Random thoughts on a shakey video of Travis Snider

Someone's got their ReggieVision Handicam down at the Arizona Fall League, documenting the prospects with a cinematographic skill that can onle be described as "Zapruderesque" . Among them was this one of Travis Snider cranking out a double.




The Good: Didja hear the beautiful sound of the crack of the bat? Niiiiiice.

The Bad: Not that we want to ponder this for too long...but doesn't Snider's body look a bit "Hinske-esque"?

Snider is one of the few players in the AFL who hasn't played above the single-A level, and he's still ripping it up. In 21 games, he's rocking a 1.025 OPS with five doubles, four homers and 11 RsBI. (And a .342 AVG, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.)

He's still only 20 (which is a few years younger than most of the top prospect in 'zona), but his performance bodes well for a possible 2009 appearance with the Jays. (Maybe...)

Other Futuer Blue Jays in the AFL

• Sergio Santos has 4 HRs and 14 RsBI along with an .823 OPS, and is playing a lot of third. In case the Jays should need new body at the hot corner sometime soon. Just sayin'.
• David Purcey's got a wicked 1.59 ERA in five starts and 17 innings. He's struck out 17 and walked 8.
• Ricky Romero's been pitching primarily in relief, and has a 4.22 ERA in 10-plus innings. He got off to a rocky start, but hasn't allowed a run in his last 7 innings of work, spanning four appearances.
  

Hot Stove: Yowza!

We're back after a brief work-related foray to the vast wilds of our country. (We missed you too!)

And while we were away, the hot stove started to heat up.

Matt Stairs - Welcome back, but...
While we were pleased to see the Jays bring back Matt Stairs for next year on a sentimental level, we've got to say that we have some serious apprehensions about him for next year. Yes, Stairsy was completely off his ass this year at the dish, but what are the chances that he replicates last year's numbers? More over, does his signing block Adam Lind from getting ABs...or moreover, does it lock the Jays in at LF when that might be the best place for them to add a BIG bat in the off-season?

A.J. on the block...not on the block
We don't want to simply restate what the Drunk Jays Fans said yesterday on Burnett, so we won't. Well, not really. Except to say that we should expect to hear a lot of rumbling around Burnett's status from now right up until the trade deadline. If the Jays come out flat and are somewhat out of the race in July, we can see A.J. heading out of town. However, we wonder if it wouldn't make sense for the Jays to try an buy out his opt-out clause in this off-season.

It seems a little odd to think that a guy as fragile and frankly undependable as Burnett could use a couple of injury-riddled 10-8 seasons as a springboard to a big payday, but such is the demand for big nasty arms in MLB.

The Big Bat of our dreams
There will be no shortage of teams in the Miguel Cabrera sweepstakes, so we probably shouldn't even start twisting ourselves into feverish anticipation that the Jays could get him. Cabrera is young and can flat-out rake, and if the Jays were to get into the fray, Cabrera could be the franchise's cornerstone player for the next decade. (Sorry Vernon...we saw way too many pop ups to the infield this season to keep thinking of you that way.)

There are two significant roadblocks, of course. First, the Marlins seem to want to attach Dontrelle Willis to Cabrera's coattails. After a nice start to his career, D-Train has spent the last year and a half getting whacked around in one of the NL's most pitcher friendly parks. Put him in the AL in less spacious surroundings, and you can see where a problem may arise.

Secondly, there is still the matter of that tall slow guy who's making a mint to play third for the Jays...although he may not be around in the first 50 games.

BoSox-Schilling Ink Deal

The Globe reports that the Red Sox have re-signed Curt Schilling to a one year, $8 million deal. It's a bit of a surprise that the bloodied one did not return to Philly to try to wrap up some unfinished business from '93.

Stairs Locked Up...

...with a two year deal worth $3.25 million. Not bad at all.

Vote for Tom Cheek!

If you are truly a fan of the Blue Jays (or even if you're not), stop what you're doing right now and go to the Baseball Hall of Fame website to vote for Tom Cheek to receive the Ford Frick Award.

Cheek's contribution to baseball in Canada can hardly be summed up in a few lines. He was the narrator that spun the Blue Jays story from to their very beginnings through to their most glorious moments ("Touch 'em all, Joe!").

Mostly, we loved the fact that he never hit a false note in describing the action. He wasn't a homer, and he never sold the story as something more than it was. He was dry without being boring; funny without being jokey; and he was willing to give the Jays the business when they were playing like a shit sandwich.

Our favorite Cheekism: Whenever the fielders were miscommunicating, or flubbed a defensive play, he would refer to them "playing a little Alphonse and Gaston in the field". Classic.

The voting for the Frick Award lasts through the month, and you can vote once per day.

A League of His Own - A-Rod Opts Out

A-Rod is bigger than Major League Baseball and certainly bigger than the World Series. That had to be his secondary message yesterday as he announced that he was opting out of his contract despite the MLB protocol that teams not make major announcements during the World series. But I guess he is not a team (yet).

Given his decision to leave a team that could absorb his contract and build a winning team, he will soon be back in the Texas scenario -- toiling at the bottom of the standings somewhere but collecting big cheques. At least Barry Bonds got into that scenario in part because he wanted to play in his hometown. For A-Rod, there seems to be nothing driving his career decisions apart from being the highest paid person in the world. To do the math, A-Rod has less character than Barry Bonds.

Put a bow on this season

The Red Sox are champs. Again.

And with a team built around Ellsbury, Papelbon and Gregg Zaun's favorite, Dustin Pedroia, the Blue Jays may well find themselves looking up at the Boston nine in the standings for quite some time.

The DH Dilemma - Tito, meet Cito

The dilemma faced by the Red Sox in trying to make room for all of their bats in the NL ballpark is hardly unique. Most years, the AL champ is forced to sit someone they'd rather not for at least a game or two. But the Gordian knot that Tito Francona had to solve this year was particularly complex. (Baseball Prospectus reports that he'll ultimately sit Youkilis in favour of Papi in the field.)

Which brings us back to the Jays. (Remember way back when this was still a Jays blog?)

Back in 1993, Cito Gaston was faced with the same sort of decision when he had to choose between Paul Molitor and AL Batting Champ John Olerud for Game 3 of the Series in the Vet. Cito ultimately settled on Molitor, who rewarded his decision by going 3 for 4 with a homer and three RsBI.

Cito's plan before that game (as noted to the New York Times' Murray Chass) was to sit the eventual World Series MVP in Games 4 and 5. But Molitor's performance forced his hand into moving him to third for those games, a position he hadn't patrolled on a regular basis in four years. Then again, Cito's choice was either taking a chance with Molly, or sitting him and playing Ed Babb-Sprague. In retrospect, the decision seems so clear.

In looking back at the 1993 Series, we're impressed with how aggressive a manager Cito was. There is this erroneous notion that is floated out there that he merely filled in a lineup card full of all-stars, and let them have at it.

Armchair Managing the Sox: If we were Tito, we would have moved Youk to second, Pedroia to short, and played Papi at first. Sure, three-quarters of your infield would have been out of their regular positions, but what's it gonna matter if you're up ten runs?

(Then again maybe we've played too much MLB 2K6 lately...where we play Travis Hafner in right field and let Ryan Howard catch.)

Matt Holliday might win the MVP...

...but dude cannot slide head-first to save his life.

No excuses for Rockies' bush-league mistake (Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports)

Jeff Blair rocks the aux box

Based on his monumental and outstanding blogging throughout last night's Game 1 laugher, we have decided that Jeff Blair is our Best Friend Forever. (He has no say in the matter.)

We've noted before that Blairsy (that's what we'll call him when we go on picnics together) can read our mind. It's uncanny.

So imagine our surprise when he breaks out the analogy that St. Patrick's Day is "amateur night for drinkers." That's our line! We swear that we've been using that line for years. Mrs. Tao even rolls her eyes at it, she's heard it so many times.

Also, we really enjoyed Blairsy's use of the epithet "dill-weed". We just called our boss "dill-weed", just because Blairsy would have wanted us to.

Finally, Blairsy's assertion that Revolver and Rubber Soul were way better albums than Sgt. Pepper's was dead-on.

Given the noxious ink-stained turds that populate the Jays' mediasphere, it's refreshing to see the work of a writer with whom you would actually want to sit down, pour a couple of fingers of Bushmills, and talk baseball.

Blairsy, you're doin' a heckuva a job.

Jody Vance has had enough of your monkeyshines

Did you know that Jody Vance was still alive?

We didn't until today, when we saw that the one-time anchorthingy (and Hazel Mae archenemy) wrote a column for the commuter rag 24 Hours on how much she wants the Red Sox to "eat humble pie."

She then goes on to describe Manny as "egomaniacal". That's rich.

It's not as though we're Red Sox fans, but we just hate when the frickin' killjoys come down from on high to criticize players whenever they show an ounce of personality. We spent a good part of the Sox-Indians series laughing both at and with Manny, and we're not going to go all whitebread nostalgic for the time when the players didn't celebrate a home run until six years after they retired.

Come on Jody. We know you work for the Leafs now, but that doesn't mean that life can't have a little colour to it.

UPDATE: We seem to remember that Jody is the wife of Blue Jays Manager of Team Travel Mike Shaw Assistant GM Bart Given (d'oh!), who's supposed to be a heckuva a guy, and probably knows people who could have us banned from any MLB ballpark. So if we've offended, we're really sorry.

The Tao's World Series Predictions

Here are five solid lock predictions for the 2007 RoxSox World Series:

1. Our pal the Red Sox fan will inadvertently (or so he'll claim) verbally or physically abuse us at least once in the middle of a wild celebration dance.
2. We will be treated to three hours worth of footage of pitchers blowing into their hands.
3. Dick Griffin will make an allusion to the fact that the Jays passed on Troy Tulowhatever in the draft. (Bob Elliot's already beaten him to the punch.)
4. We'll have to miss at least one game in the Series, having already used up all of our "Get Out of Social Events with Mrs. Tao in Favour of Baseball Playoff Nights with our Scumbag Friends" cards for one October.
5. The Red Sox will win, and the Massholes will love it.

Sour Grapes: Demuth put the Squeeze on Carmona

This might sound like sour grapes, but we spent a good part of Saturday cursing Dana Demuth's microscopic strike zone, and how he was squeezing the Indians Fausto Carmona. Cheers to the Mockingbird's Jon Hale for dialing up MLB's pitch FX system to confirm as much.

Not that it matters now.

Minor League Musical Chairs

There’s some chatter coming from Syracuse (specifically, the Post-Standard’s Matt Michael) that they’ve had enough of their affiliation with the Blue Jays, and their tradition of losing AAA teams. Moreover, they are salivating at the possibility of hooking up with the Mets for the 2009 season.

The Jays’ two-year deal with Syracuse expires after next season, and there will be a brief window in September when MLB teams and minor league cities can renegotiate their affiliation agreements. While many clubs have maintained their affiliations for decades, there has been a significantly higher degree of turnover in these agreements as of late. In 2007 alone, the Phillies, Yankees, and Mets all severed ties with their longtime AAA cities (Scranton, Columbus and Norfolk, respectively).

According the Post-Standard’s report, cities in play for 2009 may include Columbus (Washington), Buffalo (Cleveland), New Orleans (Mets), Rochester (Minnesota), Indianapolis (Pittsburgh), and Syracuse.

Obviously, the best fit out of those cities for the Jays would be Buffalo, but given the long-term success that the Bisons have had in that market, they might not want to hitch their wagons to a franchise which has produced 22 losing AAA seasons over their 30 year history.

If the music stops and the Jays are stuck with New Orleans in 2009, it would be nothing short of disastrous. A move to the Pacific Coast League would leave Jays prospects without exposure to their chief rivals’ prospects, and the expense and inconvenience of shipping players back and forth between New Hampshire, New Orleans and Toronto would be significant.

Then again, there is a AAA-level ballpark in a city with dozens of flights between it and Toronto that may well be vacant in 2009. Right Carl?

Check Out My Draft Fan Letter to Dick Griffin's Mailbag For Next Week