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I ended up seeing the last 3 innings of the game last night... I decided to gather up some people and go to a sports bar.

Anyhow, I was listening to the Yankees announcers on the radio when I was driving there. They were both talking about that article, and they said that outside of New York and Boston, Toronto has by far the most critical and hostile writers in the AL. They were making fun of Ulmer saying basically that "jeez, it's only been two games". So we're not the only ones who notice.

MP

Didn't the Yankees start 0-6 when they won the WS in 1996?

No time to panic, this is still a rebuilding year and hopefully J.P. treats it as such. (As he seems to be.)

If there is anything good about this sweep its that it might take some pressure of these young guys who now realize they can't compete with the Yanks and the better teams and they might just go out there more relaxed and have fun.

The only downside of the sweep is that many casual fans will likely have been turned away for yet another year, or for at least a few weeks. The Jays have been unlucky the last few years: they seem to play their worst on those rare occasions when ordinary people (i.e. non-zombies :-)) notice them.

If people stop buying tickets, Rogers might pull the plug.

I agree with Dave. Combined with the SARS scare, attendance is already down to 15,000. I can only imagine what a weekday game vs the D-Rays will bring in.
I think everyone was pressing too much, since they were playing the mighty Yankees in front of the home crowd. If they're laid back against the Twins, there's no reason they can't take two of three.
The one upside to early losses and a lack of a crowd is cheap scalper prices. Last year seats behind home plate were going for 30 bucks off of scalpers. Or perhaps I wasn't negotiating enough....

I agree with Dave. Combined with the SARS scare, attendance is already down to 15,000

A 3:35 start time on a weekday in Toronto was pretty idiotic so chalk a lot of the decline to that.

Yeah, but how do you explain last night's 15,000 attendance?

I mentioned this to Jurgen Mass before just so it doesn't look like I'm bandwagon jumping, but I like the Pitsburgh Pirates. I'm not going to say they will win their division but a .500+ record wouldn't shock me. They've got a good bullpen, a decent starting staff (Kip Wells gets better every year. Suppan is a good inning eater), and a few hitters who can just rake. (Giles, Ramirez) And I was one of the few who thought that their addition of Kenny Lofton was a good one. It was a move that puts Giles in LF, therby taking strain off his knees, and allowed two players C.Wilson and Stairs to go to the bench, making their bench stronger. And they are solid defensively, especially up the middle.

I'm kind of surprised nobody chose them as their dark horse pick in any of the pre-season articles I've seen.

I've like the Pirates this year. I don't think the NL Central favorite Cards are significantly better than the the rest of the division (Brewers excluded). The Pirates signings of Reggie Sanders and Kenny Lofton give them known quantities in the outfield. These known quantities don't have the sexy upside of prospects but they will be effective. Giles is a star and Aramis Ramirez should bounce back from an off year.

Jason, you also fail to mention the biggest reason the Pirates will be better: Kris Benson should be back 100% from his 2001 Tommy John surgery.

Didn't the Yankees start 0-6 when they won the WS in 1996?

No, the '96 Yanks started 2-0, but the '98 Yanks started 0-3 and 1-4. After 20 games, the '98 Yanks were 15-5.

The Jays are 3 games out of a playoff spot with just 159 left to play. Their plans for the first 20 games are in shambles; they can't start better than 17-3 now. :-)

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Speaking of young Jays, I listened to the first four innings of the Red Wings - SkyChiefs game on the radio.

Both of these teams are going to be tough to beat. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up with the two best records in the IL. They'll definately have the two best outfields.

The Red Wings annoucer seemed impressed with how Josh Towers was pitching for the Chiefs. He ended up giving up two solo shots in the 3rd, to the #9 and #2 hitters. The Red Wings announcer had just said that the 9th batter (the catcher) was there simply for his defence. So of course he hits a homer in his 1st AB. Both times Josh was behind in the count (3-1 and 1-0, I believe), and it sounded like he was trying too hard to get a strike.. so he threw a batting practice fastball to each hitter because he didn't take them to be a serious threat. Other than that, though, he seemed to pitch well.

I'm trying to remember who was playing in each position for the Chiefs, as I can't seem to find a box score. I think it was

C Cash
1B Fagan
2B I can't remember.. Jimmy Alvarez, maybe.
SS Moriarity
3B Tony Zuniga
RF Wise
CF Reed Johnson
LF Aven
DH Rob Ryan

Apparently Wise ended up getting a 2 run homer in the 5th. His previous 2 at-bats were horrible.. apparently he was swinging at things well out of the strike zone, though in his 1st AB he struck out on a called strike. I've heard that he's a guess hitter with a poor eye and today's game would confirm that. I honestly wish they'd send him to another organization. He doesn't seem to fit with the new JP Jays.

Does anyone know anything about Zuniga? He was batting 5th for the Chiefs. The announcer didn't seem to know anything about him. In his 1st AB he walked on four pitches, but none of them were anywhere near the zone. He ended up scoring on a single by Johnson.

So nothing earth shattering happened, but the Chiefs look like a much improved team.

I should be going to the game on Saturday between the two teams, so I should be to post something a lot more detailed then.

Cheers,

MP

Zuniga was with the Giants' AAA team in Fresno much of last year; how he got to Syracuse I don't know, but presumably he was a free agent signing that flew even beneath the BB radar. He plays a position where there isn't much depth in the system -- yet. There's also a pretty fair 3B locked up for five years on the big club.

Mike, is there a Syracuse paper that publishes the SkyChiefs' box scores? I still think Reed Johnson is at the top of the list when the Jays decide a fourth OF who can hit a little is more important than a C who can't. Reed was never 100% last year after injuring his wrist making a spectacular catch in spring training, but he did well enough in 2001 (314/383/451 for Knoxville) to deserve a chance. I believe Dewayne Wise is a free agent very soon, because of the rules about MLB service time. I've predicted before he will follow Joe Lawrence to Milwaukee, as Gord Ash likes players he's heard of.

http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/boxscore?date=20030403&key=20030403INTLSYRACUSEROCHESTER&gamenum=0

or http://makeashorterlink.com/?U5A824514 if the first one wraps.

http://www.syracuse.com/sports/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/104936278777042.xml
I imagine Syracuse.com will have the box scores. I know the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has Red Wings box scores, so I can provide a link to those when the two teams hook up.

Sorry I couldn't post more detailed notes from today's game.. again I only caught the first four innings on radio. I can't wait to see the two teams live, though.

I found a decent article on J.P. at Syracuse.com. Click on my name to see it.

Cheers,

Mike

I remember listening to MLB Radio's season preview show and one of the hosts mentioned that it would make sense for the Jays to trade for one of Florida's backup catchers. Both Ramon Castro and Mike Redmond are major league quality catchers who are wasted watching Pudge do his thing. Every Blue Jay fan seems to think that Kevin Cash is a can't miss prospect but I'd hate to think that on the off-chance he doesn't develop as planned we'd have to deal with HuckMyWil past the All Star break.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/scoreboards/index.html

Baseball America always has the minor league box scores the next day for every league. Sadly I don't think they archive them.

Thanks for the link, Mike! From the article:

Eventually, Ricciardi wants Syracuse to become "Sacramento East." During Ricciardi's last three years with the A's as director of player personnel, Oakland's Triple-A teams at Vancouver (1999) and Sacramento (2000-01) won three division crowns, one Pacific Coast League title and one Triple-A World Series champs.

Don't let Mike Ulmer know, he doesn't like the Oakland connection (does he think it was better here under Ash?) and I'm sure he'll try to spin J.P.'s west coast success as a negative thing. Confirming what I've thought since he arrived here, the GM's honesty is also a plus:

Ricciardi promised Linton that he would get a fair shot in Toronto's spring training camp, and he was true to his word. Linton said players talk about their free-agent experiences, and it'll bode well for Syracuse if Ricciardi gets a reputation for treating six-year free agents fairly.

Hmm, another reason for bringing 12 pitchers north that none of us smart guys thought of -- don't think other minor-leaguers haven't already noticed, and when Linton returns to Syracuse, probably when they call up Justin Miller, Doug will spread the word that the Jays are a classy outfit.

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No problem, Coach.

Thanks for the link on Zuniga. I'm surprised JP didn't get anyone better for 3rd, though I can understand why with Hinske, Berg, and Bordick all on the Jays. Still, though, it could mean the difference between 1st and 2nd for the Chiefs.

I thought Zuniga might be decent when he walked on his 1st AB on four straight pitches, but the announcer made it sound like Stull (the Wings pitcher) wasn't anywhere near the plate on any of them. I can't remember how his 2nd AB ended, though I remember he swung at a pitch well in the dirt for 0-2.

Oh.. I should mention that EVERYONE in Rochester is convinced that the Yanks are going to get Bordick to be Jeter's replacement for the Yankees. Bob Matthews runs the daily sports column in the Rochester paper and has a 2 hour show on AM 1180. I think he mentioned Bordick 3 times for the combined hour I listened to him on Tuesday and Thursday (didn't listen to him on Wednesday). I can't imagine this happening just because I don't think the Yanks would give up enough for JP to consider it. But that's the hot baseball rumor in the Empire State.

MP

Not that I'd ever fan the flames of a rumour, but how about Bordick for Mark Phillips, the lefty they picked up in the Rondell White trade? He hasn't been a Yankee for long, and they can always get another prospect when they dump Mondesi.

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If I were JP I'd do that trade in a second, but I can't imagine Cashman going for it. Unless "The Boss" forces his hand. From what I've heard Phillips has an incredible arm, but like a lot of young flamethrowers, he has some control issues. That's what I heard on the local sports radio shows here after the trade (about 80% of the MLB stuff I hear in Rochester is Yankee-related).

MP

I think the Yanks would be better off trying to pick up Omar Vizquel. The Indians probably wouldn't want too much for him because then the Indians could then move Brandon Phillips back to SS. Having Omar also gives the Yanks the option of putting Jeter at 3rd at some point be it this season or the next.

Vizquel has said he wouldn't play for the Yankees, and he's a 5-10 guy. I like the thinking of getting a good defensive SS who can move Jeter over to 3B if and when he comes back this year.

I love the fact that Vizquel says he won't play for the Yankees. Classic.

If the Yankees move Jeter to third, won't this block Drew Henson? --sarcarm--

I think the Yanks would be better off trying to pick up Omar Vizquel.

Were Vizquel in his walk year, I'd say this was a possibility. But given that he's got $7M+ coming to him next year, I can't see the deal happening. There are too many political ramifications.

It's one thing to plan for Jeter not returning in 2003 (as I believe he won't), but to also plan for an imminent position change once he does return, can you imagine the volume of noise that would generate?

Certainly a combination of factors could make Jeter a possible 2004 candidate for 3B -- a shoulder-induced decline in range, Ventura's imminent departure, Henson's almost certain lack of development -- but I think that any decision to move Jeter off of SS will not be unilateral, and there's no way that Jeter would consent to a position now.

For good or for bad, I think shortstop will be Jeter's position to agree to give up, not to have taken from him. Especially not while he's wearing a sling.

Thus, I believe the Yankees will be looking at a 2003 solution only.

I don't believe they intend to stick with Almonte. He's taking up space until the team knows Jeter's fate for 2003. I'm thinking that a steady, veteran glove like Bordick's would be a solid choice for a team that's going to hit well despite him in the 9-hole. The question is: what can Ricciardi hope to get for Bordick? He could start by asking for Juan Rivera, but given the low probability that Cashman would bite, what then?

Coach suggested Mark Phillips but MP believes that to be asking too much. Who else then?

I don't see the Yanks making a move right away. If Almonte was the only hole in my lineup, I'd be pretty content to sit on it for a couple of months. But then I'm not the leader of an Evil Empire, so what do I know?

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Now that I think about it, Phillips probably wouldn't be too much, given how little the Yanks got him for, and how "there's no such thing as a pitching prospect".

Adam Piatt in Oakland is out of options and he probably won't get too much playing time. Maybe the Jays can do a three-way trade to get him. The Jays could use a decent backup outfielder more than they could use both Berg AND Bordick.

MP