Hot air
BALTIMORE — It is stinkin’ hot here in Baltimore. It’s about as hot temperature-wise as it was in Florida, but here you feel like you’re just wearing the weather. The humidity is unbelievable and this outdoor pressbox is like a sauna.
While sitting and chatting with Jays skipper Cito Gaston today, Hall-of-Famer Jim Palmer was standing nearby. Someone asked Gaston if he’d ever had the unfortunate task of trying to hit against Palmer back in the day.
“I might’ve faced him in Spring Training, but he was in the American League all that time and I was in the National League,” said Gaston, who then chuckled. “And that was a good thing. I know Gino has faced him…”
At that, Gaston called Jays hitting coach Gene Tenace over and pointed to Palmer: “How’d you do against that guy over there?”
“Terrible,” said Tenace, shaking his head and walking away. “I helped him get to the Hall of Fame.”
A strange observation from today: inside the Jays clubhouse was a bunch of balloons. The largest was in the shape of a turtle and it read: “Have a speedy recovery.” A few of the others had messages like “You’re awesome” and “Thinking of you.” A note attached had a short poem and finished with the line “We still believe!”
No players had a clue who sent the mystery balloons.
Oh, actual news? Well, as the Toronto Sun reported today, Mel Queen is back in the Jays organization, working with Minor Leaguers. Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said, though, that contrary to the report, Queen was not brought back to “evaluate the farm system” and it was also false that Rob Ducey was on deck to be the next farm director.
Ricciardi said he helped bring Queen back to give the Jays former pitching coach a chance to work in the game again after being out for so many years. Ricciardi said that the 66-year-old Queen will help with “special projects,” working individually with pitchers in the system. That’s all there is to it, says the GM.
Ricciardi and Gaston also noted that lefty John Parrish will get at least one more turn in the rotation. Ricciardi went on to say that Parrish would be evaluated after his next outing and added that the club wants to get David Purcey up for an extended look at some point this season.
Today’s lineups:
TORONTO (48-50) at BALTIMORE (47-50)
at 7:05 p.m. ET at a sweltering Camden Yards
BLUE JAYS
Joe Inglett, RF
Marco Scutaro, 2B
Alex Rios, CF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Rod Barajas, C
Matt Stairs, DH
Scott Rolen, 3B
Adam Lind, LF
David Eckstein, SS
PITCHING: RHP Jesse Litsch (8-6, 4.16)
ORIOLES
Brian Roberts, 2B
Adam Jones, CF
Nick Markakis, RF
Aubrey Huff, DH
Melvin Mora, 3B
Luke Scott, LF
Kevin Millar, 1B
Ramon Hernandez, C
Brandon Fahey, SS
PITCHING: RHP Radhames Liz (3-2, 7.57)
Major League Bastian 
Wow-David Cooper our first round draft choice this year, went 3 for 6 today at Lansing and improved his stats to .400ba/.423 obp/.620 slg/1.064OPS. He’s now leading the league in batting average, slugging,OPS and is 3rd in obp.
Time to send this kid to Dunedin, it doesn’t look like there’s any more to prove in A- Lansing.
If anyone wants to check out where a number of our prospects are, check Lansing. Take a look at Cooper, Jaspe, Baksh and don’t overlook both Ahren and Jackson who are starting to turn it on,coincidentally ever sense Cooper arrived.
Lansing won the first half in their league and have the best record. The Lansing team pitching leads the league in era at 2.88 (next closest team is 3.37),innings pitched, least runs given up,least hr’s given up, most k’s, and are 3rd in whip.
Send Litsch back down to the minors and bring up Percey,Litsch has lost it he is garbage right now.
keep litsch-send JP to the minors. lol
Great game just like the first two in Tampa.
What is the matter with Rios he is falling asleep out there he should have got that fly ball back in right away,God this team is playing poor.
Well, Rios didmake up for that snooze
Gary-Before tonight’s game, Matt Stairs was hitting a measly .186 with RISP and probably a new Blue Jays record of .077 with RISP and 2 out. One might say he’s lost it.
I think its time to take a chance on purcey. Everyone has figured out listch and he doesnt have over powering stuff to make up for it.
Another thing. I think Stairs has finally come down and become who he really is. Time to let him go or bench him. we cant keep his terrible hitting in this line up.
Please Cito….this is torcher. I guess JP would make that call.
Go Baltimore opps I mean Jays.lol
The problem with Stairs is he now has no trade value and stupid JP gave him a two year contract.
I don’t have the tube on that’s how much this team sickens me and I love to watch baseball.
Just checked gameday game over does anyone still think we have a chance,Start selling JP before it’s to late.
Lets start selling J.P, is the first step. 5 bucks? Maybe enough for some Taco Bell, so we could learn to scout in South and Central America.
Tonight was the nail in the coffin for me. They played a pitcher who’s been rocked lately and made him look like a quality pitcher. I have completely lost hope and will no longer use phrases such as “if they sweep this team, they will only be this much behind.” I wont go out of my way to watch this team unless Roy Halladay or Shawn Marcum are pitching, or untill they bring up some of their promising prospects (Snider, Purcey, the catcher who’s name escapes me.)
I do think they still have a solid core for next year and that they should only rebuild if they feel they don’t have enough money to sign a big bat (Ramirez, Teixera, Guerrero, Abreu, Giambi, Thome etc.) if they feel they can’t add a big bat or 2 in the offseason then by all means start rebuilding this year.
Enigma.
I feel the same way you do it’s painfull to watch them Rios fell asleep in the field again and I can’t understand it what is he thinkin of.
The catcher might be diaz or arencibia you are looking for.
Who is in favor of promoting the Lansing team to the majors and demoting the jays to lansing (save halladay and a few ofcourse)?
I am gonna start watching in september where i will prolly see my first look at SNIDER and ARENCIBIA, they might decide on calling up Cecil too (i think they shoudl).
GO COOPER GO! and now Ahrens is back on track to 1st round pick performance thats another solid player we have.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nd11Wgd0gY
Travis Snider ladies and gentlmen.
Jordan, you mentioned it in your previous post, why do you think Adam Lind hasn’t been moved up in the lineup yet ? The way he’s playing he deserves to be in an “rbi spot.”
Also, it’s not important but if you could help me out with this one i’d appreciate it because it confused my friends and I. when Jim Gordon took a bullet in the Dark Knight how did he survive it ? I recall a vest but was it him that put it on ?
enigma
Not to much imformation on the dark knight please I havn’t seen it yet.
I don’t see why JP is not bringing up minor league players at this time so we have something to watch because the jays are not worth watching
enigma-thank you for that utube video on Snider. On Lind, I think Cito is working him in slowly to build his confidence and has done a great job at it.
I think in one of his posts Jordan talked about it and suggested Cito was thinking of moving him to the 2nd hole with Rios leading off, which would be interesting to see.
I wonder if the ballpark Snider was hitting in was the same size as a Major League one. Was it one of the 350 ones or was he hitting in a 400ft one. If he was hitting in the 400ft one then Snider could have very well won the HR Derby.
Harry-I think the last think we ever want is any of our guys going into the HR derby again. Rios isn’t the only one’s swing that got screwed up by this competition.
I still think Snider is going to be a good one, although I am not all that impressed with his Ba or risp stats this year. His HR’s are up at 19, but everything else is down.
I do not understand why we play him at DH most days instead of OF. If they want him to replace Stairs-great, but I think playing him day after day at DH, when the other OF’s on the team are at best b- prospects-makes no sense. The kids only 20, we should not be pigeon holing him at that age-its stupidity.
Gsumner.
I agree
with you on Snider but what if he’s another ortiz I think that would be great.
Well last night was a very discouraging outing for the Blue Jays,It looks like Lystch has lost it so now what do they do with him nickname him Towers and let him keep pitchen or give him a stint in the minors and bring percey up,But the way JP thinks not a chance we might start to win.
Garry, If McGowan is out longer than the next 3 weeks, which I think he is going to be, it might be time to call up both Purcey and Cecil, and send Litsch and Parrish back down.
It appears they are getting to Litsch-probably because they started taking him more seriously after his start to the season and watched film on him to determne pitch patterns. I also don’t think Parrish will last much longer for the same reason.
I do believe Snider will be a good one, although I think we’re tinkering with him and that, sometimes doesn’t work. I just hope they don’t mess him up-the DH thing for a 20 year old prospect totally amazes me.
Is his BA still over 300 then?
I hope so if not then that is not good at all.
By the way Cooper is playing when do you expect him up for a full time job?, howe about snider for a full time job? Cecil? Arencibia? Diaz?Campell? Purcey?
I am thinking Snider, Purcey, Arencibia, Diaz will be up next year (maybe campbell)….the others the year after.
It looks like were not going to be contenders for at least 3 years JP should be gone and maybe Gillick will come back to Toronto then we will have a chance, At least he won’t make the mistakes that JP does,hey but I’m only dreaming.
Not much in trade rumors about Burnett,I think it’s his contract another mess by JP.
Sorry I read about Burnetts contract being a problem in trade rumors.
You guys make an intersting point. Like most teams, the Jays introduce one prospect at a time into what is really an underachieving “bad” team. However, what if we introduced several prospects all at once – kind of like the Jays in the early 80s and the Flordia Marlins today? So the team sucks for a while. At least we have the enjoyment of watching the future develop before our eyes, while hopefully picking up some early first-round draft picks to restock the farm system. Moreover, our younger players would actually be seasoned veterans while still in their early 20s. The problem with the current team is that there is no room for optimism, no room for hope. Play the kids, and now you have your hope back long term.
I’m all for bringing up the prospects but for some reason JP still thinks we can win is he daft.
No, Snider’s at .267ba/.343OBP/.477slg.; whereas last year he was .313BA/.377OBP/.525slg. and higher yet in his rookie year-so the trend is going in the wrong direction.
I would expect Diaz, Arenciba, Campbell, Snider-as a minimum to be called up in September. I would hope we call up Purcey and Cecil sooner than that-if McGowan is out for the next 4 weeks.
Cooper should be moved up to Dunedin, now. Whether we call him up in Spetember or not, should depend on how he does in Dunedin. I expect if he keeps progressing like he is, he’ll spend next year between Dunedin, New Hampshire and possibly Syracuse. It’s all going too depend on how he does at various levels. If he keeps hitting .340 to .400 at each level, we could see him up here sooner than later.
However, Cooper does have some competition which I hadn’t noticed before who is Brian Dopirak in Dunedin. I think we either signed him as a minor league free agent or traded for him-not sure, BUT he’s hitting .298BA/.374OBP/.559slg and leading the league with 23 hr’s and 76 rbi’s in 90 games. Check him out at http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Brian%20Dopirak&pos=90&sid=t424&t=p_pbp&pid=460590
I’m surprised they haven’t moved Dopirak up to AA-but maybe Cooper will force that move.
Brian Dopirak was named the Cubs Minor League Player of the Year in 2004 after batting .307 with 39 home runs and 120 RBI in 137 games for the Lansing Lugnuts of the Class A Midwest League…named league MVP and prospect of the year as his homer total led the league and was third among all Minor Leaguers…hit safely in 11 of his first 12 games, going 16-for-48 (.333) with three home runs and eight RBIs in that span…batted .390 with 11 doubles, 10 roundtrippers and 27 RBIs in 25 games in June…had five two-homer games and 36 multi-RBI affairs…had a season- and career-high six RBIs May 10 against the Peoria Chiefs, going 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs…had a 27-game hitting streak June 7-July 8, batting .393 with 28 RBIs in that span…also had a 10-game hitting streak Aug. 24-Sept. 3, going 20-for-42 (.476) with 16 RBIs.
This kid fell of the map after 2004 until this year, so it’s really hard to say whether he had a single moment of fame in 2004 or whether, with his insurgence again this year, if he’s really got it or not. The best thing we could do to find out is bump him up to AA and see how he does.
I read the write up on the Blue Jays home page I think this kid is for real.
I just heard that Bedard is back on the block. What do you think if we traded the Mariners (some but not all these guys) Litche/Stairs/Eckstein/Barajas/Zaun for him. After all they are struggling and these guys may help them. If Bedard were to become our #2 started then dump Burnett for some good prospects, and then with the positions that need filling, go with Burts idea and have all the minor leaguers come up and play for the rest of the year.
fredom.
Where did you hear about Burnett.
JP must be playing hardball where Burnett is concernd the Yankees are now looking at Washburn.
Garryguy, Burnett or do you mean Bedard?
freedom, I agree with Burt about having all the prospects come up BUT not until September-and Im sure Burt meant then, not now.
If we bring them up early we have to move someone. If we do that we could miss a draft choice. At the moment, we might get 7-8 first and first sandwich picks next year. As miseable as the last two years have, I’m prepared to suffer through another 5 weeks to ensure we maintain those potential drat picks.
It’s the politicians. Blame them for the humidity… makes me feel better.
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
Looks like Posada might be gone for the season. If he is, I’d bet The Yanks would have interest in Rod Barajas. Maybe we offer them a package of Burnett and Barajas for ???????
You guys fill in the blanks.
gsumner, I definetely know where you are comming from by saying not bringing up the minors right now. But look how long it took the Rays who were until this year like a farm team in the majors. But like you said, we would have to move someone, and that is where the trade with the Mariners come in.
I don’t know if I like the idea of Lind in the 2 spot. I did look back to Jordan’s previous work and read what Sumner mentioned. I think he’s better served as a 5 or 6th guy the way this team is currently constructed but it does make sense to build his confidence up first.
I think the Jays should find out what kind of interest anyone has on B.J. Ryan. He’s a big contract that can be moved and they have Accardo and potentially Casey Janssen next year. Maybe Downs can even be a closer. 10 million dollars off the books can go a long way in signing a bat they so desperately need.
As for the Dark knight I figured it out but I wont mention it out of respect to Garry and anyone else who hasn’t seen it. Speaking of a movie has anyone seen the Rookie ? i’ve wanted to rent it but would like an opinion or 2 first.
OK:
1) Dopirak = MVP, ALL STAR, PROSPECT OF YEAR in 2004, after that nothing…he has been in the minors since 2002, which is a long time and he is 25 already. He was a 54th overall so he does have talent but i am not sure he is the one we need at first base…prolly another overbay perhaps or worse. Cooper seems like the real deal.
2)Snider – .267 is really really really concerning me…he is going down which is bad. If i saw a .267 BA for any hitter in the minors and i didn’t know them I would consider them to be a non-impact player. I hope Snider turns it around…atleast the 19 HR are a bit comforting. I just hope he doesn’t become the next Adam Dunn, either strike out or hit the long ball.
3)Bedard will cost much more than all the ppl you listed mainly because they are horrible and even Mariners don’t need them. Mariners want prospects which we are not going to give up. I say we give up on Bedard.
4)FA Ben Sheets/ CC Sabathia sounds like a good option to me. I mean Milaukee will definately not sign them both so one of them is going to be an option and I think Milaukee won’t sign either. Ben Sheets would look good in the Jays uniform.
5)Prospects shouldn’t be brought up until September, I woudn’t want to loose those draft picks too and they aren’t mature enough yet i guess. IN september they face other minor leaguers so itsa bit more comfortable for them.
6) I don’t know who the Yanks could possibly have that wed be interested in…the only person I can think of right now is Cano, Chamberlain and Jeter…either of which Yanks are never going to give up. Cano is young. Jeter is their face of franchise right now. Chamberlain is their future. I like the fact that JP is playing hardball…Washburn and Burnett arent in the same league for pitching…Burnett is far superior and they should pay for quality arms or go after more arms that would do nothing for you. If you want good pitchers, you give up good players.
7) Listsch = one more chance, Parrish = one more chance and we shoudl still keep Litsch, he is a great 5th Starter and is still young.
Enigma thanks and rent the Rookie you wont be sorry.
Freedom sorry miss read your post I thought you said Burnett was on the trading block now I see you ment Bedard.I like Bedard if only he can stay healthy.
It’s too bad that the Jays don’t have any players in the minors that are ready to take a role as Major League players,If they did they wouldn’t have to pick up all the misfits that all the other teams cut lose.
I know we would all like to see some of the minor league players come up but none of them are ready to come up and stay,Rushing them will only cause futher problems and the Jays can’t afford that.
Bosoxbrian.
Do you think the Jays will trade Burnett now that we are out of it.