Game #148: O's at Jays pregame
Baltimore (63-83) at Toronto (73-74)
at 1:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre
Today’s lineups:
ORIOLES
Brian Roberts, 2B
Tike Redman, CF
Nick Markakis, RF
Miguel Tejada, SS
Aubrey Huff, 1B
Kevin Millar, DH
Scott Moore, 3B
J.R. House, C
Freddie Bynum, LF
PITCHING: LHP Kurt Birkins (1-1, 7.27 ERA)
BLUE JAYS
Vernon Wells, CF
Reed Johnson, LF
Alex Rios, RF
Frank Thomas, DH
Aaron Hill, 2B
Matt Stairs, 1B
Gregg Zaun, C
Hector Luna, 3B
John McDonald, SS
PITCHING: RHP Roy Halladay (14-7, 3.91 ERA)
NOTES: Matt Stairs offered his explanation for waiting until after the season to discuss a new deal with the Jays. He wants to see what kind of playing time he’d be in stor for with Johnson still in the fold: "I feel when I’m in the lineup we have a good chance of winning each ballgame. It’s something where, are they going to plan on platooning us? There’s obviously a lot of questions that need to be answered. Is it going to come back to where I’m going to a 100 at-bat guy?" Stairs said his first choice is Toronto, but he’s obviously shown what he can still do with a solid number of at-bats. If he’s going to simply be a bench guy again with everyone healthy, Stairs may opt to explore his options elsewhere. … Don’t look now, but the Jays have officially been eliminated from the AL East division race. … Class A Auburn captured the New York-Penn League title on Friday.
AL WILD CARD RACE
entering Saturday
1. New York 84-63 (–)
2. Detroit 81-67 (3.5)
3. Seattle 78-68 (5.5)
4. Toronto 73-74 (11)
BREAKING EVEN…Toronto needs to post a 9-6 record over its final 15 games to finish the season above .500.
Major League Bastian 
I say if that’s what it takes to keep stairs then definitaly play him every day, Reed can be used as the 4th outfielder/late defensive replacement.
enigma
Agreed. Johnson and Stairs can platoon, and Stairs can also fill in for Overbea at 1st.
That man was born in Canada.
If Johnson comes back next year like last year what then same for overbay.
Stairs will demand a fair price on the market this winter,A lot of teams will look at him his defence was good this year his offence was stellar.
What if he had 600 at bats????.
Don’t expect him to be here next year and that is sad.
Well that double ties Arraon Hill with Robbie Alomar for the most doubles by a Jays 2nd baseman. I’d expect he ties or breaks the HR number as well, since he’s only 1 behind Alomar.
Let’s hope Abner takes out Halliday and gives him a break-he’s thrown a lot of innings lately
Great decision by Abner-taking Halliday out after 100 pitches was the right decision.
Whats the chances they can get stairs cheaper then they can get Johnson ??? Prob not very good. I say if were not going to significantly upgrade our LF spot then so long Stairs and thanks for the memories — no way a great player like Stairs will sit on the sidelines
P.S. We should trade for Edgar Renteria !!!
You know who a great Platoon would be ??? Reed Johnson and …… ADAM DUNN !!!!
And we could have Renteria lead off when Dunns out there hitting hum dingers !
Anyone else notice that Zaun’s just ripping it up at the plate in September? Check out these numbers so far this month:
.333AVG, .417OBP, .619SLG, 3HR, 11RBI.
Pretty impressive. Maybe his hand is finally healing up? Doesn’t change the fact that he still can’t throw out a runner, but it does make his two year contract seem like less of a big deal….
And check out what Aubrey Huff had to say about Halladay:
“Against a guy like that you either hit him or you don’t,” said Huff. “I had four dirty martinis at the hotel bar last night and then came to the yard. Like I said, you either hit him or you don’t.”
Sounds like the Orioles are taking it easy this September….
dave
I’m sure a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but if I was the Jays, I’d be cautious with what they give Stairs. Although, he has performed remarkably for us this year there’s a number of facts to be considered.
1) This is the highest batting average Stairs has had in his career.
2) This is the highest slugging average Stairs has had in his career.
3) This is the most HR’s he’s hit with equal number of at bats since 2003.
4) He’s only had 2 seasons in his career when his OBP was higher than what it is now.
5) He’s only had 2 seasons in his career when his RBI per game played is higher.
Don’t get me wrong, I love what Matt Stairs has given us this year-no question. But, I can’t see us committing to a large number of at bats to him and forgetting about the development of Adam Lind.
In addition, in a couple of years Travis Snider will be ready. So if the Jays don’t try to develop Lind now and instead committ to a large quantity of at bats for Stairs, Lind will get lost in the process and in my view he’s got a better long term lefty bat for us than Stairs does.
Clearly, Matt Stairs is having a “career year”; our biggest value for him would have been trading him before the trade deadline.
I do agree with signing Stairs and pay him good money as a reward for this year, BUT, he has to come back under the same rules as he did this year and don’t sign him for more than 1 year.
hem
Maybe Huff should do that more often-he went 4 for 4.
Yeah, I saw the game yesterday — Huff was on fire!
Dirty Martinis for all?
And as far as Stairs goes, you’ve got to keep in mind that he’s changed his entire approach at the plate, now that he’s older. Even his stance is different — he got rid of that massive leg kick and as a result he’s not striking out as much.
I dunno. I’m not sure that Stairs can repeat his numbers next year, but he might be one of those older guys who’s finally really figured out his game very late in his career. He now knows his limitations and is making the best of it.
Who knows? It’s a tough choice between Lind and Stairs, but I don’t think it would hurt Lind too much to keep him in AAA for at least the beginning of next season….
Hem
Hey I want to sign Stairs, I just don’t want to sign him for more than 1 year, and I wouldn’t like to see the Jays committ to a large number at bats.
Lind has nothing more to prove at AAA and needs development time here.
I think that we should trade Reed Johnson for maybe some pitching prospects and not resign Stairs. We should sign free agent Adam Dunn and keep Adam Lind as a fourth outfielder.