When Alex Wants, Alex Gets

Since last off-season Alex Anthopoulos had been targeting CF Colby Rasmus from the St. Louis Cardinals. He tried in the off-season, he tried in June, but both times he failed. Today, on July 27th he finally got what he wanted. But in order to do that he had to pull off a trade with the Chicago White Sox first. AA traded Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart to the White Sox for Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen. AA then flipped Jackson,Mark Zep,Corey Patterson, Octavio Dotel and 3 players to be named later or cash considerations for Colby Rasmus, Brian Tallet, Trevor Miller, and P.J Walters. The Cardinals wanted Rasmus off there team because he wasn't listening to there coaches, but if I were him, I wouldn't want to listen to their coaches either. They don't have good coaches too develop a young player like Rasmus, so in my opinion Rasmus was right to be listening to his father instead of the Cardinals coaches.
Rasmus is going to be a 5-tool player in the near future, and that is why the Jays are the clear winner of this three way trade. The Jays gave up relievers that wouldn't be on this team next year, and got the only player in the 12 player deal that has a good future. AA got rid of a horrible outfielder,and has pulled off another trade in which he is the winner.

With this trade finally giving the Jays a CF after Vernon Wells was traded in January, the lineup for 2012 and beyond comes into picture now. Maybe a few tweaks will come in 2013 with the arrivals of speedster Anthony Gose, Catcher Travis D'arnaud and defensive wizard Adeiny Hech. Aaron Hill also might not be in the lineup in 2012, but my guess is that he signs a new contract in the off-season after AA doesn't pick up his options. This is how i see the lineup being in 2012, and if the Jays have decent pitching next season, I see them making the playoffs 100%.

C-J.P Arencibia
1B-Adam Lind
2B-Aaron Hill
3B-Brett Lawrie
SS-Yunel Escobar
LF-Travis Snider
CF-Colby Rasmus
RF-Jose Bautista
DH-Eric Thames

Ricky Romero threw 8.1 beautiful shutout innings as the Jays beat the Orioles 3-0 to even the series at 1. The rubber match goes tomorrow at 7:07 PM, Carlos Villanueva takes the mound when Colby Rasmus makes his Blue Jays debut.

Welcome Back Brett!

RHP Brett Cecil has been recalled from AAA Las Vegas today while the Jays have optioned RHP Zach Stewart back to AA. I believe Stewart knew he wasn't going to be here a long time because his stuff never came from AA when he was called up, it just stayed in New Hampshire. Cecil went 8-2 with a 5.26 ERA, but his ERA doesn't matter because he was pitching in the insane hitting league in the Pacific Coast League. Cecil was in the minors to get his velocity back, which dropped significantly during spring training. As a result of his low velocity he was not able to get any hitters out, so he was sent down. Stewart pitched one good game out of his three in the majors, but the other two were not worthy of him being here. Stewart will go back to AA because it is a much better league for pitchers to develop in than the PCL. Cecil will pitch on Thursday vs. the Pirates, taking Carlos Villanueva's spot in the rotation. Villanueva will pitch Saturday vs. the Phillies when Roy Halladay steps on the mound in Toronto for the first time since being traded.

This will be my last post until late July or early August because I will be away.Jose Bautista faces his old team the Pirates for the first time since he was traded to Toronto, so this will be an interesting game to watch tonight.

Patterns in the Blue Jays Play?

Over the past week the Blue Jays have had many pattern in the way they play, although it has really stretched through out the entire season. From June 14th, when the Jays opened up a series against Baltimore until yesterday the pitching has been spectacular, while the offense was struggling.The Pitchers have allowed 25 runs in 79 innings pitched, which comes out to an ERA of 3.16, a very good mark for an entire pitching staff. The offense on the other hand has scored just 23 runs in those same 9 games which is an average of 2.60 runs per game, or 23 runs in 74 innings which comes out as the opponents ERA as 3.10, which is slightly better than the Jays pitchers. This trend goes back the enitre season when the pitching would be dominant and the hitters wouldn't even take the bats off there shoulders. The best example of that would be Ricky Romero. When Romero Loses, the Jays have scored 8 runs, that's 1.14 per game, which means in those losses, if Romero wanted to win he would need an ERA of 1.13 or lower, that is ridiculous. Romero did call out the offence after he took his seventh loss of the season on Monday night after only allowing two runs in a beautifully pitched game by both him and his Atlanta counterpart Tim Hudson.

The Jays are off today and a move could be made to bring a player up because John Farrell said that the Jays need a spark in there lineup to get there offence going.
For those wondering Dustin McGowan is going to start his rehab assignment soon, and could be back with the Jays in less than two months.

Drabek Sent Down, Stewart Recalled from AA

Kyle Drabek has been sent down to AAA, even though Manager John Farrell said he wouldn't be. The last player in the Scott Rolen trade will finally get his chance to play for the Jays as Zach Stewart will be taking Drabek's spot in the rotation. Stewart is 4-3 with a 4.39 era in New Hampshire, while Drabek has allwoed 22 earned runs in his last 22 and 1/3 innings. This move comes as a shock to me because of Brett Cecil's stellar performance in Las Vegas, but clearly the club still wants to see an improvement from the PCL wins leader.

Realignment?

With the current CBA set to expire in December, many rules and other things will likely be changed. There has been a rumour that the MLBPA, and the MLB have been talking about realigning the leagues, to have two 15-team leagues, instead of the NL having 16 teams, and the AL having 14. The obvious question is, will there be interleague everyday, if this does get thrown into the CBA next year. The answer of course is yes, but is that good for the league. Of course it isn't, the AL teams would be furious, why should the AL have to have a pitcher bat, when there rule is to have a DH? So if the 15-15 leagues does happen, could this mean the NL is going to start to use the DH,or could it mean that the AL is reverting back to the old system, and having a pitcher bAT. The team that is rumoured to be the front runner to move if this actually happens is the Houston Astros. The two reasons why they are the front runner are that they are in the 6-team NL Central, and they would be able to move to the 4-team AL West, and because they would create a rivalry with the Texas Rangers, which would bring in a lot more money for the teams.

2011 MLB Draft Preview

With the 2011 first year player draft less than 24 hours away it is time to talk about it. This is going to be a special draft because it is likely to be the last one with the "Type A, Type B" compensation rule. This rule makes no sense for both the players, and the MLB so it is one of the rules most destined to be changed in the next CBA. The players take a huge pay cut because teams with low draft picks are resilient to sign a player if that takes away the teams first round draft pick. When the bottom feeding teams cant add from the free agent pool, it means that the only teams improving are the ones with high draft picks, from around pick 15 and above, because they can sign players, and not care what happens to there pick. It makes no sense for the league because of the sandwich round in between the first and second rounds of the draft.This creates a huge number of draft picks to teams who lose players in the off-season, but makes the teams that don't get barely any talent from the draft. The premier example is the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. The pirates have the first pick in the draft, but there next pick is the 63rd, which means they only get one high ceiling player, and the rest are high risk players. In between those two picks, teams such as our Toronto Blue Jays, and the Tampa Bay Rays have a plethora of picks, and will improve drastically more from the draft then a team like Pittsburgh. The Pirates haven't had a winning season in 18 years, and this system is partially the reason.
This is also anticipated to be the last draft without draft pick trading, a rule in the other big three North American sports, yet to come to the MLB. This rule would fix the compensation rule, because it would allow teams like Pittsburgh to move up into the compensation round, from the second and third rounds of the draft.
2011 MLB First Round Draft Order
1 Pittsburgh Pirates
2 Seattle Mariners
3 Arizona D-backs
4 Baltimore Orioles
5 Kansas City Royals
6 Washington Nationals
7 Arizona D-backs
8 Cleveland Indians
9 Chicago Cubs
10 San Diego Padres
11 Houston Astros
12 Milwaukee Brewers
13 New York Mets
14 Florida Marlins
15 Milwaukee Brewers
16 Los Angeles Dodgers
17 Los Angels Angels
18 Oakland A's
19 Boston Red Sox
20 Colorado Rockies
21 Toronto Blue Jays
22 St Louis Cardinals
23 Washington Nationals
24 Tampa Bay Rays
25 San Diego Padres
26 Boston Red Sox
27 Cincinnati Reds
28 Atlanta Braves
29 San Fransisco Giants
30 Minnesota Twins
31 New York Yankees
32 Tampa Bay Rays
33 Texas Rangers

Brett Lawrie was placed on the 7-day DL in Las Vegas today, but it is retroactive to June 1st, meaning he could play again on June 8th. He likely wont be on the Jays until June 17th in Cincinnati, because AA likes to start prospects away from the Rogers Centre.

Rumors are circulating that the Jays are switching uniforms next season, i personally like the newer ones, and i think the Jays have to stop trying to change everything back to the glory years, because that doesn't win championships, winning teams do.

The Best Laid Schemes of Mice and Men Go Often Awry

On Tuesday afternoon Alex Anthopoulos hinted that superstar prospect Brett Lawrie will be making his major league debut on Friday night at Camden Yards in Baltimore. About five hours later Lawrie stepped into the batters box in AAA to face newly called up pitcher Anthony Bass of the Tucson Padres. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Lawrie was hit by a mid-90's fastball, and was taken to the hospital for x-rays. The twitter world was going crazy, and every single Jays fan was holding there breath, praying that Lawrie would be okay. After 3 hours of sitting and waiting to hear what had happened to his hand, Lawrie posted on twitter that it was just a bruise, and nothing was broken. Lawrie, who is batting .354 with an ops of 1.092, a very good mark. The stat that was holding the Jays front office back from calling him up was BB/K, but he has raised the mark significantly since he was told to only swing at pitches in the strike zone , even if it means less hits. Lawrie has hit more home runs since the discussion as the result of only swinging at pitches he knows he can hit. He is likely to join the Jays on the upcoming road tip, but will not be ready to play in Friday's game because of bruising. Fantasy owners should pick him up immediately because he will be playing against a weak pitching staff in Kansas City next week when he gets called up to "The Show".

The Jays Gm also announced that Dustin McGowan might come back to the bigs as a starter, not as a reliever like the team suspected. McGowan will begin a rehab assignment when extended spring training ends, and will then need to be called up to the Jays, or put on waivers.

4 Dunedin Blue Jays were named to the FSL All-star game today. Among them is 2010 first round draft pick Deck McGuire, who has a 2.70 era, and a 1.20 whip in A+ so far this season.

Follow me on twitter on @bluejaysplus

Does Anybody Have a Closer the Jays Could Borrow??

Imagine what life could be, if the Jays had a reliable closer. Imagine the shape our hearts would be in because they wouldn't be pounding every minute that we have a lead in the 9th inning. Imagine how many wins the Jays could get if they can develop a closer, that saves games.
We all hope that Dustin McGowan will be back in the next 3 or 4 months, but will be he ready to take on that role. Dustin has lost a significant amount of velocity because of all 4,789,584 of his shoulder surgeries he had this past two years( he really only had two). I would like to see him develop his curve ball, it used to get .455 percent of the time, compared to the league average of .241. His other two pitches, slider and splitter, were also hit over 40% of the time last night. He was clearly a fastbal;l pitcher, as t=hitters only hit the ball 13% of the time, and he averaged the third best speed in the league behind Justin Verlander and AJ Burnett. He needs to be recalled and on the 25 man roster within 60 days of starting to rehab.

Frank Fransisco did blow the game last night, but he induced two ground balls, so he really pitched well, but the defense behind him wasn't the best. The "Closers" are struggling right now, but the rest of the bullpen is pitching amazingly.

For its 1,2,3 Bautista Bombs at the Old Ball Game!!!!

After hitting home runs in the past two games, Jose Bautista was 1 ahead of Curtis Granderson for the MLB lead coming into Sunday's game. But poor Bautista didn't feel comfortable with just a 1 home run lead, so he decided to join Roy Halladay in the non-human club. He went up to bat 3 straight times on Sunday, and all three times hit home runs. Bautista is now on pace to hit 64.8 if he plays every single game until the end of the regular season. With Jose's help The Jays wrapped up the sweep of the ailing Twins by giving them a nice thumping by a score of 11-3. Aaron Hill looked as he finally found his swing after a year and a half of just waving at the ball. Hill went 2-5 with 2 rbi's, and Jose Molina went 3-4 but did a lot of running. Molina scored from first on a double by Yunel Escobar, and also tagged up from second to third on a pop up to center field again off of the bat of Yunel Escobar. Brandon Morrow looked good when he was good, but looked awful when he was bad. Morrow walked in a run in the 4th, but also struck out 8 in just 5 innings of work. Morrow just couldn't find the strike zone most of the time, and that was the reason behind his high pitch count, which tallied 106 when Shawn Camp came into the game to work the 6th inning. The Jays are now back to .500 for the first time since April 30th, and are 4-3 when Alan Ashby calls the game on Sportsnet.

After Winning the game for the Jays on Tuesday night, David Cooper thought he would stay in Toronto for a while, presuming they would go back to a 7 man bullpen when Jayson Nix is ready to return from the disabled list. That prediction was wrong as Cooper was sent back down to the Las Vegas 51's today to make room for the healthy Nix. Cooper was batting .121 for the Jays, but also drew 5 walks.

Tomorrow's game in Detroit is scheduled for 7:05 PM, and Adam Lind is scheduled to be back in the line up for the first time since last Saturday.

More Roster Moves, Delgado Retires

After David Purcey couldn't find the strike zone again on Monday night, he was designated for assignment. That means he needs to be traded, released, or get put on waivers in the next 10 days. AA said he believes he can trade him, but I think the best trade he will be able to get is a PTBNL or a bench player. Purcey also might be an add on to a possible Juan Rivera trade, or Edwin Encarnacion trade. Brad Mills was called up to replace Purcey in the bullpen.Mills didn't get to make an appearance as on Wednesday night he was sent back down, while Luis Perez, the left handed pitcher was called up to replace him. The Jays enter a four gamer with the Red Sox, so they are going with a 8 man bullpen and 3 man bench because of the 14 inning game on Saturday night that tired there bullpen.
Rajai Davis was put on the DL on Tuesday, and Casey Jannsen was recalled, just 4 days after he was sent to down to Las Vegas.

The Jays have the most scouts in the MLB, and have the 4th best farm system.That is very good, and that is why TWIB is doing this weeks show on the Jays.The way the Jays get most of there prospects is via the draft, and they wont be short of high round picks this year, once again. The Jays have 7 picks in the top 80 this year, but don't get there first round pick until 21st. Pittsburgh will have the first pick in the draft this year, and hopefully they dont waste it again (Brian Bullington).
Former Blue Jay Carlos Delgado announced his retirement yesterday, and will be eligible for the Hall in 2016. Delgado is the Jays leader in a lot of categories, such as home runs and rbi's.
Poll results come out tommorw, but right now Brett Lawrie looks like the best prospect in the Jays minor league system.

Game 8: LA Angels of A 6, Blue Jays 5 F/14 innings

When a baseball game takes 5 hours ands 3 minutes, you know its a crazy game, but you don't expect it to be so crazy. You don't think that the Jays would turn 5 double plays,one bizarre one.You don't imagine that a fast guy like Bobby Abreu would be thrown out at home twice in extra innings.I'm sure you did not think that the Jays would call MLB headquarters during the game to get clearance for Yunel Escobar to play in the game last night, but they did.But what you don't expect is an umpire to hold a grudge on the jays for 19 years, but he did.
Think back to the World Series in 1992, when the Jays were facing the Braves.Do you remember the play when the Jays had turned a triple play, but Bob Davidson ruled it a double play, because most Jays fan do.So Davidson decided to show the Jays that he still hates them, and blew the game again tonight.He called an offensive interference on Yunel Escobar, which made the go ahead run in the top of the 13th not count, and it was all down hill from there.
Dan Haren came on in the top of the 14th,yes Dan Haren the starter, and shut down the Jays making them go 1,2,3. Jon Rauch came on in the bottom of the 14th to try to hold the Angels in check, and was doing a very nice job of it. Unfortunately after getting two quick outs, and getting ahead on Peter Bourjos hit a liner to right field. Travis Snider tripped while running back to the wall, and it was a double for the speedy Bourjos. Rauch then gave up a single to Maicer Izturis, and a strong throw from Jose Bautista wasn't able to get Bourjos at the plate as the Angels walked off 6-5.
It was a great game, but the Jays should have won it if Bob Davidson wasn't such a jerk.Jim Joyce is now the second worst umpire of all time in my books, as this is now the second time Davidson ruined a Jays game.

Shocking News from Tampa Bay

Just a few minutes ago, Manny Ramirez retired from playing America's Game professionally. The slugger who has 555 career home runs, good enough for 14th on the all time list, decided to hang up his cleats because of an issue he had regarding the MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. If Ramirez decides to come back and play again, he would have to continue with the program, from where he is leaving off. The Rays have now gone from a team that could have a good year, to a team that will most likely finish under .500.

Brandon Morrow and Frank Fransisco had horrible rehab appearances in Dunedin yesterday, but they will still pitch at least once more before rejoining the club. Octavio Dotel was reinstated from the DL yesterday, and will be part of a indestructible force with Mark Rzepczynski coming out of the bullpen. He will be the man to face right handers, while Rzepczynski will handle the lefties in late game situations. Casey Janssen was optioned back down to AAA, and will likely join the 51's this weekend.

The poll results are in, and out of the 13 people tested, 5 of them said the Jays will win the World Series this year. 3 people said the Red Sox would take it the championship, while 2 said the Phillies would, and three said another team would.0% of the people tested responded with the Giants repeating as World Champions this year.

Blue Jays Minor League Rosters

Triple-A Las Vegas

SP — Luis Perez
SP — Brad Mills
SP — Scott Richmond
SP — Mike MacDonald
SP — Randy Boone

RP — Winston Abreu
RP — Chad Cordero
RP — Sean Henn
RP — Mike Hinckley
RP — Wilfredo Ledezma
RP — Rommie Lewis
RP — Josh Roenicke

C — Ryan Budde
C — Brian Jeroloman

1B — David Cooper
2B — Niuman Romero
SS — Chris Woodward
3B — Brett Lawrie

UTL — Manny Mayorson

LF — Eric Thames
CF — Darin Mastroianni
RF — Adam Loewen
OF — Daniel Perales
OF — Jason Lane

DL — Scott Podsednik
DL — Ryan Shealey
DL — Robert Ray

Double-A New Hampshire

SP — Zach Stewart
SP — B.J. Lamura
SP — Joel Carreno
SP — Ray Gonzalez
SP — Willie Collazo

RP — Evan Crawford
RP — Matt Daly
RP — Clinton Everts
RP — Alan Farina
RP — Bobby Korecky
RP — Vince Perkins
RP — Ronald Uviedo

C — Travis d’Arnaud
C — Yan Gomes

1B — Mike McDade
2B — Jon Diaz
SS — Adeiny Hechavarria
3B — Mark Sobolewski
DH — Craig Stansberry

UTL — John Tolisano

LF — Adam Calderone
CF — Anthony Gose
RF — Moises Sierra
OF — Ricardo Nanita

DL — Scott Campbell
DL — Jared Potts
DL — Callix Crabbe
DL — Luis Sanchez
DL — Al Quintana

Inactive — Matt Liuzza

Class-A Dunedin

SP — Chad Jenkins
SP — Deck McGuire
SP — Asher Wojciechowski
SP — Chad Beck
SP — Ryan Tepera
SP — Nestor Molina

RP — Casey Beck
RP — Frank Gailey
RP — Dumas Garcia
RP — Wes Etheridge
RP — Matt Wright
RP — Ryan Shopshire

C — Antonio Jimenez
C — Sean Ochinko

1B — Jon Talley
2B — Ivan Contreras
SS – Ryan Goins
3B — Kevin Ahrens
DH — Brian Van Kirk

UTL — Justin Jackson
UTL — Kevin Nolan

LF — Kenny Wilson
CF — Bradley Glenn
RF — Brad McElroy
OF — Chris Hopkins

DL — Henderson Alvarez
DL — John Anderson
DL — Raul Barron
DL — Ryan Schimpf
DL — Sean Shoffit
DL — Andrew Liebel

Inactive — Justin McClanahan

Class-A Lansing

SP — Drew Hutchison
SP — Misaul Diaz
SP — Daniel Webb
SP — Egan Smith
SP — Casey Lawrence

RP — Daniel Barnes
RP — Scott Garcey
RP — Dayton Marze
RP — Alex Pepe
RP — Drew Permison
RP — Sam Strickland
RP — Steven Turnbull

C — Carlos Perez
C — Jack Murphy
C — Joseph Bowen

1B — KC Hobson
2B — Garis Pena
SS — Gustavo Pierre
3B — Bryson Namba

UTL — Oliver Dominguez
UTL — Balbino Fuenmayor

LF — Marcus Knecht
CF — Jacob Marisnick
RF — Michael Crouse
OF — Markus Brisker

DL — Dustin Antollin
DL — Matt Fields
DL — Sean Nolin
DL — Lance Durham
DL — Aaron Loup
DL — Brian Slover
DL — Marcus Walden

Oakland Series Update

The Oakland A's have announced that Dallas Braden will be moved back to start against the Jays on Wednesday, as Brandon McCarthy will be moved up to start on Tuesday. McCarthy will oppose Jays No.4 pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes as the series gets underway on Tuesday night.Rajai Davis is set to return to the line-up to face his for teammates, after he turned his ankle on opening night.

The Jays might have started there season last Friday, but the minor league affiliates have yet to start the 2011 campaign. The Las Vegas 51's, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and the Dunedin Blue Jays are all playing there first games this upcoming Thursday, the 7th.The other 4 minor league affiliates do not start for a while, and all of the players on those teams will stay at the Bobby Mattick Training Centre in Dunedin, Florida for extended spring training. After extended spring training, the BlueField Blue Jays, and the Vancouver Canadians will begin there first year as Blue Jays affiliates.

Game 3: Twins 4 Blue Jays 3

A late Rally by the Jays came up short as the Blue Birds fell to the Twins 4-3 at the Rogers Centre on Sunday. The Jays lost there first game of the season, after starting 2-0 against the Twins.

The reigning Home Run King, Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the new campaign off of Twins starter Nick Blackburn in the Fifth inning, on what happened to be Jose's own bobble head day. J.P Arencibia hit three shots that would have been home runs if the dome was open, but because it was closed, the balls just died at the wall. Adam Lind also hit a sure thing ball 399 feet, but becuase of the lack of air flow, the ball just stopped moving at the wall and just fell into CF Denard Span's glove.

Edwin Encarnacion had two errors in this game, which moves his total to three, in two games. Jose Bautista was supposed to start the season playing third base, but Manager, John Farrell moved Bautista back to RF, Encarnacion to 3B, and Juan Rivera to DH. We all know this move is just temporary as the Jays are going to bring up 3B prospect Brett Lawrie in a couple of weeks. Juan Rivera is just here to be a fill in guy, until Lawrie comes up, and Encarnacion moves back to DH.

Brett Cecil looked a little shooken up after he gave up a solo home run to  Danny Valencia in the third inning. He was taken out after the fifth inning, as he gave up 2 runs on 5 hits, and 1 walk in that fifth inning. Travis Snider helped Cecil that inning as he gunned down Danny Valencia at the plate, from left field. That throw was a real sign of Snider's defensive abilities really starting to grow and develop.

The Jays are off until Tuesday at 7 eastern when they send Jo-Jo Reyes to the mound in Toronto to face Dallas Braden and the Oakland A's

2011 MLB Awards Preview

With the MLB preview done,I need to predict the awards for 2011.Will Roy Halladay win the NL Cy Young again,will Adrian Gonzalez take the switch to the American League easy?We will find out, but for now this is who I think will be the recipients of the awards at the end of the season.

AL MVP Adrian Gonzalez
AL Cy Young Jon Lester
AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Drabek
AL Comeback Joe Mauer

NL MVP Albert Pujols
NL Cy Young Roy Halladay
NL Rookie of the Year Aroldis Chapman
NL Comeback Nate Mclouth

AL Silver Sluggers
C Joe Mauer
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Robinson Cano
3B Evan Longoria
SS Derek Jeter
OF Jose Bautista
OF Vernon Wells
OF Vladimir Guerroro
DH Adam Dunn

NL Silver Sluggers
C Brian McCann
1B Albert Pujols
2B Chase Utley
3B Aramis Ramirez
SS Troy Tulowitzki
OF Matt Holiday
OF Carlos Gonzalez
OF Ryan Braun
P Shaun Marcum

AL Gold Gloves
C Russell Martin
1B Mark Teixera
2B Robinson Cano
3B Evan Longoria
SS Derek Jeter
OF Jose Bautista
OF Ichiro Suzuki
OF Tori Hunter
P Mark Buehrle

NL Gold Gloves
C Yadier Molina
1B Albert Pujols
2B Chase Utley
3B Scott Rolen
SS Troy Tulowitzki
OF Matt Holliday
OF Ryan Braun
OF Carlos Gonzlez
P Bronson Arroyo

2011 MLB Preview

It is that time of year again,yes its opening day.So it is time to do a nice little preview. Will it be the Red Sox for the third time in 8 years, or the Phillies for the second time in 4 years, we don't know, but we do know that right now everybody has the same record.



American League

East
1st Boston Red Sox 99-63
2nd New York Yankees 93-69
3rd Toronto Blue Jays 87-75
4th Baltimore Orioles 85-77
5th Tampa Bay Rays 83-81

Central
1st Minnesota Twins 96-66
2nd Chicago White Sox 89-75
3rd Detroit Tigers 79-83
4th Kansas City Royals 75-87
5th Cleveland Indians 71-91

West
1st Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 92-70
2nd Oakland Athletics 84-78
3rd Texas Rangers 82-80
4th Seattle Mariners 72-90

National League
East
1st Philadelphia Phillies 104-58
2nd Atlanta Braves 86-76
3rd Florida Marlins 82-80
4th New York Mets 72-90
5th Washington Nationals 69-93

Central
1st Milwaukee Brewers 92-70
2nd Cincinnati Reds 89-73
3rd St.Louis Cardinals 83-79
4th Chicago Cubs 75-87
5th Pittsburgh Pirates 73-89
6th Houston Astros 68-94

West
1st San Fransisco Giants 94-68
2nd Los Angeles Dodgers 87-75
3rd Colorado Rockies 85-77
4th Arizona Diamond-Backs 73-89
5th San Diego Padres 64-98

Playoffs

Division Rounds
Boston Red Sox defeat LA Angels 3-1
New York Yankees defeat Minnesota Twins 3-2
Philadelphia Phillies defeat Cincinnati Reds 3-0
San Fransisco Giants defeat Milwaukee Brewers 3-2

Championship Series
Boston Red Sox defeat New York Yankees 4-2
Philadelphia Phillies defeat San Fransisco Giants 4-1

World Series
Boston Red Sox defeat Philadelphia Phillies 4-3

2011 Blue Jays Preview

With 2011 Spring Training coming to a close it is time to do a preview for the 2011 Jays. I happened to be in spring training earlier this month, and I was very impressed with the group of players Alex has brought in this season. Jose Bautista looked even better than he did last season, and Adam Lind looks like he is ready to regain his 2009 Silver Slugger form. There are still a few question marks surrounding this team, and I will be answering them in this article.

1. Will Aaron Hill be able to regain his 2009 form, and if he doesn’t are the Jays going to pick up his two option years at the end of the season?
In Hill’s case last season he just lost his timing, and that is why he struggled so badly last year. I was fortunate enough to see him take a couple of at-bats while I was in Dunedin for spring training, and he absolutely crushed the ball to left field, twice. The first time the outfielder made a nice catch at the wall to rob Hill of extra bases, but the second time Hill won the battle. He ripped a ground rule double to left, clearing the fence after a towering hit. If he does perform I do see the Jays picking up his options. If not then he has been a great guy while on the Blue Jays, but likely won’t be signing with them for anything more than a one year deal come the off-season.

2. Can Jose Bautista repeat his performance of 54 hr`s and 124 rbi`s, and can he adjust to third base?
No, but he will have a great year. It is very unlikely that Bautista will put up those types of numbers again this season, but I do expect at least 35 hr’s and 95 rbi’s out of this guy. We know Bautista had the power his entire career, but he didn’t know how to utilize it. When he came to Toronto he was able to fix his swing, and he was off. From September 2009 till the end of last season he led the majors in home runs with 64, yes 64. I don’t think he will have to play third base for long this season because of the phenom Brett Lawrie ready to come up to the bigs. By June Bautista should be back in right field, and Juan Rivera will be traded.

3. Who will be the Jay's number 4 and 5 starters this season?
Entering Spring Training there was 4 pitchers vying for those two spot, and two others, but they had small chances of making the club. Kyle Drabek, Jo-Jo Reyes, Jesse Litsch, and Mark Rzepczynski were the favourites, with Zach Stewart and Scott Richmond as the outsiders. On Sunday, Manager John Farrell said that Rzepczynski was officially out of the race leaving just Drabek, Reyes, and Litsch. I believe Litsch will obtain the 4 spot, while Reyes will nab the 5th and last spot. The reason Reyes gets the spot over Drabek in my opinion is that the Blue Jays can delay Drabek`s free agency a whole year if they keep him in the minors to mid-May. So for a club that isn’t looking to contend till 2012, bringing him up earlier would just be stupid. Once Drabek gets called up Reyes will move to the bullpen if he is pitching well. If he doesn’t pitch up to standards, he will be optioned to the minors and placed on waivers.

4. Can Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion adjust to playing first base?
Yes, I saw both of them play while I was at spring training, and they were great. If they struggle I assume red hot David Cooper will be called up to the show to replace one of them.
This is my Predicted roster for the Jays come April 1st.
Position Line Up Number Name
CF 1 Rajai Davis
SS 2 Yunel Escobar
3B 3 Jose Bautista
1B 4 Adam Lind
2B 5 Aaron Hill
DH 6 Edwin Encarnacion
LF 7 Travis Snider
RF 8 Juan Rivera
C 9 J.P Arencibia




Rotation Number Throwing Hand Name
1 LHP Ricky Romero
2 RHP Brandon Morrow
3 LHP Brett Cecil
4 RHP Jesse Litsch
5 LHP Jo-Jo Reyes

Position Name
INF Mike McCoy
INF John Mcdonald
C Jose Molina
OUT Corey Patterson

Throwing Hand Name
RHP Jon Rauch
RHP Jason Frasor
RHP Shawn Camp
LHP David Purcey
RHP Jesse Carlson
RHP Casey Janssen
RHP Carlos Villanueva

I believe the Blue Jays will finish 3rd in the American League East again, with a record of 87-75.

Jays Sign Posednik

The Blue Jays have signed OF Scott Posednik to a minor league deal today. He will compete with Corey Patterson for the 4th outfield spot. If Posednik has a great spring, he could take over the starting job from Rajai Davis, and bat leadoff. He had 35 steals last year in 134 games played with the Royals and Dodgers.

Busy Weekend for AA and the Blue Jays

Last winter when the best pitcher in baseball, Roy Halladay was traded to the Phillies Vernon Wells was given the role of clubhouse leader,Now that role is going to be handed down to Jose Bautista, the 2010 Home Run Champion, because Vernon was traded on Friday afternoon. The Angels acquired the two time gold glove Center field, but had to swallow his $86 million dollar contract over the next 4 years.The Jays got C Mike Napoli, and LF Juan Rivera, in exchange for Wells.Wells was in second place in virtually every offensive category for the Blue Jays in his career, right behind 1B slugger Carlos Delgado,who left the team after the 2004 season.

Today Mike Napoli learned a lesson,don't think once you get traded once in 3 days, doesn't mean your not going to get traded again. The Blue Jays have received reliever Frank Fransisco, in exchange for new Blue Jay Mike Napoli from the Rangers. Napoli was part of the Vernon Wells trade, just 3 days ago.Fransisco was 6-4 last season with a 3.76 ERA, when he lost the closer's job to AL Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz. The Blue Jays now have 4 former closers in the running for the closers job; the job will be given out during Spring Training.

This is my second prediction for how the Blue Jays roster will look next season.

C J.P Arencibia
1B Adam Lind
2B Aaron Hill
3B Jose Bautista
SS Yunel Escobar
LF Juan Rivera
CF Rajai Davis
RF Travis Snider
DH Edwin Encarnacion

1SP Ricky Romero
2SP Brandon Morrow
3SP Brett Cecil
4SP Kyle Drabek
5SP Zach Stewart

MRP Casey Janssen
MRP Jo-JO Reyes
LRP Shawn Camp
LRP Jason Frasor
SU Jon Rauch
SU Octavio Dotel
CL Frank Fransisco

Bench
John McDonald
Jose Molina
Corey Patterson
Mike McCoy

Alomar Elected to Hall in Second Year,Bautista Moving Back to the Outfield?

A year ago Roberto Aomar was just 8 votes shy of being elected into the Hall of Fame,this year he won 90% of the vote, and was elected. Alomar won two world series championships with the Jays in 1992 and 1993, and won 10 gold gloves during the course of his stellar career.He also won 4 silver slugger awards at second base, and drove in over 100 runs twice.He will be inducted with former Blue Jays GM Pat Gillick on July 24th 2011.

Since AA would hate to put Jose Bautista at third base he is trying to get another option to play the hot corner. The Blue Jays have already had 6 time gold glove winner Eric Chavez try out for the position,and would love an upgrade at the position.

Lee, Greinke Find New Teams

Cliff Lee, the most prize free agent of the 2010-2011 off-season,is off the market.A 2008 Cy Young winner, and October baseball fanatic, Lee signed a 5 year $120 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Lee will join 2010 Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, Three time All-Star Roy Oswalt, 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton, to make up the best rotation in baseball today, and arguably the best in history. Expect the Phillies to be serious contenders in the 2011 World Series chase.

On December 17th, Zack Greinke, a 2009 Cy Young winner, asked his team¸the Kansas City Royals to be traded.The obvious reason was because the Royals have finished in the cellar of the AL Central more than one would want too. On December 19th, Greinke was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers. Just days before that, Shaun Marcum, the 2010 Opening day starter for the Blue Jays was traded to the Brew Crew.With those two additions the Brewers basically secure the division crown, in the NL Central.They now have an amazing rotation, to go along with one of the best offenses in the National League.

This might be a little to early, but this is what the 2011 playoffs look life in my head.

Phillies over Cardinals 3-1
Brewers over Giants 3-2

Yankees over Rangers 3-0
Red Sox over White Sox 3-2

Phillies over Brewers 4-2
Red Sox over Yankees 4-1

Phillies over Red Sox 4-3

The Phillies have too good of a pitching rotation,for the league`s best offense from Bean town to beat them.

Some Changes Coming to the Playoffs?

Sorry, I haven't blogged in a few weeks,I've been very busy, and this next blog will have everything that I've missed.Bud Selig said that he has no opposition to increase the amount of teams going to the playoffs. Selig,the commisioner of the MLB proposed an idea of expaning the playoff format to 5 teams from each lesgue,adding one more wild card spot in each league. You might be thinking to yourself,ok they'll have the best team having a bye to the second round.So how about the second round,there is going to need to be another bye.So,as just explained,this a ridiculous format. I personally like the football playoff system better than the hockey and basketball ones, that are the other options. The NFL has six teams from each league make the playloffs, with the top two seeds receiving byes. This system would work because a team won't have to be a 90 game winner to make the playoffs. Instead the amount of wins needed to make it in will be around 86 to 88 because there is 3 wild card playoff spots, in each league. We will see what transpires this season, but Selig said that the change wouldn't take place until at least 2012, when the MLB and MLBPA's agreement is up.As you already know Jason Frasor accepted arbitration, while Miguel Olivo, Scott Downs, and Kevin Gregg all declined. Downs was a "Type A" free agent, which means that when Downs signs with another team the Jays will receive that teams first round pick, and a sandwich round pick in between the first and second round of the 2011 First Year Player Entry Draft. A "Type B" player will earn his former team a sandwich round pick, an only that. John Buck was a "Type B" player, and after he signed with the Marlins to a 3 year $21 million contract,the Jays received a sandwich pick.The Blue Jays did not offer contracts to Brian Tallet, and Fred Lewis, so they became free agents. Tallet wasted no time by signing with the Cardinals from St. Louis earlier last week.Last Friday AA made a move to strengthen the core of the Bluebirds bullpen when he acquired Carlos Villuaneva, from the Brewers for a player to be named later. This is just the first of many moves by AA this winter that will involve the bullpen, because of the departure of Scott Downs, Kevin Gregg, and Brian Tallet, to free agency.AA pulled off a surprising move today as he once again made a trade with the Brew Crew, but this one was involving Shaun Marcum. Marcum was traded to Milwaukee for Brett Lawrie, a 20 year old second baseman who was the # 1 prospect in the Brewers System. Lawrie had 30 steals last season while hitting .285 for AA-Huntsville. He might just be a prospect that KC wanted,which could bring Zach Grienke to Toronto. Rumors were swirling on Monday afternoon that Carlos Pena is being highly pushed at by the Jays. A GM of another team pursuing Pena, told espn that, and it has been a hot topic since.Well that basically sums everything up, enjoy the Winter Meetings!!!!!

Managerial Roster Finished,Some More Hardware for Bautista

One of the legends of the glory days in Blue Jays history is coming back to the Rogers Centre. Pat Hengten is going to replace Rick Langford as the Jays bullpen for 2011 season.Also joining the Jays staff is Don Wakamatsu as bench coach,Torey Lovullo will be the first base coach, and Luis Rivera as coaching assistant. Brian Butterfield will stay with the Jays to be the third base coach, Dwayne Murphy will remain as the Jays hitting coach, and Bruce Walton will be the pitching coach. Wakamatsu will be allowed to interview for the job of managing the New York Mets,as he was before he signed with the Jays. This staff is very energetic and should be a perfect with the young team that the Jays will put on the field in 2011.

Last week Alex Anthopoulous made a move to decline CL Kevin Gregg's option for the 2011 season. Gregg is a "Type B Free Agent", meaning that if the Jays offer him arbitration, and he declines the Jays will get a sandwich pick in between the first and second round of the 2011 MLB draft. Of course the Blue Jays only get that pick if Gregg signs with another team.

AA also made an interesting move a week ago,when he acquired C Miguel Olivo from the Rockies,for a player to be named later.Only a few hours later AA declined Olivo's 2011 option,once again securing a compensation pick if he signs elsewhere.From those two moves you can tell the direction AA and the Jays are moving in,they want to rack up a lot of draft picks.

In other free agent news, Postseason miracle worker, Cliff Lee had an interview this week, with non-other than GM Brian Cashman,GM of the New York Yankees.

Jose Bautista won his second award of the off-season so far today,when he racked up a Silver Slugger for the most powerful outfielder. Jose will likely win the Most improved player award,which fellow teammate 2b Aaron Hill won after the 2009 season.

Make sure to vote for the TYIB awards,especially for the Blue Jays going for the awards.