Watching Gose hit is painful. He is absolutely terrible at the plate. Not like you can blame him though. Everyone said he wasn't ready since he wasn't even hitting AAA pitchers too well (relative to the rest of his team and league). He needs at least one more full year at AAA. He had one swing last night in the 9th on a slider that looked like the most awkward swing I've seen a non-pitcher take. Once the Jays get another OF healthy, he needs to be sent down. He's not going to learn anything in the Majors right now.
Cecil's future should be in the bullpen. This has been painfully obvious all year. Even Farrell alluded to it recently.
That throw by Gose had to be the throw of the year. That was just insane. Was going back underneath it as he caught it and with absolutely no momentum just pure arm whip, got it to home on a line without a bounce from probably 350ish feet.
Dustin McGowan to have arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
I think if there was any doubt, this may have done it for McGowan. As for Hutch, he's still young, and he'll be back end of 2013, and should be good to go in 2014. I liked what I saw from Hutchison, he can be slotted anywhere from a number 3 starter to a number 5 starter...
AA's focus is on starting pitching heading into next season. He believes that this will be a "very, very deep offensive team." Something I am not totally convinced with even when we're at full strength. I think the gap in LF and DH (if Edwin is at 1st) is huge. Going into next season, we're still unsure who is our second baseman with not much available in the FA market.
Personally, I'd like to see a trade with Atlanta, I've been calling it for about a year now that they'd be very good trade partners once Bourn becomes a FA. Atlanta has very good depth at young starting pitching. One of the downfall with that is you don't know how well young pitching is going to develop. Another concern Atlanta has is Brandon Beachy ended up getting injured this year. With that said, Julio Teheran has had a terrible year this year after being ranked the #5 prospect in back to back years. His K/rate has gone down to 6.0/9ip. He'd be someone to look into, with Mike Minor another prospect to look into along with Randall Delgado (who's ceiling is lower than the other two). I'd be in for something like a Anthony Gose for Teheran trade (it may require a B-level prospect attached with it). Now it kinda sucks that Gose had to come up in unfavourable circumstances and that he is getting exposed because he really needs to be more refined as a hitter (develop another year in Triple-A). But one can hope that Atlanta likes what they see from him.
Another team I'd be looking at is the Arizona D'Backs. This one is tricky as there's not much we can offer to acquire Trevor Bauer, and maybe not enough to get Tyler Skaggs either. Along with that, I would assume there would be some serious interest from the Jays to acquire Justin Upton. I wasn't totally against parting with one of our pitching prospects from Lansing for Upton, but if maybe we can somehow swing this into Upton + Skaggs, then I would be offering any of the 3 from Lansing plus Hech/Yunel, Gose, and couple of other prospects as well. It's an unlikely scenario, because if I am the D'Backs and were looking to move pitching, not only would I look to move others first, but also would package them separately to get the best value for both trades.
I've only seen a couple of games of Hech, but I like him. Haven't seem him play short (I know he played yday, but I missed the game), but he's definitely not a third baseman (maybe I'm spoiled watching Lawrie cause there were a couple of plays that Lawrie has made look routine over there). I like Hech's bat speed. The bat looks level for the most, and I can see him as a hitter who hits the ball to all fields in the future. He's another player who I don't agree is ready yet, but I do think he is further along in his development than Gose (who looks at least about a year away). I truly believe Hech can be a .290+ hitter in the future with taking decent amount of walks, but I don't see him as a power hitter, just gap-to-gap.
Heading into next season, I do expect a couple of major trades to happen mostly involving prospects; but I think this team didn't the necessary steps this past off season to set themselves better for the next season. I would not predict contention or playoffs for next year because I think it's unlikely that a team which fails to see its weaknesses will make up the difference by not plugging up holes. The offense needs work along with the starting pitching. As much as I didn't want D'Arnaud to take the full time catching duties as a rookie to begin the year, I think it may be necessary (JP's days have to be numbered - good guy, can hit for power, but D'Arnaud is simply better). I am hoping Lind is not around when next year comes around (I personally would rather have Cooper if those two were my options). The question mark at second base will be huge, using Hech there would minimize his value and would be a waste of his talents; you can't be redundant with your resources when you have limited assets. And LF will also be a question mark going into the off season. If you put Gose left; it's the same situation as Hech, who are your other options? Sierra? Rajai? That's why you look to target someone like Upton depending on the asking price. Of course if Yankees/Red Sox enter the bid, you absolutely have to pursue him and cannot be outbid by either/any team in the ALE.
This offseason will be key in determining the direction this team is taking not only for year 2013, but also 2014; when Bautista will be 33, and Edwin 31. As pointed earlier, that is why I thought this past offseason, we failed to lay the groundwork for this year, where instead of plugging holes, all we have is more uncertainty. First base, Left Field, and Second Base along with starting pitching...
Jays nearing a 4-year agreement with Buffalo to be their Triple-A affiliate. We can finally send our pitchers to triple-a without them getting hammered. and hitters will be hitting to their true ability...
Anyone see this about Yunel Escobar ? What was he thinking?...especially in Toronto.
Quote:
TORONTO - The Toronto Blue Jays say they're looking into reports that shortstop Yunel Escobar played Saturday's game against Boston with a homophobic slur written in Spanish under his eyes.
Several pictures posted online show Escobar with the message written in his eye-black, a type of sticker players wear under their eyes to reduce the sun's glare.
The words under the 29-year-old Cuban's eyes were "TU ERE MARICON" which can be translated as "You are a f****t."
The photos stirred up controversy on Twitter and several sports blogs Monday afternoon. Escobar was trending on Twitter by early evening.
"The Toronto Blue Jays do not support discrimination of any kind nor condone the message displayed by Yunel Escobar during Saturday’s game," the team said in a statement.
"The club takes this situation seriously and is investigating the matter."
The Blue Jays added Escobar, general manager Alex Anthopoulos, manager John Farrell and coach Luis Rivera would speak with media in New York on Tuesday.
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney also confirmed the commissioner's office is looking into the reports.
The Jays were off Monday before opening a three-game series against the Yankees.
Re: Toronto Blue Jays 2012 Season Thread
