Farewell to the Beej

Oh, B.J.

We all saw this coming when you signed on for five years, back at the Winter Meetings in '05. But those worries are for another time, we figured. We're building a winner here!

In 2006, you won our hearts by fucking nailing it in your first season as a Jay. 38 saves? 1.37 ERA? 10.7 K/9? Slipknot and terrifying fist pumps? Sign me up for four more years of that, dude. YES.

Very early on in 2007, we knew something wasn't right. Your back hurt, we were told, and your pitching suffered. Alas, the sore back magically morphed into full blown Tommy John surgery (familiar with the term, everyone?), so under the knife you went. "Better to happen now", we all said, "We have three more years on this deal."

In 2008, you took back the closer role (thanks for holding it down, Acorn), and though it didn't appear your stuff was all the way back, you gutted out 32 saves for the team. "That's OK", we all thought, "Everyone knows it takes two seasons after TJ to get it there."

Enter Spring training 2009. Fastballs in the low 80's. A slider that didn't want to slide. "Uh, he'll come around, right? He's a veteran, he knows how to get ready for the season." But it didn't come around. Not even close. "Oh, shit."

So now whatta we do? A closer who can't close, still on the books for this season and next at $10 million per, reduced to mop-up duty. Only the mop must have been saturated, because even that wasn't working. "Oh, shit."

I wish you well, B.J. I really do. You seem like a proud guy, and your struggles today surely aren't for lack of effort. Someone will pick you up - they always do - on Rogers' dime. Good luck old friend.

Quickly: BJ Ryan

BJ Ryan may have lost his job as closer, but he returns to the Jays 'pen with another of his previous roles still firmly in hand: bullpen leader.

"You lose your role by not pitching good," said Ryan. "That's what it boils down to. You don't pitch good, you don't make pitches and you put your team in a place that they don't need to be in.

"We're playing such good ball right now that it's a tough spot, it is, but you blame it on the way you pitch. I didn't pitch well."

That's called accountability. It's what leaders do.

"You just get down there and help the team," he added. "We're playing good ball right now, so you get down there and when Cito wants me to pitch I'm going to come out there and pitch and hopefully get back to what you know you're capable of doing."

The assholes (that's right - assholes) who felt fit to boo Ryan's picture on the scoreboard before his return would be doing themselves a favour if they remembered how important Ryan was to the team before losing his way - and how important he still can be to the club for the rest of this season and next.

You have my respect, BJ Ryan.

PANIC! Romero on the DL!

Via the Globe's Bobby Mac, Ricky Romero is headed to the DL with an oblique strain.

(Don't panic...don't panic...don't panic...don't panic...don't panic...don't panic...)

No word yet on who will get the call to come up, but the Jays don't have an off day until May 11, so they won't have much latitude with their rotation, and will have to get a body to fill in. None of the starters at Las Vegas are setting the world ablaze at this point, though Brad Mills (4.70 ERA, 9 Ks / 8 BBs in 15.1 innings) seems like the most likely candidate.

The Jays could go a little nutty and look to Double-A prospect Reidier Gonzalez (1.37 ERA, 9 Ks / 5 BBs in 19.1 innings at New Hampshire), or Fabio Castro or Luis Perez. Of those four pitchers, Perez is the only one on the 40-man roster, which might also contribute to the decision.

UPDATE!!! MORE PANIC!!! MLBastian tweets that B.J. Ryan is headed to the 15 Day with trap tightness.

(Actually, we're kinda relieved - pardon the pun - about this news. New closer auditions!)

Sunday quick-hitters (pitchers)

BOOM.....Ricky Romero is pitching like a rookie of the year candidate.

BOOM.....Scott Downs is proving that he just might be the best left-handed set-up man in baseball.

BOOM.....BJ Ryan looked strong in picking up his second save of the season.

BOOM....the Jays are 10-4. Ten wins, four losses.

(somebody else say it for me....)

Quickly

Travis Snider.....incredible.

Adam Lind and Scott Rolen.....scorching.

Scott Downs.....clutch.

BJ Ryan..........................nails?

Jason Frasor would like you to meet someone

Jason Frasor has always seemed like a lonely guy. Summoned from the 'pen, he's only ever really had two friends he could count on. His best friend, the fastball, is a loyal fella, but a little too straight and predictable. Then you have his buddy the breaking ball, who's just a little too inconsistent to count on. This offseason, Frasor decided to add to his circle of friends, and today was the official unveiling.

Major League Baseball, meet Jason Frasor's changeup.

Aaaaaand end hyperbole. Ok, so I'm overstating (but that's what I do), and it's not like this pitch is going to turn Frasor into the second coming of Trevor Hoffman. But did you see how convincingly Frasor told the Cleveland Indians comeback to go fuck itself this afternoon? If nothing else, this outing has probably gained Frasor a more prominent role in The Cito's bullpen - but then again, there was nowhere to go but up for our guy Frasor. He only made the team because Jeremy Accardo had options remaining, and before today, Frasor's job was to push the mop in 5+ run games. More troubling for Blue Jay fans is the scenario that unfolded leading up to Frasor's big spot.....

What to do with BJ Ryan? Interesting discussions in the (wildly popular) game thread over at DJF. Several commenters, perhaps rightly so, are calling for an end to BJ's reign of terror as the Jays' closer. I tend to agree with resident drunk Stoeten and think you still hand the ball to Ryan when the next save opportunity arises. I'm not going to lie to you, I hope that save situation is of the 3-run lead variety as opposed to a one run nailbiter, but I think he's still the closer....for now.

His velocity is largely there (87-89 today), but the slider and location don't appear to be. Flawed logic alert - but where else are you going to pitch him? Middle relief? Mop up duty? Do you think BJ has the makeup to excel in those situations? I think you send him back out with the lead in the ninth, and let him pitch his way out of the role.

That may very well happen, but for now, I agree with The Cito's take:

"I would run him out there again," Jays manager Cito Gaston said. "You run him out there as many times as you can until he starts to hurt the team."

Ahh, The Gastonian era. Anyone else enjoying this?

This is how I want to remember him

I was pretty hard on Greggg Zaun when he made his "trade me to a contender who wants me" comments as the trade deadline approached. "Fuck you, Zaunie", I said. "Sit down and accept your role as a backup on an also-ran", I thought.

Sometimes you forget these guys are human (except Doc - total cyborg) - with pride, envy, anger, and all the other human emotion bullshit. But the deadline passed with Zaun still a Blue Jay, now relegated to a start or maybe two per week, and I found myself starting to feel a little bad for the guy. Here's an old pro who thought he had earned the right to start for the team he'd spent the past five seasons with, and now he's a dead man walking backup with a suddenly uncertain future.

So for the last month, I've really been pulling for ol' Zaunie to do well and earn himself one more big league contract next season, wherever he may end up. The month of August had a different plan for triple-G Greggg, however, and bitch-slapped him with an 0-fer (19).

Fast forward to late Saturday afternoon, and all is well in the world again.

But enough with the literary prose and melodrama......holy fucking shit! A walk-off granny! Seven in a row! Fuck Joe Maddon!

Did I mention that was Seven in a row?
I think I did, but....seven? When was the last time this club has gone a week+ without losing? And yes, Tampa/Boston/New York fans, I know it's borderline pathetic to be so excited about a fairly modest win streak in the month of September with my team out of it. But you know what? Fuck off. I'm trying to make this a fun little month of baseball here.

Special thanks to BJ for nailing it
What do you mean, BJ Ryan almost blew the game? How boring would a three run victory have been? Way more boring than a grand slam walk-off victory in the 13th inning, that's for damn sure.

But seriously, that's a couple reeeeeaaaaal shaky outings in a row now for BJ. In his defense, Cito has been, let's say, unafraid to go to BJ lately, to the point where he probably could use a breather. I still say Ryan is a monster next season.

Truth be told, I'm a little more worried about Scotty Downs the stretch (lame pun intended). Maybe all this talk of moving him into the rotation is fucking with his head. Thankfully, the Jays are blessed with a bullpen including Nails League and Nails Carlson to hold down the fort while the big two work it out.

We need BJ

Another shaky (terrifying) ninth, another save for BJ Ryan.

I've been meaning to post about BJ Ryan for a while now, but with all the trade deadline-Travis Snider-we're still in this thing-now we're out of it drama of the past few months, never got around to it.

Today's game gave me the push needed, though. See, I've been quietly disagreeing with those who say the contract was a mistake and the Jays should look to move him in the offseason. I understand the logic and distaste for the size and length of the deal - but after this season, there are only 2 years left, and to dump him at this point would be to signal a rebuild. And I'm not ready to do that (you know, since I call the shots and all).

Contract notwithstanding, BJ's primed for a monster year next season. Just think about it - he's 24 for 27 (65 for 74 as a Blue Jay) in save opportunities this season in his first year after Tommy John. His velocity is almost all the way back - touching 90 on the gun - and he's finding his slider again. His control and command aren't quite there yet, but when they are (next season), look the fuck out. Fist pumps galore, my friends.

Of course, you need to put a winning team on the field in order to see those fist pumps, and BJ Ryan needs to be a big part of that. Now, I know the team had success with Acorn Accardo closing games last season in BJ's absence. But do you want to roll the dice with Brandon League closing next year?

Maybe I'm old school, but I'm of the mindset that a team needs a legit stopper in the bullpen. BJ Ryan allows Scott Downs to be Scott Downs (8th inning guy), Brandon League can be Brandon League (7th inning guy), Jesse Carlson can do what Jesse Carlson does (loogy plus), and Jason Frasor remains Jason Frasor (umm.....). You take the guy paid to be the stopper out of that equation, and you know what you have? Chaos. Let's not fuck around with a successful formula.

Saying goodbye to Exxxstein?

Nothing official as of this writing, but looks like the end of the line for another player on my trade deadline photo collage.

David Eckstein appears to be on the way out after what can only be described as a disappointing stint as a Blue Jay.

Through no real fault of his own, Exxx never really won the hearts of the fans (or Cito) after signing on with the Jays last offseason. Really, in hindsight, the one year deal should have been a pretty big tip-off this wasn't meant to be, but little Davey came in and did pretty much exactly what he should have been expected to do.

He's another guy whose taken his lumps on the Blue Jay blogosphere, but he'll land on his feet and sign a decent deal somewhere next season - and hey, looks like he'll play out the season on a contender, and potentially further add to his "World Series MVP" legacy.

You stay classy, David Eckstein.

One of these guys shouldn't be smiling.....

I'm not going to lie to you, after last night's shittacular 9th inning meltdown, I wanted to drop a post I surely would have regretted this morning. Luckily, some "technical difficulties" prevented me from logging in and dropping bombs on the Jays. Having slept on it, I'm a little more rational about things, but just barely.

BJ Ryan completely shit the bed, but in fairness, it was just his 3rd blown save in 23 chances. At 87%, that's not too far off from the nails season he delivered in 2006, and he is just 15 months removed from Tommy John. "They" say that command is the last thing to come back, and in Ryan's case, "they" appear to be correct. So let's not get all Mitch Williams on him just yet for doing what any pitcher would be doing so soon after major reconstructive elbow surgery.

(And no, I haven't researched the performance trends of Tommy John survivors, that was pretty much just off my ass.)

....and the other guy should be smiling
Brandon League was dealing again last night. In his last 6 innings pitched, the little tsunami that could has only given up 2 hits, 2 walks, and no earned runs. Now before you start screaming "SAMPLE SIZE!" on me, our guy Tabby astutely pointed out in a broadcast earlier this week that pitching guru Brad Arnsberg moved him all the way over to the first base side of the rubber, and he's been lights out ever since.

Me, I'd like to believe it's the Cito Magic (TM) doing it's thing and the Young Man (TM) is back to being the guy we saw in 2006.

About Adam Lind
Moved up to the 5 spot (you see? see what I've been telling you would happen?), Lind delivered a clutch RBI triple to give the Jays the lead in the 9th.... which was promptly deemed irrelevant about 15 minutes later, of course. The Jays better give this kid some support, or it'll be another fruitless career with no playoff appearances on his resume.

(Is it too early to say that? Seems like it might be a little early.)