tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59435329751231782002024-02-20T16:15:02.137-08:00The MaritimerRiley McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10500374219947302972noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5943532975123178200.post-36832299675493891102009-01-09T17:39:00.000-08:002009-01-09T17:53:27.348-08:00Are The Jays Ever Going To Be In The Playoffs Again?<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By: Riley </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">McGuire</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> I usually don't write a lot of MLB blogs but I was thinking about the Blue Jays and now I can't understand how the Jays are expected to compete over the next few years. Now when I see the Jays roster I wanna punch myself In the face it's so bad compared to the other teams in our divisions, are best offensive players were horrible last year, and our pitching was always injured. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On a positive note we do have Aaron Hill, Casey Janssen and Jeremy Accardo coming back from being injured for all/most of last year but that has nothing on the Yankees adding Teixeira, Sabathia and Burnett or Boston adding Smoltz, Baldelli and Penny or even Tampa Bay adding Pat Burrell. The only thing the Jays did in this off-season essentially was add non-factor minor league players, great response. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Now I feel for the Orioles in this situation as well, they've done as little as us and are screwed like us but at least they have a lot of quality young players so they can be good in the future, the Jays have like Travis Snider and J.P. Arencibia. Now think about it, seriously think about it, what other divisions have three world series contenders in it. Boston has a great pitching staff, and a above average outfield/infield not to mention a lot of young talent in their system, the Yankees have the power of buying any free agent they want (at least it seems that way) and Tampa Bay simply has a great team who's only going to get better due to David Price's development and the veteran addition of Pat Burrell. Now I was thinking to myself, what could the Blue Jays do to help the team and here are a few of my first thoughts. They could fire the crap out of J.P Riccardi, he's probably one of the worse GM's I have ever seen in pro-sports and he doesn't even seem interested in looking at free agents we need. We should also ship Adam Lind somewhere because he'll likely only get DH time with Snider/Wells/Rios in the feild and we could get a decent starter or an actual designated hitter for him. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> After having (in my opinion) one of the best pitching rotations and bullpens in the league over the past few years it seems to have gone to hell. In the rotation we have one quality pitcher (Roy Halladay) and the bullpen is always hurt. A move I would make immediately if I was Riccardi is trade B.J Ryan, a lot of teams are looking for a experienced closer and we have Brandon League and Jesse Carlson waiting for their chance to close. Even though Ryan is very injury prone we would likely get a few picks or a decent bat or even a few prospects because his salary is a reason we didn't make a lot of moves in this off-season and why were going to suck shit next season. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If the season ended today this is what the team would look like..</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The rotation next year looks like this..</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1. Roy Halladay (20 wins, 11 losses, 2.78 ERA)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2. Jesse Litsch (13 wins, 9 losses, 3.58 ERA)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3. Dustin McGowan (6 wins, 7 losses, 4.37 ERA) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4. Shaun Marcum (9 wins, 7 losses, 3.39 ERA)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">5. Casey Janssen (DNP, Injured)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> --------------------------------------------------- </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Total: 48 wins, 34 losses, 3.53 ERA. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Spares: Davis Romero, Bryan Bullington, Bill Murphy, Ricky Romero, Robert Ray, Luis Perez, David Purcey, Dirk Hayhurst </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Bullpen will look like this..</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">CL - B.J Ryan (60 games, 2-4, 32 saves, 2.95 ERA) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">SU - Jeremy Accardo (16 games, 0-3, 4 SV, 6.57 ERA) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RP - Brandon League (31 games, 1-2, 1 SV, 2.18 ERA) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RP - Jesse Carlson (69 games, 7-2, 2 SV, 2.25 ERA) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RP - Scott Downs (66 games, 3-5, 0 SV, 1.78 ERA) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RP - Jason Frasor (49 games, 1-2, 0 SV, 4.18 ERA) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RP - Scott Richmond (5 games, 1-3, 0 SV, 4.00 ERA) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RP - Brian Tallet (51 games, 1-2, 0 SV, 2.88 ERA)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> --------------------------------------------------- </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Total: 16 wins, 23 losses, 3.35 ERA </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Spares: Shawn Camp, Fabio Castro, Reid Santos. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Starting lineup will look like this..</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1. SS - Marco Scutaro (145 games, 7 HR, 60 RBI) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2. OF - Alexis Rios (155 games, 15 HR, 79 RBI) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3. OF - Travis Snider (24 games, 2 HR, 13 RBI) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4. OF - Vernon Wells (108 games, 20 HR, 78 RBI) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">5. 3B - Scott Rolen (115 games, 11 HR, 50 RBI) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">6. 2B - Aaron Hill (injured, missed season) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">7. DH - Adam Lind (88 games, 9 HR, 40 RBI) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8. 1B - Lyle Overbay (156 games, 15 HR, 69 RBI) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">9. C - Rod Bajaras (104 games, 11 HR, 49 RBI)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> ------------------------------------------------ </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Total: 126 Home runs, 681 RBI's.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Spares: Curtis Thigpen, Jose Bautista, Joe Inglett, Russ Adams, Buck Coats John McDonald. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Across the board those numbers look pretty good to me, but how can those numbers even compare to the Yankees, Rays or Bo-Sox? There's basically nothing the Jays can do to push themselves into a playoff position and as a Jays fan it makes me angry, and even with the Jays best season I still don't think we can beat the money the Yankees spent or the talent the Sox and Rays developed, and it just sucks being a Blue Jays fan right now. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That's all, thanks for reading! </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Riley</span></span></div></div>Riley McGuirehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10500374219947302972noreply@blogger.com3