Only If...

I have accepted that Halladay is gone and the resurgent Wells with his team are not going to the playoffs but this picture is a definite tear jerker. The Doc is doing his normal non-human attack on batters every 5th day and Wells is doing his best to keep the Jays rolling while trying to live up to his massive salary but the picture brings plenty of what ifs.

Wouldn't it be nice to see these two guys in the playoffs together throwing darts, intimidating batters, running down balls, and racking up the RBIs? It is always sad to see the face of a franchise leave but it kind of hurts, in a different way, when he comes back wearing foreign colours with foreign letters running across his chest.

Having Halladay pitching game 7 of the World Series at the Dome while Wells patrols the outfield would have a been a dream come true. I would put my paycheck on The Doc delivering a CG 3 hitter to earn MVP honours.

Reminiscing is great, too bad it's about something that never happened.

Worth Every Penny

Browsing through the sports pages and I come across the above headline. No shit he's going to stay with the Dodgers after having a season like he just had in 2009. He would never come close to that on the open market especially when Jason Bay and Matt Holliday are available, plus add in the current economic situation.

What a difference a year makes. At this time last year, super agent Boras was trying to land a 3-5 year guaranteed deal worth $25mil or so a year for his precious client Manny Ramirez. We all know the Dodgers took a hard stance and didn't cave into the aging slugger's outrageous demands...kind of. Instead, the Dodgers and Manny agreed to their current deal, 2-years worth $40mil.

After suffering through a female fertility drug suspension and a 104AB, .290avg, 19HRs, and 63RBIs, the Dodgers are now kind of stuck.

Looking back the Dodgers didn't have a choice last year. They were stuck with Manny because they had no one else to throw their money at. In my eyes, this aging slugger still has some power left in him. If Manny came out and batted .310 with 30+HRs and batted in 100+, it wouldn't surprise me one bit. He is that great of a pure hitter that producing at the age of 37-38 wouldn't shock/surprise any true baseball fan. On the other hand, he could produce numbers comparable to Vernon Wells in 2009 (minus the 17SBs) and that wouldn't surprise me either. What ever happens, the Dodgers are stuck with their dreadlocks slugger.

This is what $20mil buys you these days in the big leagues. A 37 going on 38 year old slugger who is might be clean now, jogging and shagging balls in left field (during games). Where did the days go when giving a player $20mil gave guaranteed you .320avg, 40HRs, and 130RBIs?

Guess money doesn't buy happiness. It's LA, the land of outrageous everything. Maybe 2010 will bring some happiness to Manny Land.

Still 2nd Something

Ouch!

Do I have anything else to say? For all of those Jays fans out there who were completely in love with the '09 Jays and their chances at the playoffs, I'm sorry to say that it just doesn't seem like it is going to happen. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of time left in the regular season for a run at the division or wildcard but realistically speaking, it just ain't happening.

There is a reason why averages are used for almost everything in the world. Anyone know where Snider is? How about Hill? Wells and Rios anyone? As I was stating at the start of the year, for the Jays to succeed and make a run at the division and the playoffs, they would need career years from most of their players. At the start of the season they were getting it. Think back to Hill, Snider, Lind, and Scutaro playing over their heads. Again, the law of averages. They were playing over their heads and now they are just playing at a level that brings them back to their career averages.

There is a playoff itch that I can't seem to get rid of. Toronto needs the playoffs. The Jays need the playoffs. I need the playoffs. Looking at the Jays through an unbiased view, I don't see a playoff team. They are at best a plus-500 team. Their pitching is sketch (what else can you say with so many injuries), the hitting is hit or miss (mostly miss), and the bullpen...let's say we went a little overboard with the signing of AJ and BJ during that one off-season. I can only say that because I'm looking into the past. For the record, I was happy watching the Jays spend some money and sign some high profile free agents.

For teams like the Jays, they need career years from a majority of their players for them to contend and win a World Series ring. For teams like the Yanks/Red Sox their players have so called off years see lines of .286avg, 36hrs, 106rbis, and 28 sb's. Just guess who I am talking about.

That is just the life I live as a Jays fan.

Look on the bright spot, we're still second...second last.

Snider/Lind

The Jays started the season in a big way and guess who led the charge, the rookies! Okay, Wells and Rios pitched in with some hits and runs but in my eyes the big story here are the two youngins, Travis Snider and Adam Lind. Both chipped in with a bomb a piece. Just look at the numbers that they posted in their first game.

Adam Lind - 4/5, 2Rs, 1HR, and 6RBIs.
Travis Snider - 2/4, 1R, 1HR, and 1 RBI.

I will and have always rooted for the Jays but I still don't see them making the playoffs this year. This was great opening the season with a victory but the boys have the keep this going for another 161 games, the baseball season is nothing but a marathon especially through the hot/humid/hazy days of summer coming up.

They have plenty of places they need fixing, cough cough, pitching.

Looking on the positive side, the Jays do have a bright future with Rios, Wells, Snider, and Lind in the mix.

Griffey in Toronto

Now that the free agent season is kind of over with the big dudes signing, well with the Yankees, I think the Jays and their "amazing" GM need to start shopping. As I mentioned earlier this month, they don't have to go out and sign players to $150million contracts, we all know they can not afford to do that. Just go out and throw some 1yr contracts around that are filled with incentives.

Dudes like Giambi, Smoltz, Baldelli, and Saito are out of the picture so looking at the guys who are left, what about Griffey? He's old and he's kind of washed up but if you give him a bat and a DH spot he can still provide some pop especially in a hitters park like SkyDome.

What do you think JP? How about signing Griffey to a 1yr contract with a club option for a 2nd and lace the shit out of the contract with incentives. Yes he's old and yes we have a turf field but all he has to do is walk to the batters box and swing a bat. He can provide a left handed bat to separate Wells and Rios, yes I would have preferred Giambi but that is over with, so come on JP go out and get it done.

If all fails, think of all the revenue the Jays will get from selling Griffey merchandise.

Ricciardi, do something!!

As you can clearly see in the above picture Jason Giambi is now a part of the Oakland A's. You have absolutely no idea how pissed I am right now. Not because he signed with the A's but the fact that the Jays need help in the lineup and this is the type of guy that they could afford and someone who fits their needs but they didn't sign him.

1 - Just look a the Jays lineup and you can easily see that we need a bat from the left side that can rake balls out of the Skydome.
2 - We don't have the resources like the boys from NY to throw at free agents. Giambi is cheap!

Why the fuck did JP not do anything to sign Giambi and bring him into a friendly hitters park like the Skydome. Of course, the media can't report and doesn't report everything because they don't have information on everything. So the Jays could have been in negotiations with Giambi and things just didn't work out. Also, Giambi could have just straight up said, "Hell's no, I'm not going to stinkin Canada."

All I see is the Jays being complete idiots who seem to know nothing about running a successful baseball team to compete in the AL East. We don't have the money to spend but when someone like Giambi is available on the market we need to grab him!!!

Just think about what Giambi could bring at such a low price. Splitting Rios and Wells with a left handed bat that can easily hit 30HRs and drive in another 100...is that something you'd be interested in? What about Giambi taking the pressure off Wells and Rios to produce. Allow them to relax and do their own thing without having the media always critizing them if the team isn't producing runs.

Just another reason the Jays are going to sink to the the bottom of the AL East.

Oh yeah, one more thing. You know that guy named Roy Halladay, well say good bye to him. Take a step in his shoes and think about this, why the hell should he stay put in Toronto and waste his time pitching for a loser. Please, don't give me the loyalty crap, we all know you would drop your team if you had a legitimate chance at a World Series ring.

Can we just fire this so called GM, JP Ricciardi, already!!!