Game #105: Jays at Rays pregame
Toronto (52-52) at Tampa Bay (39-65)
at 7:10 p.m. ET at beautiful Tropicana Field
Today’s lineups:
BLUE JAYS
Reed Johnson, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Alex Rios, RF
Troy Glaus, 3B
Vernon Wells, CF
Frank Thomas, DH
Aaron Hill, 2B
Gregg Zaun, C
John McDonald, SS
PITCHING: RHP Dustin McGowan (7-5, 4.45 ERA)
DEVIL RAYS
Akinori Iwamura, 3B
Brendan Harris, 2B
B.J. Upton, CF
Carlos Pena, 1B
Delmon Young, RF
Jonny Gomes, LF
Greg Norton, DH
Dioner Navarro, C
Ben Zobrist, SS
PITCHING: RHP Andy Sonnanstine (1-6, 5.57 ERA)
NOTES: Two days after optioning him to Triple-A Syracuse, LHP Gustavo Chacin had his option voided and was placed back on the 15-day disabled list. He’ll continue rehabbing at Triple-A, but will remain on the Major League roster, which means he’ll still be building up his big-league service time and receiving his big-league salary. … RHP Jesse Litsch, who spent time as the Devil Rays bat boy in the 2001-02 seasons, will take the mound at the Trop in front of a host of family and friends on Tuesday. Litsch is from nearby Pinellas Park. … STAT OF THE DAY: Toronto’s rotation has posted a 3.54 ERA since Burnett landed on the DL a second time. The rotation has a 4.50 ERA this season.
AL EAST STANDINGS
entering Monday
1. Boston 64-41 (–)
2. New York 56-49 (8)
3. Toronto 52-52 (11.5)
4. Baltimore 49-55 (14.5)
5. Tampa Bay 39-65 (24.5)
AL WILD CARD RACE
entering Monday
1. Cleveland 60-45 (–)
2. Seattle 57-46 (2)
3. New York 56-49 (4)
4. Minnesota 53-51 (6.5)
5. Toronto 52-52 (7.5)
Major League Bastian 
According to Ken Rosenthal of Foxsports.com, Troy Glaus could be the next big slugger on the block. He says that JP would be willing to listen to offers, and that the Jays could get a substantial return. The Angels are a likely possibility, and if we could get a guy like Wood/Aybar (as I mentioned in previous posts) + a pitching prospect like Joe Saunders in this deal, with maybe another class A prospect, I could see a deal working out. It would give us a great deal of budget room…
Thoughts?
I love troy as a player so it would hurt to let him go so show us some stats on wood/aybar please
Litsch will have friends and family for his start tomm night. In other words half of the crowd will be from Litsch’s family. A non arriving crowd is what happens down here. You can here conversations going on in the stands if you listen carefully as the game is being played. Tropicana Field has absolutely no atmosphere.
if you want stats garry you can go get em all i know is they are both cant miss prospects and the angels have often refused to give them up, but were glaus to be traded one would certainly be involved.
I called ******** on the Chacin situation the moment it happend, and look.. two days later the decision was voided. Managment still has not given us a reason why it was voided and i’d really like a explantion.
was the void due to player union presure?
abriggs.
Their just going to lie to us anyway.
ukgocats3.
Ionly found woods BA 262 we have john ford griffin same type of player If JP trys to trade glaus he is going to want to much so there wont be any deal anyway,By the way on woods that is just my opinion what do the rest of you guys think.
Better go out and talk to him arnie tell him if he buys the beer i’ll leave him in.
Dustin buys the beer.
It dosen’t matter how bad the pitcher is we seem to have a way of making him look good I wonder why that is.
If McGowan wins this game he is at 500. Marcum is 2 games over 500. thank god they belong to the Jays.
I am now watchin the blog to see what happens upton made me shut of my TV McGowan pitched a good game now he has to watch and see if the bullpen can blow it for him ,
Once again they can’t drive in the insurance runs when are these bats going to come alive and stay alive.
Garry, can you tell me for a batter, what OPS stands for? I would appreciate it.
ukgocats
Yes, If I was LA, I’d do that trade in a minute-both unproven major leagers. Saunders does not even have a great minor league record.
Why trade Glaus? Who’s going to step in and hit 30 Hr’s and knock in 100? Where does that production come from?
It would likely cost us more to sign someone capable of those numbers than what we already pay Glaus-a proven commodity.
The Jays aren’t looking to save money-they’re looking to win-this year or next year.
IMHO Glaus is an important part of that.
The cancelling of the outrighting of Chacin to AAA was likely because some other team tried to claim him off of waivers.
Garry
You’re right about Marcum and McGowan-they’re great young pitchers and we’re fortunate to have both of them. IF Marcum had gotten normal run support he could be sitting at 13-4. Remember, he had 6 games in which he gave up a grand total of 2-3 runs ( total in all 6) and never got a decision.
freedom
OPS means on-base plus slugging percentage
Thanks indigo
Freedom
On-base plus slugging, or OPS, is a baseball statistic which is calculated as the sum of a player’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Both the ability of a player to get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented, making it an effective way of measuring the offensive worth of a player.
An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League Baseball puts the player in the upper echelon of offensive ability. Typically, the league leader in OPS will score near, and not necessarily below, the 1.000 mark.
woops-sorry Indigo
I had already clicked post by the time I saw you’d answered Freedom’s question
**** it’s tied
Thanks also to you gsummer for explaining in more thoroughly.
Oh just great we are going into extra innings.
Thanks ingido.
How far of was Towers now how does everybody think McGowan feels now I would think just like Towers did.
I for one dont think it helps a team when a manager gets throwen out of a game you lose all close calls.
After reading what Jordon posted tonight on Chacin, I might have been wrong in my suggestion another team tried to pick him up off of waivers.
Jordon posted” He’ll continue rehabbing at Triple-A, but will remain on the Major League roster, which means he’ll still be building up his big-league service time and receiving his big-league salary.”
I had assumed Chacin would still be getting his major league salary even if he had been optioned to AAA, since I had assumed he was on a major league contract. I hadn’t even thought about major league service.
Considering that Chacin only gets $395,300.00 per season-makes this a pretty nasty move by The Blue Jays, if that is in fact what they tried to do.
I think an explanation is in order.
If we can’t win against this bullpen, we do not deserve a chance to be in the playoffs.
Come on Vernon, show us why you got the big bucks
Garry & Ukgocats: Although I realize this is all speculation, I’d definitely take Wood over Ford-Griffin any day. Wood is six years younger than Ford-Griffin and a left-side of the infield guy to boot. Whereas Wood is still a good prospect, I’d say Ford-Griffin’s time may have come and gone. You don’t see many 28/29 year old OFs break into the Majors and make much of an impact….
As far as the Jays “disrespecting” Chacin by optioning him to Syracuse, I really can’t say I feel sorry for Chacin. This is a guy who’s focus is suspect at best and who got caught drinking and driving. If anything, I think Chacin’s got a lot to prove to the Jays’ organization rather than the other way around….
And did anyone else just see Wells pop up with runners in scoring position AGAIN. What’s with this guy?
If anyone’s interested, this page shows Wood’s stats: http://beta.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Brandon%20Wood&pos=3B&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=457420
hem.gold
I agree with our assessment of Griffin. I also agree Wood might be a good prospect. alhough, I’m a bit suspect of him, considering LA are looking for a power hitting 3rd base guy-why don’t they move him up?
And I don’t agree trading Glaus for him.
Hey, we had a runner on 2nd base and Rios, Glaus nor Wells could bring him home.
Pathetic.
gsumner: Although Wood had a very brief stint with the big league club (he just got sent back down), I think the reason the Angels aren’t giving him a chance this year is because contending teams don’t usually like to break in a rookie this late in the season. If you’re looking to win in the post season, I think most teams would prefer a veteran at third than a fresh faced rookie….
As far as Glaus goes, I like him, too, but he’s injury prone and is also the most moveable piece the Jays have to offer. He’s solid defensively, hits for power, and has experience on his side. Although I doubt JP will do much (he’s in love with this team as is), I’d love to see a big shake-up involving Glaus. Time to get some fresh blood, but that’s just my opinion….
And on another note, great bunt by Zaun!
Bases loaded, one out and of course the Jays blow it. Where’s the clutch hitting on this supposedly hard-hitting team?
Man oh man — what a brutal game for the Jays. But how about Crawford? He just destroyed the Jays — he’s an incredible player, I wish the Jays had someone as exciting to watch as him on their team!
hem.gold
I think the major shakeup I’d like to see is a new manager.
Maybe Towers wasn’t 100% accurate in what he said, but there does seem to be a motivational problem on this club-and that goes back to Gibby.
Well hemgold if we had your guy and a few others some of us like we might have won.
As long as JP the ego triper and gibbons the pitcher killer are in charge of this team we will never see the playoffs.
I for one am sick and tired of kidding myself that we are going to make it.
It seems that Ted Rogers knows nothing about baseball if he did he would have got rid of these two buffoons by now and don’t leave Whitt behind please
gsumner:
I agree that a new manager would be great, but I really don’t think the Jays can win with the lineup they’ve got now — they’re too slow and reliant on the long ball. If the Jays don’t move someone, the only changes we’ll see next year are MAYBE a new SS (and the FA pickings are slim) and maybe Lind in LF instead of Johnson. I don’t know about you, but I think those two small changes aren’t enough to transform this team into a true contender….
Garry: What’s frustrating about this team is that there are too many players that have not and will never be asked to do the small things: i.e. bunt a runner over. Glaus, Wells, Overbay, and Thomas are guys who have never been asked to bunt in their career, so they don’t do it. But then if they don’t jack one out of the park or hit a double, they’re just rally killers. Don’t get me wrong — I love these guys as individual players, but all of them together on one team makes for a really one-dimensional offense. If the Jays don’t hit it out of the park, they just don’t win games. A sparkplug other than Johnson is REALLY a pressing need….
hem.gold I’m with you all the way but we still need new managment we are more one dimensional there also,But don’t get your hopes up from gibbons to the owner they all think the same.
hem.gold
If I was going to trade anyone right now, it’d be Thomas. I do agree with speed being an issue, and having two big guys like Glaus and Thomas is a problem. I think we need one of them. This same lineup last year was number 2 or 3 in batting in the AL without Thomas. We’re now in the low 20’s. What changed?
If you review what we have though, it does look bright for next year. Our pitching, in my view is stronger than I’ve ever seen it and will only get stronger next year, with Ryan and Davis Romero back, and Brandon up to normal speed.
We have depth in starters and relievers-as good or better than Boston or anyone else.
I think we’re solid in the outfield, with Lind being the 4th outfielder.
We’re strong at 1st, 2nd, ss and (imv)-3rd base. I like Johnny Mac. Sure it’d be nice to have more power at ss, but we’d likely give up some defense to get it. I’m not sure that’s a good trade off.
I would like to see them give Santos a look at ss; he does have the power.
Injuries is what go us this far behind this year. I think we’ve had over 700 man games of injuries so far. To be fair a lot of guys have jumped in and done a great job. But just having Johnson back and leading off shows you what we’ve missed.
I guess overall, my point is, I’d do some minor tweeking, not massive change-with the exception of Gibby. I really dislike how he somehow forgets to handle the pitching staff-it’s like hes simply not even in the dugout.
But thats just my opinion.
hem.gold
hey I don’t know about you, but any other manager would ask Overbea and Wells to bunt. I agree with Thomas and Glaus-but not Wells and Overbea.
In 2007, the team BA was .284, it’s now .259. Why?
Last year the team OPS was .811, now it’s.752. Why?
Last year the team era was 4.37 and the hwip was 1.37. This year it’s 4.17 and 1.3. So pitching’s improved.
Hem.gold
This confirms your theory of poor speed. Last year we stole 65 bases, or about .4 per game. This year to date, we’ve stolen 28 or .27 a game.
And guess who the main culprit is?
Last year Wells stole 17 bases; this year to date he’s stolen 5.
I think the other “spark plug” we’re missing from last year is Wells.
His BA, Hr’s,OBP, slugging, SB everything is down dramatically.
What a frustrating end to a game, but without Johnny Mac, the score would have been a lot more uneven than it ended up. Power or not, he’s hitting .274 on the season, and he does a lot more with his bat than shows up on the stat sheet. Next year, I would love to see one of our young guys come up and play behind JM, and learn what he has to teach. I don’t think there’s anyone in the league with better footwork or a faster release than JM, plus, he uses a lot of smarts out there to get the job done. I hope they pay him some decent money next year, because he’s one of the guys that’s earning his keep this year.
So sorry i haven’t posted again. I’m on vacation and i don’t have a computer with me.
I also haven’t been able to watch the games but it seems to me like the road woes have begun. I probably won’t be able to post again for a few days so take care and keep the comments coming guys.
Have fun
Harry
The Philadelphia Phillies bolstered their rotation by acquiring right-hander Kyle Lohse from the Cincinnati Reds for minor-league pitcher Matt Maloney on Monday.
Lohse, 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA, was considered one of the better starting pitchers available in a very weak starting-pitching market.
**I can understand JP turning down this deal for Towers. Maloney is only a AA pitcher with a weak record.
gsumner:
You make some interesting points. Can’t say I agree with them all, but hey, that’s what these blogs are all about!
I completely agree, though, that this year’s version of Wells is a train wreck and it’s really effected the dynamic of the team. However, I wouldn’t consider him to be a “spark plug” guy, because I tend to think of him more as someone who’s meant to drive in runs. Spark plugs need to be more like Johnson or even the Cat (when he was playing last year — he’s having a brutal year this year): guys who grind out every at bat, get on base in any way possible, and do the little things. They set the plate for guys like Wells to bring them home. For example, I wish the Jays had someone like Chone Figgins — he doesn’t drive people in, but he gets on base and causes havoc. I can’t think of the last time the Jays had a guy like that on their team….
I also agree that the pitching staff is really shaping up nicely. What a surprise, too! The only problem, however, are guys like Burnett and Chacin. Although I don’t know them personally (obviously!), they seem like they need to work on their focus and it’s really brutal that they can’t stay off the DL. I mean, come on, what’s the use of “good stuff” if you’re going on the DL three times a year? The Jays have a real problem putting together winning streaks, and I think a lot of that has to do with people like Chacin and Burnett being unable to stay off the DL. There’s no consistency.
Sorry for the novel writing — I’ve got tons to say! One last thing, though, about Santos. I’m still not convinced he’s worth a spot on the 25 man roster, but if it’s a choice between him and another guy like Clayton, might as well give him a chance. His low batting average, high strike out rate, and poor fielding don’t inspire lots of confidence….
Anyway, sorry again for the long post. Have a good day everyone!
And I’ve got to say, I’d give up Towers for Maloney any day. There’s no way the Jays are keeping Towers after this season, so why not pick up a young lefty for him who seems capable of pitching deep into games and racking up some innings? His walks are a little high, but he’s got lots of K’s and an ERA under 4.00. If anyone’s interested, here are his stats for this year:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Matthew%20Maloney&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=476011
The Yankees and Dodgers have agreed to a deal, pending medical reviews, that will send reliever Scott Proctor back to the Dodgers for utility infielder Wilson Betemit.
The Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers have agreed in principle to a trade involving Eric Gagne, and the Red Sox are now negotiating with the former Cy Young winner to get him to accept the trade.
The Rangers are set to receive prospects in the deal. Boston is not on Gagne’s approved list of 12 teams to which he can be traded.
After missing much of the past two years with injuries, Gagne has returned to form this season, with 16 saves in 17 chances and a 2.16 ERA
**Actually when I saw the Proctor/Betemit trade by the Yanks, I thought the Yanks would get Gagne, which is why they dumped Proctor. So I was surprised to see Boston got him instead.
Just what the Sox needed-another strong reliever.
Man oh man — it’s not over yet, but it’s looking like the Braves and the Rangers are the biggest winners at this year’s deadline. The Braves picked up another reliever from the Royals to go along with the lefty reliever and Teixeira. I guess the Braves are a team that wants to win NOW at ANY cost.
But so far, I’ve got to say the Rangers are the biggest winners. Not only did they pick up a solid young catcher (Saltalamacchia) but a whole bunch of great pitching prospects from both Atlanta and Boston. After years of good hitting but no pitching, the Rangers might be a pretty strong team in a couple of years….
hem.gold
I agree with you on the Rangers, who finally seem to be doing trades that help them.
The trades look like they’ll benefit all 3 parties-Boston, The Rangers and Atlanta-who did another deal with KC for a reliever.
Yup, it seems like everyone’s a winner — Boston’s bullpen is now ridiculously good. I can’t believe it.
Overall, though, I have to say this was another pretty underwhelming trade deadline. Other than the Teixeira deal and maybe the Gagne deal, there was mainly just some minor tinkering here and there. I wish the Jays had done something, even dumping Towers, but I guess there’s no harm in seeing what their lineup can do now that everyone’s trickling back from the DL….
I’m sure they tried on Towers. In retrospect the Phillies might have turned them down to get Loshe versus Towers-who knows.
Frankly, I was surprised they didn’t move Stairs, to give him the chance to be on a contending team-unless they plan to sign him next year.
It’s clear though, the team to beat in the AL is Boston-their pitching is now staggering-it’s so good.
The dark horse for the playoffs could be Atlanta, they went a long way to help their case, and now put out a power house lineup. Their issue is whether they have enough pitching or not-but I’d hate to pitch against them.
The surprise to me was the Yanks. As weak as they are in the bullpen, I was surprised they moved Proctor witout having a strong replacement.
Maybe they’re just going to wait for those really good prospects they have in AA to make it.
Towers for Maloney would have been a great deal Josh will not be with this team next year and Maloney is 6-3 in his last 10 in AA BALL HE IS ONLY 23 Toronto had nothing to lose and lots to gain if that is who philly offerd to Toronto.
I guess Gillick liked Lohshe more than Towers. Who could blame him. Towers has pitched well as of late but. There were some Glaus rumors but obviously the Jays didn’t get value in return. J.P. I am sure listened but didn’t pull the trigger. If the Jays got something in return I think it would have been a good move to deal Glaus. Jays can finish strong and who knows maybe end up passing the Yankees. Jays got by Boston last year, why not aim for the Yankees if your the Jays.
Does Jesse Litsch remind anyone else of a certain Rocket Roger that used to toil for the Jays back in the golden years?