Advance Scout nostalgia.

How about Jesse Chavez this year? The joys of living on the West Coast is being able to watch some of these West Coast teams. He looks good on the mound as a starter so far this season.

The Jays have to take advantage of these games. Ten of their first 13 were against the AL East, and they went .500 (5-5) in those games. I think if they play .500 ball against the AL East all season, they'll be in good shape, but they have to beat up on everyone else.

Hopefully Edwin will wake up for this series - he's destroyed the Twins at Target Field, with 6 homers in 13 games and a career 356/434/778 line.

In the first week of the season, Encarnacion hit a couple of balls squarely for what I thought would be home runs and ended up as a double and a fly out.  I suspected that his wrist was not 100% after the late spring training HBP. 

Edwin

First 6gms: 25pa, .125avg, .160obp, .208slg, .368ops
Last 7gms: 30pa, .308avg, .400obp, .462slg, .862ops
First 13gms: 55pa, .220avg, .291obp, .340slg, .631ops

'13 1st 7gms: 31pa, .074avg, .194obp, .185slg, .379ops
'13 1st 13gms: 56pa, .184avg, .286obp, .347slg, .633ops

Wrist is a concern, but he'll likely be fine.

Bautista in CF is concerning.

Do I need to get my eyes checked or are the Jays really going with a 2 man bench tonight (Diaz, Thole)? I believe the Jays also have 8 guys in the bullpen even though they had an off day yesterday. The roster construction doesn't make any sense.

Funnily enough, the twins also feature an 8 man pen this series.

Of course, considering what a disaster their pitching has been so far, they actually have a reason for it.

Bautista in CF is definitely a bad idea.  If Rasmus needs a 2nd day off, it means that the club clearly made the wrong decision.  This fascination with the 8 man pen has got to end.

Seriously? Bautista in CF? Can you imagine if he gets hurt? I'd consider that grounds for immediate firing (both AA and Gibby).

And that's coming from a fan of those two.

In his career, Brandon Morrow has a 38% GB rate.  In his two starts this year, it has been 61%.  I guess the club was trying to incentivize him to continue to pitch this way.  Blech.

I did not know that the Jays cut Neil Wagner's salary from $525,000 in 2013 to $506,250 in 2014.  As they say, watch the 10 grands and the millions will take care of themselves!

I don't think Bautista is any more likely to get injured in CF than in LF. In the end it's just running and catching. He's definitely got much less range than Colby but if only on a one game basis it's not so bad. Still, it's definitely not ideal for Gibbons to work with a 2 man bench for very long. I think it's ok for a game or two but no longer. Hopefully AA is working on a trade for Happ or something which is a good reason one might want to stick with the 8 man bullpen.

Hopefully AA is working on a trade for Happ or something which is a good reason one might want to stick with the 8 man bullpen.

Why?  Happ pitched in Buffalo on a rehab assignment and struck out 6 in 4.2 innings.  He has a long enough major league history that teams know what he can do.  I think the eight man pen is a fixation- nothing more and nothing less.

I thought Jose looked fine in CF last game.

Are we sure colby's not available to pinch hit? They might just be taking advantage of Sierra's good splits vs hughes to give colby a touch extra rest?

Good point, I wouldn't be surprised if they were doing that.

I think the eight man pen is a fixation- nothing more and nothing less.

I would also mix in apparently unrealistic valuations of its pitchers who are out of options. The team spent a week trying to trade Jeffress and couldn't, and then no one claimed him off waivers. Any concerns the team had about losing Jeffress were clearly unfounded.

If the team had DFA'd Esmil Rogers to make room for Happ, I would've been surprised if a team had put in a claim, particularly with Rogers' $1.85 million salary, age and poor performance.

I would really like to hear the team's explanation for going with an 8-man bullpen right now. It just doesn't make any sense.

Actually Mike the Jays renewed Wagner for $500,000. They offered him $506,000 and when he refused they lowered it to $500,000. Rogers needs every dollar they can get. If the front office can put a couple of thousand of these deals together we can afford a starting pitcher.

I think the eight man pen is a fixation- nothing more and nothing less.

I think it was with Bob McCown on Opening Day that Anthopoulos said he'd prefer a 7-man bullpen.

Anthopoulos can effectively blame Gibbons for the 8 man pen, and Gibbons can blame Anthopoulos if he wants, but somehow we keep coming back to unwise decisions to have too many relievers on the roster...

And as for batter vs. pitcher splits: Sierra is 7-15 against Hughes despite having significant traditional platoon splits generally.  Rasmus is 1-14 against Hughes despite having traditional platoon splits generally and being a better hitter than Sierra period.  Your teaser for today: how much ought one to regress Sierra's .583  and Rasmus' .071 to arrive at their expected batting averages for today. Your options are 98%, 97%, 96.5%, 96%, 95.5%, 50% and 5%.  Mr. Gibbons?

"....The team spent a week trying to trade Jeffress and couldn't...."

That's probably a very inaccurate summary of the process. The DFA process is 10 days, and the waiver process is a much shorter period (just 2 days within the 10 days, if I recall correctly). So the Jays simply allow the first 8 days to pass, and then put him on waivers. They're not actively "trying to trade" him -- they're just allowing the time period to go by. Sure, if another team unexpectedly wants to trade for him, the Jays would obviously talk to them. But it's not like the Jays are wasting any time in trying to trade someone who has been DFA'd. Unless they get an offer (unlikely), they just dump him onto the waiver wire, and then decide whether they want him in Buffalo. (In this case, yes.)

"....They might just be taking advantage of Sierra's good splits vs hughes to give colby a touch extra rest?...."

That's exactly what the Jays are doing tonight, according to all the beat reporters who are traveling with the team. It wouldn't make sense to bring up a minor-leaguer to "replace" Colby, since they would just sit on the bench for one game. And it would require the demotion of a pitcher. If they demote Wagner (really the only option, since he's the only one (except Loup) who has options), they couldn't recall him a day later because of the 10-day waiting period. So they'd have to replace Wagner with an inferior pitcher. I know that some fans regard the bullpen as entirely fungible, but I disagree.

I think it was with Bob McCown on Opening Day that Anthopoulos said he'd prefer a 7-man bullpen.

I've heard similar things in the past, with either Anthopoulos or the manager of the day saying something to the effect that the 8-man bullpen was not ideal. As they've regularly gone back to it over the past couple years, the team's preferred alternative isn't readily apparent.

That's probably a very inaccurate summary of the process. The DFA process is 10 days, and the waiver process is a much shorter period (just 2 days within the 10 days, if I recall correctly).

It's three days, unless it's changed recently.

I fail to see how my statement was "probably a very inaccurate summary of the process." I highly doubt Anthopoulos was just sitting by the phone waiting for it to ring after Jeffress had been DFA'd. It's very unusual for teams to use the full ten days they have available after DFAing a player. Normally the player will be placed on waivers shortly after being DFA'd, and the whole process will be over once the three day waiver period is up. As that didn't occur here, I think it's safe to assume Anthopoulos was trying to work out something before exposing Jeffress to waivers.

Didn't see this posted anywhere--Jonah Keri interviewed AA as part of his podcast (posted yesterday).  I haven't seen/heard a ton from AA other than quotes in stories, so I appreciated the chance to hear him in a slightly more extended forum.

Some of the takeaways for me (listening while doing Spring cleaning, so take them with a grain of salt) included:

• Said that after seeing Morrow's improvement in the off-season and Hutchinson's response post surgery, he felt the team was getting back two starters (so there was less need/pressure to acquire more via trade/FA)
• That said, he did indicate that they had pursued pitching, but the price wasn't right (no new news there)
• Sees the team as a contender for the playoffs, but felt the WS talk last year was a bit too much, too fast
  
• Believes Dickey is a 3.5 ERA guy who just underperformed the first past of last season
• Views Lawrie as a potential all-star, but doesn't see him as a big HR guy due to his swing (more doubles, using all fields, speed) -- Gold Glove potential at 3rd was more than they expected
• Referred to the Jays as a Big Market team (in the context of payroll and potential fanbase) -- Wants to keep expanding appeal across all of Canada
  
• Said Stroman is closer to the Majors right now than Sanchez, but didn't put timelines on either coming up
• Acknowledged that not all FAs want to come to Toronto, but that winning will overcome/change that bias
• Talked about McGowan as a feel-good story, but that the Jays kept him because they believe he still has high-end potential (but price had to be right)
  

I'm sure there was more, but those were some of the things that stuck with me.  Here's the URL for the podcast post at Grantland:
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/jonah-keri-podcast-with-special-guests-alex-anthopoulos-and-grant-brisbee/

Here's a direct URL for the podcast:
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=10782766

Is there data out there (publicly available) on how hitters fare against certain pitches and velocities?

To my eye Brett Lawrie cannot hit a fastball. In past years his hitch in his swing prevented him from really hitting a good fastball--he always seemed to be playing catch up. The hitch is still there, but he just looks slow reacting to the baseball now.

I would like to hear a few professional scouts' opinions of what's going on with Lawrie's hitting.

Oddly, his new, "quieter," more upright stance reminds me a bit of Arencibia at the plate.

Phil Hughes is not re-signed by New York because he wasn't good enough to be their 5th Starter. The Blue Jays will struggle once again as they always seem to do when they face Starters like him. I will be surprised to see the Jays beat this Starter.

Which Brandon Morrow is showing up? We need the good one or this season starts sucking badly rapidly.

Morrow is a bit of a nightmare. He can be dominate, but then he has games like this - under 4 IP with 98 pitches thrown yet somehow just 2 runs allowed.  Loup was walking  a tightrope for his 1 1/3 IP.  Lets hope something good happens soon.

this year is so much more fun than last year.

Nice inning for the Jays' offense. Not a great inning for the Twins' defense.

He can be dominate

Better hope Dewey's not around.

I personally just can't help but smile when I watch Kawasaki bat. I don't care what the slash line says, you know pitchers just hate facing him.

Is Lind injured? He looks mighty uncomfortable in the dugout.

looks like his groin.

nope, lower back.

hoepfully they pulled him in time.

I agree Euphus, Kawasaki puts together professional at bats even if the results aren't always great.

If you put him in the lineup- over the course of the season he'll be responsible for a lot of pitchers leaving the game an inning earlier. Whether that is more valuable than Goins or Diaz's defense is debatable but I do feel that it is valuable.

i'm not sure goins has much of an edge on kawasaki defensively anyways.

Better hope Dewey's not around.

I'll pick nits in his place. "Dominate" is a verb; you want to be using the adjective "dominant" in this case.

this season rulz.

I'm not sure who the guy who wears #42 on the Twins is, but he stinks.

I am surprised.
Another day like this and we might be able to consider Sunday as the Offenses' Breakout. Of course, 14 hits, 2 by Goins, 2 by Kawasaki. Someone had a bad day offensively.

Bullet dodged?

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/padres-johnson-set-for-further-evaluation/

Josh Johnson remains on the DL with forearm strain, hasn't pitched yet, and isn't getting better.

Elsewhere...

Scott Kazmir: 1.40 ERA, 11 H in 19.1 IP, 19 SO, 4 BB, 0.776 WHIP. 2-0. Oakland strikes again.
Bartolo Colon: 6.00 ERA, 26 H in 18 IP incl. 6(!) HR, 12 SO, 2 BB, 1.556 WHIP , 1-2. And that's for the NYM. Ouch.
Ervin Santana: 0.64 ERA, 7 H in 14 IP, 17 SO, 2 BB, 0.643 WHIP. 1-0. No way he does that at Rogers Center though.

Apparently Lind's back has been bothering him for a few days and he said it would take a miracle to be able to play tomorrow. He's said he hasn't felt back pain this bad since he missed a month with it a couple of years ago.

Let's see how the Jays treat this,but my guess is that Anthopolous plays it like he normally does.

Zaun was on the radio this evening before the game and said essentially the same thing - that Lawrie (and Rasmus too) has bad bat position, is not loading his swing early enough, and it's making him slow.  That if he (Zaun) were a pitcher, he would throw Lawrie almost nothing but fastballs because he has no chance of hitting a decent fastball right now.

"....I think it's safe to assume Anthopoulos was trying to work out something before exposing Jeffress to waivers..."

Or he could have just been waiting for a more opportune date to slip him through waivers, within the required 10-day period. Jeffress doesn't have trade value. Over the past 12 months, he's twice been waived through the entire league. Anyone could have had him for a nominal price, and nobody nibbled. I know that people like to criticize the Jays for a lot of stuff, but it's odd to criticize the Jays management for wasting their valuable time on a Jeffress trade. The most likely explanation remains the simplest explanation: the Jays liked him in spring training, thought he was good enough to be the 8th reliever, put him in a mop-up role in a couple of games (at zero cost to the team), and slipped him through waivers to the minors. Now he's still in the organization as one of their many many bullpen options. I don't think this says anything about "unrealistic valuations" or a "fixation on Jeffress" as some people have charged.

"Let's see how the Jays treat this,but my guess is that Anthopolous plays it like he normally does."

So Lind to DL, Bobby Korecky up from Buffalo, eh? Bummer.

Or he could have just been waiting for a more opportune date to slip him through waivers, within the required 10-day period.

A few days ago Shi Davidi tweeted that the "#BlueJays have put RHP Jeremy Jeffress on waivers after failing to work out a trade for him. DFA period expires Tuesday." I assume that means the team had been attempting to trade him during that time, rather than sitting back and waiting for another team to make the first move.

As I mentioned earlier, it's very unusual for teams to wait the full ten days of the DFA period before doing something with the player. If a player is destined for waivers, it's better to just get it over with as soon as possible. The player can't be with the team while he's in limbo and obviously he can't appear in any games. When you factor in the time the player has to report to his new team, it could be 11 or 12 days between appearances for the player, which isn't ideal. The normal scenario is for a player to be DFA'd, and then three days later he's either claimed by another team or outrighted to AAA (or he elects free agency if he's eligible). This isn't August after the non-waiver trade deadline where there's a strategic element to putting players on waivers. There wouldn't be many players on waivers right now, and most teams' rosters are still largely set from opening day. I can't see how Jeffress would have been more likely to clear waivers now than a week ago.

In light of what Davidi reported and how the DFA process normally works, the most likely scenario was that the Blue Jays were trying to trade Jeffress and were unsuccessful. This idea that Anthopoulos spent a week sitting on his hands just doesn't seem plausible, and (to use your words) it's "probably a very inaccurate summary of the process."

"Let's see how the Jays treat this,but my guess is that Anthopolous plays it like he normally does."

I thought he meant Day-to-Day and playing with no bench.

Is there a logical reason for not putting Izturis on the DL60 right away?

Izturis was to get a second opinion on his knee, so I assume he hadn't received that second opinion by the time the team had to make a roster move yesterday.

Ok, but the first opinion was 120-180 days. Delaying the surgery only adds to that. There's no way he can just rehab that.

I suspect you're right, but Izturis probably wants to make sure that rehab isn't an option before going ahead with the surgery.

So if Lind is hurting and Rasmus might be (missing a RHP seems odd) then the bench is down to one player (Thole).  Ouch.  Back in the 80's (with a 5 man pen) Bobby Cox used to use Dave Stieb and Jimmy Key as pinch runners and Stieb even got into in the outfield once.  Could we be looking at starting pitchers as emergency backups again?

I think, as much as I like holding as many assets as possible, it is time to go to the 7 man pen and just risk it with Rogers or Redmond.  18 innings between those 2.

Rogers leverage has been over .25 just once (a 0.48).  1.0 is 'average', above is pressure, sub 0.75 is blowout territory.  Twice he came in with the Jays down by 2 - once in the 6th (his 'high pressure') and once in the 9th (his next highest pressure).  The rest were leverage of .13 or less. 

Redmond's leverage has been much higher, once a 2.34 (his 3 1/3 IP vs Baltimore going into extras), a 0.76 (top 5th down 2, left in 6th with runner on 3rd but still a 2 run spread), and twice came in down 5 - once where the Jays did a bit of a comeback (left down 2 after 3 2/3 shutout innings).

Clearly Gibbons trusts Redmond but has no faith in Rogers. It is time to risk sending Rogers down or to accept it if someone offers a C prospect for him as there really isn't room for him anymore.

Couldn't agree more. The thinking that we shouldn't burn our relievers out early in the year is solid. The idea that an 8 man pen will do that is not.

John, the bench will also have whomever of Diaz/Goins/Kawasaki isn't starting. Your point stands though, either Lind to the DL or send Rogers down and bring up Johnson or Francisco.

"....the most likely scenario was that the Blue Jays were trying to trade Jeffress and were unsuccessful..."

Still waiting for an explanation of who would trade anything for a guy who was freely available last year and again this year, with nobody but the Jays showing any interest in him.

Actually.... if Lind and Rasmus are unavailable....
CA: Nickaeus
1B: Encarnacion
2B: Goins
SS: Diaz
3B: Lawrie
LF: Cabrera
CF: Bautista
RF: Sierra
DH: Kawasaki or Thole
Bench: whoever isn't the DH

Yup, it is that bad if we have 2 guys day-to-day.  Right now, if Lind is feeling that much pain in his back I'd be putting him on the DL immediately and get it healed.  No need for dumb injuries in April that could cost a season.  Take the time, heal it right.  Cut down to a 7 man pen (Rogers down imo, but if you must then send down Wagner even though he has been used in higher leverage situations all 3 times than Rogers has been used in even once).  That would allow 2 guys who are familiar with which end of a bat to use to be on the roster.  Johnson and Francisco are the best choices right now, although if Rasmus is hurt (and he might not be) then Gose might get a call just for defensive reasons (Bautista back to RF).

Still waiting for an explanation of who would trade anything for a guy who was freely available last year and again this year, with nobody but the Jays showing any interest in him.

I don't see why anyone would, but apparently that didn't stop the team from trying to find a taker. Hence my point about the team having an unrealistically high opinion of Jeffress.

They are saying on the Blair radio show that  it is less than 50/50 whether game will be played tonight. If not, there will be doubleheader tomorrow afternoon. Blair is also saying he understands that Lind will be going on DL.  Assuming this is correct, who will be recalled?  I think Dan Johnson (.366 OBP) get first shot.

Lind to the DL and Francisco up. I don't care what Lind says about how minor his back is. We have 4 years of evidence to suggest that he is incapable of properly diagnosing his own health.

Johnson was at ST and did well. He will get the call ahead of Franciso, I believe. Francisco needs to cut down on strikeouts and needs time in AA to try and do that.

Either of Johnson or Francisco would do.  They should call up Gose too. 

Whoops, you're right John. That's a pretty dire bench.

Brandon Morrow didn't have a good game, but he didn't have a bad game as he kept the team in the game. I think he's ready to be a big part of the season.
Back issues can take 48 to over 480 hours to resolve. If he can't play, they need to dump a reliever and call up a Bat. This bench is a disaster waiting to happen.
Basically after three Starts the nerves are out of the way, as Starters will settle down to be what they will be.
It's getting better.

James W - Tuesday, April 15 2014 @ 11:08 PM EDT (#284842) #
Better hope Dewey's not around.

I'll pick nits in his place. "Dominate" is a verb; you want to be using the adjective "dominant" in this case.

Thanks, James.  Don’t accede to the rednecks, however, by calling it ‘nit-picking’.  The site is demonstrably better for people being careful about how they write.  (There are still a handful of badly-infested posters at Da Box, I fear;  but we’re doing pretty well, for the internet.)  The details of our language are even more important than even the stats that are taken so very seriously here.

"....Hence my point about the team having an unrealistically high opinion of Jeffress..."

I really hate to belabor this issue, and I pledge to drop it after this post, but I just find this such a weird accusation. Where is the evidence that the Jays have an "unrealistically high opinion" of Jeffress? The only hard evidence we have is the exact opposite: they have twice DFA'd him, they have allowed any other team in the league to pick him up for the nominal waiver price, and they have given him a grand total of 13 innings in the majors in the past two seasons -- and almost all of those innings were in meaningless September games when rosters are expanded and the Jays were long out of contention. If the Jays had a high opinion of him, they would have kept him on the roster in their bullpen for an extended period of time during meaningful games, and they've never done that.

The alleged counter-evidence is that the Jays tried to trade Jeffress, but this is based on a vague tweet from Shi Davidi (who was probably just referring to the technicalities of the DFA process, and who certainly didn't give any concrete information about actual trade negotiations) and it's apparently also based on the notion that the Jays didn't immediately place Jeffress on the waiver wire. I can virtually guarantee that Davidi didn't mean to imply that Anthopolous had wasted his valuable time in futile efforts to trade a player that nobody else wanted. He meant merely that the DFA process requires a player to be traded or waived, and the waiver process usually follows the "trade" process, so the simple fact that he was on waivers was an implication that a trade wasn't "worked out." It's really clutching at straws to suggest that the phrase "failing to work out a trade" has any different meaning from "did not trade him" in this context.

I don't see how anyone can infer, from such vague evidence, that AA was wasting his time on trying to trade Jeffress. If you put a "for sale" sticker on a cheap old Lada, it doesn't imply that you're devoting your working days to badgering potential buyers. You're just putting up the sticker on the off-chance that some strange Lada fanatic might see it and ask you about it.

"Where is the evidence that the Jays have an "unrealistically high opinion" of Jeffress?"

You can start with Jeffress, despite stinking, making the team out of spring training for two consecutive seasons because he was out of options.

The evidence that they over value Jeffress is that he was on the team at all, over more qualified relievers.

He wasn't allowed to pitch a single meaningful inning for the Jays.

Sorry, chinafan, but it's clear the overvalue jefress.

And rogers and happ, for that matter.

Game today snowed out according to Shi Davidi on twitter.

"....it's clear the overvalue jefress. And rogers and happ, for that matter...."

Because it's clear that the fans are always correct in their valuation of players on their favorite team.... No disagreements permitted...

Actually.... if Lind and Rasmus are unavailable....
CA: Nickaeus
1B: Encarnacion

Wait - is Navarro hurt too? Or was that just a typo for CA? Nickeas would be a real stretch, IMHO.. I guess Kratz has to finish the 3-day waiting period?

They're not overvaluing Happ. If they were, he'd be starting. I'm not sure what you think they should do with him, they obviously aren't yet at the point where they want to pay him to not pitch for them.

They really need to get rid of him though, his pouting over not being a starter isn't helping anyone.

The criticism of Happ seems a little harsh.  He has an ERA+ of 90-91 in a starter's role each of the last two seasons, and 96 over his career.  That is classic decent fifth starter territory.  He is making $5.2 million/year, which is plenty but not outrageous given the market and his service time. I agree with John Northey that the club should expose Rogers and just be done with it.  He has an ERA of 5.47 in his career as a reliever and even discounting for the Colorado experience, the club has plenty of better options in both long and short relief, and a need for better use of the roster spot. 

Here's a You Be the GM question:  Jose Reyes' rehab stint in Dunedin goes fabulously (he runs well- stealing two bases, hits well and fields well and he is pain-free).  You call him up on Friday.  Who do you send down (assuming that you have taken care of the other needs of the organization before then)- Diaz, Kawasaki or Goins and why?

I doubt they'd go with two lefties in Goins and Kawasaki, so Diaz being the better defender as well is probably safe for now.

Personally I'd keep Kawasaki around and platoon him with Diaz, but I expect they'll keep Goins for a bit longer.

That's exactly what I would do, 92-93.  I also agree that Goins is likely to stay and Kawasaki likely to be the one sent down.

You send down Kawasaki - both Diaz and Goins provide better defence at SS/2B. In my opinion, one of the things that has been helping us do pretty well early on is our outstanding infield defence with Lawrie, Diaz and Goins.

Re: the 8 man bullpen - I'm late to this debate, but it strikes me that the Jays are just realistically looking at their starting rotation and figuring that they need a bunch of long men to spell Morrow/McGowan/Hutch in the event that they have starts like last night. I agree that Rogers has not merited his spot on the team on performance, but that being said, better him than Jenkins (or some other AAA pitcher with limited experience).

The real question is whether an extra bat on the bench would give you a better chance to win a game than an extra arm in the pen. In my opinion, whatever advantage you do gain (and I don't necessarily think that there would be one) is slim and not worth really making a big deal over.

Goins isn't really that much of a better fielder than Kawasaki. I also think Kawasaki is the better hitter, at least at this point. Goins looks overmatched.

I think Diaz is the safest bet to stay being a right hand hitter and more versatile. I would send out Goins but have a feeling that Kawasaki is more likely to go. The reason I would keep Kawasaki if I was making the decision is for the much better at bats where I think the difference is greater than the difference in defence in the favour of Goins. Also Kawa has nothing to learn at Buffalo whereas Goins might be able to improve his hitting with some more AAA time.

I don't have anything to add on the valuation of Jeffress beyond what others here have said. It's pretty clear to me that the Blue Jays think highly of him and other teams don't share that opinion.

I think Davidi's tweet can be taken to mean that the Blue Jays were trying to work out a trade involving Jeffress. Davidi would have had to find out from one of his sources that Jeffress was on waivers as such information isn't publicly available. The same source probably told him that the team hadn't been able to work out a trade.

Further, using the entire ten day DFA period supports taking Davidi's tweet at face value. It wasn't that the team "didn't immediately place Jeffress on the waiver wire," but the fact that they waited until the last possible moment to do so. It's so unusual for a team to do that. It only makes sense if they were trying to work out a trade with another club during that time.

Lastly, no reasonable interpretation of my original post would have led a person to conclude that I thought Anthopoulos had been "devoting [his] working days to badgering potential" trade partners. Anthopoulos is certainly capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, and attempting to trade Jeffress would not have prevented him from performing other tasks.

vw_fan17... don't worry, just me thinking of AAA at that moment.  Navarro is here still so you (and all others who thought Navarro was gone) can get off that cliff.

I don't know if any site is tracking this, but I would like to know how often managers are going on the field to potentially challenge calls without making an official challenge. Gibbons has done this almost every game and it's extending the length of games. Managers should't be allowed to go on the field and chat with umpires until the bench coach gives the signal if they should challenge or not. Once you step out of the dugout to talk to the umpire over a call, that should automatically trigger the challenge.

I had a problem with the length of games before the challenge system was introduced and now it seems like games are even longer.

I like Rogers, but there are probably better options. Redmond is clearly the long reliever of choice right now, and Happ might be a solid reliever - he's often been dominant for a few innings at a time. You've got Jenkins available for the next callup, along with Stroman & Nolin if it comes to that.

The Jays have lost Marcus Walden on waivers to Oakland. That is the price of messing up the waiver wire last weekend. Its not that Walden is a super prospect but you lost a potential asset for nothing. Contrast that to the treatment of Jeremy Jeffress.

Don't see why Oakland would rather have Walden than Jeffress, frankly.

I would keep Diaz and Kawasaki. Send down Goins and tell him to work on his hitting.

Jonathan Diaz is a better defender than Goins (both on track record and on visual inspection IMO) and hits right handed. Kawasaki is the best hitter of the bunch and his patience is really valuable on this team.

Beyond that there is the behind the scenes concerns. Last season when they sent down Kawasaki the team immediately went into a tail spin. He was playing well enough to stay up and everyone (fans included) loved him. Whether there was a cause and effect there is a matter of debate (I think there was) but either way I wouldn't want to take that chance.

It shouldn't come into play, but I bet the Jays are reluctant to lose Rogers because it will make the Gomes trade look even worse.

The Jays have lost Marcus Walden on waivers to Oakland. That is the price of messing up the waiver wire last weekend. Its not that Walden is a super prospect but you lost a potential asset for nothing.

It's puzzling. As it was basically a situation where they just needed a warm body for a few days, I probably would've called-up someone like Bobby Korecky instead. The call-up was going to be the 40th guy on the 40-man roster, so it should have been someone who truly was expendable.

Keeping Kawasuki as a defender over Goins is absurd. Goins might just be better than Diaz. Kaw is a distant third defensively. And I've watched all three.

It has been suggest before that Walden profiles well as a relief pitcher and it wouldn't surprise me to see Oakland try to transition him into that role in time.

I agree with Gerry, it looks like an example of poor roster management from AA. Walden may or may not ever turn into a loss of consequence, but it was needless.

With a double-header slated for tomorrow, Dickey starts Game 1 and McGowan starts Game 2. How strong is the "Dickey Effect" going to be? Enough happens tomorrow for a sweep to occur?

Great interview on Bob McCowan's show on Sportsnet today with Dr. Glenn Fleisig, one of the biggest experts in pitching biomechanics. For a long time, I've been wondering about why there are so many more pitching injuries than there used to be despite the fact that pitchers used to pitch so many more innings in the big leagues when I was a kid. Four man rotations and innings counts of 250-300 used to be common, yet there weren't the huge numbers of pitchers suffering arm injuries like there are now. Dr. Fleisig had 2 significant comments about it. He said that kids today are pitching much more at a very young age in league and tournament games, thanks to factors like year round baseball, and kids becoming specialized in one sport at a young age. A study he did showed kids who pitched a lot more were 3 times as likely to require elbow or shoulder surgery.

The other factor he mentioned was pitching velocity. I know when I was a kid, there were very few pitchers who threw 93, 94, 95 miles an hour. Now, it's common. Dr. Fleisig talked about how this is due to better understanding of mechanics and other factors that have enabled many more pitchers to throw that hard. I suspect the size of pitchers has something to do with it too, but, anyway, he said that throwing at these high velocities puts tremendous strain on the arm, and that is a big factor in the much higher rates of arm injuries.

Fascinating interview. It was cut a little bit short, and McCowan said he wanted to have him on the show again, so hopefully he will be on again soon.

Francisco and Johnson both in starting lineup for Bisons and Gose is not........so I suspect that Gose is on his way to Minny. Haven't heard anything official though.

Luckily Monday is another day off or they would have needed a sixth pitcher because of the double header.

They liked Walden enough to draft him.
They could have kept Jeffress for another 4 day. After all, they just needed someone to sit on the bench.
It is what it is. A completely embarrassing series of events.

There is a newish rule in baseball that allows teams to add a 26th player for doubleheaders. Shi Davidi is reporting that Anthony Gose will be the 26th man tomorrow. We are not sure if that becomes more permanent if Lind goes on the DL.

Davidi has a clarification. Gose will only be added for the second game.

but I bet the Jays are reluctant to lose Rogers because it will make the Gomes trade look even worse.

For the record I support holding Rogers on the team and I fully expect he will pitch significant and important innings this year as a starter.  Also, I think he's better than he's shown us so far in 2014. 

Meh, walden and rogers both stink, imho.

For the record I support holding Rogers on the team and I fully expect he will pitch significant and important innings this year as a starter. Also, I think he's better than he's shown us so far in 2014.

Agreed, mostly. I definitely think he's a useful guy to have around, and he really seems like one of those pitchers who's still kind of figuring out what he's got and how to maximize it to his advantage. Some of those guys never find it, others do and enjoy nice long careers. I don't which road Esmil will end up on but he's certainly a better pitcher than what we've seen so far this year. Still, if he's pitching significant innings as a starter in 2014 I am going to be just a wee bit worried about the rest of the team.

"Teams are going to be allowed to expand to a 26-man roster for day-night doubleheaders -- assuming those doubleheaders are scheduled with at least 48 hours' notice."

That's a quote from ESPN's article in 2011 about the new labour agreement. When did this rule change?

Wouldn't Jeffres have to stay on the MLB roster on any claim, where as Walden can be kept on the 40 man, and in AAA?
I'd say that's why Walden is preferred.

The "26th man" rule changed for this season.

Gibbons saying Reyes will stay in Dunedin for the weekend. It is a good decision imo as Jose has not hit in first 2 games.....timing not there yet.  Janssen has suffered a minor setback and will be delayed longer.

Oops...think I misheard what GIbbons saying regarding Reyes. I believe he is returning though not sure he should be......not playing Friday night but in afternoon games Saturday and Sunday.

Today's lineup has Rasmus at DH, Bautista in CF again and Sierra in RF.  At least Gose will be around for the nightcap.

The decision to wait until the weekend afternoon games to call up Reyes may result for a wish to keep him out of the cold.  DHing Rasmus would be consistent with that wish as well. 

Today's You Be the GM teaser is a conditional multiple choice.  If Adam Lind does not go on the DL and returns to action within the next 7 days, his OPS over the week that he returns will be:
a) less than .500, b) .500-.600 c) .600-.700, d).700-.800 e).800-.900 f) more than .900

This is a lot more of Jose Bautista playing centre field than I'm comfortable with. I miss Rajai Davis.

Rajai was the ideal 4th OF on this team. I too miss him.

If Lind decides to play I'm betting his OPS is less than his IQ. We have multiple AAAA options (Johnson, Francisco) that could take his place tomorrow. Please... please let him sit until healthy.

Jeez is that frustrating.  Dickey moving along then suddenly boom, boom, boom 5 runs in the hole (infield single, single, single, walk, single, double, sac fly).  Sheesh.  Meanwhile the Jay hitters are making Kyle Gibson look like Bob Gibson.  The 7th could've been a 123 inning but an error and deflection off EE's glove and you have a rally going and 2 more score.  Sigh.

We know Mr. high maintenance is not an ace, but if he can't even give you innings, then his primary ability will be talking endlessly into any microphone he can find - coming off an off day and with 3 long men in the pen, I think Gibby should have pulled the plug at 2-0. If this continues, then I wouldn't be shocked if Noah Syndergaard comes up in June and produces a higher WAR than Mr. clubhouse lawyer.

I don't think there's anything to support the nonsense spouted by 85bluejay, or that Dickey is doing anything but trying his best to win games for this team.

I only followed the game via Gameday, but the inference that I drew from the pitch locations was that Dickey was trying desperately to throw a shutout and really didn't want balls in play unless he absolutely had to.  The Twins did a nice job of grinding out at-bats and working the count, but I felt that Dickey might have pitched a little differently with a run or two of support. The Sierra DP might have been the key play. 

I don't get what it is about Dickey that rubs people the wrong way. He's cerebral and eloquent, and is unfailingly charitable in his responses to even the stupidest questions. And in the offseason he climbs mountains to raise money to fight against sexual exploitation of children. What a jerk.

Trade dickey, call up stroman.

I'm sick of this wiffleball trick pitch crap.

We coddle him with his own catcher, with preferred starting matchups....and he pukes all over himself.

Dump thole, stop treating dickey differently, and tell him to man the hell up and pitch better already.

Dickey needs to find ways to score more runs.

I agree, Dickey's problem is that he's not enough of a man.

Yeesh.  Dickey had a bad game - heck, a bad inning - people, that's life. Meanwhile he could've allowed just one run over 9 IP and the end result would've been the same - another loss.  With the super-deep bullpen using one reliever for 3 2/3 IP makes little difference in the big picture.

There is something about the knuckleball that drives people nuts. I don't recall this level of anger over any of Morrow's medicore to bad starts (5-6-3 2/3 IP) and he is making a lot of money for just having one good season ($8 mil).  Maybe the feeling that AA gave up too much in d'Arnaud (now up to a 42 OPS+) and Syndergaard (3.94 ERA in AAA over his first 3 starts 16 IP) neither of whom would be much help at this point in time.

Mr. High Maintenance and Mr. Clubhouse Lawyer took a below-market salary to play for the Jays, and has pitched more innings than any other Jay since his arrival.  And he has a Cy Young award more recently than anyone else on the team.  What a jerk.

"...We coddle him with his own catcher, with preferred starting matchups...."

Both statements are false.  Those choices are made by the Jays, not by Dickey.  If Navarro or JPA could catch the knuckleball, I'm sure Dickey would have been pitching to them.  It's not his fault if they can't.   As for the matchups, that's a decision made by the Jays.  It's disturbing to see fans so quick to believe false myths.  Even with the Jays playing well, the hatred and anger and nastiness seems uncontrollable.

"The Sierra DP might have been the key play."

Indeed it was. He smoked the ball, but right at the 3B. A couple of feet to either side and it's a very different looking ballgame.

I too thought Gibbons could have been quicker pulling Dickey, but I understand leaving your opening day starter in a 2-0 game in the 5th inning to sort out his own mess, especially in mid-April.

Whoa there, Paul D - take a Prozac, life is too short to get that worked up about a comment - where did I say that Dickey was not doing his best to win games? At the moment, he's not very good - I mentioned that we traded for him as an ace, giving up more than the Phillies give up for Halladay and he is not pitching "ace like" or even eating up innings - what "nonsense" are you referring to? - if you followed his career with the Mets, you know that the "clubhouse lawyer" reference was widely mentioned in articles about him and attributed to comments from his teammates.

I admire that Dickey re-invented himself as a Knuckleballer after his failure as a conventional pitcher - that doesn't mean you can't point out his poor performances.

His charity work? Fantastic - but here's the rub for me - many athletes do very commendable charity work - only a few are relentless about letting everyone know what a great person they are and how much charity work they do.

Relax, enjoy the season - As I noted last year when I was in the minority picking the jays to miss the playoffs, teams that undergo massive changes usually have more success the 2nd year after - so I'm optimistic about the season.

I don't think anyone's too worked up about it 85bluejay. You have the same impression a number of Mets beat writers had when RA left the Mets. I just don't get it though. I actually don't think many athletes engage in anything remotely as praiseworthy as Dickey's activities. Their charitable efforts most often (but not always) have something to do with their own hometown or country, and typically involve strictly monetary commitment. RA is a guy who is personally invested in raising money and awareness for a very important cause. IMO he get more airtime because he's a fascinating guy to interview.

MLB TradeRumors site has crashed. That might seem out of place with the present atmosphere of enmity that exist here now.

MLB Trader site working for me. Says that Jeffress has chosen free agency and there is an expectation of a contract with a new team. Another lost "asset"?

McGowan was sitting 92-94 with his 4 seamer in the first inning and was 91-93 through the fourth. In the fifth the pitch was 89-91. It could be the cold but it bears watching in his next start.

Sergio Santos 4 fastballs, 12 sliders, 3 walks. I know Santos has a great slider but 75% sliders sounds like a lot especially when he can't throw it for a strike.

The scout on gameday had a sarcastic comment in the last at-bat by Dozier. The comment was "Santos shows a lot of faith in Navarro by throwing that slider in the dirt".

By the way I think Navarro has been an excellent addition to the club but his weakness is blocking balls.

Sure was a good thing Tosca took Cecil out to get the platoon advantage.

This is the worst inning of baseball I've ever watched. And I was part of the TBBL's first season.

Tosca?

That inning was Ankielish.

That was crazy.  I hope Jason Stark is ready.

As for the Dickey Effect, I had no idea it could afflict pitchers. Wildness is contagious, apparently. Oof.

I repeat: MLB TradeRumors site is down or nothing happened in Baseball over the last 5 hours.

That was disgraceful, was it the total inability to handle the cold, or was it just due.

Did that really just happen?

Glad I missed that one.  The walks would have been bad for my blood pressure.  I know the pen is going to blow a few leads over a year, but I much prefer if they throw strikes and get beaten with the long ball, a bunch of hits and some stolen bases...actually any other way than walking eight batters. 

Incidentally, a wee dram doesn't cover this. 

One scotch, one bourbon, one beer.

"Due" is a funny concept. After so many posts of almost incomprehensible ignorance, Richard, one would think you'd be bound to eventually post something halfway intelligent or insightful in the same manner that even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Sadly, this has not been the case.

"One scotch, one bourbon, one beer."

You'll need a lot more than that to drown the sorrows of this game. It's a good start though.

Had to check Brooks Baseball to see the pitch f/x stuff to see if the relievers were squeezed at the end or if they were that wild.

Santos: 1 pitch in strike zone, 15 outside with 2 of those outside called strikes (both close) and one way low swung at
Delabar: 2 pitches in strike zone, 3 just barely off, 10 clearly off.  2 non-strikes called strikes
Happ: 8 strikes, 18 outsize zone, 1 outside called a strike

Ugh.  11 pitches in the strike zone, 46 outsize the zone.  Nearly a 4 to 1 ratio.  The ump wasn't squeezing them, he was HELPING them with 5 balls called strikes.  Ouch.

I was wondering if the Jays set any mlb records with that ridiculous inning. Well, I've found one so far. Santos is the first pitcher in mlb history to throw 3 wild pitches in an inning without getting an out. Don't know if the Twins' 6-run 8th set a record for the most runs scored in an inning where the team only got 1 hit, or if Santos set a record for the most run-scoring wild pitches in one inning with 3.

Delabar awarded with a Hold (according to the boxscore at http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=340417309&teams=toronto-blue-jays-vs-minnesota-twins ).

Parker

What I said is understandable. That you can't, might say something about me. That you feel you must comment as you do, that does say something about you. And that's sad.

The information about Jeffress refusing his minor league assignment came to Trade Rumours from a tweet from Yahoo's Jeff Passan.

Bad things just seem to happen when the Jays go on the road in April in cold weather.

Because of a number of short outings by the SPs, the bullpen is getting worked pretty hard. It's tough to go Loup/Wagner/Cecil/Delabar/Santos over the course of five innings on a frequent basis.

Walking the first two batters in the eighth when you're up 5-3 on the road, trying to win a series to go 9-7 and keep the good mojo going...not good.

In the silver lining dept., Loup was superb and Bautista's HR was a thing of beauty.

Well, out of first and now in 2nd 2 games back while just 1/2 a game out of the wild card.  Hutch tonight, Buehrle tomorrow, and Morrow Sunday. Lets hope for the best in Cleveland.  Then comes 3 here vs Baltimore, 3 vs Red Sox, then on the road to Kansas City to end April.  May will mainly be against teams from other division as just 6 games are in the AL East (Rays & Red Sox) so that should be an interesting month and hopefully one with more wins than this month will likely have.

Well that was the doubleheader in Minnesota. Now let us never speak of it again.

i think BlueJaysWay has it right.

Looking forward, I see that the high for today in Cleveland is 16C.  A solid 7 innings from Hutchison would be just what the doctor ordered.

It will be interesting to check out G____ during the Cleveland series. I want to see how much he resembles the player I remember from his brief stint in Toronto.

Speaking of SPs who can go 7 innings, AJ had a nice start yesterday for the Phillies, beating the Braves 1-0.

Is this a good time to have a thread on the state of the franchise? I will confess up front that I have little to contribute to a blog of this level of sophistication, however I read BB every day and enjoy the ideas; and even the little bit of snark. Just seems to me that the team has been going sideways.

Here is fangraphs' general estimate of its wRC+ ratings:

Excellent 120
Great 100
Above Avg 80
Average 60
Below Avg 55
Poor 50
Awful 40

For an idea of how tough it's been for Brett Lawrie in the early going, his wRC+ this year is 17.

Is this a good time to have a thread on the state of the franchise?

I think the capacity for sober reflection is not great either on the heels of great success or great failure. Some distance from yesterday's ugliness is probably required.

The season is only 10% done. What looked like a .500ish team is actually playing .500. Maybe give it a few more turns through the rotation to see what's what.

For an idea of how tough it's been for Brett Lawrie in the early going, his wRC+ this year is 17.

Which would, presumably, be history's worst 30 HR/100 RBI season (Lawrie's current pace).

krose, I think that a "state of the franchise" assessment would be highly appropriate at some point (perhaps when the season is over, perhaps earlier). If the Jays don't have a good season, I think it will be safe to say that the FO has failed, as the team's core of players is moving past their prime and there is a good chance that Rasmus and/or Cabrera will be gone.

Apart from last night's game, the team has looked surprisingly good this year, though. They've hung tough without Reyes and Janssen and have generally played well. I want to see where they're at at the All-Star break and whether they can stay in contention during the stretch run. If they fall out of contention, I expect there to be a lot of disenchantment possibly some personnel changes in the FO.

Which would, presumably, be history's worst 30 HR/100 RBI season (Lawrie's current pace).

As long as one of every three of Lawrie's HR's come with the bases loaded and outfielders sometimes drop his shallow fly balls with a runner on third, he should be fine.

Thanks for the replies. They make sense. Is it possible that influential people within the BJs organization read this blog and take some value away? Could an analysis from the main contributors influence decision making in the near future? Too presumptive?

I agree with Chuck.  There aren't many clues yet to the important questions about the team, most of which surround the current rotation and the alternatives on the team and in Buffalo.  The only thing that seems pretty clear is that it is unlikely Aaron Sanchez will make a significant contribution this year. 

It certainly was bad timing to have Lind and Reyes out and Rasmus ailing when facing three RHPs.  A little mitigation would have helped...