I think JP used the term 'on base freak' for Hinske when he was acquired. Just like the Gagne story they feel they need to repeat it over and over again.

For those in love with velocity, did you notice that Batista's last pitch was at 96.

The crowd sounded loud last night -- very loud. And Batista was explosive.

You don't have to be Einstein to realize that if the Jays continue to get pitching like this, they'll win a lot of games. Great game by Batista.

The World Hockey Association is re-forming just in time for the NHL strike. The Toronto franchise is 'close' to signing a deal to play at the 'Dome and might feature Wendel Clarke

I normally avoid Griffin, but I made the mistake of reading his column today.

Izturis is playing solid defence with three errors in 55 games, including last night's 4-0 loss to the Jays, while hitting .311.

As Mike pointed out it's a pretty hollow average. I haven't looked it up, but I suspect his BABIP is way above his historical norm.

When the Jays dealt him in '01, along with reliever Paul Quantrill for Aussie starter Luke Prokopec, the Dodgers had been pushing a failed young starter named Eric Gagne.

This is either just lazy 'journalism' or there's an agenda (or both).

It was just the other day Jeff Blair actually went to an unbiased source - the Dodgers GM at the time.

"It's just not right to say that J.P. passed on Eric in favour of Prokopec," Dan Evans, the former Dodgers GM who was fired before the start of this season and is now a scout with the Seattle Mariners, said last week. "J.P.'s goal that winter was to get a starting pitcher, and the fact is that Éric was at best a pedestrian starter. Would we have traded Éric had J.P. asked? My guess is probably no."

If the Jays were not caught up in the search for the Holy Grail of shortstops, the perfect A-Rod clone, Izturis might hold the position.

There's a statement that makes no sense. Because the Jays didn't want a good field, no hit SS it means they're 'caught up' searching for a once in a generation player?

Which brings up a question. If a great defensive infield can save a good pitching staff runs and pitches, how does one determine when one's pitching staff is good enough (or the hitting bad enough) to sacrifice a little offence for great defence? With Moneyball, never.

How about Win Shares for a start?

Did Griffin actually read Moneyball? It was pretty clear that the A's were quantifying defense in the book, and I'd be absolutely shocked if the Jays aren't quantifying defense in a similar manner as well.

I think JP used the term 'on base freak' for Hinske when he was acquired

JP referred to him as an 'on base machine'. The way I read 'On base freak' in this instance it is carrying a negative connotation(although that's debatable).

And FWIW I'm not a fan of 'on base machine' either.

Well boys, you were right. My night out at Sitelines consisted of a lot of talk about the rising cost of building materials. It’s strange to be eating a decent meal while in Sky Dome too, nice carvery table. I was slightly reprimanded for screaming when I thought Johnson had thrown out Encarnacion on his double. A hot night in the Dome. Batista was pitching back in the tropics of the Dominican.

Does anyone else remember that great Kids in the Hall sketch where some guy brings a runaway back to his apartment and then dresses up as a vampire. “Do you mind if I swoop?”

Anyone else here think the Reds magic pitching bubble has finally burst? 40 runs in three days to the A's is not good. I know they have good hitting, but all of it is injury prone or is about to turn back into a pumpkin (Casey). And that pitching staff ...ugh. I say they are in last place by the end of July.

It was just the other day Jeff Blair actually went to an unbiased source - the Dodgers GM at the time.

Not that I'm necessarily doubting him, but could there possibly be a MORE biased source than the man who wouldn't want to admit that he was very willing to give up a future Cy Young winner?

http://tsn.tsnmax.ca/magazine/feature2.asp?bg=baseball1&story=020314_youngjays&col=heatherington&length=2&page=1
COMN for an article that has JP praising Hinske as both an on-base freak and an old fashioned dirt bag.
Luke Prokopec also indicates that he's happy to be a Blue Jay.
That's nice.

You don't have to be Einstein...

Nicely done Christopher! Good thing I double checked the posts before sharing with you all my soliloquy on the Theory of Relativity. That would have been just plain B.A.D.

Anyone with a lunch break around SkyDome has no excuse not to be at the Prentice Cup final this afternoon. King City, the number one team in the province will take on Birchmount Park (number 2), first pitch is at noon. Enter through gate 9. Admission is free.

Izturis' career hit rate on balls in play was .273 going into this season. In 2004, it's .337.

Thanks Christopher. I knew he said freak.

Sorry but I gotta ask..

COMN? Check on my ...?

Click on my name.

btw:
Relativety-ly it was a good night..

ah Thomas thanks..
and
Opps Sorry Christopher ... Eistein wasn't great on details either

Blair's work is normally rock solid, but this article has a few problems worth mentioning:

But considering the money the Blue Jays have been forced to spend these past two winters on Mike Bordick and Chris Gomez -- and whatever other veteran they will bring in next year to babysit reluctant regular Chris Woodward until Russ Adams is ready

That's a pretty silly remark. Bordick cost a measly 1MM last year, while this year Gomez is being paid a whopping 750,000 to be the backup middle infielder. Add in the fact that Bordick was a great influence on Woodward while he was here, and the signing looks even better.

I realize that Woodward has been a bit enigmatic in his time here, but I'm really happy to see his bat and defense back in the linueup on a full time basis. Time will tell if he has the mental toughness to be a regular, but he certainly has the talent.

In so doing, the Blue Jays cast their lot with Felipe Lopez, who is now a fringe player in the Cincinnati Reds' organization. The Blue Jays thought Lopez had a better upside offensively.

Lopez is hardly a fringe player in Cincy. He's still the heir apparent at SS, and will probably be given another shot at the F/T job in 2005 when Larkin retires. And Lopez does have real power -- he just has to get his head screwed on properly before he can harness it.

If I had to choose between the next Vizquel and the next Tejada, I probably would have chosen Tejada as well...

NDG: About the Reds, that bubble has been waiting to burst for a while now. A vast majority of their wins have been by three runs or fewer. If Danny Graves wasn't in the midst of a very strong year, Cinci would be in last place already.

NDG: About the Reds, that bubble has been waiting to burst for a while now. A vast majority of their wins have been by three runs or fewer. If Danny Graves wasn't in the midst of a very strong year, Cinci would be in last place already.

Graves has not exactly been dominating. He's given up 7 HR already, and his strikeout rate is nothing special. He's been solid, but his gaudy saves total is largely a function of luck. HR aside, his DIPS ERA is a whopping 5.27, so it's only a matter of time before his luck runs out and his real ERA begins to rise.

Being involved with high school baseball in Western New York, I would like to attend the Prentice Cup today. But, alas, i have my own final exams to administer...oh well.

It would be interesting to see how the level of ball compares to what we have.

Does anyone else find the following sort of interesting about the "Moneyball" teams (Oakland, Toronto, Boston)?

2004:

Runs Scored/Game and AL Rank

Boston 5.27 - 6th
Oakland 5.07 - 9th
Toronto 4.45 - 11th

ERA and AL Rank

Boston 3.94 - 2nd
Oakland 3.75 - 1st
Toronto 4.39 - 5th

2003:

Runs Scored/Game and AL Rank

Boston 5.93 - 1st
Oakland 4.74 - 9th
Toronto 5.51 - 2nd

ERA and AL Rank

Boston - 4.48 8th
Oakland - 3.63 1st
Toronto - 4.69 9th

Maybe the "Moneyball" philosophy is secretly "pitching and defense wins championships". :) I can practically see Joe Morgan running a "Moneyball" frachise!

Joking aside, Oakland (as everyone has pointed out) has essentially been a pitching oriented team for the last two years and both Oakland and Toronto look to be heading in that direction. To be blunt, the "Moneyball" teams are starting to look a whole lot like the Braves teams of the early to mid 90's.

The problem with Griffin et al is they keep thinking the book was called "OBP Ball" and that's all they dwell on.

Nigel,

The Moneyballish way of team-building is not necessarily about offence. It's about careful planning and the exploitation of market inefficiencies. It's about recognizing that much of what the other teams think is pitching is really defence and park factor. It's about bringing in Pokey Reese to play second when groundballer Lowe starts; and Bellhorn the rest of the time. It's about bringing in the chronically under-valued hitters like Catalanotto. It's about bringing in guys like Bill Mueller and getting rid of guys like Shea Hillenbrand. It's about bringing in a guy like Jose Guillen, who is known to turn into a malcontent after three months, for 2.5 months. It's about getting somebody, anybody, to take Terrence Long and Raul Mondesi. It's about letting Tejada walk; it's about not letting Eric Chavez walk. It's about trading Lilly for Kielty if have too many starting pitchers and not enough outfielders; it's about trading Kielty for Lilly if you have too many outfielders and not enough starting pitchers. It's about knowing that Josh Towers can be suffice in a pinch because he doesn't walk anybody; it's about knowing that Josh Towers cannot be too successful because he gives up too many homeruns. It's about knowing that you don't need a "closer". It's about knowing that Isringhausen/Koch/Foulke/Rhodes is more cost effective than Isrignhausen/Isringhausen/Isringhausen/Isringhausen.

Leigh - I understand the principles of Moneyball. I would even state its most important philosophy more simply - its about resource allocation and matching performance (as measured in some innovative ways) with money spent. What I do have trouble reconciling is that to varying degrees, all of the GM's (perhaps JP the most) have publicly emphasized the importance of offense in the AL (take for example JP's statement that he can't afford a whole team of "complete" players (i.e. offense and defense) and that he'll take offensive production as the number one priority). Yet the trend seems to be towards run prevention and not run scoring. I don't know whether this trend will continue but I think its interesting to follow this development.

I think the problem is in trying to match team philosophy(sp?) with stats. The Jays batting line up is pretty much the same as last year so to say that they now value pitching over hitting because they hit less is a stretch. I think you're right Nigel in that 'moneyball' is resource allocation. Everyone would like 5 tool players that can do it all. However they are pricey. I have often thought, what's best to have? Ken Griffey making $20 million or 5 competent players making $4 million each. The next question, what skills will those competent players need to possess to have the greatest impact.

I wouldn't say that the Jays are moving away from run scoring. It's just that that was the weakest part of the team last offseason and was addressed.

The offense isn't weaker because they aren't emphasizing it as much, it's weaker because Hinske and Phelps haven't improved and Delgado has had a (relatively) bad year so far. With the exception of Stewart, the offense is largely unchanged this year from last year (plus not getting a career year out of the catcher spot).

I wouldn't say that the Jays are moving away from run scoring. It's just that that was the weakest part of the team last offseason and was addressed.

I meant the pitching was the weakest part and that was addressed.

I'm not sure that there's a monolithic view among Oakland, Boston and Toronto on the evaluation of defence/run prevention. The metrics for evaluating defensive (or for that matter pitching) performance are considerably more controversial than those for evaluating offensive performance. But, it is an evolving field, and the defensive metrics are, in my view, light years ahead of where they were 15 or even 5 years ago, while the offensive metrics have advanced at a much less dramatic rate.

Billy Beane has certainly subscribed to the "a run prevented is of the same value as a run scored" theory. JP has perhaps less so, for instance, in his comments about Izturis in today's paper. It would certainly be interesting to get Keith Law's current view of the rapidly evolving defensive metric landscape.

Christopher and Four Seamer: I see I needed to be a bit more obvious. Do I at least get quarter points for alluding to the group in my early morning post? 8)

I'll make you a deal Viktor. You can have the points as long as I get to keep the cuttlefish and any coffee related items.
I think that's pretty fair.

Ooops.. I still haven't awarded points yet. So who is supposed to get what?

Anybody know why the A's are the only team to draft 40 players while everyone else drafts 50. This happnened last year too. You'd think they'd want the 10 choices if only for draft and follow purposes.

To Whom It May Concern,

Hello everyone. You may remember me as the guy who made the "File Coming Up/Halladay on DL" post before it was made public anywhere and I was ripped by people on here for making stuff up or posting things the organization may not want me to post b/c of my "inside" to the team.

Well, I was made aware that a member of the Battersbox "Upper Management" approached File the other night after a game to question him about me and to tell him that a guy named Frank has been posting things on the website that he knows from File before it is made public by the organization.

First off, a majority of the posters here crack me up. It is a nice little site with all of the Jays newspaper stories all in one area for easy reading by Jays fans. Not that searching Google could not do the same for me. But you guys think you are the "main" source of Jays info and just b/c a member of the organization read your little site once or twice, they are gonna actually listen to any of the useless rambling and pathetic attempts at "player scouting/analysis" that you do on occassion here. I believe the organization has scouts that actually see every game in person, but I am sure they enjoy your help.

Secondly, I know I hurt your ego over here b/c I made the Halladay DL post before you guys got the scoop (I guess JP forgot to call the main Jays source), and for that I apologize. File does not need to be bothered by some rinky dink little website after a game for something this stupid and he was very annoyed by it. And no, he was not annoyed at me, because it was DUMB. I made a post stating a fact that happened and that the organization was concerned about Halladay's shoulder. I didn't mention anything earth friggin shattering.

It is too bad you guys over here are so friggin into yourselves that you need to tell a player that his buddy is gonna be "Banned" from a meaningless website for informing Jays fans of some legit Jays news a few hours before it was made public. I thought I was just trying to be a nice guy and passing some big stuff along to a bunch of Jays fans. I didn't realize I was crushing your little egos. I will stay over at the ESPN boards where it is less "stuffy" and there are some actual genuine posters who I enjoy talking to. And I will give them the updates that I hear via e-mail so that they can enjoy a little bit of behind the scenes stuff that I get to enjoy.

Thanks for your time.

No need to get so upset just because people here aren't super impressed by the fact that you know File in person.

Im glad to hear that someone from BB went to File to confirm your story. It only makes sense, can't be too careful these days with all the people on the internet who claim to have "inside info".

I think JP just has a preference for relying on offence because the metrics for measuring it are more reliable and easier to understand. I don't think it's because he doesn't realize the importance of defence because according to him, Keith Law often mentions its importance.

If the three main components of run scoring and prevention are hitting, pitching, and defence, then JP prefers to have offence if he can choose only one. If he can choose two he will take pitching and defence because they enhance one another.

That's why Oakland has been a good pitching and defence team but a mediocore hitting team. They have the good pitching and they wanted to make sure they supported it and did so by getting rid of "outfielders" like Ben Grieve and Jeremy Giambi.

Boston on the other hand just has tons of money to spend and have spent a lot on high impact pitching in both the rotation and the pen. Heck their fifth starter to begin the year was earning $5 million. If they weren't pitching well that would be a lot of wasted money.

Frank, you're a sweetie. We'll do our thing, you do yours, and everyone will be happy.

Absolutely no one cares about you and your A ball friend who is going out with your sister. It is very rude that you post those comments. I find it offensive. Have a little more respect for the people who put this board together. Bob File is a no name pitcher. He only pitched 1 inning this year and you think he will replace Halliday? I bet you are making all this stuff up to amuse yourself. Please stay off this site. Your only worry about baseball is your Fantasy Land rotisserie team. You even said it yourself on an espn board that you cannot stand baseball. The only reason why you like it is because you can gamble on games.

I hear JP wanted to hire you guys to do some Little League scouting in the Toronto area?? Good news. You made something out of your little site. I wonder if I can get all the Jays newspaper stories for the day and post them all together on one site too?

Funny how ESPN (a real sports site) isn't at all concerned if people post rumours, or real facts about teams and players.

You guys here remind me of the guy on the Wendy's commercial, the 'Unofficial Spokesman'. You are not the Toronto Blue Jays.

Let's not rise to the bait.

I hope that with all this bickering we don't lose sight of the fact that I have yet to receive my cuttlefish.

You guys here remind me of the guy on the Wendy's commercial, the 'Unofficial Spokesman'.

You mean the one where he stands outside one chicken restaurant and tells everyone how the chicken is better at a different restaurant? I could see how that applies here.

Also you may want to ban metdynasty's IP address, he's been trolling the ESPN boards for a long time now. He's one of those guys that has nothing better to do than focus his attention on annoying people.

Frank, for starters, if you found the site to be so uninformative then there are real doubts as to why you would bother posting here in the first place.

We're all glad you know how to use Google, but not everyone has the time to search all over various sources for Jays news. Mike does a great job daily of providing concise summaries of what's being said about the team and where.

The fact you trash the site but at the same time try to use it as a forum for your scoops says a lot about your character.

You mean the one where he stands outside one chicken restaurant and tells everyone how the chicken is better at a different restaurant? I could see how that applies here.

Actually we'd probably be the guy who stands outside the chicken restaurant with incontrovertible scientific evidence that the chickens have a higher on-baste percentage a different place, but most of the customers ignore us because they don't understand the significance of the on-baste percentage.

When someone asks you if you represent the Blue Jays, I can see your response being:

'Well, Unofficially'

Well said, Craig. You guys do a great job. Some people are obviously going to disagree; Why hang around then? I'm sure the ESPN boards, where posters get to make suggestions about Neyer's sexuality and important things like that, are much more fun.

Jays1fan1,

You have a good point. However, I think that the discussion goes downhill when people get into flame wars, pretend they're different people etc. I think that this board offers a good signal to noise ratio.

Frank, sorry you don't feel welcome. It was I that suggested that you weren't doing File's career any good by leaking rumours about the extent of Halladay's injury and I have nothing to do with the running of this site. Regardless of whether you and Bob agree, I still believe that.

I hope that with all this bickering we don't lose sight of the fact that I have yet to receive my cuttlefish.

LOL. Thank you for that.

Frank, it's too bad that
A) You weren't made to feel welcome here
B) You decided to take that as an excuse to come on here and attack the people that run this site.

It would have been cool if you'd stuck around, but to each his own.

I only posted the info as a service to you guys b/c I thought you were actual Jays fans and not a bunch of arrogant assholes. I was made aware after the posting.

The problem was Frank was offering the fans here insider news. I don't see how this wouldn't interest you. He was backed up by several regulars here and shortly after what Frank told you was then announced.

Yet someone still went to File and said that this was no place to give out insider info, and that Frank may be banned.

I thought that this would exactly be the type of place that would welcome insider info.

Also, if some people werent so stuck up about this site 'Unofficially' representing the Jays, Frank may have told you about some insider stuff on Kerry Ligtenburg.

Frank, sorry you don't feel welcome. It was I that suggested that you weren't doing File's career any good by leaking rumours about the extent of Halladay's injury and I have nothing to do with the running of this site. Regardless of whether you and Bob agree, I still believe that.

Well said, Alsiem. File's a fringe major leaguer, at best. Last week, there were probably 100 members of the Blue Jays organization with more information on Halladay's shoulder than File. But only File had a friend share it with the world via the internet. Speaks volumes about File and Frank.

And I only "attacked" the people who run this site b/c they went up to File and made this stupid thing such a big deal and he was annoyed that they took his time out to ask him something so stupid. Trust me, I have PLENTY of other stuff that I could post that I know I should not. With this I was just giving you guys a heads up.

The answer to that question ("Do we represent the Toronto Blue Jays?", obviously, is no. In fact, it's no in the strongest, most unequivocal terms. We're not even a Blue Jays site. See our masthead; we're just a baseball site. It just happens that 70 or 80% of our authors are Jays fans and so we offer a lot of Jays content.

I want to make one thing clear... Kent did *not* threaten Frank with a ban. I don't want to get into the substance of Kent's discussion with Bob File, which may have been off the record and in any case would be coming second-hand from me. But if we were going to ban Frank, we would just have banned him.

In all this, we've lost sight of what's really important here... Christopher has *not* yet received his cuttlefish.

Christopher, here's your cuttlefish...



Hope that quells the rising emotions here. Think cuttlefish, people. Calm blue ocean, spiky green cuttlefish.

I was told that I would be banned and File said he could care less either way. Either way, you guys need to stop being so friggin arrogant. Everyone I speak to on other Jays sites says the same thing, so that is a wide ranging opinion.

And the only reason I posted this and no one else who knew did, was b/c File is my good friend and I was promoting him in a fun way. But you guys were too serious........again. I know for a fact that members of the Jays organization read the ESPN boards every day and they have NEVER had anything to say to File regarding me. In fact, an official went to Bob the other day and told him how popular he was on the ESPN boards and he thought it was funny.

http://me.woot.net
Frankly, I was a lot happier before I had a clear idea of what a cuttlefish looked like. They were more enigmatic: maybe it looks like a squid, maybe it looks like some sort of mollusk; maybe it's just some sort of animated goop.

"Im glad to hear that someone from BB went to File to confirm your story. It only makes sense, can't be too careful these days with all the people on the internet who claim to have inside info."

What is this, updated info on the location of terrorists posing as Blue Jays? Never can be too careful! What's wrong with someone sharing information as a Jays fan. You can take it as you wish and follow up on it. No biggie. A large proportion of the columns you are reading by accredited sports journalists are opinion, second hand info and regurgitated junk anyway. Anyone hear of Jayson Blair? There are more of him out there than you think. I agree with File, much too stuffy.

Frankly, I don't come to this site to read rumours or unverified facts. I come here for analysis, civil discussion, and a bit of Blue Jay optimism. I'll leave the rumours and unverifiable facts to those other Jays sites that do a better job of stroking Frank's ego.

Why are you offended that the people who run this site don't want rumours posted, even if they're true? Im sorry that your ego was bruised but if people don't want your inside info then just post it elsewhere.

File? Bob File Who?

Okay, Frank has had his say and gotten his grievances off his chest. Craig has summed up the Batter's Box view and given out a cuttlefish. I have no interest in a flame war and I'd really like this series of exchanges to end here. Please oblige by dropping this matter.

Christopher, here's your cuttlefish...

Yep, that's the stuff.
Thanks Craig.

Who is Bob File?

http://me.woot.net
For those who, like me, were frightened beyond words by Craig's cuttlefish, I present to you the close cousin of the cuttlefish: the cuddlefish.

You're welcome Christopher!

By the way, we recently had a thread discussing when people thought the Jays would hit .500. How is everyone's prediction doing? Does anyone know where that thread is?

http://me.woot.net
The .500 contest is in this thread.

Thank you for ending that - my, what an animated little fellow...

I notice that the Dodgers have another Japanese pitcher going tonight and that seems unusual. Like a lot of people, I think that we're going to see a lot more Asian players in the leauge. Do the Dodgers scout Asia more actively than other teams or did they acquire those players because LA has a large Asian population or is it just coincidence?

One report I read about the Taiwanese pitcher the Jays signed last year was that he had a mishapened arm. Obviously the Jays don't have a scout in the area.

Please don't start censoring stuff. This is an open forum

Actually Jeff, this is a moderated forum and the person who's paying for the hosting gets to decide how they run it.

Alsiem, I wouldn't put a lot of stock in those reports. The Jays wouldn't sign any free agent to a contract sight unseen, nor in fact would any team. But if you recalled where the article appeared, I'd like to take a look via a link.

I'm assuming Chi-Hung Cheng is still in extended spring training and will probably be assigned to Pulaski or Auburn. He's very young and raw, and he'll be brought along slowly.

I said....

I have no interest in a flame war and I'd really like this series of exchanges to end here. Please oblige by dropping this matter.

Sorry Jordan,

Starting my own rumours here. I believe that it was on ESPN in the throw away notes section at the bottom or on the team page(Fox Sports perhaps too). The comments were attributed to a scout, something about own of his forearms being bent. Maybe it helps him throw like scoop ball.

I believe JP said that he went and saw Cheng pitch personally and they gave him 3rd or 4th round money.

You have to be willing to pay for a Japanese player to come to NA. That's why only the rich teams get them.

Geez, those are nice cuttlefish. I'm starting to feel a bit sorry I groused for points. 8)

Alsiem, you are not spreading a rumor of any kind. I too read the article where his old high school coach said that he had a disfigured arm.

Pretty sick stuff

Thanks, Alsiem ... I'll take a look around and see if I can track it down.

Auburn and Pulaski are going to be quite crowded this year. I'm looking forward to seeing what Rodriguez can do, does anyone know where the DSL is thought to rank against North American leagues?

Cuddlefish, heh :)

Just heard Wilner on the 6:00 FAN 590 update: Lopez down, Cash up.
3 catchers again?

And Berg is playing first tonight, Phelps DH. Cat sitting vs the lefty Ishii.

I like hearing TRUE rumors before their public, but FRank, you seem a little overly defensive. oh well, whatever... anyway.
by the way, cheng is taiwanese, not japanese. it makes a different, because the japanese are significantly more expensive then the chinese or taiwanese. Mind you, all international players tend to be somewhat more expensive due to the fact that their all free agents and cant be drafted.
and i'm not sure if his arm is deformed, thats the first i've heard of that, but i have heard that its been killed from years of overwork, as he was one of the staff aces for the national team or something like that. They probably dont take the same precautions over there.
lopez down? thats nuts! why wouldn't they just send estelalla back down, and drop him off the 40 while their at it.
i hope that's just some stupid rumor, although i agree with posters here that those sourceless rumors are annoying.
but if they're reliable, i'd love to hear what you know about lightenbourg. specifically, i'd love to hewar that we dont have to pay him that 2.4 million next year.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/chat/040114jayschat.html
The bit about Cheng's arm came from Baseball America. (Maybe somewhere else, but that's where I read it). COMN

Thanks, Ryan. John Manuel is a pretty solid guy, and BA is invariably a good source, so this certainly has threshold credence. That said, the "deformed" assessment is a third-hand one (coach to scout to BA to Manuel), and while it's useful data, I'd hesitate to call it authoritative. Plus, and I don't want to ride the paranoia train, but BA really doesn't have a lot of love for the Jays' front office, for whatever reason (they're consistently negative about the scout purge). And really, if JP did go to see Cheng before was signed, well ... I don't think even Gord Ash would sign a guy with a deformed arm. :-)

In any event, we'll see how Cheng does when the short-season starts. Thanks again to Ryan and alsiem for the info.

yeah, i think that's the article where i read about cheng's arm. i guess it does say "deformed", but not in a literal way.

http://me.woot.net
Maybe he means "deformed" like kids say "sick." "Man, that guy, his arm is DEFORMED."

Does this signal a new wave of slang? "He's so good, his arm is CANCEROUS, man." "That new guy can run. He's got AIDS in his legs, dude." "Look at his eyes. Watch him watch the ball. He's got botulism, I swear."

I'm not sure how you'd get a "deformed" arm, actually. I've read that Cy Young's arm was pretty freakish by the end of his career, and something about a guy that threw a screwball for his whole career and whose elbow bent the wrong way, but Cheng? If he's a young pitcher who's been overworked, you'd expect a blown elbow or a tear in his shoulder -- the kind of stuff you don't see.

"He's so good, his arm is CANCEROUS, man." "That new guy can run. He's got AIDS in his legs, dude." "Look at his eyes. Watch him watch the ball. He's got botulism, I swear."

The Cheer Club obviously needs new signs, now.

No way the crusty old dean allows signs like that in his precious ballpark with the president visiting...