DUNEDIN, Fla. — ...Beeston goes back to 1976 with the Blue Jays, before they owned a player. He remembers lots of executive debates through the early years. Back then, Beeston and Bobby Mattick and their inner circle, all best of friends, found a different venue to hash out important decisions.
“Those discussions were in a bar,” the club president and CEO said Wednesday, unleashing his trademark guffaw.
“I’m not making that up. Those were the best. All we had to have was one person remember who said what, so we could get back together later on.”
“What I like about Alex’s group is that Alex’s group is not yes-men,” Beeston said.
“I happened to just walk by when I heard the discussion about whether they were going to sign [McGowan]. So to listen to them, listen to the pluses and minuses, what the value was, it was actually quite interesting. Going in there and getting it all out on the table I think is very important.”
It's only reasonable to look at the deal as a two year deal (plus the buyout). The only way the deal makes it to three is if the first two brought value.
McGowan only has to be worth 0.8 fWAR over the first two years of the deal for McGowan to be "worth" the deal, monetarily. For perspective, Jo Jo Reyes was worth 0.7 fWAR last year alone.
it's still a 3 year deal as they will be paying him a salary in the third year either way. a buy-out still goes on the books.
DUNEDIN, FLA. - Well, that’s it, the Blue Jays' rotation looks set.
Neither John Farrell nor general manager Alex Anthopoulos would spit out the names of the final five on Wednesday, but a reading of the tea leaves suggests it’s all but a done deal.
When the Jays head north on April 3 following their final spring training game, they will likely sport a rotation that consists of Ricky Romeo, Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil, Henderson Alvarez and Kyle Drabek.
No big surprises there.
The odd men out will be Dustin McGowan, who will likely go on the disabled list due to his bout of plantar fasciitis and lefty Aaron Laffey, who will open the season at triple-A Las Vegas.
The final two spots have been the sticky points this spring and even on Wednesday Farrell didn’t come right out and say that Cecil and Drabek are definitely his guys. But he came close.
Once McGowan is healthy, he’ll become the Jays’ fifth starter and then it will be either Cecil or Drabek who will be heading west to Vegas.
A few days back, the Jays were holding out hope that McGowan’s foot problem would be a minor irritant, that he would get one more start down here and be ready to go either April 10 or 11 when the Jays would need a fifth starter.
But given that he has been shut down from throwing altogether, not even playing catch for the next three days, that hope evaporated.
“At this point, it’s probably unlikely that he’ll be ready to go,” Farrell said. “Looking further into the schedule, we’ll need five starters in those first six games of the season, then we won’t need a fifth starter until April 21. So, we’ll manage that accordingly.”
Cecil, meanwhile, was originally scheduled to go seven innings against the Orioles on Wednesday but the Jays had a change of heart and decided to hide him from the Orioles instead and had him throw in the morning in a minor-league intrasquad game.
That’s as good as a thumbs up from Farrell, given that the Jays face Baltimore in their second home series, April 13-15.
“The injury to Dustin obviously creates a little bit less of a competitive field just in terms of numbers, so we anticipate Brett being one of our starters,” the manager said.
Drabek, meanwhile, was terrific in Tuesday night’s game against the regular Yankees lineup as he blanked New York over five innings, allowing five hits, two walks and striking out five.
In five major-league outings, he has allowed 13 hits in 141/3 innings, walked six and struck out 12. He has held the opposition to a .255 average and sports a 3.14 ERA.
Drabek has done just about all the Jays have asked and with a 96-mph heater, he has weapons that Laffey can only dream about.
“I would say he’s done a very good job and, at the moment, categorize it that he’s on the right path. That is, simplifying his game and maintaining his approach from pitch to pitch, regardless the outcome,” Farrell said. “Last night, he pitched out of a jam in the fourth inning, kept his composure and continued to make pitches and it was a very encouraging outing for him on a number of fronts.”
Who between Drabek and Cecil remains once McGowan returns will be determined by their starts over the first three weeks.
The original game plan may have been to have Cecil start with the Jays and have Drabek do some fine-tuning at triple-A.
But as they say, things change, stuff happens and right now Drabek looks like the better long-term option.
FLIP AND FLOP
For the past five games, Farrell has sported a lineup that featured second baseman Kelly Johnson leading off and shortstop Yunel Escobar batting second.
Against the Orioles, though, he flipped the spots back to his original plan of having the lineup open up Escobar-Johnson.
“Just looking at Johnson in the leadoff spot was an experiment,” Farrell said. “Gave it five days to take a look at it. Kelly was swinging the bat exceptionally well.”
So why change back?
“I think more than anything just to get Yunel back in a spot where he was most comfortable. Maybe he sees a little bit more fastballs. We’re just taking it back to the original alignment.”
it's still a 3 year deal as they will be paying him a salary in the third year either way. a buy-out still goes on the books.
And that's fine.... so, $3.5 M. Do you think he'll be able to accumulate 1 WAR over two combined years? I sure do.
Even if he doesn't $3.5M over two years doesn't hold the club up in any way, and him holding a 40 man roster spot doesn't impede anyone's progress at this point, nor will it in 2013 or 2014. There's lots of upside to the deal with very, very, very minimal risk.
today, Gose stole 2nd, 3rd and then home in the 8th inning to give the Jays a 3-2 win against the RedSox. It was the winning run. Alvarez started in a minor league game instead of facing the RedSox, he went 7 innings, 2 hits, 1ER, 4k and threw 72 pitches. Drew started against the Red Sox, went 4 allowing 1 run on 4 hits...
I like that Cecil isn't locked into a spot and that he actually has to perform for when McGowan comes back. I think he's got the lowest potential ceiling when it comes to natural talent (basically, not counting McGowan's injuries) among the current starting pitchers.
So last year my constant campaigning for Rasmus worked and the Jays clearly listened to me and went after him. This year's dream trade target: Brandon Beachy. I want the Jays to steal him. Just gotta hope that the rest of the Braves stays healthy and their prospects pan out.
I like that Cecil isn't locked into a spot and that he actually has to perform for when McGowan comes back. I think he's got the lowest potential ceiling when it comes to natural talent (basically, not counting McGowan's injuries) among the current starting pitchers.
So last year my constant campaigning for Rasmus worked and the Jays clearly listened to me and went after him. This year's dream trade target: Brandon Beachy. I want the Jays to steal him. Just gotta hope that the rest of the Braves stays healthy and their prospects pan out.
I said this earlier and will continue to say so, Jays and Braves are teams that look like they should make a trade. Braves need a centerfielder for the future after this year (Bourn is gone after this year) and Braves have high ceiling pitchers. Teheran, Minor, Delgado, Beachy; Teheran and Delgado will be in the minors after Hudson gets back...
I like that Cecil isn't locked into a spot and that he actually has to perform for when McGowan comes back. I think he's got the lowest potential ceiling when it comes to natural talent (basically, not counting McGowan's injuries) among the current starting pitchers.
So last year my constant campaigning for Rasmus worked and the Jays clearly listened to me and went after him. This year's dream trade target: Brandon Beachy. I want the Jays to steal him. Just gotta hope that the rest of the Braves stays healthy and their prospects pan out.
imho cecil>mcgowan
what has mcgowan done to deserve the spot more than cecil?
also, Rasmus has been pretty bad this spring. I know it is only spring, but usually he has done well before this prolonged slump (including last year).
what has mcgowan done to deserve the spot more than cecil?
also, Rasmus has been pretty bad this spring. I know it is only spring, but usually he has done well before this prolonged slump (including last year).
Cecil hasn't done much to earn his spot either. And sometimes you have to look beyond that. McGowan's stuff has always been better and therefore there is more potential. With Cecil, his velocity being down is a big issue. To me, a left-hander can get by with 92-93 over a right hander who does the same, but Cecil can't survive with 85-87 because he keeps the ball high in the zone. Not a good mixture.
Mcgowan's best season was better than Cecil's best season. If McGowan can repeat something close to his 07 season; that would be unbelievable. I know no one is holding their breath over it, but that is the reason McGowan deserves a chance over Cecil.
As for Rasmus, I am worried too. Haven't seen him play aside from a couple of games, but the numbers are unimpressive. Really hoping that it's all about making some adjustments and it clicks as soon as the season opens...
I hear what your saying but IMO you should have your 2 best hitters hitting 3, 4. Lawrie may not be our second best hitter yet, but I predict he will be by mid-season and he's still too inexperienced to bat clean-up.
I hear what your saying but IMO you should have your 2 best hitters hitting 3, 4. Lawrie may not be our second best hitter yet, but I predict he will be by mid-season and he's still too inexperienced to bat clean-up.
I think people are going to be surprised by how effective Escobar and Johnson will be at the top of the lineup. Johnson (along with Rasmus) is a popular whipping boy for the casual Blue Jays fan crowd. I'm certainly excited that the Jays seem to be leaning towards having them at the top rather than someone like Thames.
The Bautista 3-run HRs will be fun until they start walking him to induce the bases loaded GIDPs from Lind.
I wish Rasmus would start hitting or have an idea about hitting. Watched him today, he looked clueless up there. As for Lawrie, kid is amazing. He had an inside out hit when thames was on 2nd, and then pulled it for another hit...
Re: Toronto Blue Jays 2012 Season Thread
