Showing posts with label John Farrell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Farrell. Show all posts

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Danny Knobler is Bad At His Job ... AGAIN


Danny Knobler Is Bad At His Job… AGAIN



So Danny Knobler is at it again.  It wasn’t even a month ago, that I wrote an article (on my personal blog), criticizing an incredibly lazy, and incorrect article that Mr. Knobler wrote analyzing the way “blogs” were handling the Houston Astros.  That article was merely a lazy writer choosing an incorrect narrative. This one is worse.

Also for the record, I’m not going link to Mr. Knobler’s article, because he doesn’t deserve the extra clicks that even a small blog like this would direct his way. However, in order to not take any of his words out of context, I will quote his entire article

Wasn't it right around this time last year that Bobby Valentine was getting booed?

I don’t think it was 4 games into the season, but regardless, how that is relevant?  I have no idea, but I’m sure Mr. Knobler will illuminate me.

It was, wasn't it? 

No, pretty sure they waited a few weeks, but whatever, you’ve already driven the point home, get to the useless premise of this article please.

And it was a reminder of everything that was already wrong in a Red Sox season that wouldn't get any better.

More Red Sox talk.  Get to the point.

So now it's a different year, and a different Red Sox manager, and John Farrell got booed Friday night for a completely different reason. And yet, the way and his team reacted to it says everything about how this Red Sox team and this Red Sox season are off to a different start.

4 games into a season.  Totally not too early to make sweeping proclamations about how “everything is different”.

Sorry, Blue Jays fans, but you can't hurt John Farrell. You can hate him all you want, you can boo him all you want, but you can't hurt him.

I think Mr. Knobler might misunderstand the point of booing.  It isn’t to “hurt” the target that you’ve directing them at, but rather (in this case) its to show him that the way he treated the fans that paid his paycheque isn’t appreciated.

You can't even get him to admit he doesn't like it."It was electric in here," Farrell said, on a night when nearly all the electricity was directed at him, more than anyone else who was involved in the 6-4 Red Sox win over the Blue Jays. "It was a great crowd. It's a great atmosphere."

First of all, this sentence is horribly constructed.  This guy gets paid to write by one of the biggest media companies in the world and this is the tripe he comes up with?  Just terrible.

It was a different atmosphere, anyway, on a night when the promotion was basically, "Let's all boo our ex-manager."

Now we get to the point that really set me off about this terrible article.  I’d like Mr. Knobler to point out any pre-game promotion that mentioned anything about booing the former manager.  It wasn’t necessary.  The fans in the southern Ontario market aren’t sheep that need to be told when to boo.  Frankly, its one of the things they do better than just about any sports town outside of eastern Pennsylvania.

It wasn’t the team (or any other Rogers conglomerate partners) who came up with the clever hashtag of #FFF.  That was done by the fans.  In fact, the only pre-game mentions of Farrell I saw on any broadcast as just to point out that the “former manager was returning”.  These fans may not have the longest memories, but they certainly can remember back to late fall, when Farrell informed people that he was leaving for his “dream job”.  They can remember the disrespect that he showed to not only his players, but the fan base as a whole.

Seriously, have you ever heard fans boo the pregame meeting at home plate? Have you heard fans boo the visiting team's pitching changes? Have you heard fans mockingly chant the visiting manager's name, over and over, inning after inning? 
No, I personally cant recall any time this has happened at a baseball game.  Though I do recall Mike Keenan returning to coach in Vancouver, and being booed out of the building. 

Also, I cant recall any time that a manager has asked to leave, merely because he wanted a job that he viewed as a “better” one.  If you can think of a precedent where that has been the case, please, I’d like to hear it.

The crowd -- and the "Let's boo" promotion attracted a near sellout -- even booed when Farrell went to check on the health of rookie shortstop Jose Iglesias (who took a Josh Johnson pitch on the right forearm and eventually had to leave the game).

1 – Yet again, there was no “Let’s boo” promotion.  The sellout was attracted by John Farrell’s mere presence back in Toronto.

2 – This is a cheap shot.  This implies that the fans were booing him coming out to attend to his poor injure player.  They weren’t.  They were going to take every opportunity to boo the man who told these fans that they were second class citizens in the baseball world. 

It was different, but then it's different for a manager to ask to leave one team to take over another team in the same division. It's different for that manager to publicly admit that he had wanted to make the switch a year earlier, and then to make comments that could be read to suggest he viewed the first city as just a steppingstone to the job he really wanted.Farrell probably would have been better off not saying some of the things he did after leaving the Blue Jays for the Red Sox last fall, and he certainly wasn't going to make the same mistake now. He had nothing but compliments for this city and its baseball fans Friday.

Really, this is about as close as Knobler comes to criticizing anything that John Farrell did this past off-season. 
Though, don’t worry, he’s going to spend the next two paragraphs praising all the wonderful changes that Farrell has brought to the “new look” Boston Red Sox. 

"I think history shows Toronto is an outstanding baseball town," Farrell said.Perhaps it will be again, although the Blue Jays' 1-3 start isn't doing much to build on the momentum the Jays generated with their big offseason. It certainly can't help that on the nights with the two biggest crowds this week, the Blue Jays lost.

Great, now that he has his “dream job” Farrell can throw ridiculous platitudes at us.  I’d much rather he done what Josh Hamilton did today and stick to his guns.  We know that John Farrell doesn’t see an “outstanding baseball town” when he looks at Toronto, and frankly it probably isn’t. 
Fans in Toronto know that it’s a hockey town first and foremost, but they don’t want someone they are paying to try and change that, waving that fact in their face. 

Perhaps it will be again, although the Blue Jays' 1-3 start isn't doing much to build on the momentum the Jays generated with their big offseason. It certainly can't help that on the nights with the two biggest crowds this week, the Blue Jays lost. 
Its four games Danny, Four.  Though, I suppose if its not to early to make sweeping proclamations about the “dramatic turnaround” in Boston, its not too early to be raising the white flag above the dome. 

That's hardly Farrell's problem now, just as it's hardly Farrell's problem that he's not the most popular guy in this town, or in the clubhouse he once ran."We'd rather have him there [in Boston] than have him here and wishing he was there," Jose Bautista said Friday afternoon. "We have a manager who wants to be here."

Hmm, so now we have a comment by star Jose Bautista about the new manager who is in the Toronto dugout.  I’m sure the next few paragraphs will be about how John Gibbons seems to have this team a lot more happy and cohesive than John Farrell ever did. 
Right?

The Red Sox have one, too. They have a manager who seems to have showed up at the right time (following the unpopular Valentine), and with the right group of players (in a clubhouse that was rebuilt with team chemistry and "Boston fit" in mind).


Farrell mentioned Friday night that people who only watch on television don't realize how much fun the Red Sox are having in their dugout.His team does seem to enjoy being together. It also seems significantly more ready to win than the team Valentine took over a year ago. Once again Friday night, the Red Sox were able to show off young talent (Iglesias made a brilliant play at short, and Jackie Bradley Jr. was on base three times) and their outstanding bullpen (four innings, one run).

Lets ignore the fact that Jackie Bradley made two poor plays in the outfield, or that Junichi Tazawa was rather dreadful out of the pen.

Nope, its all about having fun in Boston.  Who wants things like facts to get in the way.

The Red Sox were even able to turn the booing into a positive. They looked to be joking about it at times, although afterwards they would only admit that they enjoyed seeing people in the stands and hearing them make some noise."I think our players fed off it a little," Farrell said.

Projecting body language so it fits my narrative.  I thought we’d hit as many lazy journalistic tendencies, but Mr. Knobler proves that I had underestimated him.

There's no doubt things would have been different if the Red Sox were still the mess that they were under Valentine. Things may well have been different if the Blue Jays were the ones off to a fast start.Maybe then the booing would have gotten to Farrell. Maybe then he wouldn't have so easily been able to say that he enjoyed it.
And maybe then it would have stung a little when the fans taunted him about that "dream job" remark.
Right now, this does look like Farrell's dream job. Right now, it's hard to think he made any kind of mistake by leaving, or that the Red Sox made any kind of mistake by going to get him.
Right now, the booing won't hurt John Farrell.
It only helps prove how much the Red Sox have changed.

I’m tired of ripping this line by line, but I promised I’d include the entire article, so there is the rest of the tripe that Mr. Knobler closed his article with.

In an semi-related note.  On Baseball Prospectus’ Effectively Wild podcast this week, they’ve been doing a segment on “confirmation bias week”.  Meaning that this is the week of the baseball season where all the hack journalists, take what they thought were going to be the narratives coming into the season, and look for ways to make the facts on the field confirm these pre-established biases that they already have.

This is exactly what Mr. Knobler has done here.  Pre-season he assumed that because Bobby Valentine was out of the Boston clubhouse, everything would now be hunky dory, and as a result, he’s taken this largely irrelevant 4 games worth of data points to prove his point.

These 4 games essentially prove nothing, unless you want to force them into a pre-existing narrative.  

Friday, April 5, 2013

Tonight's the Night!

With the exception of the home opener,  tonights' game vs. John Farrell and the Boston Red Sox is quite possibly the most anticipated game of the 2013 season.  42 thousand are expected at the dome tonight.  Expect fans to boo their hearts out,  whenever the infamous traitor,  John Farrell appears.

Jose Bautista is out of the lineup tonight.  The Jays and Bautista said that it was an ankle injury.  We shouldn't expect the home run king to miss too much time (likely just tonight).

In Bautista's absence,  the Jays will put Rajai Davis in right field.  Lefty Felix Doubront will take the hill for the Jays,  forcing Adam Lind out of the lineup.  Mark DeRosa will play first,  with Izturis at third.  Gibbons has also moved Bonifacio to 2nd in the order tonight,  with Melky batting 3rd.

Let's Go Blue Jays!

Monday, February 25, 2013

Thoughts From Spring Training: Day 1

The jerk sitting all by himself...
The Boston Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 4-2 today in John Farrell's return to Toronto, or Dunedin I guess. I was at the game today, my first of three this spring training, and, as expected, it was awesome. My seats are 4 or 5 rows up right behind home plate, so I'm able to see the strike zone beautifully. Some thoughts and pictures from today's game...

 On R.A Dickey...
Dickey, JPA, and Pete Walker before the game.
Dickey was pretty obviously just getting a feel for his knuckler today, sitting at 73-74 MPH on it, and maxing out at 75 MPH. Those readings are from the stadium radar gun, so they might be a couple ticks off. It didn't have as much movement as it will have during the regular season, which was the primary reason he got hit hard a few times today. The knuckeball was left up a couple times, and Red Sox batters took advantage. Towards the end of his outing, he threw one pitch around 58 MPH if I remember correctly, and got the batter(Pedro Ciraco) to roll over it into a double play. That particular pitch had a ton of movement on it, and it was great to see. The results might not have been great, but for his first spring outing, Dickey showed great signs today.

On JPA...
He looked pretty solid behind the plate catching Dickey. Only had one passed ball in his 2 innings, so not so bad. He won't be catching Dickey once the regular season comes, but practice can't hurt him. Of course today's knuckle ball is easier to catch than the ones that should be coming in Dickey's upcoming starts because it didn't move so much.

On the Dominican Four...
Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion represent the best top 4 hitters in baseball, and boy did they look good today.

        Reyes looked comfortable at the plate, hitting a hard ground ball that got through the hole between short and third, and before that, hustling and scoring from first on Melky's third inning double. His base running was phenomenal, something we didn't see a whole lot of last year thanks to Mr. Farrell.

Bautista's super high leg kick.
        Melky had two solid hits, both of them doubles, and even more important than that, he seemed to wait for the pitches he wanted. Other's were chasing pitches, but he was able to wait for his pitch, and drive it...Twice. His defense was also solid, as he made a great throw to hold a runner at second.

         Joey Bats almost hit another home run today, smoking a ball to straight away centre field, before it was run down at around the 390 mark. Those line drives are great to see from him. His eye was also in mid-season form, something we can always count on from Jose.

         Edwin did hit one out of the park today, like really far out of the park. As soon as it hit the bat the entire stadium knew it was gone, and everybody erupted into applause. EE was chasing a bit early on, but was able to stay back on some pitches, which led to his monster shot to left field.

On Josh Johnson....

JJ looked really good today, changing speeds and keeping hitters off balance. There was a moment where he started a hitter of with a 92 MPH fastball(likely a bit more because of the radar guns), then dropped a 75 MPH curve on him(which he is said to be working on), and then followed that up with some more heat. The hitter was absolutely fooled, and if JJ can keep on changing speeds and locations like he did today, he is going to end up being the best pitcher on this staff by years end. He was awesome today.

On Sean Nolin and John Stilson...


Nolin about to release one of his many
impressive pitches on the day.
Nolin was the guy who impressed me the most today, even though his stat line doesn't show it. He was painting corners with ease, and aside from a few mistakes which will happen in spring training, he looked great, It's no wonder AA loves him so much. I wouldn't be surprised if he hopped right over J.A Happ on the depth chart by the All-Star break. He's got great stuff. Mid-rotation guy for sure.

Stilson looked good, not great, just good. He had semi-good command of his stuff, but that lack of a true third pitch is going to put him in the bullpen in the near future. Could make for a great late inning guy. He definitely has the confidence and cockiness for a big leaguer :)

On Mark DeRosa...
Okay. I know I sort of love DeRosa because I predicted his signing and all, but once again today, he hit lefties, without his bones breaking. Gibbons will take notice to this. He'll end up being Lind's platoon partner if he doesn't get injured. He has always been a good lefty hitter, and it'll be nice for him to make a solid contribution to this team.

And some more pictures...
Former Jay Lyle Overbay in the Boston on-deck circle.

Reyes stretching before the game.
Lawrie about to swing and miss.
I hope you enjoyed. Probably won't be posting again tomorrow night, but I'll try.

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Saturday, November 3, 2012

Rogers Acquiring Rogers?

The Blue Jays have acquired hard throwing right hander Esmil Rogers for Mike Aviles and Yan Gomes; so in essence they traded John Farrell, David Carpenter, and Yan Gomes for a versatile righty. Doesn't sound so bad now, does it? This trade leaves me with a couple questions that happen to lead me to more questions.

1) Does Alex like Rogers as a depth starter?
            After seeing his success as a reliever in the American League last year, posting a WHIP of 1.11 and K/9 just over 9, I’d prefer to see him stay in the bullpen. This leads to my second question:

2) Does AA believe Darren Oliver is leaning towards retirement?
            With the uncertainty of Oliver’s future AA could have acquired Rogers in case Oliver decides to retire. Personally I don’t think Alex goes out and trades for a relief pitcher if he doesn’t have too. So maybe Oliver is leaning towards retirement? (Let’s hope not)

3) Was Aviles ever the answer at Second?
            I don’t think so. He would have been a brilliant bench guy, but for a team that wants to contend, he’s not a starter. Which leads to:

4) Is AA comfortable with a middle infield of Yunel and Adeiny after this trade?
            He shouldn’t be. AA hasn’t done anything to impress the “average” Jays fan of late, but I think the acquisition of Marco Scutaro could change that. Not only is he a fan favourite for all Jays fans, but he can still play the game and get to the World Series. After a huge trade or the acquisition of a franchise player, I think this is #2 on most Jays fan’s wish list.

The trade itself:
            This trade does nothing but good. It adds versatile depth at the starting and relieving positions, which the Jays could have desperately used last year (Learning the hard way!) It opens a new door for second base options, and opens up space on the 40-man by ridding themselves of Yan Gomes, who just couldn’t find his bat all year. Plus, when Brandon Lyon and Jason Frasor walk in Free AGency in the next couple of months, Rogers will fill one of their spots in the bullpen.

Conclusion:
            No true Jays fan will be disappointed in this trade because there is really nothing bad about it. 

You can follow me on Twitter,@Canucks_BlueJay.
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Friday, October 26, 2012

Settle Down, Jays Fans

Aviles could be a great
utility man if used wisely.
This past week, many Jays fans were furious. Most of them were happy with getting rid of mediocre manager John Farrell, but were unhappy with the player we got as compensation in return (Mike Aviles), and how it was handled by the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and the media. I'm here to look at the bright side on this one, because honestly, it wasn't a bad turn of events at all. I'd even venture to say it was a great move by AA and the Jays Front Office staff.

The news broke yesterday from Buster Olney that the compensation that the Blue Jays would receive came down to Mike Aviles, or relief pitcher Andrew Bailey. One thing that AA achieved this season through a few mid-season trades was a good, young bullpen. So, the Blue Jays are no longer in need of relief arms, especially ones with as many question marks as Bailey.. He was injured in 2012, and has an injury prone past, which may come as a red flag for the Blue Jays.He also hasn't been the same pitcher since his 1st two years in the MLB, especially this past season, when his numbers were horrible, albeit in a small sample size. There would be no place to put him, as he has no experience in middle relief, and the back end of the bullpen is solidified pretty well with the emergence of Casey Janssen. Both utility infielder, and second baseman were unoccupied positions for 2013, so it was almost a no brainer for Anthopolous.

I noticed the general expectation for compensation was much too high. People were hoping for Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, or Clay Buchholz. There is never a time when a manager is worth anything close to that caliber of a player. Not even Connie Mack! As a matter of fact, I would say that of all the managerial trades of all time, (all 5!) the Blue Jays made the 2nd best trade, only behind the Randy Winn for Lou Pinella deal. If the Blue Jays use Aviles as a utility player next year, playing 1 game(3 in total) a week filling in for Brett Lawrie at third, Yunel Escobar/Adeiny Hechavarria at short, and mystery man at second, he could even be an above average offensive and defensive contributor.So please be happy, Blue Jays fans.

Another positive from this trade, is that the Blue Jays get to find a new manager. The general consensus around the Blue Jays was that John Farrell didn't cut it as a manager.From his horrible bullpen management, to his wacky base running styles, Farrell cost us some winnable games the past 2 seasons. Now, there are many options to choose from. It's easy to speculate who that manager will be, names like Sandy Alomar Jr, Tim Wallach, Brad Ausmus, and Brian Butterfield are names that have appeared. But, the truth is, that it could be anybody, and to be completely honest, I would be happy with anybody who I have previously mentioned. None of them have managing experience, so we don't actually know who would be better. But, for a position that makes such a minimal impact on the outcomes of games, a name mentioned above might be just as good as an experienced manager such as Manny Acta or Ozzie Guillen.

The final positive from the deal is a little bit of excitement. I think Blue Jays fans will flood the dome next year when the Blue Jays take on the Red Sox, and boo John Farrell out of town. He is a traitor, and for 2 years as our manager, he wanted to be on another team. This could spark a rivalry from the 2 teams, making games as exciting as ever!

Let's show Farrell what a real "first class organization" looks like! 

You can follow me on Twitter, @IsaacBlueJays.To connect with the site, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Source: Red Sox Hire Farrell

Missed me Boston?
According to Sean McAdam (@Sean_McAdam) of Comcast Sports Net, the Boston Red Sox have hired John Farrell as their manager.More to come!

Update #1:It is a 4 year deal for Farrell to the Sox.

Update #2: Scratch that. 3 year deal until 2015 for Farrell. Compensation being announced in the next couple of days. Jays likely to announce new manager soon(1 week or two).

Update #3: Jon Morosi tweets via a source that a player will be moving from both teams in this trade, which likely means somebody with some value is going to be coming to Toronto! Also according to Morosi, the player going to the Jays was a Major Leaguer in 2012.

Update #4: Morosi is trolling hard right now. He now tweets that the player the Jays are getting is an infielder. Pedro Ciriaco? Jose Iglesias? David Ortiz? Dustin Pedroia(not happening)?

Update #5:The Jays are getting Mike Aviles from the Red Sox. This likely allows AA to trade one of Yunel or Hech. He might also just be a bench player, or he might even be traded. Bob Elliot of the Toronto Sun tweeted that Adam Lind might be going to the Red Sox in return.

Overall, the Jays came out on top on this deal, no matter how you spin it. How often are you able to trade your manager for an MLB player? Anthopolous saw an opportunity, and he took advantage of it. We might not have gotten so much out of to, but if used in a utility role, Aviles could be great for the Blue Jays in 2013. He could replace Omar Vizquel, and play 1 game a week at 3B,2B, and SS. When is the last time the Jays had a great bat off the bench? But, then the Jays throw in Adam Lind in the deal. Even more of a win! Lind would be owed at least $7 million this year, and with his arrival in Boston, it likely means David Ortiz won't be re-signing with the Red Sox. If Ortiz is a free agent, there is a very good chance he would sign with Toronto. Big Papi's best friend is Jose Bautista, and he and Edwin Encarnacion also get along. Can you imagine a 3-4-5 of Jose,EE,and Papi? Pitchers are scared.

Alex Anthopolous isn't stupid. He coaxed a major league player from a team for a manager, who most say isn't very good. But, in addition to that, he also(maybe) cleared $7 million that can go to a starter or one of the other needs the Blue Jays have this off-season, including a DH named David Ortiz, who won't return to Boston if Lind indeed goes there.

Update #6 8:00 AM Sunday:Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston is now reporting that Adam Lind is not part of the deal...So much for that.

Update #7: Multiple sources are telling WEEI Radio that David Carpenter is the player going to the Red Sox in the trade.


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Friday, October 19, 2012

More Farrell Rumours!

The John Farrell rumour pot continues to be stirred by the Boston media as we get closer and closer to the day when the Blue Jays Front Office needs to make that inevitable decision that has been looming ever so large for the past couple of weeks. As of this morning, we knew that the Jays and Red Sox had opened talks for the Red Sox to gain the right of Mgr John Farrell, and that they were past the preliminary stages. The different media outlets across Toronto and more importantly Boston have speculated many things, like the compensation will be a serviceable major leaguer and a AA prospect. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet wrote earlier that if Farrell leaves, he will likely take a lot of his coaching staff with him, which I would not be too happy with, although it does give the Jays some more bargaining tools. Anyways, a few minutes ago Jen Royle of ESPN, SBNation, and lots of other sites tweeted that Paul Beeston told the Boston Herald he wants a player for the 25-man roster.
WHAT???
Am I missing something? When did the Jays brass become so open about their negotiations; with the Red Sox about Farrell or with anybody else about anything? If this is true, this means that the clubs are indeed talking, and that the Jays have set their price.

Is Daniel Bard decent? How about Clay Buchholz? Both aren't likely to happen, but I think those are the two players to hope for (Pedroia and Ellsbury aren't coming). Problem is I don't see AA agreeing for a reliever. The Jays are set to have their first great bullpen in a few years, and we aren't in need of another 6th or 7th bullpen pitcher. But, if we do end up getting a reliever and a AA prospect for Farrell, I would probably bet on closer Casey Janssen being traded this off-season in a package deal. As I mentioned before, our bullpen is packed with great relievers, so the addition of one more likely means AA will add one of them to the list of players he'll trade for a SP, with Janssen likely to be the one .

If anything else develops, I'll keep you guys posted!

Leave your comments below.

You can follow me on twitter, @gideonturk. To connect with the site, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Farrell Hired,Butterfield and Walton Staying

On Friday morning John Farrell was hired, and the interest started coming back north of the border.LF Mammy Ramirez, of the Chicago White Sox said he would love to come to play in Toronto with new manager John Farrell. Farrell was the pitching coach in Boston during Manny's last full season with the BoSox. This is a very good sign for Toronto sports in general, because most players will go to a different city if they have a choice instead of T.O.

One of the first moves Alex Anthopolous and John Farrell made was announcing that 3B Coach Brian Butterfield,and Pitching Coach Bruce Walton, would stay with the club for the 2011 season. The club is currently negotiating with Hitting Coach Dwayne Murphy to return.Murphy was the magical hitting coach that led the Blue Jays to there powerful season,posting the third best amount of home runs in one season, with 257.

On Wednesday afternoon the Jays picked up a $1.2 million dollar option on C Jose Molina,meaning John Buck's chance of coming back to the Jays next season is down to next to nothing. That move also means you can expect to see J.P Arencibia as the starting catcher next season.

Go on to bluejays.com,and vote for every award possible.

Vote Jays!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

John Farrell "Is he the Next Blue Jays Manager?"

Peter Gammons, of MLB.com tweeted this morning, that Red Sox Pitching Coach John Farrell will be named the Blue Jays Manager. On Wednesday Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulus gave a finale list of just three names to the media.Red Sox Coach Demario Hale, Cleveland Indians First Base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. and Farrell. Alomar Jr, who is the brother of former Blue Jays great Roberto Alomar, seemed to be the front runner in this managerial race. Also this morning Brian Butterfield, Blue Jays 3rd base coach, said he believes he is the running for the Jays manager spot, even though he wasn't on the list.

Jose Bautista underwent surgery today to repair a sports hernia. Bautista, who earlier in the week was named to TSN's all star team of 2010, will be out for 6 weeks following the procedure. Jose who is is contention for MVP, and who has a silver slugger award wrapped up, will likely also win comeback player of the year award.If he does win the CPOTY, it will mark the second straight year a Blue Jay has won it. Last season, Aaron Hill took home that piece of hardware following his incredible season.

Be sure to vote for all the Blue jays in contention for TYIB awards, and order your 2011 tickets now online at bluejays.com or call 888-654-6529.

Here is a little video to remind us of the glory days.