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This Day in Baseball No More Jays or Joes On U.S. Roster For WBC

Canada might have a shot of beating the United States in the World Baseball Classic if the game is close in the late innings.  As John Northey pointed out in an earlier thread, the American bullpen will be without Jays closer B.J. Ryan and Twins relief ace Joe Nathan as they have pulled out of the World Baseball Classic.  Ryan says he needs to work on his mechanics while Nathan has a sore shoulder. 



As a result, that means there will be no Blue Jay representatives on the U.S. roster as center fielder Vernon Wells is sidelined with a hamstring injury and there are no more Joes as Twin teammates Nathan and catcher Joe Mauer (kidney surgery) will be out as well (hence the headline - pretty nifty, eh?).  Ryan will be replaced by goaltender Joel "Tommy" Hanranhan of the Washington Nationals and Nathan's spot will be taken by Houston Astros reliever LaTroy Hawkins.

I'm sure you had this one circled on the calendar back in the dead of winter but Canada and the U.S. will square off at the Rogers Centre this Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  That'll be the last time we can say Standard Time for the next few months because this is the weekend our clocks go ahead one hour for Daylight Savings Time.  Remember to change your clocks after the Italy-Venezuela game Saturday night (and hopefully after Canada cleans the Amercian's clocks!) and also change the batteries in your smoke detectors.  This safety reminder brought to you by the caring folks here at Batter's Box.

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On Sunday afternoon, the Jays came behind to beat the defending A.L. champion Tampa Bay Rays (still doesn't sound right, does it?) 6-3 in Grapefruit League action.  The Jays had 11 different players collect hits as they scored twice in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to erase a 3-0 deficit.   Jesse Litsch worked two scoreless innings but Bryan Bullington got the win in relief and Dirk Hayhurst picked up the save. 

The 3-2 Jays take on the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies in Dunedin at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Monday.  Lefty Ricky Romero gets the start against fellow southpaw (and former Ottawa Lynk) J.A. Happ.

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Jeff Blair from the Globe and Mail has a piece on M.F. Bush as well as tidbits on Orlando Cabrera and the World Baseball Classic.

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Monday, March 02 2009 @ 12:42 PM EST.
No More Jays or Joes On U.S. Roster For WBC | 29 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mick Doherty - Monday, March 02 2009 @ 01:39 PM EST (#196967) #

World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies

Talk about something that "still doesn't sound right, does it?"

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#2JBrumfield - Monday, March 02 2009 @ 02:05 PM EST (#196968) #

Listening in to the mlb.com audiocast of today's game, Ricky Romero couldn't find the strike zone with a telescope.  He issued 6 walks in 1 1/3 innings today.  If he continues to have more outings like this, he'll be saying hello to Cosmo this April.  The colour commentary thinks Romero is pitching like someone who is injured.  He made the comment while seeing him warm up so that's something to keep an eye on.

On the positive side, Adam Lind drilled a two-run homer to score an Aaron Hill single to give the Jays a 2-1 lead over the Phillies.  That game is now in the top of the third.  Brett Cecil is now on the mound for the good guys.

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Noah - Monday, March 02 2009 @ 02:25 PM EST (#196969) #
man 6 walks in 1 and 1/3 innings... you almost hope that he's injured, because if that's what we can expect from him in terms of performance, yeeesh...
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#2JBrumfield - Monday, March 02 2009 @ 02:48 PM EST (#196970) #
It looks like you can forget about Orlando Cabrera, a.k.a. O-Cab or OrCa, coming to Toronto.  ESPN's Buster Olney says Oakland has signed him to a one-year contract.
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dan gordon - Monday, March 02 2009 @ 03:35 PM EST (#196974) #
Now 10-7 Phillies.  Accardo gave up 7 runs in 2 innings on 7 hits including 2 HR's in the 6th inning.  BJ HR's by Lind, Millar and Emaus.  Cecil pitched well for 2 2/3, with 3 K's, no runs allowed.
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SheldonL - Monday, March 02 2009 @ 08:43 PM EST (#196984) #
guys, let's ease up on Ricky Romero and Accardo. Spring training difficulties are expected. You want guys to get the 6 walks in 1 1/3 innings or 2 homers and 7 runs in an inning out of your system while it doesn't count.

I have a question about Matt Bush, didn't he do Tommy John surgery last year, is he finished with rehab already to get him started in low A ball or is that part of the rehab?
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92-93 - Monday, March 02 2009 @ 08:52 PM EST (#196986) #
You can brush off Accardo and Romero's appearances as long as you aren't putting any stock into Cecil's strong start to spring.
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Mike Green - Monday, March 02 2009 @ 09:06 PM EST (#196987) #
Your March 2nd birthday boys:

C-    Terry Steinbach
1B-  Jake Virtue
2B-  Larry Wolfe
SS-  Woody English
3B-  Leo Gomez
LF-  Ron Gant
CF- Danny Hoffman
RF- Mel Ott
DH- Cal Abrams

Bench- Jay Gibbons (OF), Bill Fischer (C),  Chico Fernandes (UI), Brandon Wood (UI), Bennie Warren (OF)

SP- Mort Cooper
SP- Don Schwall
SP- Glen Perkins
SP- Jack Knott
SP- Elmer Myers
RP- Jim Konstanty
RP- Ace Adams
RP- Dave Tobik
RP- Rip Wheeler
RP- Pete Broberg

There aren't a lot of big names, but this team can play. Abrams and Virtue can get on base and scoot.  Gant, Ott, Gomez and Steinbach is an acceptable power core, and English and Hoffman make substantial contributions at the bottom of the order.  The rotation is nothing special, but Cooper was good, Schwall and Perkins are OK, Knott would be a fine #4 starter and Myers is OK as the fifth starter.  Broberg is your long man and spot starter while Konstanty, Adams and Tobik will do the high leverage work.  It would be nice to have a lefty in the pen...

Shall we say 78 wins in the AL East of 2009?


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christaylor - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 12:45 PM EST (#196997) #
Hey - does anyone know if BJ Ryan wants to be traded? I have my suspicions that he's working this year and in the off-season, but I can't confirm it with anyone who's close to the situation...
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Gwyn - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 01:15 PM EST (#197001) #
If you're in Canada and near a TV this afternoon the Jays are on sportsnet now, against Team Canada.  Adam Loewen is in the lineup.
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ramone - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 01:56 PM EST (#197004) #
So is Russ Adams, making horrible defensive plays every single inning.
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Greg - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 02:09 PM EST (#197005) #

Poor Russ Adams.
I can't help cheering for the guy...but he's one depressing player to watch as a Jays fan.

Scott Campbell is looking fun though

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christaylor - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 03:29 PM EST (#197007) #
Just popped over to the local pub and watched the 5th and 6th. Team CAN was winning at the time. Good sign? Bad sign?
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John Northey - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 03:41 PM EST (#197008) #
I'd expect the national teams to do better than the MLB teams at the moment as they are trying harder to be in game shape right now.  So far the Jays have only used AAA and lower pitchers with Barrett, Inglett and McDonald being the guys who the Jays plan on using this year in the lineup.

Interesting to see that Koskie hit a double though eh?  Richmond had 2 2/3 IP giving up 2 runs on 4 hits 1 walk and 2 K's - one of the hits being a double to Adams.  Not the best, but could be worse.

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John Northey - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 03:46 PM EST (#197010) #
Heh.  Just noticed - Washington is barely leading Italy 6-5.  Italy.  Now THAT would hurt.  Dominican is pounding Florida 7-1, the Netherlands is just behind Pittsburgh 4-3, Atlanta pounding Panama 7-1, Minnesota leading PR 3-2, Detroit over Venezuela 7-5, and the US beating the Yankees 6-4 (all in progress).

Losing to a European team would be the worst imo.
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scottt - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 05:24 PM EST (#197013) #
Catalanotto is on Team Italy, along with Nick Punto. More than half the team is made up of minor league players.

Interesting to see Piazza coaching them.
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John Northey - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 06:06 PM EST (#197014) #
Well, results are in for day 1 of ML vs national teams.  Canada, the US, and the Dominican won.  Washington scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to pull out a 9-6 win, while the Netherlands barely lost to Pittsburgh 5-4.

Tomorrow we see the USA vs the Jays (or at least the Jays AAA'ers), Canada vs Philly, and in the mismatch of the day the Angels take on South Africa (lets hope SA scores at least one run).

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TimberLee - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 08:51 PM EST (#197017) #
Just a note that TheHardballTimes has a farm systems ranking today and tomorrow, and the Jays are not anywhere from 30th up to 16th. We can check on Wednesday to see where they put the Toronto system. I expect it's closer to 15th than 1st, but it's good (and a bit of a surprise) to see it ranked in the top half.
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greenfrog - Tuesday, March 03 2009 @ 10:12 PM EST (#197019) #
According to rotoworld, Manny is going to sign with LA for 2 years, $45M. Remember when Boras said he wanted $200M for Man-Ram?
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92-93 - Wednesday, March 04 2009 @ 12:46 AM EST (#197022) #
"Remember when Boras said he wanted $200M for Man-Ram"

No? You may be getting confused with the original 200m deal Manny signed with Boston (including the options). What you're implying is that he was seeking an 8 year, 25m per year deal for a 36 year old. Even Boras isn't that crazy.
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SheldonL - Wednesday, March 04 2009 @ 01:16 AM EST (#197024) #
I saw the first 4 innings and I was impressed with Lowen's "triple", Russ Adams really put a drive in his double ... and I was relatively impressed that Randy Ruiz won a batting championship last year... a catcher who can hit should certainly be on our team!

I'm also fully convinced that Justin Morneau harnesses a wild swing and not a .300/power bat. I fully expect him to hit 35 homers at some point and bat .325 again but I don't see anything consistent in his batting approach... good for him though, his unpredicatability is still awesome!
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SheldonL - Wednesday, March 04 2009 @ 01:18 AM EST (#197025) #
whoops my bad, he's not a catcher, just checked his baseballcube profile... it's nice that he can hit though...
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greenfrog - Wednesday, March 04 2009 @ 10:09 AM EST (#197028) #
Actually, there were rumours at the end of the season (when Manny fever was at its peak) that Boras was seeking $200M for Manny.

"Boras came into the Hot Stove season with visions of $200 million contracts dancing in his head. He held the two biggest bargaining chips this winter in Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez - at least that's what he wanted you to believe." --Associated Content

At the time, before it became obvious that the free agent market was tanking, there was talk that he could earn $30M/year (say, for 5 or 6 years). Now, two years ago Boras was talking about a "floor price" of $350M for A-Rod before his most recent contract ($275M/10 years), so you know he's all about hype. But a lot of people thought that Manny could get $150M/6 years, a contract that would end around his age-42 season.

Whatever. My point was that Manny has apparently signed for a tiny fraction of what most people originally thought he would get. Of course, 20-20 hindsight makes that brief Manny bubble easy to dismiss.
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John Northey - Wednesday, March 04 2009 @ 01:38 PM EST (#197036) #
So far so good for Mills today.  2 innings, no baserunners, one strikeout vs team USA.  Of course the Jays, just to be fair, have yet to get a baserunner as well :P

Canada/Philly is scoreless through 2.

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christaylor - Wednesday, March 04 2009 @ 01:38 PM EST (#197037) #
Let's give 'em all the pot he can smoke, all the chicks he can drink and a bottle of guiness to celebrate. Is he going to retire, eventually? Or not. I'm so confused and fat and ugly and lazy and dull. Gimme Manny! Please & ThankU.

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John Northey - Wednesday, March 04 2009 @ 02:42 PM EST (#197038) #
Kind of fun checking the Jays vs USA.  Mills went 3 total, 1 hit (a single), 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 1 run.  Can't complain about that.  Snider 2 for 2, 2-1 for the Jays after 5 innings.  2 scoreless for Clement with no hits, no walks, no strikeouts.

Sadly team Canada is now losing 6-0 vs Philly.

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SK in NJ - Wednesday, March 04 2009 @ 04:03 PM EST (#197039) #

Clement finished with 3 scoreless innings, 0 hits, 0 walks, and 1 strike out.

I am rooting for Clement to make the rotation mainly because I do not trust Gaston with handling Cecil and/or Mills, so keep it up Matt!

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No More Jays or Joes On U.S. Roster For WBC | 29 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.