Here's a look at the 2006 Blue Jays. Enjoy.
Lyle Overbay, 1B
It's about getting better a little bit at a time. I find it amusing when people criticize a team for employing a first baseman such as Overbay when they "should" be employing a masher such as Konerko at the position. Well, duh. Even the dumbest general manager in baseball is looking for somebody like Albert Pujols or David Ortiz. Unfortunately, such people are difficult to find, and teams that have them don't want to give them up.
The question you need to ask when a player is being acquired is, "Is this guy better than the one we have already?" In Overbay's case, the answer is clearly yes - he reaches base far more often than Hinske, and is a better defensive first baseman. Bringing him in will improve the offense, and the team.
By the way, all of this is Josh Phelps's fault: he's the reason why the Jays don't have any big thumping first basemen coming up any time soon, and why they had to go and get Overbay. He was supposed to solve the first base problem for a number of years. He didn't. It happens.
Aaron Hill, 2B
The Jays' biggest gamble this year isn't on Burnett, or Ryan: it's on Hill. The Jays are hoping that Hill can handle the starting second base job, even though he's played less than a year in the majors and less than a month at second. It's not a stupid risk: Hill is a tremendous athlete, and obviously has range enough to play second. But he hasn't yet proven that he can make adjustments at the plate at the major-league level, and he'll look bad defensively when compared to Hudson, who is one of the greatest defensive second basemen of all time. Hill will likely hit better than the O-Dog, though, and it's an acceptable tradeoff - especially when you consider that the Jays got Glaus out of the deal.
Russ Adams, SS
He's still young enough to improve, but for some reason I already think of him as a known quantity. Right now, he's a C or C+ in all facets of his game. He's a little bit below average in range and throwing arm at short. He's a little bit below average in on-base percentage. And he doesn't hit for much power (though not bad for a shortstop, historically). He is a legitimate shortstop, though - and J.P. loves him, so we can assume that 2005 isn't his ceiling. I hope.
John McDonald, Everyman
No one has commented on McDonald's re-acquisition, but he's the reason why the Jays are willing to gamble on Hill. If the team needs quality defense at second, such as in the late innings of a close game, they can plug McDonald in there. He won't hit, but he'll field well enough to take the pressure off Hill.
Russ Adams has to be wondering: I thought I played this guy out of a job, and here he is, back again... Oh well. It's probably a good thing to have somebody ready to step in when needed - this provides incentive to dig deeper.
Troy Glaus, 3B
Gosh, some people complain a lot. The Jays go and pick up somebody who is (a) under 30, and (b) hits 40 home runs a year, and all they do is kvetch about the expected dropoff in defense. Wow.
He's not a risk-free acquisition - health is a question - but the Jays now have the big bopper they lost when they let Delgado go. And if defense becomes an issue, McDonald can be plugged in, if he's not already busy playing second or short. (Maybe he can be cloned.)
Bengie Molina, C
Of the Jays' signings, this is the one that I thought was a wee bit superfluous. Zaun has a decent on-base percentage, is a good defensive catcher, and has some power. However, the dropoff from Zaun to his backups - mostly Huckaby - was a cavernous one in the past. Having a second catcher that is not an automatic out is a tremendous advantage. Apparently, Molina is a great defensive catcher: he'd have to be, or he'd be ostracized at Molina Family gatherings.
Gregg Zaun, C
With apologies to George Thorogood (and music lovers everywhere):
"My baby left me, my mule got lame, lost my money in a poker game
A Molina came just the other day, and took my spot behind the plate away
I'm having so much trouble, so much trouble, so much trouble I'm about to lose my mind"
The moral: life isn't fair. (No, I'm not giving up my day job.)
Shea Hillenbrand, Rover
Would it be a good idea to play this guy every day in April, given that he seems to have a history of hot starts? Some players just seem to be able to kick butt in April for some reason: Ed Sprague was famous for being red-hot in the spring, and cold afterwards. Maybe the pitchers are throwing more fastballs early in the season, or something.
I'm not a huge Hilly fan, but he can cover both infield corners (though not at once), he'll yank one out of the park every now and again, and no one has ever questioned his effort. John Gibbons loves him to pieces; every manager should be allowed to have one or two of his favourites hanging around.
Vernon Wells, OF
Give the guy a break, already. Focus on what he can do: he's a Gold Glove centerfielder who hits 30 home runs a year. That's good, isn't it? Sure, he's not a natural team leader, and he doesn't have Carlos Delgado's offensive skills. But not many people can hit like Delgado, and those people usually can't field like V-Dub. Besides, the team doesn't need a leader: Mr. H.R. Halladay fills the bill quite nicely, thank you. Let Vernon recede into the shadows a bit and play his game.
Frank Catalanotto, OF
You know about him. He'll hit about .300. He'll slash doubles in the gap every now and again. He won't walk much (because he fouls off borderline pitches rather than taking them for strikes). He's OK in the outfield but not great. Describing him is as exciting as eating vanilla ice cream, but it's enjoyable to watch a professional hitter ply his trade. He wields his bat like a master bricklayer wields his trowel. And what the hey: vanilla ice cream tastes good, dontcha know.
Reed Johnson, OF
Also a known quantity. Desperately wants to play every day, and can be counted on to go full-throttle into any playing opportunity. Is best used in short bursts, with time off to recharge his batteries. An extremely valuable player: he can play all three outfield positions, pinch-hit and pinch-run. In the olden days, managers used to need three guys to do all of these things.
Alex Rios, OF
Y'know, if it weren't for that monster season in AA, there's nothing in his record to indicate that he's actually ever going to be a quality player. I'm just sayin'.
Last year, he showed that he could do absolutely anything on a baseball field - just not very much of it at once. He sometimes hits for power. He sometimes hits for average. He sometimes runs well. He sometimes throws well. He's this close to stardom. But that is the curse that many athletes live under: they're much, much better than almost everybody who plays baseball, but just not quite good enough to make it all the way. That has to be tough to endure, to be that close to millions of dollars without ever getting there.
Eric Hinske, OF-Wannabee
You have to give him an A for effort: every year, the Jays ask him to switch positions, and every year, he goes out there and does his level best. His problem is one that he has no control over: when playing every day, he is only capable of hitting about .260 with 20 home runs, and there's nothing anybody can do about it. Not everyone is capable of stardom.
He'll hit a little better than that when playing only against righties, but let's not get too excited: the Jays have always left him on the bench when a tough lefty is out there, so his season numbers aren't likely to improve too much. As for his outfield defense: it'll be entertaining to watch Eric gallop at full-tilt in the general direction of a fly ball. He's fast enough that he'll likely get there, and he'll be a heck of a lot better than, say, Jose Canseco.
If I were him, I'd learn how to catch too. Seriously.
Roy Halladay, P, Demigod
Had he been born a century ago, he'd have been Christy Mathewson. Can you imagine what John McGraw would have done had he seen this guy? Little Mac would have named his children after him.
A perfect fantasy baseball pick: he's the best pitcher in the world, but Kevin Mench's line drive has caused people to forget this. He's a hard worker and a loyal team player, donating his time to help recruit others to the cause. I don't think of athletes as heroes - they're ordinary men in their twenties and thirties who happen to possess special skills, and that's all. But if I was looking for somebody for a kid to look up to, I'd probably start right here.
A.J. Burnett, P, Acolyte
There's always going to be some wastage (not that Burnett is it - I'm just warming to a theme). A team cannot win unless it fully plunders all possible sources of talent. This includes going out and spending top dollar for the best available warm bodies on the free-agent market. To do this, the team has to be prepared to overspend a bit, and has to realize that there will be a crash and burn every now and again. This is doubly true of pitchers, who are always potentially one pitch away from the end of their careers. The Yankees are an extreme case of this: they throw away millions of dollars annually, but they get to go to the post-season. The fiscally responsible Kansas City Royals do not.
Some time, I want to research the least successful free-agent signings and trade acquisitions. How often does a player get picked up by a new team, only to never play for them? Or, at least, never play well? Off the top of my head, I can only think of one man who never played an inning for his new team: that man is Mike Sirotka. You may have heard of him.
As for Burnett: it'll be a real drag if Dave Bush outpitches him.
Gustavo Chacin, P
Pundits have already written him off, saying that the league is going to catch up to him now. (Pundits like to write off the Jays, as if they're a tax-deductible expense or something.) These pundits may have a point: it often takes a year for scouting reports to circulate around the league and for hitters to adjust. Still, I'd rather take my chances with somebody who has been a useful pitcher at least once than somebody who has never gotten anybody out at the big-league level. The guy who's been there before at least has some idea of how things work. And, what the heck: sometimes hitters can't hit good stuff even if they know what's coming. Everybody knows what Mariano Rivera is going to throw.
Josh Towers, P
A Jamie Moyer for our time.
Ted Lilly, P
There are many things I don't understand in life. One of them is why Ted Lilly was so good in 2004 and so bad in 2005. What he'll do in 2006 is anyone's guess. I hate having to depend on him for anything, though.
B.J. Ryan, P, Hired Gunslinger
Anybody who complains about the Jays' spending should realize three things: one, the Jays are still spending less than their principal division rivals (and substantially less than the Yankees). Anyone who complains about the Jays' expenditures is saying, in effect, "Shut up and stay in third place where you belong." I'm talking to YOU, Bud Selig!
Point two: it's easy to identify a top player when he's been a proven star for many years (and is now past his Best Before date). Everybody knows that Roger Clemens can pitch, or that Gary Sheffield can hit - even George Steinbrenner knows it. The trick is to identify such players at exactly the point they have started to show their superior abilities - then, you get the best years of their careers. I don't know whether the Jays have done that with Ryan, but it's not an indefensible strategy.
Point three: the goal is to maximize wins, not wins per dollar. Ted Rogers' strategy is to invest enough money to fill the Rogers Centre and clean up on ticket sales, merchandising, broadcast rights, and so on. It's worked before in Toronto - as you may recall, the Jays were the first team to draw 4 million a season, and were once the Big Dogs In The East. You young 'uns might not believe that, but it's true.
Scott Schoeneweis, P, Lefty-At-Large
What do you do with a left-handed setup man when your closer is lefthanded? I guess he goes back to the seventh inning. We're going to see a lot of four-reliever games this year: bring in righty setup man #1, bring in SS for a tough lefty, bring in righty reliever #2, then bring in Ryan. I guess there will be lots of time to buy that late-inning beer from the concession stands this year.
Vinniejasonjustin Chulkfrasorspeier (the Third, Esq.), PPP
They're different pitchers, with different styles, but they'll have the same role in 2006, so I'm going to think of them as a collective entity. Join us; resistance is useless.
Scott Downs, P
The #6 starter. The Jays hope they won't need him much. He hopes that they do. There's no truth to the rumour that he has a Burnett voodoo doll and is sticking pins in its elbow.
Pete Walker, P, Patron Saint of Lost Causes
Even the worst job in major-league baseball is better than the best job any player is likely to find outside of The Show. Pete pitches best as a low-pressure long man, and that's what he's going to get to do again.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20060329201256706