ' away from being a true contender.
- Brandon League - Wasn't that his first major league appearance since April 10th?
- Jason Frasor - Relief pitchers... They just never connect with me. Maybe it's the hitter in me, but they never truly seem like 'people' you know? Jason Frasor could be Shawn Camp or Brian Tallet, or Brian Wolf or Randy Wells and I could care less. I mean, thats what relief pitchers are for, right? When they start to suck, you just get rid of them. They're like goldfish to me.
- 100 RBI Hitters - Sigh... I wish we'd bring back Carlos Delgado. I really do. Is he available for AJ? Let him DH. If we can bring back Cito, we can bring back Carlos. He's the last big identifiable star this franchise had and nostalgia is apparently the theme or the season.
- Posts like these - Initially hated it. Smoked a bong. Love it. I read this site every day, and usually just quietly enjoy it.
- 'We' - I've never really read deadspin. I stopped by when I saw Will was leaving and read some stuff. It looks good. Not our style of writing though.
WELL SAID about AJ archimedes !!
ReplyDeleteOf course I miss the 100 RBI hitter. I like to see multiple 100RBI hitters. I love the stat not for what it says about the hitter (can be misleading to some who don't also examine the context of those RBI) but for what it says about at team. A team with multiple 100 RBI hitters is getting on base, slugging and hitting with RISP. These are all good things.
ReplyDeleteNice work all...
ReplyDeleteThose are some revelatory stats archimedes...It's true that we're still sitting here waiting for A.J. Burnett to become something great, when the truth is that at 31, he's way past the point where you can expect him to become something more.
If he hasn't reached the top echelon yet, he never will.
"Seamheads" suggesting that RBIs are an unimportant stat make me wish I was a jock so I could pummel them and stuff them into lockers.
ReplyDeleteHome runs aren't important, either, because they don't show up in your BAMHTAM (batting average minus hits that actually matter)
Actually, we always thought that RsBI was the most important stat as far as "seamheads" are concerned. Certainly the most important counting stat.
ReplyDeleteWhere is your BlogTO profile???
ReplyDeleteBurnett - While I have no idea if this is true or not, I read recently that next year's draft class is considered weak. Rather presumptuous, considering they are months away from even playing a game. That being said, if there is a touted SS/OF prospect available, I'd rather gamble on the guy who's played a couple years of pro ball, especially if the salary savings can be used towards signing non-draftable Latin American/Asian prospects.
ReplyDeleteLeague - I could see him as a Fernando Rodney-type - 7th inning power arm who will make things interesting, and could fill in as emergency closer.
Frasor - Never understood the seesaw he's been put on, but at this point he's the definition of fungible
100 RsBI guys - I don't care if one guy drives in 100, as long as multiple hitters are bringing in baserunners.
Posts like these - we'll I've had you bookmarked for 2-3 months now, and this might be my first comment, so take that for what it's worth
"We" - I liked it when Leitch did it. I kind of liken it to when Bo Jackson and Rickey Henderson referred to himself in the 3rd person, then in the early 90's a bunch of athletes did it, and now it's a joke. Be forewarned...
AJ - Unless we're getting prospects back, preferably pitching, power, or an SS, I'll take the picks.
ReplyDelete"We" - It's a little weird, I'll admit it. It makes it sound like theres two of you sitting on one chair with one on the others' lap.