Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Accardo Wants Out Of Toronto

Jordan Bastian of bluejays.com reports that reliever Jeremy Accardo wants to be in a different uniform in 2010. The right-hander is hoping the club will non-tender him and allow him to become a free agent.

Jeremy Accardo gets set to pitch against the Twins at the Rogers Centre September 10th. He allowed a walk in a third of an inning of relief but he was credited with his third hold of the season in the Jays eventual 3-2 win over Minnesota.

After battling a forearm injury that caused him to struggle in 2008, the 28 year-old native of Mesa, Arizona was hoping to get back on track with the Jays in 2009. Unfortunately, Accardo didn't get to spend as much time in the bigs as he would have liked. The trouble seemed to begin when manager Cito Gaston had opined in spring training that Accardo could be stretched out into a starter. Despite a decent spring training, Accardo began the season with AAA Las Vegas thanks to an option left in his contract. He was called up to the Jays after lefty Scott Downs sprained his toe while batting against the Phillies in June. Accardo picked up his one and only save in his first appearance of the season as he got the final two outs for a shaky B.J. Ryan to preserve an 8-7 win over Philadelphia June 18th.

Accardo was unscored upon in his first five appearances of the season and stayed with the big club throughout July. The man with the blue glove was going to be sent down to Las Vegas again at the beginning of August but another Downs toe injury gave him a reprieve. However, the arrival of fellow righty Josh Roenicke from Cincinnati in the Edward Encarnacion-Scott Rolen deal over a week later led to Accardo packing his bags once again for the state of Nevada. He was called up again after the minor league season ended in September and finished out the season with Toronto. Accardo was 0-0 with a 2.55 ERA in 26 appearances with the big club but his peripheral stats was not exactly stellar. He had a WHIP of 1.62, which is 0.31 points higher than his career norm, as his K-BB total was 18-17 in 24 2/3 innings.

Recently, Accardo's name has surfaced in trade rumours with the Jays reportedly interested in Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit. In any event, it certainly looks like the former 30-save man from 2007 has pitched his last game in a Jays uniform.

In other Jays related happenings and goings-on.......

Jordan Bastian has a piece on Vernon Wells as he talks about the trade speculation surrounding Roy Halladay. The money quote is this as "V-Dub" jokes.........

"If we had to face him once a year, that's fine. But if he's going to be with Boston or New York, that's going to be a problem."

Speaking of Doc, he's the topic of a song by Canadian country artist Gord Bamford called "Baseball Glove". Remember, we're just four months away from the Jays home opener April 12th against Alex Rios and the White Sox!

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 07:02 AM EST.

Accardo Wants Out Of Toronto | 25 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Gerry - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 08:58 AM EST (#209385) #

Bastian also mentions that the Jays are rumoured to have an interest in Marcus Thames. Thames could provide at-bats against left handed pitchers. Thames had an .800 OPS last season but that was lower than his OPS vs LHP in 2008 and 2007. So did Thames have an off year or are his skills slipping now that he is about to turn 33?

ayjackson - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 09:48 AM EST (#209386) #

When's the non-tender deadline?

I think you have to tender all the relievers - they make good throw-ins on big trades.

Gerry - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 09:53 AM EST (#209387) #

Today is non-tender day. Here is Bastian's list of non-tender candidates:

Beyond Accardo, the Blue Jays have arbitration-eligible players in utlity man Jose Bautista, catcher Raul Chavez, as well as pitchers Shawn Camp, Jason Frasor, Brandon League, Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan and Brian Tallet.

Bautista is the player most commonly noted as a non-tender candidate although Dustin McGowan could be non-tendered if the Jays think his career is over.

Denoit - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 12:16 PM EST (#209388) #

It's dissapointing but I don't blame him. I didnt like the way he was handled last year. He pitched well but was never given a legitimate opportunity. He could be a valuable guy on a good team as your 3rd or 4th releiver. Then again guys like that are fairly common.

greenfrog - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 12:19 PM EST (#209389) #

I hope Accardo gets a chance to pitch regularly somewhere in 2010. Can't blame him for not wanting to be part of Cito's bullpen again.

Mylegacy - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 12:34 PM EST (#209390) #

Where's my violin when I need it?

Accardo is pissed 'cause the Jays used their RIGHTS under the contract to send him down for a bit. He'll be a regular in the pen this year - and many years to come - now that he'll be fully recovered from his injuries. If he's FULLY healthy he might even end up being our closer. He'll be a regular this year with us or another team - no question.

Personal note to Accardo - "Suck it up big boy. Now that you've run out of "options" it won't happen anymore. Relax, lay back and have a scotch or two - you can afford it!"

christaylor - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 01:05 PM EST (#209391) #

Hard not to see the contrast: Scutaro - calls Cito and thanks him. Accardo wants out. I think this is a little taste of the issues that boiled over at the end of last year.

Geoff - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 03:04 PM EST (#209392) #

Buster Olney leads off his column today with praise for the Jays GM from what he's heard:
"We talk all the time about how certain pitchers possess mound presence, whether it be Chris Carpenter or Roy Oswalt or Johan Santana. Well, new Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos clearly possesses executive presence. His peers came away from the meetings in Indianapolis chattering about how much energy he has, and while we still don't know if the Blue Jays ownership will actually approve a Halladay trade, the other GMs got the distinct impression that Anthopoulos is aggressively preparing to move him. "

I have no idea what 'aggressively preparing to move him' means, but 'executive presence' certainly sounds nice. Can anyone help explain what is being said, or is this just mindless fluff for the offseason, talking about something while talking about nothing?

ayjackson - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 03:20 PM EST (#209393) #

I'll take mindless fluff for one thousand, Alex.

TamRa - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 03:34 PM EST (#209394) #

IMHO, Accardo has every right to be unhappy. Even if it's true the Jays had the contractual right to send him down, the Brewers had the right to demote hardy too but they were still abusing him.

It's not just being on the shuttle either, it's how he was unused when he was on the roster.

Now, to be clear, I'd MUCH rather the Jays have found a deal for him then let him go - and I'd much rather tender him with the intent of trading him before the spring (which if I was AA i'd call the agent and tell him I was doing everything i could to deal him) because I think he's an asset with enough value to be worth what he'll make in 2010

But does Accardo have a valid reason to not want to have to be in Cito's doghouse another year?

Oh heck yeah.

Thomas - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 04:09 PM EST (#209397) #

ut does Accardo have a valid reason to not want to have to be in Cito's doghouse another year?

He has a valid right to be not happy about the way he was used last year. However, teams taking advantage of the rules surrounding service time and option years is nothing new and Accardo has a pretty thin skin if that's the sole reason for his complaint. Longoria had every right to be upset a couple of years ago when Tampa Bay waited until a week past his Super-2 day to promote him, for example, but he doesn't go around sulking about it.

Now, if Accardo and Cito butted heads on numerous occasions and his request is also motivated by a personality clash, which I wouldn't be surprised if it is, I can understand that. However, if he's just upset that he was sent down as opposed to Camp or Carlson, he should just use that as motivation for next season.

christaylor - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 05:23 PM EST (#209399) #

I agree but I'm not sure Longoria is the best example with him being promoted in April and then inked to a long-term deal. Given the timing of the deal and the speculation about the Rays leaving him in Durham - the idea bothered him and he let his agent know it. His agent just played the situation more professionally than Accardo's.

greenfrog - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 06:45 PM EST (#209401) #

One reason I would be frustrated if I were Accardo is that he's almost 28. It's not the same situation as a 21-year-old getting sent down for more seasoning. Athletes often have a limited window for professional success and to some extent the Jays have been letting him languish in his prime years.

scottt - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 07:54 PM EST (#209403) #

Making him a replacement just because he had an option year left?

Let's not forget he saved 30 games for this team in 2007.

With all the instability in the rotation, there was no room in the pen for him. That's does that tell? There's no question some teams would find him a spot. From the Yankees to the Nationals, I can think of a few takers.

Thomas - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 08:14 PM EST (#209404) #

I wasn't trying to call the two situations analogous, but i just didn't happen to have a good example off the top of my head of a player being jerked around because he had option years left, so I used Longoria. It isn't the same because Accardo had a track record of past performance, etc...

Anyway, I'd like to see the team keep him, if nothing else only to trade him. I assume Accardo's comments indicate some larger problem with Cito, as people have speculated before, so I think that is also a reason he may have made those comments. That being said, there's no reason he shouldn't come back here and be alongside Frasor in the 8th inning, as he was often used as a setup man when he was on the roster, especially once Roenicke began to have problems.

tercet - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 11:34 PM EST (#209410) #

Raul Chavez was only non-tender,

Accardo and Bautista stay, while we have no catchers on 40man now.

So they think Arencibia is ready?

Mylegacy - Saturday, December 12 2009 @ 11:52 PM EST (#209411) #

tercet - not so quick on Arencibia - he's NOT ready.

I think it means the Halladay trade will be to the Angels and Napoli is one of those included and/or Doumit is almost on his way to TO - this may also mean the "Roy Trade" is much further along than many of us thought. I think us making BOTH trades is a real possibility.

Very interesting.

brent - Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 02:24 AM EST (#209415) #

It's usually not languishing when your 2009 K:BB ratio is 1:1. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=6428&position=P

Accardo was hurt and blew up in 2008. He's only had one real good season (2007).

I still would keep him around or at the very least as a throw in for a trade.

China fan - Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 06:47 AM EST (#209416) #

Interesting that McGowan was given another contract. I had almost assumed he was done. I'm hoping this means that he might be back in the minors sometime in 2010 and a solid contributor (either in the rotation or bullpen) by 2011.

Nick Holmes - Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 10:04 AM EST (#209418) #

Interesting that McGowan was given another contract. I had almost assumed he was done. I'm hoping this means that he might be back in the minors sometime in 2010 and a solid contributor (either in the rotation or bullpen) by 2011.

I concur. My irrational McGowan loving heart went pitter-pat when I realized this.

ayjackson - Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 10:45 AM EST (#209421) #

$450k for McGowan is a bit of a no-brainer.

greenfrog - Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 11:28 AM EST (#209425) #

"It's usually not languishing when your 2009 K:BB ratio is 1:1."

It's hard to know whether he walked a lot of batters because he was pitching poorly or because he wasn't getting enough work. His career BB:K ratio in the majors is 74:150 in 203 innings, which is respectable enough. In the minors it was 42:138 in 155 innings, which is very good. So it seems unlikely that his BB:K ratio would have remained so out of kilter. His other peripherals were fine (23 H in 24.2 innings, 2 HR allowed, opponents' BA of .267 and SLG of .372).

I still think he can be an effective reliever, but he needs more consistent secondary stuff. Maybe he should go see the coach who taught Frasor how to throw an effective changeup.

Jim - Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 11:36 AM EST (#209426) #

Accardo is pissed 'cause the Jays used their RIGHTS under the contract to send him down for a bit.

As would anyone who was treated like Accardo was. It's not like he's completely out of line, his agent said he hopes he gets non-tendered... not exactly Shea Hillenbrand.

FranklyScarlet - Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 02:09 PM EST (#209439) #

No, not exactly Shea Hillenbrand, but he should probably not have done this:

His agent told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com that he was hoping to not be sent a contract by Saturday at midnight (non-tendered) and there was that little incident in the Oakland clubhouse this summer when he was sent to Vegas before a game, was not available to speak to the media and his Jays' jersey was observed sitting in the garbage can. You don't need to be Sherlock Holmes.

And his feelings for Cito must factor in, too.

James W - Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 03:45 PM EST (#209450) #

He got jerked around, so that players worse than him could stay on the roster. Hopefully he can get out, because it's apparent it's a bad situation for him.

It's too bad his blue glove doesn't really fit in with many teams out there.

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