Ulmer just ripped into Ricciardi! Some nasty stuff there. Some of it is true though. The development at the major league level hasn't gone very well as he has not acquired many helpful pieces to the puzzle. But it's the draft where will J.P. will (if he does) make his mark. The minor league teams (besides Syracuse) are all performing amazingly well. J.P. will ultimately be judged on those players. If he fields a contending team in Toronto with those picks, he will have done his job. If they don't become solid major leaguers, he won't be around after his contract is up.

http://www.thewolfshack.com
Did anyone solve yesterday's lyrics? They seemed very familiar...

Put me under the Phelps should get more games camp. Especially with Delgado out. (Cash should probably get more time too)

I thought yesterday's were easy, but nobody seemed to get them.

They were mid-to-late 90's, so I guess that threw everyone off. Today's are from 1988 or 89.

Yesterday's were perfect... Electioneering for Annual bring the Liberals back Day (oops, election day).

Mike Ulmer, apparently, knows how to make millions and millions of dollars appear out of thin air. That's what makes J.P. a bad GM... he doesn't know how to do that. Bad J.P.! Bad!

Wow, that Ulmer article is ugly on top and underneath.

Did anyone notice that Vermilyea's perfect game was not reported at all in the Star? I'd have thought that it was worth at least a short piece.

The Star did report (way, way back in the first section) that voter turnout was down again to roughly 57%. Depressing news, and as far as I am concerned, more important than the actual result.

Did anyone notice that Vermilyea's perfect game was not reported at all in the Star?

They probably didn't know about it until this morning.

Sorry about the obscurity of today's song. It's seemed too appropriate to pass up on.

Obscure? Nonsuch! Not if you're a fan of eclectic pop.
(That's about as clever as I can be, I'm afraid. The band is XTC). But I think Rob got it first.

That said, Ricciardi seemed to have entered the job with the assumption that if you were here when he breezed through the door, you were of no possible use.

Hold on a minute here.
Isn't the Sun/Star party line always "Since Wells, Delgado, Halladay, Phelps, and the other important members of the team were all here when JP arrived, he hasn't done anything yet"?
Now it's "Every player acquired before November 2001 is of no use to JP in any way, if you don't count Wells, Delgado, Halladay, Rios, McGowan, Gross, and the other Ash picks we reference in our other nonsensical rants against the new GM."

If you're going to be blatantly stupid, at least don't contradict yourselves. You'll look like idiots -- oh, right.

Once again, the Sun/Star (interchangeable in this matter) points out our stupidity of not being able to see past the hidden agenda of J.P. Ricciardi, whatever they think it is.

(Elliott's "All draft picks since 1992 have made the majors" line in 3...2...1...)

Predictions of headlines when:
The Jays make the playoffs and lose to, say, Oakland or Texas or whatever team is amazing that year: "Jays choke in first round, GM to blame."
The Jays lose in the World Series: "Jays choke in World Series, GM to blame."
The Jays WIN the World Series: "White Jays win the World Series but don't have as many black players as the 1993 team, GM to blame."
See a pattern here?

"White Jays win the World Series but don't have as many black players as the 1993 team, GM to blame."

Classic.

Remember, being an Important Newspaper Writer excuses you from things like research and fact-checking. And logic, throw that out the window, it's useless.

No, Important Newspaper Writers are supposed to stir it up, facts be damned! Facts just get in the way of good old-fashioned muckraking! Facts, logic and research are for school, not newspapers. In newspapers you are expected to Make Stuff Up.

Being an opinion columnist doesn't excuse you from fact-checking, logic or research, no matter how often that idiotic argument is trotted out. You are entitled to your opinion, you are not entitled to back up your opinion with make-believe that you pass off as reality.

The writers at the Star probably think Vermilyea is a beer from Panama.

Obscure? Nonsuch! Not if you're a fan of eclectic pop.

I meant it's obscure since it's an album track and I generally try to stick with singles (though I didn't yesterday either). So "Dear God" or "Living Through Another Cuba" I wouldn't consider obscure.

Anyhow, Rob and Max Parkinson each win prizes. How about.. 90 million points each, and they can each have one of these fighting cuttlefish:



I'd take the one on the right.

Fighting cuttlefish would be one interpretation of that picture.

They're certainly fighting. I've seen picture of cuttlefish where they're, um, not fighting, and it looks a whole lot different.

It looks like the one on the right is picking up the other one with his mouth, then is going to body slam him to the sea floor. I'm sure the atomic elbow would come next if cuttlefish had arms.

They're certainly fighting. I've seen picture of cuttlefish where they're, um, not fighting, and it looks a whole lot different.

What does it take to win that?

We post those at the members-only version of battersbox.ca, to make sure little cuttlefish aren't accidentally exposed to that kind of smut.

They're certainly fighting. I've seen picture of cuttlefish where they're, um, not fighting, and it looks a whole lot different.

Mike, your selection of internet sites frightens me. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the Box's version of Troy McClure! ;)

If they ever made a site about Cuttlefish playing Colecovision while listening to 80's new wave, my life would be complete.

TWO MINUS THREE EQUALS NEGATIVE FUN!

Won't somebody PLEASE think of the cuttlefish!

TWO MINUS THREE EQUALS NEGATIVE FUN!

Is that Love Plus One or Fun Boy Three? Now I'm confused....

Peterson certainly doesn't seem to be fooling anyone early on... Mind you it could be that his control has been suspect and had to throw a lot of 2-0, 3-1 fastballs down the middle. His fastball hasn't seemed to have a whole lot of movement on it either.

I think Peterson's stuff is at least as good as Frasor's but he isn't relaxed and throwing nice and easy yet. Young guys always seem to want to overthrow when they're first up and Frasor seems to be relatively able to control his tendancy to do that. Even in outings when he starts out overthrowing he'll catch himself and make the adjustment.

I know I'm a few days late, but I was just thinking about that Richard Griffin article on the Expos. Since the other 29 teams own the Expos, that means the jays own 1/29th of them. Thus when the expos are sold at the end ofthe season, they should get 1/29th of sale price. Will this amount to a significant amount? I'm not sure what a mlb club is worth, and I imagine the expos don't have a high price tag as it is. However, we should be getting something. Will it be enough to put back into the team, or is it just enough to help a little bit with the financial loss that Rogers will incur? I was just wondering if anybody had any ideas concerning how great and what will be done with this tainted money.

Mike Ulmer, apparently, knows how to make millions and millions of dollars appear out of thin air. That's what makes J.P. a bad GM... he doesn't know how to do that. Bad J.P.! Bad!

This reminds of when Griffen earlier this year said that the Jays should spend $80 million like they used to. Good strategy Richard!

"Boy Genius?" Isn't he about 43 or 44? How old must he be to achieve he status of "man?"

Guys, dont worry about Wunderbat, he's my loser friend Rick. I know his name sucks, but please dont hate him because he's different. He's from Canada, they think he's slow....... eh.

In life, in work, you need to have an even disposition and react rationally - because there are consequences if you don't. That's not so true for spectator sports. I would even argue that's the lure of spectator sports, you react with your gut and the screaming eases your daily cranial stress. So, when the Jays stink one night I often want to read a reporter's rant, something impassioned, I don't care how rational it is. I don't want rational all the time: that's real life. I'm sure deep down this reporter knows the article is way off reality, but it's a gut reaction to all the losing. We know what happens when we keep all our stress bottled up, we lose all our hair and die of some horrible internal disease. It's OK to scream in irrational frustration from time to time with sports. Doubly so because you can't do it in real life.

Well, the millions he had to spend were spent unproductively, and that's being generous- the only signing that's worked out has been Bautista. Adams, Spier, Lightenberg, and Hentgen have pretty much been wastes, either due to performance or use, and I still think they'd be better off with a SS who can field than with Chris Gomez.

A lot of things that have gone wrong, injuries aside, couldn't have been forseen- Phelps, Hinske and A-Lo collapsing pretty much completely, Doc struggling. But having mediocre fielding at SS could've been addressed, and maybe would help the pitching staff. Making a better call in evaluating Hentgen and the 'pen guys, that has to fall squarely on JP.

I'm interested in seeing how the defense has performed for Halladay- last year, with Bordick and Hudson starting up the middle, they were very solid, but had Butcher Hinske. I don't know if Hudson's matched last year's performance defensively, SS has been a revolving door, they've had guys out of position at 1B (and CF and LF with Johnson and Berg), but partially balanced by Hinske's improvement at 3B.

With Hentgen there was some Toronto sentimentality -- would having him back draw fans? Probably. Gotta take that into account.

Named for Hank, Rogers Clemens didn't draw fans, and he was having a couple of the best seasons of all time. I'm positive that a washed up Pat Hentgen isn't bringing in fans either. At best, fans might choose to see him pitch as opposed to seeing Lilly.

I understand the sentimentality thing, but that'll only work as long as he keeps the ERA under 6. I mean, are fans really going to come watch a washed-up guy get hammered just so they can say "remember when he was good, and the team was good too? Remember when our second baseman hit like a firstbaseman and played second? Now we have a secondbaseman who hits like a minor league shortstop, and he's playing leftfield!" As hopeful as I am about the youth in this organization, Hentgen, if anything, serves as a reminder of just how long the team's been stuck with mediorcity. ..

I'll say it -- I thought Hentgen was a pretty good signing at the time (and IIRC, I wasn't alone in that), for reasons quite apart from his history with the club. He had an excellent second half with Baltimore, he was getting better the longer he was recovered from surgery (which is the usual pattern), and he had all the leadership qualities you hoped would rub off on younger pitchers. The fact that he was Pat Hentgen was a nice bonus, and had a lot of sentimental value, but he was signed on the basis of his abilities. The contract he was given was okay -- remember how few starters were available last off-season, and how much they were going for; and remember that Cory Lidle 2003 cost twice what Hentgen 2004 did.

I think it was reasonable to expect Pat to post #4-starter numbers, and the disastrous season he's produced so far was quite low on the probabilities list. Is that JP's responsibility? Absolutely; he's the man in charge. Is it his fault? I'm not sure you can cast aspersions here; Toronto wasn't the only club gunning for Hentgen's services. At the end of the day, it was a reasonable move that (so far) hasn't worked; unfortunately, they're not uncommon in baseball.

Sentimentality is the great weakness of Dusty Baker. I still say the Giants win the 2002 World Series if all those children weren't running around and if Dusty wasn't leaving veterens in 'because they earned the right to be there' and giving away the game ball in the seventh inning.

Dusty Baker is an idiot.

Hentgen did at first serve as a modest drawing factor early in the season, although it's probably long worn off now. I recall at work when the season started and I was talking baseball with co-workers and got pretty much the same message from them "oh.. I dont really watch/like baseball, but Im going to go to a few games this year to see Hentgen back."

With all due respect, dp, I didn't see any shortstops out there who good be had for a relatively low price. Yes, Denny Hocking was available, but then what would people think of his lofty average (.200 in Colorado)? Rich Aurilia has been a bust this year in Seattle, and I'm glad we don't have him. Our other option would've been Rey Ordonez.
Personally, and this is way out to lunch, I was hoping JP would make the losing a little more fun while Delgado is out. I was hoping he would've swung a Fred McGriff for future considerations type of deal. That way, at least we'd have a former Jay chasing 500 homeruns over at first, instead of Howie Clark or Chris Gomez. Because if you're not developing anybody at the position, and if it is predetermined that you'll lose, at least try and have something marketable out there. I think it makes good business sense.
And yes, I'll further degrade myself by saying I'd rather see Borders behind the plate than Zaun. We could lose with a retro-flair.

"But this was supposed to be the breakthrough year for the Boy Genius. Instead, patrons have been treated to a team that can't hit, can't pitch and fields like an over-50 softball squad."

Sometimes I wonder if the Toronto writers are even watching the Jays. How on earth can you insult the way this team has fielded this year? Their defense has been their best feature, IMO. I haven't looked at the stats, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Jays were right near the top in defensive stats. Hudson has been terrific, Hinske is much improved, the catchers have been gunning down baserunners left and right. Apart from Dave Berg's adventures in left field (where he shouldn't be anyways,) I don't see anything wrong with this team's defense.

I just don't get it what their problem is.

Yes, Jordan, you were not alone in liking the Hentgen signing. I felt the same way.

The criticism of JP is just so unfocused. There are points that can be made. The signing of Ligtenberg in the off-season received widespread criticism at the time here. Many of us felt that the money would have been better spent elsewhere, including on bench players. But we all make mistakes. On the Bavasi/Williams scale of General Managerial errors, this might register a 2.0.

On the Bavasi/Williams scale of General Managerial errors

elaborate on this scale please.

Wow. A couple (OK, three) collapses and sudden;y they can't pitch. That they were giving up fewer runs than the Yankees (with the added bonus of playing at SkyDome) just a week or so ago and they had the top rotation in the division since April clearly means nothing.

I would agree that J.P.'s made some mistakes, but Gomez is not one of them. What, you wanted Pokey Reese to back Woodward up? Woodward was always going to get a shot full time this year, so the signing was for a back up. Gomez was very good when Woodward went down. I also liked the Hentgen signing for the reasons mentioned by others. I thought the Ligtenberg contract was bizarre, and DLS replacing Miller seemed unnecessary. I've also had a longstanding irrational dislike for Terry Adams that finally acquired some rationale this season. That said, this bullpen is still far better than last year's.

The offence is why the team isn't winning, not fielding or pitching. Given that the team is missing Delgado, Cat and Wells, what can you expect? If anything, I'm thrilled that Hinske's showing signs of life. I was not optimistic about him or Phelps this season and I was concerned about where this team was going to get its homeruns from. With Hinske and Hammerin' Howie hitting it out, I no longer worry :)

Now, about this Cuttlefish porn...

I still worry about where the team will get its homeruns.
Hamate Hinske has 5 homers in his last 190 at-bats. And with 10 blasts overall, the Hinske-Howie connection has almost equalled the mighty Rod Barajas this year.

Just a bunch of semi-connected thoughts:

Does anyone really think that, depleted though it is, the Jays lineup has less talent than that of the Devil Rays? The Jays, hurt as they are, have some decent talent - why can't they win with any consistency?

Is something holding the Jays back - can it be field management? Has Tosca lost the clubhouse? Are the Jays missing the magic presence of Bordick and Myers?

Maybe we're all kidding ourselves by thinking a winning team will boost attendance - TB is the hottest team in the Leagues for the past 6 weeks and last night drew just over 11,000 for a game against a Division rival featuring their ace pitcher against the current Cy Young Award winner.

The article about Phelps seems to suggest that Mike Barnett's working with Phelps is a fairly recent thing - what have they been doing for the past 2 months? Phelps' struggles this season were evident almost from Day 1.

On a more positive note, I took my sons (aged 8 and 9) to meet Frank Catalanotto at the Chevy dealership in Richmond Hill last Saturday. Frank behaved like a real gentleman and seemed genuinely pleased and a bit surprised that there was a lineup of people to meet him. He autographed all my boys' stuff and spoke to them like they were real people, not just little kids. (He even listened to the older boy's story of his most recent Mosquito level rep game).

I said to Frank that in baseball anything can happen - just remember the 1978 Yankees (in a similar spot as the Jays are now) who won the World Series. We chatted a bit about that and he kind of threw away the comment that the change of manager really seemed to have sparked that team.

I have pictures of Cat from the autograph session; I don't know how to copy them into a comment - if anyone wants a copy, e-mail me at gch@telus.net

Sorry about the lengthy ramble - as a Jays fan since '77 I'm just frustrated as hell today.

Does anyone really think that, depleted though it is, the Jays lineup has less talent than that of the Devil Rays?

Sure. The Rays dont have that terrible a lineup. Cruz, Baldelli, Crawford and Huff are all good ballplayers. When the Jays are fielding a team that includes Berg, Clark, Menechino, Gomez and Phelps then I could certainly be convinced that they Jays have less talent on the field than the Rays.

Maybe we're all kidding ourselves by thinking a winning team will boost attendance

Actually, as a general rule, attendance figures don't tend to spike until the year after a team becomes a winner. Basically, season-ticket sales climb on the back of a winning or championship season -- "Buy season's tickets to your World Champion Florida Marlins," etc. Walk-up sales are often brisker during a pennant drive, of course, but they're normally not enough to make a huge dent in attendance figures. Even if the Jays were a contender in 2005, we probably wouldn't see many more bums in the seats till 2006.

I mean, are fans really going to come watch a washed-up guy get hammered just so they can say "remember when he was good, and the team was good too?

Yes, I'm sure that was the plan -- to hire a pitcher that they knew was washed up to draw fans.

Come on, you're talking like a Toronto newspaper writer. Hentgen has not pitched well for us this year, at all, but he's been unexpectedly bad, and that is key: no one predicted he would be this bad. Hentgen pitching this poorly was not part of the plan.

Putting such a ridiculous argument into my mouth doesn't make you look smart, and it just makes me annoyed.

In regards to fielding like 50 year old softball players...
Didnt Sportsnet talk about the Jays being tied for 2nd(in the AL) in fielding percentage? Maybe i was smoking crack.

Howdy everyone, here's the Cat pictures thanks to Mr. Greg H.

The woman on the right of the 2nd picture is the one who hangs the "Cat's Corner" sign at alot of home games.

The young'ns in picture four are Greg's boys.

Didnt Sportsnet talk about the Jays being tied for 2nd(in the AL) in fielding percentage? Maybe i was smoking crack.

Oakland, Seattle, and Toronto are all at .986, though I think Oakland and Seattle are ahead when you take it to the fourth digit. In the NL L.A. and Montreal are at .988, the Cubbies are .987, and the Astros are at .986. The other 23 teams in baseball are all below .986.

Mind you, the 50somethings on my slowpitch team generally have good gloves but almost no range. Maybe that's what they're getting at, though I doubt it.

The Bavasi/Williams scale of General Managerial errors-
1.0- choosing the wrong back-up catcher
2.0- overpaying for a middle reliever
...
5.0- hiring a poor manager (Jimy Williams, for instance)
...
10.0 a bad trade- Brock for Broglio, e.g. or gross
overpayment for a "name" free agent (Mike Hampton perhaps)

I shrunk the size of the photos.. they were running off the screen. I hope I didn't distort them too much.

The Cat is a really nice guy. He tossed me a ball when we had the VOTE CATALANOTTO sign before the all-star break last year, and my wife got him to sign it later, and he thought it was really cool that he was signing the ball he tossed to me.

I shrunk the size of the photos.. they were running off the screen. I hope I didn't distort them too much.

man do I love this country. I recieved the pictures, saw they were huge, didnt know how to change that so I posted them anyways, and somone more qualified came along and did the work for me. What a time to be alive.

In other news, if someone could give "Wunderbat" a pity comment to his question, I'd appreciate it.

You're a lucky man NFH. Thats one nifty story.

The point in these conversations is to ask "did they make the right call in evaluating player X, in determining what their expected contribution would be?" With Hentgen, they made a mistake. I don't particularly care who here thought it was a good idea at the time from looking at whatever stats/splits. If the job was that easy, any of us could do it. Stats will tell you how a player performed, and help tell you how to expect them to perform. The scouting/player evaluation is the part that we (I) still don't have a good handle on with JP. i was optomistic about all the bullpen upgrades b/c I working under the assumption tha JP and his people know how to spot and use talent. But as more of these signings/moves bust, again, maybe because of usage, coaching or talent, I'm starting to be a little skeptical.

You're saying no one predicted he'd be this bad, but he hadn't been dominant for a long time, even before he got hurt. Half a good season last year, if this were a stats game, would be enough for me to take a flyer on. But that's without knowing anything else, and the "anything else" part is what the GM needs to be good at figuring out. Can he put the right talent in place, and can the manager maximize it? I think it really is too soon to say with JP/Tosca.

Regarding SS, I would've taken a shot on Rey Ordonez. I'd rather have someone with complementary abilities to man short, not someone with the same strengths and weaknesses. If you're punting the season, or punting development at the position for the season, you might as well put a strong defense out there so you can evaluate your pitching properly.

Get the feeling there's a 'protect managers' movement around MLB. Look at the managers who are going to the All-Star Game:

Tosca - team performing well under expectations, as with...
Tony Pena, as with...
Jimy Williams (I know it's tradition to select the home-town manager)
and Clint Hurdle (Rockies) - Colorado was supposed to do something this year, weren't they?

Do you think Torre and McKeon are protecting their own?

It was a good question, I just didn't know the answer. ;)

Moffatt, do you listen to the Faint? With your love of retro/new wave, this has gotta be your band, probably one of the best doing the electropop revival style.

Thanks NFH, he feels better now. He was just worried nobody liked him.

Clint Hurdle was selected? That one I don't get.

If Carlos is voted in as back 1st base in the All Star game, do we still an annointed pity player, or is that it for us?

Personaly I'd rather see O-Dog, Lily, or Sparky go for us than Carlos.

The CAT really is a gentleman. When I was in Seattle last year he made a point of signing so many Canadian flags that Vancouverites brought down to the game. I have a photo of him doing it. I wish I knew about that Richmond Hill thing or I would have gone to get him to sign it. CAT's a popular guy in my household. I really hope he sticks around in Toronto. With JP liking 'character guys', I think there's a good chance of that happening.

You're saying no one predicted he'd be this bad, but he hadn't been dominant for a long time, even before he got hurt. Half a good season last year, if this were a stats game, would be enough for me to take a flyer on. But that's without knowing anything else, and the "anything else" part is what the GM needs to be good at figuring out. Can he put the right talent in place, and can the manager maximize it? I think it really is too soon to say with JP/Tosca.

I agree that it's too soon. It's also too soon to say that they can't. I think that while Hentgen has been a bust so far, he hasn't been an overly expensive bust and he hasn't been a bust that was easy to see coming, much like the arguments that take potshots at Tosca and JP for Delgado, Wells, Cat, and our minor league replacements for them being hurt. Maybe the "anything else" was good enough to take a risk on? How will we ever know?

It's not like the team signed Ponson to crazy money and had him melt down on them. Hentgen was a risky player with a good potential upside who hasn't panned out.

Bloody Jobu, making me into some sort of charity case.

Well, anyways, I really appreciate JP's commitment to these Catalanotto type guys. These are guys who, when I am watching, I really feel they love playing the game, and are not only out there for the money. Like last year, when Vernon made that "catch" that he actually rolled over as he dove, and then held it up as if he caught it and the ump bought it. When i saw him look at catalanotto and put his finger over his mouth as in "be quiet" while grinning, it was so comical. It was like a kid playing ball, not an athlete being paid to play. i really took to the team last year because of all the smiling on the field and such. I was a fan before, but that really got my attention.

Wonderbat, you are correct that the Jays own 1/29th of the Expos. The Jays could get a pick-up from the sale but it depends on two numbers, neither of which we know.

The first number is the sales price of the Expos. We should know that if, or when, the sale is announced.

The second is how much has MLB sunk into the Expos. MLB took over the Expos a few years ago from Jeffrey Loria. We do not know if there was any debt that came along with the sale. If there is debt that would have to be paid off first. Secondly MLB has been supporting the Jays financially for the last few years. I assume the Expos have been losing money. This amount would have to be paid off before any sale price is distributed. Finally some of the old Expo owners are suing over the previous operations of the Expos. MLB might have a potential liability here, so there might be money required to cover that.

That is a long way of saying, we don't know.

Like last year, when Vernon made that "catch" that he actually rolled over as he dove, and then held it up as if he caught it and the ump bought it.

I think that moment was really representative of all of last season.

Gerry's way better at saying he doesn't know the answer than I am. ;)

Wow, you guys are really great for helping him out. I really appreciate it. He feels like a million bucks now.

Im surprised that Vernon catch didn't become hallowed footage shown at nauseum again and again. The vast majority of people who did not actually see that play live have no idea what I'm talking about when I bring it up in discussion. I dont even think it warranted a highlight on the sports shows that night. As far as I'm concered, that "catch" is as big a piece of Toronto Blue Jay history on film as Carter's homerun and Kelly's triple play.

What does everyone think is behind Halladay's "not-so-Hallday"-like first half of the year? Is he still hurt? Is he frustrated by the misfortunes of the team and tired of losing? He's had his moments this year but he also hasn't looked like the same pitcher who dominated the last two seasons.

What does everyone think is behind Halladay's "not-so-Hallday"-like first half of the year?

It's J.P.'s fault.

It's J.P.'s fault.

Thanks for the insightful analysis.

The Bavasi/Williams scale of General Managerial errors

Mike, where would one place "trading Jeremy Reed for a rent-a-starter" on that list? I think we might need two separate scales....

What does everyone think is behind Halladay's "not-so-Hallday"-like first half of the year?

Five bad starts out of 15, basically. In those five starts, he allowed 5 ER or more. In the other ten, 3 ER or fewer. Month to month, he's had no real ups and downs:

Month     ERA      IP     H/IP    BB/IP     K/IP

April      3.53     35     1.17    0.22      0.88
May        3.61     42     0.95    0.35      0.59
June       4.00     18     0.72    0.33      0.94

His June stats, in very limited action, are actually very good. He'll be fine.

Mike in CT - for what its worth I thought Halladay was pitching pretty much the same way he always has until last night. His ERA going into last night was around 3.60 which isn't way out of line with his historical numbers. I've seen most of his starts and other than the fact that his control hasn't been unwordly good like it was last year he's looked like the same pitcher to me. Last night both his velocity and location were way off. It might just have been a bad night but I wouldn't be totally surprized if we found out that his shoulder is acting up again. I know squat obviously and I hope I'm wrong.

IMO, JP did a good job patching the team in the off-season. The team has been absolutely decimated by injuries, and--as a previous poster noted--a few collapses (Phelps, Lopez, to some extent Hinske).

I think Batista, Lilly, Frasor, and Zaun were brilliant acquisitions. Gomez was a decent pickup.

Yes, Adams is awful, and Speier/Ligtenberg/De Los Santos have been disappointing, but they were low risk signings/trades that won't impede the Jays' long-term development (though I wish KL had been signed to a one-year contract). I agree Hentgen has been abysmal-- except for that one great start--but you can't fault JP for signing Hentgen & ignore the fact that Batista and Lilly, who were obtained quite cheaply, have been solid.

Most of the team's troubles are attributable to (i) poor execution (eg with runners on base and less than two outs); (ii) injuries (including Delgado, Halladay, Cat, Hudson, Wells, Woodward, to name a few); (iii) underperforming players (Phelps, Lopez, Hinske, the pen); (iv) questionable managing and/or coaching.

In case anyone remembers, JP warned us that this year might be a case of one step back (before the two steps forward of 2005-07). The long-term plan pretty much precludes quick fixes.

I still think the future is very bright. I think the litmus test for the JP regime will be 2005-07 and beyond.

PS Unless the playoff qualifying format is changed, I think Rogers is going to have to step up and increase payroll over the next few years. Obviously the Jays aren't in the Yankees and Red Sox' league (and isn't that metaphor telling), but I wonder whether the team will ever be able to compete without, say, an extra $20-25 million.

"Unrealistic"? Maybe. But unfortunately, it may be true, in the realm of the AL East.

I dont know much (ie. anything) about the salary cap system in place in MLB right now, but isnt there some kind of system where every year you're over the salary cap and are paying the tax, that tax rate increases for every year you are over the cap? Wouldnt that mean that even the free spending Yankees will eventualy encounter huge taxes upon their rediculous payroll and have to... *gasp* rebuild?

A few things come to mind regarding Halladay.

1) As has been pointed out, Halladay's recent K and BB numbers have been pretty good. He's just giving up a lot of hits, and purely from observation I feel that a lot of bad luck has been in play. There have been quite a few infield hits and bloop singles.

2) They said something earlier in the season about Doc easing off to get him deeper into games. I thought this was odd given his history of being a horse - maybe this should have tipped us off that all was not well with his arm. In any event, He's not hitting 95/96 on the gun as often this season and I wonder if, health permitting, they need to let him loose again.

3) I don't know if this makes any sense at all or is at all valid, but while his pitches are moving as much as ever, he doesn't appear to be fooling the hitters. What I mean is that they're laying off more pitches that they were swinging at last year, accounting for the increase in walks. If hitters have figured out when to swing and when to hold it may just be a case of changing the gameplan.

If it's any of these three things, there really doesn't seem to be anything to worry about.

Spot on, Jobu. Unfortunately, it doesn't increase as much as we might like.

2004: 22.5% for first-time violators, 30% for second-time violators

2005: 22.5% for first-timers, 30% for second-timers, 40% for third-timers

2006: No tax for first-timers; 30% for second-timers; 40% for third- and fourth-timers

So the Yankees will pay a 30% luxury tax in 2004, and 40% in 2005 and 2006. By the way, the CBA expires in 2006, and so we can have a lockout again as soon as two years from October. Lovely.

Doug Pappas, RIP. Fight to preserve his memory.

Maybe it's old age setting in, but wasn't there a time last year we were all saying "What the hell's wrong with Halladay?"

This seems to be an annual occurance.

Jordan, I'd place the Reed/Garcia trade at about 8.0-8.5 on the Bavasi/Williams scale. At this point, Jeremy Reed has a piece to go to be as good as Lou Brock was (i.e an easy HOFer). As I rated Brock for Broglio as a 10 on the scale, Reed for Garcia slots in nicely underneath. But, then there is Olivo as well. Maybe make it 9.0 on the scale.

By the way, Felix Hernandez, the Mariners pitching phenom, was promoted to double A, after laying waste to the California League.

JP was on the Fan this morning. You have to love JP, he answers the questions as they are asked. JP Said that Hentgen is out as a starter and will be the long man in the bullpen. He cannot say who the new starter is, they have to move some guys around, and tell the players who will be impacted.

I would guess that Bush will get the call, that someone has to be taken off the 40 man (Nakamura, File, Estelella, Sequea?) to make room.

Stats for 18-year-old Felix Hernandez in the high-A hitter's paradise of the California League...

16 G (15 GS), 92.0 IP, 85 H, 5 HR, 26 BB, 114 K.

That's a K/W of 4.4 and 11.2 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Hernandez was born in 1986.

Like last year, when Vernon made that "catch" that he actually rolled over as he dove, and then held it up as if he caught it and the ump bought it.

I loved that one too - my sons were watching and just cracked up.

Anyone remember the game last year (against Texas?) when Vernon came into 2nd base with fake "Hillbilly" teeth hanging out of his face?

I used to tell my sons that baseball was about the only professional sport where you actually see guys smiling during play - although I've seen a lot fewer Jays smiling this year than last!

I really appreciate JP's commitment to these Catalanotto type guys.

When I was chatting with Cat last Saturday, he said he'd love to stay in TO - and I got the feeling he really meant it.

Jobu - many thanks for posting the pictures of Cat and Moffatt for fixing them up.

Yeah, I remember those teeth. Were they in his back pocket? I forget the significance of them, but they were funny as all get-out.

NFH - If I remember the Sportsnet dynamic duo interviewed Wells after the game and all he said was that he was just trying to get a laugh out on the field.

Apparently VeeDub is a pretty funny guy.

I forget the significance of them

I think he was playing a joke on his buddy, Michael Young of the Rangers, at second base.