The decision to fire Bo Porter makes perfect sense to me.  The Astros are a better team than they were last year, and their record reflects that real improvement.  Porter is perhaps an adequate manager, but no better than that.  They now mean to win (if not next year, then the year after that) and adequate is no longer enough. 

You're probably right. I'm just wondering what Porter did or didn't do that made them think he wasn't their guy going forward.

Porter and Luhnow were at odds and openly.......one of them had to go.

Ken Rosenthal recently reported on the tension between Porter and Luhnow.

Ah, there you go.

Wow.  If Graveman is indeed called up that is one heck of an amazing year for him.  Started the year repeating A ball (Lansing) and shot up to AAA earlier and did fantastic and now the majors?  Just wow.

No one else in the 6/7/8/9/10th rounds of the 2013 draft has made it, Buck Farmer for the Tigers was a 5th rounder who has been up, Kyle Crockett is a 4th rounder who has done well in the pen for Cleveland (1.82 ERA in 24 2/3 IP 2.2 BB/9 8.0 K/9 0.7 HR/9), while first rounders Marco Gonzales  and Corey Knebel  both have had a bit of time in the majors (under 5 games each).  He'd be the first Jays 2013 pick to reach, just Stroman has made it from the 2012 draft, while Pillar, Norris, and DeSclafani have made it from the 2011 draft.

Might be an effort by the Jays to up his value in trade talks this winter, or might be a real 'lets see if he has it' for the 5th slot next year (fighting with Norris, Sanchez, and whoever else to claim it if anyone goes down or a trade happens).

Is there a source on Graveman to the show?  that would indeed be remarkable, especially when this is what his AAA manager has to say in John Lott's Aug. 29th article.

'Gary Allenson, calls him a “soft-tosser.”

“A big-league starter? I don’t know,” Allenson said. “He doesn’t light up the radar gun. But he’s got good movement on his fastball, and it’s late movement. You do a game report after he pitches and he’s thrown up 12 or 13 ground balls. And when you have guys like [Jonathan] Diaz and [Ryan] Goins behind him, that’s really good. A guy like that doesn’t have to strike guys out, but the defence better be ready because it may be coming your way.”

Diaz and Goins are certainly going to make you look better than Reyes and Kawasaki/Tolleson.

"....is there a source on Graveman...?"

The source is Shi Davidi, but he didn't say that Graveman definitely will be called up.  He said it's being considered.  He said Graveman and Nolin are both being "considered" for a call-up.  So it's not a done deal.  But normally Davidi has very good sources in the Jays organization, and he doesn't report things speculatively.  He reports things when they are actually being considered.  So I'd say there's a pretty good chance that Graveman will be promoted -- otherwise why would his name be circulating within the Jays organization as a possibility?  But there's no guarantee that it will happen.

Kendall Graveman was a Senior and a top Starter in his team's College World Series bid when drafted. That screams, "he knows how to pitch and can control his stuff". Usually when you draft College Pitchers, it's what you see is what you get.

Very few pitchers are really good Draft Year, as somewhere along the line they run out of gas. The next year is usually the most telling for Pitchers as over that time you should have some idea of how fast he should go. Developing and commanding a new and totally different pitch, will make anyone better. How good you become depends on how good you were to start with.

It might be beneficial for Graveman to start in AAA next year just to get innings pitched, but I doubt he'll learn much there. Getting called up, lets him test himself by the best there is. Then we get to see what he has.

The Rosenthal article excludes one other Porter nugget. Porter doesn't even know the rules of baseball.

This article summed up what happened:
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/10/bo-porter-wasnt-trying-to-pull-a-fast-one-he-actually-didnt-know-the-rules-and-neither-did-the-umps/

I think this is the first and last time Porter ever manages a team at the MLB level.

Surely, being able to influence umpires is an important skill.

In 5 months he got 17 decisions overturned on 27 challenges.

Gibby only managed 11 overturned calls on 33 challenges.

Except that the umpires have nothing to do with overturning a challenge...

Managers have little to do with challenging either, it's the video room guy.

Neil Wagner DFA'd.

I just say on another forum, that Dalton Pompey got the call.  Source seems to be his twitter account

Dalton Pompey ‏@DaltonPompey 9m

Hometown kid getting the chance to play for his hometown team! I got the call. So grateful to everyone who supports me! #dreamcometrue

Good, glad to see the Jays making moves that might help the team instead of being worried about paying the guy years down the road.

Mike Wilner is tweeting that Pompey got the call.  He was 6-0 stealing bases in Buffalo, after 8-5 in New Hampshire and 29-2 in Dunedin.  I imagine that he'll get some pinch-running assignments.  It's better having him out there than Stroman or Hutchison.

At age 21, Pompey had an OBP of .375 or better and a slugging pct of .450 or better at three levels, in addition to the stolen base efficiency and excellent defence in centerfield.  In most years, he'd be the #1 prospect in the organization without much contest.  This year, Norris and Pompey have made the journey more or less together and both have been very, very impressive.  It would be nice if the suits loosened the purse strings just a little in the off-season in recognition of the opportunity afforded by the coalescence of young and prime talent.  Timing is everything.

Honestly with Pompey and Gose coming up (and Pillar up already), wouldn't surprise me to not see a ton of Rasmus for the rest of the year. He's been awful hitting and his defense is a step below at least Gose and I assume Pompey based on his reputation.

Here's Graveman's tweet:

Kendall Graveman ‏@kage49 35m
1st thanks to The Lord, Family, Coaches along the way, and Friends. Dreams do come true. #GoJays and #Hailstate

Full list of call-ups:

Shi Davidi ‏@ShiDavidi 2m
Per industry sources, #BlueJays full Sept call-up list: Norris, Nolin, Graveman, Morrow, Pompey, Gose, Goins, Johnson, Kottaras

Surprised Jimenez is not on there. I wonder how healthy is his elbow?

OK, this is going to be an interesting September. One more 40-Man move to make. Hopefully this gets them into the postseason.

Hopefully this gets them into the postseason.

Hopefully. And hopefully my hair will grow back, in the fullness and abundance of my mostly mis-spent youth. But I'm not sure which is more unlikely.

Oh ye of little faith....or hair.

A few surprises on that list from PeteMoss...

No shock: Nolin, Morrow, Gose, Goins, Kottaras (mild, but was the logical choice if Jimenez wasn't ready)
Mild suprise: Norris - using a roster slot that could've been saved, Johnson - not a lot of value on this team as he'll be let go this winter barring a major surprise
Big surprise:  Graveman, Pompey - thought they'd be left down for sure to save 40 man slots and possibly an option year each.  They earned it though, so nice to see

The mild and big surprises are good ones though - all 3 earned a callup by being very productive at every level and basically forcing the Jays hand. That is what we all want to see more often out of prospects rather than the Gose method of 'I am skilled so call me up even if I don't do the job in the minors'.

Surprises on not being called up: Drabek, Delabar, and Rasmussen.  Delabar especially given he was an all-star last year and now doesn't even get a September call up.  Talk about a drop from grace.  Drabek might be called up later if needed I suspect as I see him as a potential pen piece for 2015.

This also suggests guys like Mastroianni, Hague, Hynes can count their days on the roster in days rather than  years.

FYI: the Jays site now has Graveman and Norris listed on the 40 man but not Pompey yet.

So the Jays need to remove 3 players from the 40-man roster.  The obvious names are Hynes, Hague and Mastroianni -- unless perhaps Lawrie can be moved to the 60-man disabled list, if the team reckons that he won't return from injury this month.  It will be interesting to see if the Jays use the 40-man roster squeeze to drop a veteran who might not be returning next season.  Francisco will probably be kept on the roster, but if the team figures that his August collapse is a long-term issue, they could drop him. 

Not surprised the called Pompey up, they needed to see what they had. Ditto Norris. Both may matter in 2015. Mastroianni is shortchanged thereby.

I get why Morrow isn't up - just back, not enough time. Fine.

Delabar has pitched well but not spectacularly in AAA. Perhaps they're still seeing only low-90s speeds? Something else not quite back? Also, if the truth is that he won't get any pitching time, then maybe it's best to close the season for him. Slightly surprised, even so.

Very surprised re: Graveman. There was no downside that I could see having him finish a successful season in AAA, and you'd save a 40-man roster move. Plus, Drabek did well in limited relief, I was interested in seeing him back up. He could have value next year, our bullpen needs a few more arms as it won't have Casey or Santos, and probably not Sanchez. How Delabar, Drabek, and Rasmussen can handle things alongside McGowan, Loup, and Cecil may be important.

Hmm, Morrow was activated. Man, not sure how that will go. Guess we'll find out.

You don't have hope, Magpie?  That's really sad.  The odds are indeed against the home nine, but they are not done (like the southernmost reaches of my pate).  Fangraphs has them with a 3% chance of making the playoffs.  I agree with that figure.  And if you can't root for an underdog in September, what good is the game anyways?

I'm all in with the Blue Jays this season to make the playoffs. Just made a bet for them to win the world series at 77/1 odds. Good bye $1000 I guess. Don't tell the girlfriend...

I suspect Magpie is in the same boat as me... we've been here, done that for decades (my first game was in '78).  We know the odds are crazy low of making it now, so core thoughts/hopes are with the kids now while knowing that, yeah, there is a chance (I remember Oakland's 20 game winning streak a few years back - Aug 13 to Sept 4th 2002 winning every game - funny, forgot it started vs the Jays - going from 3rd 4 1/2 back to 1st 3 1/2 up - they went 15-8 after that in the regular season too).

Right now the Jays are 10 games behind Baltimore, 5 1/2 out of the wild card so basically the Jays need to do something similar to what Oakland did in 2002 - a pair of 10-1 stretches would be fine too of course :)

Some hope but not a lot.  For examples... where the Jays were after games of Sept 1st....
2000: 5 1/2 out of first, 1 1/2 out of the wild card (we all forget how close the Jays were that year).  Jays went 12-16 after
1999: 5 out of the wild card, went 13-14 to close the season

That's about it for faint hope at this point of the season since the WS years.  1998 they were 9 games out, went 16-8 after and finished 4 games out of a playoff spot for the closest finish.

So yeah, the odds are long.  The times the Jays made the playoffs (85/89/91/92/93) they were in first in the AL East at this point of the season.

Got me thinking... if there were 2 wild cards from 1994 to today would the Jays have made the playoffs at any point?
2010: would've been 4 games out
2008: 3 games out
2007: 5 games out
2006: 3 games out
2001: 5 games out (85 wins is all it would've taken that year)
1999: 3 games out
1998: in with 3 games to spare (poor Tim Johnson...might that have saved his career? Probably not)

That's it for within 5 games of a 2nd wild card slot (if it existed).  Making it in '98 though might have convinced Clemens to stay and who knows after that?

Here's an interesting article about Danny Farquhar.

A lot of call ups for Sept. We will find out how they will be used and even IF/how much they will be used.
I say IF because there are unwritten rules in baseball or so I am led to believe. Taking playing time away from veterans to give to a kid can be frowned upon by other veterans. But this culture probably developed before players were making such huge amounts of money. Something about the kid having to pay his dues.
Only Graveman and Norris were called up before the Rule 5 protection requirements. Norris needed to be protected after 2015. Pompey on the other hand was a 2010 HS pick, 16th round. His 5 years are up.
All the call ups bring something to the team. Pinch running and better defense for sure. There are implications for next year in these moves possibly. Most of these players are cheap.
I can see Graveman being a decent long man in the pen next year, with the chance to improve on that, like C Jenkins. Norris looks like he is close enough to the majors so that he would have come up next year anyway ie you cannot have too much pitching. I feel that an option will be used up for Norris next year because it is only takes 20 days in the minors. If he need no more time in the minors then he is extra special.

Speaking of September call-ups, the Cubs aren't going to be calling up Kris Bryant.  They called up Soler, and look what that's brought them.  Wins.  Absolutely the last thing they need right now!

would appreciate seeing any info on A J Jiminez....I know he was out with a flexor injury for close to 2 weeks but did play in 3 of he last 4 games and acquitted himself well............playing at less than 100%?  ..just being precautionary?

Checking Jimenez's game logs I see he played from the 27th to 31st, 158/150/368 in 20 PA with 0 BB and 5 SO.  I suspect the Jays wanted to get him a tiny bit of game action then give him rest.  I wouldn't be surprised if he gets into instructional or winter leagues this off-season to get some more reps before spring (as a DH or 1B or something other than catcher).  Then in the spring give him a full tryout to make the team.  If he tore the cover off the ball or looked to be 100% I suspect he would've got the call but now will just get a bit of rest before practicing all winter to try to make it to the bigs.

Mastro and Hague DFA'd

Lawrie to 60 day DL

Wagner released

I have not abandoned hope. After all, every time I cut my hair I hope it grows back thicker.

So the jays roster is:

CF Rasmus ---- Pompey
RF Bautista -- Gose
LF Cabrera --- Pillar
3B Francisco - Valencia
SS Reyes ----- Goins
2B Kawasaki -- Tolleson
1B En'cion --- Johnson
DH Lind ------ Mayberry
C Navarro ---- Thole ---- Kottaras

DL: Lawrie, Izturis


SP Stroman
SP Buehrle
SP Dickey
SP Hutchison
SP Happ

RP RH Janssen
RP LH Cecil
RP RH McGowan
RP LH Loup
RP RH Redmond
RP RH Jenkins
RP RH Morrow
RP RH Sanchez
RP LH Norris
RP RH Graveman
RP LH Nolin

DL: none


So a full nine man bench plus a third catcher, and an 11 man bullpen. A 35 man roster in all.

I hope we still don't give much time to the least of these guys, because that would mean we were out of it...but at the very least gibber should be able to go nuts with l/r matchups.


P.S. Are we sure rasmussen didn't get a callup?

Quite sure - via the Jays site: No. 1 prospect Norris, eight others joining Blue Jays

I am not sure which is more fascinating -- the Jays collapse or the O's surge. The AL East has been a funny thing the last few years but how long is it going to stay that way, before we turn to normalcy (Yankees/Sox 1-2)?

It'll be vaguely depressing to look back at 13-14 and think, "If only..."

The only thing that could make it more depressing is if KC wins the WS this year. I am of that age where I really hate the Royals for no good reason other than vague childhood memories.

And then they won it all in 1987, the year the Jays collapsed to close the season (although the collapse was no fault of the Royals, but they scooped up what should have belonged to the Jays).

Maybe you should start hating the Twins then instead for 1987 and 1991.

The Royals were a lot of fun to watch in the 70s, as they patiently and cleverly built a perennial contender.  Most people who remember those clubs find it difficult to dislike the current less competitive version of the Royals.  Besides, Bill James, Rob Neyer, Rany...

For me...

1987? I only have so much hate to go around and 1987 bred a much more memorable hate of the Tigers.

1991 was a charming year, Twins, Braves, worst to first, that sort of thing.

But the Royals, I don't know if I would have been allowed to stay up for the WS games if the Jays had won, but the let down in 1985 and the disappointment of the 1986 season wore hard and the Royals were the reason that I hit on... I find like James, Neyer, and Poz despite the references to the Royals that are irritating; references to that other team in blue.

"....P.S. Are we sure rasmussen didn't get a callup?...."

I found this a little surprising too.  He pitched well for Buffalo this season, and looked pretty good in his brief appearance in the majors too, and he's still only 25, with a promising future ahead of him.   Assuming he is healthy, there are a few plausible explanations:

1) the Jays are confident that they've already assessed Rasmussen adequately, and they don't need a further look at him in the majors to assess his potential.  This seems rather dubious, since he's only had 11 innings in the majors.

2) the Jays want to take a serious look at Norris, Graveman, Nolin and Morrow, and they don't want to reduce the potential innings of those four pitchers by giving any innings to Rasmussen.  This is a possible explanation, but has the team given up on the playoffs?  Is it only in prospect-assessment mode?  Because I think Rasmussen is probably a better major-league reliever than a Nolin or Graveman at this stage of his career.  He is older, more experienced, more tested, and has already had some success at the major-league level.  If the Jays are still in the playoff hunt, don't they want the best players on the roster, not just the best prospects?

3) the Jays actually believe that Rasmussen is an inferior MLB pitcher to everyone else on the roster, including Nolin and Graveman.  This seems dubious to me, for the reasons mentioned above.

I remember hating the Royals in 1985 as well. And my main focus seemed to be Willie Wilson, part of the cocaine scandal of a couple of years earlier, who if I remember correctly hit really well against the Jays in the ALCS.
Funnily enough, back in 2003 through my work, I met the Toronto woman he married. She arranged for her husband to very kindly sign two baseball cards for my sons, then aged 8 and 9. After that, I didn't hate Wilson quite so much....

Rasmussen had just 10 appearances.  In 3 of them the leverage was over 0.7 (actually well over 1 in these 3) and in two of them he failed to get an out (1 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 R) while the third he got 2 outs but gave up a hit, walk, and a HBP but somehow escaped without allowing a run (the pen saved him).  The next highest pressure game was getting one out when the Jays were up by 3.  In short, if there was any pressure he didn't do well so odds are he'd only be used in mop up situations and we have plenty of guys for that now.

Next spring I'd say give him a full look again and decide then if he can make the team, but for now use Loup and Cecil for tough LH hitters, at least as long as you think the Jays are in it.

Could be a 4th reason on Rasmussen CF. Maybe he's got a bit of an injury or a tired arm and they prefer to shut him down
?

Managers have little to do with challenging either, it's the video room guy.

Are they not the ones who issue the challenges? Apart from wins and losses, it's the only manager stat that baseball-reference  tracks.

The manager takes a slow walk to the ump, tells either his pitcher to stay off the rubber or his batter to stay out of the box. The bench coach is in contact with the video guy. At some point, the bench coach signals the manager either yes or no for a challenge.

I remember once late in a losing game, Gibby just went ahead and challenged on his own (and lost the challenge) in a grasping at straws move but that's not the norm.