This helps to explain Bautista's move to 3B.  The outfield becomes Thames, Snider and a platoon of Davis and Patterson -- which makes a bit more sense.

Will be interesting to see if Snider gets some games at centre field too.  If he can handle it, the Jays can gradually and slowly work him into a CF role.

solidified the adjustments

But still hit just 2 homeruns in 200 AAA ABs.

I don't understand this either, but I've found it to be pretty typical of the reaction at the SkyDome to a field intruder. For whatever reason, people tend to cheer them and boo the cops. As if the alternative of letting them (and every other person who decides to follow them) run around until they're tired and decide to exit the field on their own is preferable.

I would have made this move a while ago, but I'm glad AA is beginning to cut bait on these players. Nix was a useful fill-in during April, but he's not hit since coming off the DL and doesn't have much use with Bautista playing 3B and his inability to field SS well. Rivera's looked particularly bad on defence recently and his bat has been worse than expected. He was simply taking up space and has went from being unlikely to bring back any prospect of note at the beginning of the year to being basically completely valueless.

AA says that he expects to be able to trade Rivera, and that he has already had some preliminary trade discussions.

It will be interesting to see if they give Snider a try in CF.  For tomorrow, he starts in RF due to the odd configurations at Fenway in CF.  If Snider can handle CF, You have the potential for a powerful lineup with Lawrie at 3B and Bautista moving back to RF, with Thames in LF.  If EE continues to hit like he has done lately, that would leave just 2B as a sink hole.

The bottom of the 8th today was one of the best regular season Blue Jay innings I've watched in years.  Down by a run against a guy who had thrown 3 straight shutouts and is one of the best pitchers in baseball, and they hit 3 HR's off him.  Amazing. 

I'd expect the Jays to have to eat a good portion of his remaining salary to get anything more than a C prospect. Maybe the front office is willing to do that, and I would hope that's the case, but otherwise I'd expect minor league filler (if that) in return.

The police are fair and justified targets for criticism for their behaviour during the G20. However, that criticism should be done in a constructive or organized way to let the police know which behaviour or events are being protested. Additionally, the perpetrators of the abuse or the management of the TPS would be the fair targets of criticism. Protesting or asking pointed question at a panel that had Bill Blair as a member may be an effective way of conveying the message that the behaviour of the cops at the G20 was unacceptable. Booing two police officers who were simply doing their job doesn't achieve anything. I didn't make the association that people were booing them because of the actions during the G20 and I doubt I was alone in that. Furthermore, I doubt that's what most people were doing. Maybe some were, but as I said, I've seen similar reactions for years from the crowds, so I think it is a reaction to police catching the intruder rather than an organized booing in reaction to police overreach a year ago.

I don't know where to begin with the idea that the police and grounds crew at the Rogers Centre should let every individual who wishes to run on to the field run around to their heart's content and they choose to sit down and voluntarily raise their hands to be cuffed (and it's not clear if you even believe they should be punished based on your post).

To try to return this to baseball, at least tangentially, I don't know why you're throwing the idea of tasering and beating around. No intruder (save one memorable incident last year ago in Philadelphia that was routinely and loudly criticized) on a baseball field has to my memory been tasered and beaten in public by police. People who interrupt professional sports events should be arrested and fined, which is as far as I'm aware how basically every team addresses the problem.

I think Nix would be a good trade for Craig Counsell

This is not your first trade proposal involving Nix. Why would anyone trade anything for him? He'll be available for free any time now if anyone has any interest, and I'm not sure of a reason that they would.

I don't understand this either, but I've found it to be pretty typical of the reaction at the SkyDome to a field intruder. For whatever reason, people tend to cheer them and boo the cops.

To me, the explanation is simple. Start with a bunch of 2-digit IQs (your average sports fan) and add in alcohol and groupthink. What isn't a group like that capable of?

sweat, I think you and I are in a small club.

I'm happy to join this club, too. McDonald has had a nice $6.8M sentimentality-fueled ride for the past 4 years. He seems like a good guy and is easy to root for, but after the 2011 season is done, I can't see any point in in bringing him back yet again. I imagine there's a future in coaching if he wants it.

I think at this point you owe it to Jose Bautista to have him play one set position (RF).  He's your star player and having him yahtzeed around just breeds discontent with the player.  When Lawrie comes up, Bautista in RF, Lawrie at 3B, Snider in CF (provided he can play the position) and Thames in LF.  Encarnacion sticks at DH and Davis works into the line up to face LH pitching. 

Also Thames was atrocious in RF this past weekend.  The basic mechanics of tracking a fly ball seem to elude him and his throwing is well below average.  Snider is a much better athlete in the OF and gets away with some poor decisions here and there, he also possesses a much stronger and accurate arm than Thames.  One would hope, however, that Thames' recent success will push Snider to play better.   

I'm with Sam, in that I've seen and read nothing to believe that Thames can handle any outfield position better than Snider - he has an inferior arm, is slower, and doesn't get good jumps on balls. I attended all 3 games this weekend and thought on more than a couple of occasions that a lazy foul pop-up down the right field line that was being chased by Lind was actually Thames' ball, and he was making zero effort to go after them.

The set position Bautista will play is 3B. The GM has said he's entrenched there. He has looked VERY good there since the move. If circumstances warrant a change, so be it, but right now Bautista is our best option at 3B and is entrenched there. And yes, I'm going to keep using the word entrenched to combat all the worry about his stopgappiness.

1. Finally, Rivera is DFA.  I understand why AA wanted him in the lineup.  He was hoping he would get some trade value out of him.  Now that looks unlikely, cut ties and let's see what the young guys can do.

2. I am very excited about the way Thames is swinging the bat.  His swing is not the prettiest, but it has been effective.

3. I am excited about out bats(we are 7th in runs scored).  That has been the issue the last couple years, but we got pitching.  This year, where has our pitching gone (we are 24th)?

Snider in CF is an interesting idea.  I imagine that he could play there, and make most of the routine plays, but I can't see him actually being good in CF.  If the goal is just to have a capable CF, though, then Snider could be an option worth trying.

I'm no expert on defensive stats, but looking at some of the advanced fangraphs data, Snider looks very similar to guys like Fred Lewis and Corey Patterson.  Taking the last 3 years of LF data, you get:

• Snider: .885 RZR, +5 DRS, -0.2 UZR/150, -0.5 ARM
• Patterson: .884 RZR, +5 DRS, -2.4 UZR/150, -0.5 ARM
• Lewis: .865 RZR, +10 DRS, -1.6 UZR/150, -2.7 ARM

In general, all of these guys appear to be fairly average in LF.  DRS has the trio as slightly above average in left (and likes Lewis a bit extra), while UZR thinks they are slightly below average (and likes Snider the best).  With that said, if Patterson and Lewis can somewhat play CF, Snider would likely also be ok (but not great) in CF.  This is not just based on having similar defensive stats, but also based on my subjective take on things like instincts, routes, and speed in the outfield (and the subjective elements are very important, as after all, CF is a different position).

One thing to consider is that Rajai Davis is also just average in CF (.915 RZR, +2 DRS, -2.7 UZR/150, -4.3 ARM), and Patterson has compared well on paper in recent years (.955 RZR, +4 DRS, 11.9 UZR/150, -1.0 ARM).  Of course, that's with only a little over 300 innings for Patterson (small sample size alert!), but for his career, Patterson has been a slightly above average CF (at least looking at Fangraphs numbers).  If Patterson can run around in CF and mostly be alright, then maybe Snider could learn to do that too.

In any case, Snider in CF would be an adventure, and if it turns into a disastor...well, you just put him back in LF, and go shopping for a very good CF in the offseason (and let Thames be the DH).  Maybe we could try to get Bourjos from Anaheim; I'm sure they are eager to put Hunter or Wells back in CF  :P

I'm not sure I care how good our defense is this year, its not like we're going anywhere. The way I see it we might as well get as much positional flexibility out of our players as possible.  If Lawrie can play 3B, 2B, or RF let's find out, if Snider can cover CF in a pinch, let's find out, heck I'd be in favour of giving Lawrie some time in CF too, maybe he can be BJ Upton.  No use switching someone to corner unless they prove it necessary. 

Conversely, I'd like to see how Thames handles an extended period of DHing.  DH is actually a surprisingly tough position to fill properly and given his strong bat, but relatively weak defensive tools he seems as good a long-term candidate as anyone. 

iirc Lawrie was moved to third because we have Hill at 2B and 3B was a horrible, horrible hole if you assumed Bautista was going to stay in RF.

The scouting concensus seemed to be Lawrie did not have the footwork to be a decent 2nd baseman and would have to be moved to a corner outfield spot.  However, because of that horrible, horrible 3rd base hole, the Jays org decided to try him there before putting him in the OF.

Re: Snider - Gregg Zaun talked about Snider on Prime Time Sports after the game and while he said he was happy for Travis that he was back with the big club, he said his swing was exactly the same as it was when he was sent down, and considering that was what he was sent down to get fixed, there really is no change. He explained how Snider really didn't hit his doubles all that hard and his swing is still basically all hands and the only thing he notices that has changed is his stance.

I guess if you're in the camp that says his swing needed some changes to promote his power stroke, you may not find he has fixed it. If you're in the camp that believes he never should have been sent down and fought through his struggles, well I guess we might have more to see in the next few months.

Gregg Zaun recently remarked on Twitter that he'd love to be a coach, but he doesn't want to go down to the minors to be one.

That's OK. I think he's going to make a great colour guy with more seasoning. He has a little bit of Krukow in him.

I thought Zaun's comments about Snider's swing were very interesting.  I felt he looked pretty much the same when they showed the split screen on him before and after (except for the open stance) and thought where's the big change?  Zaun said that his swing was one handed with a wrist flick, and didn't look like a power swing at all, and I agree.  His 3 doubles today were not hit all that hard, and if that's the way he's been swinging at Las Vegas, I can see why he only hit 2 HR's.  Zaun said he had a lot of power in batting practice, but not in the games because the pitchers were upsetting his timing.  We'll see.  I mean, hey he got 3 hits, so it's hard to complain, but I've always thought he was going to be a real big time power guy and if he's going to be more of a doubles guy who hits .300 with the occasional homer, I'd be disappointed.  Not that a guy who hits doubles and hits .300 is a bad player, but I've been thinking of him as a 30-40 HR guy. Of course, he's also just 23 and power sometimes develops a bit later.

Add me to the group that doesn't really want McDonald back.  Heck, I didn't really want him back when they signed him to the current contract after the 2009 season.  They'd better be prepared for some fan backlash if they don't resign him though - he's VERY popular.

John Lackey looks finished.  What a horrible signing that was.  Three more years at $15,250,000.

When I went back and looked at the Snider side-by-sides, the differences became noticeable. Open stance to start, hands starting at mustache-level instead of above the bill of the helmet, much shorter swing path to the ball, and the hips seem to clear quicker and more, as opposed to drifting forward in the swing and blocking himself off a bit. Also, on the foul ball down the line in the second at bat, you could really see him sitting back and turning open. Add into that the sound the ball was making off the bat, and that the rhythm looked a lot better, and there's a lot to be hopeful for going forward.

"I can hardly remember such atrociousness."

Because under no circumstances should the decision to run have been Corey Patterson's to make.

I agree. It's sad that Patterson might actually need formal communication to that effect, however. In the future, a suitable way to convey such a message might be for Butterfield to stand at third base, wave his arms in a "no" gesture, and yell out "do not run".  What this would lack in tact and nuance would be made up for in efficacy.

I have changed my mind.  Tony Fernandez is not the worst baserunner the Blue Jays have ever had.  Patterson has now passed him in my opinion - he is profoundly lacking in baseball sense.  The manager has to get his share of the blame for allowing Patterson the right to make that decision, too.

How many guys have the Jays had thrown out at the plate this year?  Don't know if there are any stats on that, but it seems to me they have had a fair number.  Last year, too.  I'd like to know how they compare to other teams.  Butterfield seems too aggressive at times to me.  That hit by McDonald was in very short left field and Encarnacion isn't exactly a speedster.  Of course, with 2 out and Hill coming up, I suppose it's a chance you want to take - see if the guy can make the throw.  Too bad, it would have been a great comeback.  Papelbon didn't look very good at all.  Bard's a better pitcher. 

I think if the Jays feel Snider is a better fit in CF than Patterson, I don't think I see the reason for Patterson to be on the roster.

Amen brother. Patterson's career has lasted as long as it has because he could once play center field. And that would be the only way he'd bring any value to the Jays -- as a center fielder. With that off the table, why is he even here?

Let the purging continue.

I'd just go ahead and pinch run for him with Molina. Or one of the pitchers. No player who has played baseball for more than a few years should need to be told to absolutely do not run in that situation. Not ever. If Farrell doesn't start benching him for these things (not that I'd expect him to stop running the bases like a five year old), Anthropoulos should just intervene and release him entirely.

Patterson has shown us exactly why he sticks around the majors (flashes of power/average, he's fast, decent defensively) and why he isn't actually good enough and teams keep getting rid of him (terrible plate discipline, terrible baserunner despite speed).

Actually, it just occurred to me (although others have likely written it already) - Patterson seems like a prospect, even though he's way too old for it now. He still has the stereotypical young player problems (can't lay off a high fastball, doesn't use his speed well), and young player skills (tools!)which must seem tantalyzingly fixable to coaches. But they are not fixable. I know nothing of Patterson as a person, but he's an objectively stupid ballplayer. I hate putting it like that because it seems so mean, and he probably has a lot of fun playing the way he does, but I think it is fair. I only hope someone in the clubhouse ripped into him after the game. Lind doesn't seem the type, but that was his chance that Patterson took away...

....I really wish the media would stop harping on the speed of Cecil's fastball - it has never mattered......

Cecil and Farrell have both repeatedly said that it does matter.  And when Cecil was demoted, the Jays made it very clear that it was partly because of his loss of velocity, which they continued to track closely when he was in the minors.  So it's a legitimate issue for the media to report on.

Having said that, Cecil had a very effective start last night.  That's a very good sign for the Jays as they look ahead to 2012.

M. Bartinez: "Boy, that might be the best fastball he's thrown all year. This is the Frank Francisco the Blue Jays thought they were getting from Texas."

T. Pabler: "Pedroia may be 4'9" but he still swings hard. He's one of the best second basemans in baseball."

Bartinez: "You know the plural of man is men, right?"

Pabler: "And you know that the plural of RBI is RBIs, right?"

While movement and location are key attributes, it doesn't make sense to say that they always "trump" velocity when the top starters tend to have average to plus velocity.

The ERA leader in each league, Jered Weaver and Jair Jurrjens, has a below average fastball velocity. The guys you perceive to be top starters might have better velocity, but the actual performance charts are littered with guys like Jaime Garcia, Trevor Cahill, Kyle Lohse, Doug Fister, Shaun Marcum, Brett Myers, Carl Pavano, etc...

There is a reason why teams covet players like Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg (as opposed to, say, Brad Mills).

Teams look for upside in players, and when a guy can only throw 90 he's going to need to have reliable secondary pitches to be effective to get by. When I said fastball velocity is irrelevant, I meant it in the sense that it shouldn't be at the forefront of Cecil's mind all week while he prepares for his starts, and he doesn't need to be hearing John Farrell confirm the fact that his fastball velocity is so important. Why? Because the minute he throws one 88mph that is crushed (a la Uggla in the spring) he is going to start to lose confidence again, believing that the reason he is giving up taters is because he can't reach back and throw it by people anymore, a skill he really never actually possessed with his average fastball. In reality the important things for him are location and mixing speeds, not maxing out on them.

There's a reason why teams coveted Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee (as opposed to, say, Edwin Jackson).