Davidi: Bautista upset with Ortiz allegations

Sounding more like Bats Battaglia than Joey Bats…

“I think it’s a cheap shot and uncalled for to say something like that without having some sort of evidence to back it up,” Bautista said Friday in the visitor’s clubhouse at Fenway Park. “Comments and articles like that is what sometimes makes us wonder what’s the true intention of somebody that’s in the media. It blows my mind that somebody would just go out there and do something like that, and write an article where you’re kind of insinuating, borderline accusing somebody of doing something and you don’t have any evidence to back it up.”

...Still, that’s no guarantee the game is clean.

“You can talk and question, but you can’t write an article that millions of people read insinuating the fact that he might be doing it, that’s not OK,” Bautista said. “If that would affect some player’s value or leverage against some sort of endorsement deal negotiation or contract negotiation, where does the line cross where it becomes damaging? That person might be liable for it.

“I’m not saying (Ortiz) should go out there and sue this guy, but some people in the media need to be more careful when they choose their words. Or if they’re going to say something, then back it up with some sort of evidence.”

...“This person is not only insulting David Ortiz, but is also undermining MLB’s credibility to have a strict steroid policy and a performance-enhancing drug system in place,” Bautista said. “You’re making a comment like that, he’s probably doing something illegal, so you’re saying our testing system doesn’t work and it sucks?

“And other players in their 40s shouldn’t be playing baseball, either? I can throw a number of names of Major League Baseball players that were successful in their 40s, what does that mean? There are guys in their teens playing, how do you explain that? Baseball is not only a game about physical ability, there’s no way in your teens you’re a mature hitter, that at the MLB level you can make the adjustments consistently that are necessary to play 162 games and enjoy sustainable success. But guys do it. Are you going to question that, too?

“To me, he’s just trying to ruffle the feathers and get a kick out of it. That’s what I think.”

Hayhurst: Blue Jays have ruined Romero

I haven’t seen a Romero ruined this badly…since Cesar Romero’s Pretty Willie Wetzchahofsky got shatzed-on in “Love That Brute”!

The call to return Ricky to the bigs was an absolute mishandling of a career on the part of the Blue Jays.

If you’re going to overhaul a player, and you know that player’s confidence is a factor, how can you, in good conscience, throw him back into the fiercest competition after only a single outing in High A?

Any baseball man worth his salt knows the true test of a pitcher is not what he does when he has his good stuff. It’s what he does when he’s got nothing.

Ricky was never put in a struggle situation before returning to the big leagues. If he had been, the Jays would have realized he was not ready. How could they not let him recreate the variables that broke him last year to see how he’d react?

Now, instead of having a guy hungry for the bigs, building a firm foundation to work off of, learning to trust the organization’s guidance during a rebuild, the Jays have a mess on their hands.

...I’ll say it plainly: barring some miraculous turn of events, the Jays have ruined Romero. If he makes it back to any level of consistent success with this club, I’ll be surprised.

And the worst part is, the Jays had other options. They had a stable full of triple-A innings eaters. They could have bought time. They could have done this differently.

They could have done it right.

Ricky was climbing out of a dark place only to be driven back into it. Lord only knows when he’ll feel ready or confident enough to trust himself again. Lord knows when he’ll trust the Jays again.

Perry: Jays’ J.A. Happ removed on stretcher after being struck on head by liner

Tough watch.

A simply horrifying turn of events in Tuesday night’s Toronto-Tampa Bay game: Jays starter J.A. Happ was wheeled off on a stretcher after being struck flush on the side of the head by Desmond Jennings’s line drive. The play occurred in the second inning. Please be warned that the following footage will be disturbing for some:

Moments after impact, Happ appeared to be bleeding profusely from his ear or the area around his ear. He was attended to on the field for several minutes and eventually was examined by paramedics. As mentioned, Happ was stabilized and then wheeled off the field of play.

SI - Verducci: Clay Buchholz has been cheating all season long

Actual headline: “The Truth About Clay Buchholz.”  Said truth?  That not only was he doctoring the ball last night, he’s been doctoring it all season long…and that the start of this behavior mysteriously coincides with his sudden effectiveness as a starter.

Thanks to accusations from Toronto broadcasters and former pitchers Dirk Hayhurst and Jack Morris, Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz has reignited an ageless debate about what constitutes “cheating” in baseball. [...]

It’s unclear exactly what Buchholz is doing, so for now let’s put aside accusations (and gullibility) and stick to the facts. At MLB Network I was able to review in close detail plenty of video of Buchholz from the past two years, including his start in question in Toronto on Wednesday [watch here]. This is what I found to be true:

• Buchholz’s left forearm glistens this year with some kind of substance that is not rosin or perspiration. As the righthander admitted, he does keep water on his uniform and in his hair and does pat the rosin bag on his left forearm—all apparently legal. But rosin is white and has a matte finish. Something wet and mostly clear glistens from Buchholz’s left wrist to his elbow, the moisture of which darkens the edge of his left undershirt sleeve.

• This is not perspiration on his left forearm. His right forearm is dry. There is no darkening on the edge of his right undershirt sleeve.

• He regularly rakes his right index and middle fingers across his left forearm, being careful to keep his other fingers raised.

• Buchholz’s two-seam fastball (thrown with the index and middle fingers on the seams) is much improved with more movement this year; I wrote about this key improvement in his game weeks ago. [...]

I looked at video from last year and found that there are no stains on his left sleeve. There is no glistening on his left forearm. Buchholz is doing something this year with his left forearm that he was not doing last year.

Case closed.

Esoteric throws a 'hard slider' Posted: May 03, 2013 at 02:52 PM | 51 comment(s)
  Beats: blue jays, boston, red sox, toronto

Hayhurst on Jays: Gibbons not to blame

Gibbons hawking effect…just not taking hold yet.

Any gripes any fan has would only be the result of the current record. There is not one single substantial thing to hang on Gibby for this start.

Could it be that the team is actually as cold and playing as bad as we analysts keep saying, and that’s all? No evil mastermind bringing them down from within? That the pitchforks and torches are unwarranted?

Seriously, all this #firegibby talk, as if he’s the kryptonite of the club; it’s ludicrous. He’s liked. He’s loose. And he does a WAY better job with the pen and young players than Cito Gaston.

I’m not saying he’s the best, or that he won’t hang if the team goes into the tank all season. I’m just saying that maybe, just maybe, this team is letting him down more than he’s letting them down — especially when you stop to consider that he’ll get fired over the 25 players that aren’t doing their job.

Gibby is not the culprit. He didn’t smash Jose Reyes’s ankle. He didn’t make J.P. Arencibia and Colby Rasmus strike out a zillion times. He didn’t make Brett Lawrie miss a clutch liner or R.A. Dickey struggle and pinch his neck. He didn’t wrench on Josh Johnson’s elbow or strain Lawrie’s oblique. He didn’t infest Rickey Romero’s brain with gremlins. He didn’t hurt Jose’s back or make Edwin Encarnacion start cold.

So why should he hang for it?

Yeah, the Jays are playing bad baseball-that’s a fact. But firing Gibbons isn’t going to change it. It’s a bad start. The one we all feared. But the only way out is through the fire, not through a firing.

Davidi: Casey Janssen not thinking numbers

Casey Janssen ponders his fate as he looks at the baseball world for the time being. And sees only darkness.

Mention the numbers to Casey Janssen, and he’s quick to point out how early it is, and how the baseball schedule will eventually even everything out.

There’s a lot of that kind of talk going on right now with the Toronto Blue Jays, only while many of his teammates are expecting a natural progression to the mean, he instead raises the matter in reference to a regression.

Confused? Totally understandable, these are strange times for the 31-year-old closer.

“It’s a little skewed so far with it being the start of the season and not having too many innings,” Janssen said Thursday of his first eight games, in which he’s allowed only one run on three hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts. “I’m sure at some point it’ll get back to my career norms, whatever they are, but right now I’m trying to do what I do, which is change speeds, hit my spots and have my fastball command.”

...A telling sign of that can be found in his velocity.

His average fastball velocity so far is 89.7 m.p.h., down two m.p.h. from last year, according to fangraphs.com. He’s also down two m.p.h. on his curveball (73.7), and another mile an hour on his cutter (89.1). Only his slider at 85 m.p.h. is unchanged.

“I’m not thinking about it,” Janssen said. “Whatever you have that day is what you have and you’ve got to pitch with what you’ve got. To look at the miles per hour is deflating enough, so I’ve stopped doing that, you’ve just got to pitch, and you read swings, you read the hitters’ reactions and make pitches with your off-speed pitches. …

“I don’t know if I can be better, but I know my arm can feel better. You don’t want to look too far into everything because I’ve been good enough, but I’d like to say my arm can feel better.”

Davidi on Jays: Playing the waivers game

Maybe Frenchy can hook up Burnett with some Delta miles.

Go back to last October and the number reaches 20, making general manager Alex Anthopoulos the undisputed heavyweight champion of the baseball world in bottom-feeding.

“Alex claims everybody,” Baltimore Orioles general manager Dan Duquette said with a hearty laugh…..

While clever from a management perspective, it can be trying for players caught in the cycle, like right-hander Alex Burnett.

Claimed by the Blue Jays from the Minnesota Twins on March 29 and immediately optioned to triple-A Buffalo, he was designated for assignment April 10 when Anthopoulos claimed Casper Wells from Seattle, was claimed by the Orioles on April 12 and immediately optioned to triple-A Norfolk, and recalled Monday by Baltimore.

Forget about things from a career perspective for a minute, and imagine all that personal upheaval in the span of three weeks.

“That’s the biggest part of the whole thing, I had my wife with me in spring training, she’s pregnant, so that made it even worse otherwise she’d be with me right now,” said Burnett. “We had to go to Dunedin and I said, ‘You know what, honey? Everything is crazy right now, go home.’ I didn’t want her flying all over the place with me and moving.

“I had to break a lease in Minnesota because I figured I was going to be there, I had to get out of a lease in Buffalo, I had to get my car shipped from Minnesota to Buffalo, now I have to get it from Buffalo to God knows where right now. Yeah, it’s been a very crazy few weeks.”....

“I think it’s something that should maybe be brought up in the next players’ association meeting. It is a bad situation when it carries on as long as it has for some people.”

Do Toronto Blue Jays have the most unruly, drunken fans in baseball?

“They’re getting drunker, and drunker and drunker” I gotta check…but this might be lifted from a Taang! comp or something.

Boorish behaviour at Blue Jays games has risen to alarming levels, according to Gregg Zaun.

The fans, especially in the 500 level, “are developing a reputation,” Zaun told Torstar News.

“It’s very, very prevalent at the Rogers Centre, especially in the later innings when the Jays are losing that people lose their minds,” Zaun said.

He said some fans are under the wrong impression that just because they paid their admission that they can behave anyway they want.

“They’re getting drunker, and drunker and drunker and it’s because fans are getting younger and younger,” Zaun said.

He added he is most concerned about fans throwing objects onto the field, but he doesn’t even think “profanity should be tolerated at all.”

The former Blue Jays catcher said offensive behaviour on social media sites is carrying over to ball games, fuelled by alcohol, even though the club shuts off the taps at the end of the seventh inning.

Some fans are being accused of tossing beer, peanuts and paper airplanes onto the playing field.

“As a player who played for 16 years, anytime I saw a fan throw something onto the field, I got them ejected,” Zaun said. “I pointed them out to security.”

FanGraphs: Sullivan: There’s Going to be a Colby Rasmus Change

The Colby cheese problem.

Colby Rasmus is amazing. Still just 26, and an elite-level talent, Rasmus is presently slugging .536. He’s a center fielder who clubs like a DH, and his slugging percentage is beating those of Albert Pujols and Anthony Rizzo. Rasmus owns a 135 wRC+, which was Joe Morgan‘s career wRC+. It’s a better wRC+ than those being posted by Carlos Beltran, Andrew McCutchen, and Michael Morse. Rasmus is finally coming into his own, and he’s looking like the superstar the Blue Jays have wanted him to become.

Colby Rasmus is a nightmare. For every seven plate appearances, he’s struck out three times, whiffing more often than batters have whiffed against Max Scherzer. His on-base percentage is being supported by a lofty BABIP, and Rasmus has swung through the ball with nearly half of his swings. With nearly half of his swings! Rasmus’ approach has shown no signs of improvement, and it looks like he’s going to continue to be exploitable for as long as he’s a part of the game.

..So on one hand, Rasmus has produced. On the other, Rasmus has been a catastrophe, and it seems to have a lot to do with the pitch types he’s seen. All four of his home runs have been hit against heaters, and the offspeed stuff has been driving him insane, in between the base hits. Rasmus could, in theory, go the way of Josh Hamilton, sustaining a weird dichotomy all season long. But even Hamilton last year made a lot more contact than Rasmus has made so far, and Hamilton was hard to make sense of at the time. Right now, there’s little, if any reason to throw Colby Rasmus many fastballs. So Colby Rasmus should have to earn his subsequent fastballs. There are going to be adjustments made, here. If not, I have to imagine there’s going to be an adjustment to Colby Rasmus’ OPS.

Davidi on Jays: The trade that almost was

In some ways the remade Toronto Blue Jays owe the visiting Chicago White Sox a debt of gratitude, since it was their exploration of trade possibilities for Jake Peavy back in October that helped set the stage for Alex Anthopoulos to pull off November’s blockbuster with the Miami Marlins.

A few weeks before that franchise-altering deal went down, the general manager was close to acquiring the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner from the South Siders, whose $22-million club option for 2013 was due to be declined in favour of a $4-million buyout.

But things fell apart Oct. 30 when the right-hander agreed to a $29-million, two-year extension with an option for 2015, according to multiple sources…..

Had the Blue Jays obtained Peavy, they would have only taken on $18 million of his $22-million option for this season, with the White Sox contributing the $4 million they would have paid for Peavy’s buyout. It’s unclear who would have gone back the other way, but the player or players would have been more enticing than a compensatory draft pick.

The Blue Jays were unlikely to have stopped at Peavy, and some altered form of the Marlins deal — in which they obtained Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Emilio Bonifacio and John Buck, who was later flipped to the New York Mets as part of the R.A. Dickey deal — may have been possible.

Blue Jays’ Jose Reyes carted off with serious injury in Kansas City

According to MLB network…“Out 1 to 3 months…”

The Blue Jays’ wobbly start took a grim turn Friday night when an ankle injury drove shortstop Jose Reyes from the game.

Reyes, attempting to steal second in the sixth inning in what turned out to be an 8-4 victory over Kansas City, rolled his left ankle on his trailing leg as he made an awkward slide into second. The Jays shortstop was writhing in agony after the slide and after several minutes was taken from the field on a cart.

The Jays announced he had suffered a left ankle sprain and was taken to hospital for a MRI. Reyes was one of general manager Alex Anthopoulos’ prized acquisitions in the off-season megadeal with the Miami Marlins.

Blue Jays option struggling Rickey Romero to single-A Dunedin.

The Toronto Blue Jays announced that the left-hander has been optioned to single-A Dunedin of the Florida State League.

The move came shortly after Romero picked up the win in Toronto’s 6-3 victory over Pittsburgh. It was considered a make-or-break start for Romero, who had a decent outing but didn’t do enough to make up for his spring struggles.

Baseball Bullpen: Chatting with Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos

Just two guys, talking baseball, presumably at a Tim Horton’s.

RG: When you talk to agents or other GMs now do you detect a different vibe than when you were starting out? Do they know where you’re coming from before you even come from there?
AA: I never thought about it that way. Over time you get to know them better and they get to know me better. So, from a working relationship standpoint it’s better that way. I think having dealt with (Marlins GM) Larry Beinfest trying to get Dan Uggla three years ago made it that much easier having to deal with him now. I find (I’m) not wasting as much time. I won’t say I’m more direct but I find when you’re an AGM in a weird way you have more time on your hands even though you’re juggling a lot more things. I think that as a GM you just have to make a decision and get to the point….

RG: Another change is that for years this franchise—at least from 1993 on—has always used the excuse that it’s tough to get free agents, it’s tough to get players to be happy coming to Toronto.
AA: I don’t think I’ve ever said it.

RG: No, no. And then you’ve showed up and worked at it a different way. You go to Nashville and convince R.A. Dickey. You make a difficult Marlins deal and all of a sudden these players you know there are some issues and you talk to them and now they’re all on board. Was it always this easy or do you really have to work at what you’re doing right now as a salesman for this franchise?
AA: I don’t think it’s easy. I’d love to tell you we as a front office are doing a great job and I don’t believe it. I don’t think we’re doing a bad job but I think ultimately everything you pointed to was this off-season. When you look at the Blue Jays in the past they had their pick of free agents just as long as they paid. They were a winning team. All of a sudden— I love the fact R.A. wanted to be here and so on — but I bet you if you asked R.A. a winning team was a huge part of it. The Marlins players are going from a team that’s not winning.

RG: Melky wouldn’t have signed here without that deal.
AA: Sure, no doubt about it. It’s all part of the appeal … The Marlins, if they didn’t choose us we chose them and ultimately they knew if they were leaving they’re all leaving together. They came from a team that finished in last and they’re talented guys so they’re leaving that team and at least we know we had talent. I’m not trying to not give ourselves credit but I’m trying to be objective, too. Winning, it’s unbelievable the things that it cures, but we haven’t won anything yet. Having talent and the belief you can win opens a lot of doors.

Bonifacio, Izturis allow Blue Jays to diversify offence

Divide your investments among many places,
for you do not know what risks might lie ahead for .320 OBP types.

The Jays finished fifth in the American League with 198 home runs last year, but also fifth in strikeouts with 1,251.

“If you can put the ball in play and run a little bit, you don’t always have to hit the ball hard [to score runs],” general manager Alex Anthopolous said. “You can force the other team to make an error, break a bat and still get a single, to keep a rally going. Home runs are great, they’re guaranteed runs. But with power comes strikeouts and with strikeouts, you’re a little bit more prone to slumps.”

Bonifacio and Izturis are switch hitters with speed; Izturis is a much better contact hitter and Bonifacio the more dynamic base runner. Bonifacio has struck out once every five at-bats in six seasons, slightly above the major-league average, while in eight seasons, Izturis’s ratio is slightly under one strikeout every 10 at-bats.

Bonifacio stole 30 bases in only 64 games during an injury-plagued 2012 season with the Miami Marlins, hitting .258 with a .330 on-base percentage. Izturis stole a career-high 17 bases in 100 games for the Los Angeles Angels, hitting .256 with a .320 on-base percentage.

“We’ve talked about different scenarios back and forth with Izturis and Bonny,” Anthopolous said.

For instance, Izturis could get the start against a strikeout pitcher such as the Tampa Bay Rays’ David Price. Bonifacio might get the nod against a pitcher with a slow motion to the plate. With a tough lefty on the mound, both could make the lineup.

...“I love Bonifacio,” Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter said this weekend. “If they don’t know it yet, they’ve got a gem. It doesn’t matter where he plays, he can impact a game defensively in about four spots.”

J.P. Arencibia spent the offseason learning to catch R.A. Dickey—without a cup

“We’re both believers,” Arencibia says. Dickey brought the oversize mitt that he carries around like a traveling salesman and his suitcase of samples; Arencibia brought only his mask. He decided that he wouldn’t wear his shin guards or chest protector. He had also chosen, very purposefully, not to wear his cup.

To understand why Arencibia went jockless—well, there’s really no understanding it.

[...]

So Arencibia, in his unprotected undercarriage, was sending a message right back. “I don’t want to miss every fifth game,” he says. “It also makes you really, really concentrate.” After a few warmup tosses with Dickey at their first high-stakes meeting, Arencibia assumed the position. It wasn’t long before he took a pitch flush to his chest. But the two men played catch again, and again, and session by session Arencibia has learned more about Dickey, and about himself, and about the pitch.

Hopefully it works out better for him than it did for Yannick Bertrand in this video.

CONFER: Buehrle is barking up the wrong tree with his kids

If dogs run free, then why not Buehrle.

I see his residency decision quite differently than they did. Whereas they see him as some sort of hero, I see him as a well-intentioned but ultimately bad parent. I love animals, but I love humans a lot more. To me, the real family – mother, son, and daughter – should take precedence over Slater.

Being an absentee father in order to cater to a dog isn’t touching. It’s touched. What sort of father would not want to spend his days with his 5-year old son and 3-year old daughter? Their youth is short-lived and precious. These are the days and years in which they are so cute (more so than any dog ever could be) and their brains and hearts soak up so much information and love. They need their dad to help provide that intellectual and emotional nourishment. Having him 800 miles away – in another country, no less – will do them no good. Sure, his ballplayer’s income will give them all the material goods that they’ll ever need or want, but, for 6 or 7 months out of the year they’ll be without the possession which they need the most – their father.

Suppose Buehrle plays out the rest of his career in Toronto. He’s only 33 and is still a darn good pitcher (he sports a 3.82 lifetime ERA), so it wouldn’t be out of the question for him to play another 7 years in the Bigs, especially for a rejuvenated Blue Jays organization (to which he’s obligated to at least three seasons). Will he continue to maintain the great divide between himself and his kin over that period? I hope not. By then, his kids will be 12 and 10. That’s a good portion of their childhood to throw away.

...He needs to love what matters most – his own flesh and blood, and not some dog. By doing so, he won’t end his solid MLB career with any regrets — he’ll feel like an accomplished father and not just an accomplished ballplayer.

VIDEO: The story of the 2013 Blue Jays, as told by Nintendo

Well, opening day is still more than a month hence, and already the story of the 2013 Blue Jays has been told in glorious Nintendo fashion. Come with me, won’t you?

Seriously, you need to watch this

Direct link to the video.

Former Royal Brian McRae to appear in horror movie

They mean an actual horror movie, not a comeback with the current Royals.

Former Royals outfielder and Blue Springs High School graduate Brian McRae is set to appear in a horror movie called “Gravedigger.”

Couldn’t be that Brian McRae, right? The International Movie Database (imdb.com) cast list includes that McRae, who played for the Royals from 1990-94, before going to the Cubs, Mets, Rockies and Blue Jays.

McRae won’t be the only former major leaguer in the flick. Billy Sample, who played seven of his nine seasons in the majors with the Texas Rangers, will star as mayor Benjamin Barnes. Jim Leyritz, who spent nine of his 11 seasons in the major leagues with the Yankees, also has a part in the movie.

Lott: Blue Jays’ ‘high-energy’ Dominican contingent continues a long Toronto tradition

Now, as for the rest of you slack (whips dirty needle out…drops on Superchunk)...

On Saturday morning, those four formed a batting-practice group. Bautista led a lively round of Spanish repartee throughout the session. While one sprayed line drives, the other three chatted happily (and noisily) around the batting cage.

“Just like any other Latin American [group] close to the equator, we’re a high-energy, warm, passionate people at anything that we do,” Bautista said earlier, addressing a mix of Toronto and U.S. writers. “We bring that to the table when we play baseball.

“[Toronto writers] have seen have seen me play for a while, and Edwin and maybe a lot of other Dominicans that have come through Toronto. We play with our emotions on our sleeve. That’s usually a good thing. It can be negative in certain situations, but hopefully we don’t take that to the negative side and we can keep it on the positive.”

...When he spoke to Anthopoulos, Bautista was thinking back to last September in Yankee Stadium, when the Jays called a news conference in which Yunel Escobar apologized for writing an anti-gay slur on his eyeblack and wearing it on the field during a game. Understandably, the session was awkward for all involved, compounded by the Spanish-to-English translator provided by the Major League Baseball Players’ Association.

“I watched the whole Escobar thing from afar,” Bautista said, “and I think there were a lot of things that got lost in translation and lost in the cultural differences …

...Energy and passion come naturally to Latin Americans in general, not only baseball players, Bautista said. Their culture, climate and music all play a part.

“Yeah, it’s from a mix,” Bautista said. “Demographics don’t lie. They’ve been studied for a lot of years, and social-cultural qualities and characteristics as well. That’s just how our people and our race [are] as a whole. We have those traits because that’s where we’re from.”

Blue Jays Press Release: Melky Cabrera statement

and then quickly rushes back to a slinky Hoboken discoprophagia where some random Wall Street dude from Ho-Ho-Kus will end up gutterfisted!

“Last season ended for me when I admitted taking a banned substance and accepted and served my punishment of a 50 game suspension. Since that day, my goals have been to serve my punishment and to put that mistake behind me, and to work hard to be the best baseball player I can be. At the end of last season, when it became clear that I would win the batting title despite my positive test, I asked the Players Association and MLB to make sure a more deserving player won, and I am very happy that my former teammate Buster Posey won that award instead of me.

I also accepted the Giants’ decision not to bring me back for the Playoffs after I served my punishment. Instead, I continued to work hard so I could be ready for the 2013 season. I hoped and expected that I would be allowed to put my mistake behind me and to start this season fresh.

I am aware that in the past weeks, there have been news articles written about so-called patient files from a Miami clinic, and the MLB and others are investigating those allegations. I have told MLB I will cooperate in their investigation the best I can, just as my legal counsel has told federal investigators.  I have been instructed by legal counsel not to answer questions relating to the pending investigations.  This statement will be the last comment I will make on the events of the 2012 season.  I have put my mistakes behind me, have learned my lesson, and have served my punishment.  I am here to play the best baseball I can to help the Toronto Blue Jays win a World Championship.”

Rosenthal: New CBA forced teams to improve

A little-known aspect of the CBA — the market-disqualification program — is helping force a select group of teams to operate more competitively than they did in the past.

The way the program works, revenue-sharing proceeds for teams in the 15 largest markets will decline by set percentages over the next three years, and disappear entirely by 2016.

Teams that previously received such funds — Toronto, Atlanta and Washington, among them — had little incentive to field better clubs. Why bother? By increasing revenues, they lost revenue-sharing dollars.

The new CBA flips that equation.

Teams that are about to lose their revenue-sharing income are more motivated to make money. And teams make money by winning.

Jeffrey Loria disputes that notion.

Griffin: Blue Jays manager John Gibbons Unplugged

Yikes! This is longer than the full text of the Gibbons v. Ogden opinion! #toot-toot

RG: So you just didn’t go back to the Mets (after ‘01). You didn’t want to be there anymore.

JG: Yeah, I’d been with the Mets as Triple-A manager for three years. (Bobby) Valentine was managing at that time. Every year they were going through at least one coach, maybe two. I didn’t get one of the jobs and, I mean, that’s the way it goes. He wanted one of his people. But usually a Triple-A manager slides in there after a few years. That didn’t happen.

So, I applied again that following year after the 2001 season. I think Valentine was looking for a third-base coach. They called and said, we don’t need an interview. We interviewed the year before. Then I didn’t get it, so I told them, you know what, I’m going to move on. It’s time. It’s no big deal. (Mets beat writer) Marty Noble called me and wrote an article and (GM) Steve Phillips called me the day after it came out and said ‘I think we definitely need to part ways.’ I told him, ‘Well I told you that’ (laughs).

Billy Beane was out in Oakland and he always told me when I was in the Mets system as a coach, to keep in touch. He said if you ever want to come over and are looking for a job, just let me know. So I thought that was my ace in the hole. But around this time (when I quit), I hadn’t even checked with him. He told me and I didn’t think he was bullshitting me.

They were having some success at the time. I can remember with J.P. (an assistant at the time to Beane with the A’s), they were in New York playing the Yankees in the playoffs and I walked up and said, ‘Do you guys have anything over there?’ And he goes, ‘No, we don’t’ (JG laughs). I thought, well, OK. So J.P. started making some calls around the game for me. Nothing broke.

Let’s see, I had two weeks left on my contract with the Mets. I had been living in New Mexico for a couple of years and had just moved back to San Antonio. I had three kids and just bought a new house and had two weeks left on my job. So, yeah, I needed to find something.

Wilner: Blue Jays: Franchise in a positive state

Baiting the Public: We’re going to rebuild it our own way!

John Gibbons revealed his likely starting rotation, and it will be headed by the defending National League Cy Young Award winner, R.A. Dickey. Brandon Morrow will be next, followed by Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and Ricky Romero.

It’s quite the fall from grace for Romero, who had been the Blue Jays’ Opening Day starter each of the past two seasons, but given his performance last year, it’s warranted. Romero wanted badly to be the glue that held together a rotation that was devastated by injury early on in 2012, and pitched through elbow pain so severe that he needed off-season surgery to repair it, which was reflected in his awful numbers last season. If he can return to his 2011 form, Romero could well be the best fifth starter in baseball history.

The only spots up for grabs on the Opening Day roster, given full health, are second base (Maicer Izturis has the clear edge in the battle for the everyday job with Emilio Bonifacio), back-up catcher (Henry Blanco will likely get the job over Josh Thole unless he appears to be completely done in the spring) and the last two or three spots in the bullpen.

... Beeston, who reminded both Anthopoulos and Gibbons of his promise at this same event a year ago of two or three playoff appearances in the next five (now four) years, also spoke again about the idea of replacing the playing surface at the Rogers Centre with real grass. Beeston said that his resolve is to put grass in the building, the question is when and how. He said he’ll work with the Argonauts to deal with their needs, as there are issues with moving the seating into football mode when there’s grass down, but that “it can be done” and that the goal is to have grass “sooner than later.”

Beeston was also asked about ticket prices, specifically how the Blue Jays can continue to hold them down given the 50 per cent increase in payroll, and his answer was that while he can’t promise that they’re never going to go up, he’s proud of the fact that there hasn’t been a ticket price increase for four years, and that it may be possible to keep prices at their current level for a few years if attendance increases to the level the Blue Jays hope.

Jack Morris Joins Sportsnet as Blue Jays Baseball Analyst

And to honor this historic Jack Morris event…Sportsnet 590 will now be called Sportsnet 3.90!

Welcome back, Jack.  A familiar face is returning to Toronto as former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jack Morris returns to the city where he won two World Series titles as Sportsnet’s newest Blue Jays analyst. Morris will provide analysis for Sportsnet 590 The FAN’s Blue Jays radio broadcasts, and will also make appearances on Sportsnet’s Blue Jays game telecasts, Blue Jays Central, Baseball Central at Noon and sportsnet.ca.

Best known in his playing days for his devastating forkball, the right-handed pitcher and five-time All-Star will forever be known to Blue Jays fans as the first 20-game winner in club history (21 wins) and for propelling his team into the playoffs for the first of their back-to-back World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993.  Morris retired in 1995 and has spent time as a colour analyst for the Minnesota Twins and as well as a guest on Detroit Tigers broadcasts.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Sportsnet team and to be returning to Canada, “said Morris. “I’ve had a lot of great experiences here and am looking forward to this next chapter. This has been one of the most exciting off-seasons that Blue Jays fans have ever seen, and I’m honoured to have the opportunity to be covering this amazing team for the next three years.”

MLB Colour Commentator Announcer - Sportsnet Radio The FAN 590 (Toronto)-

If you are a veteran broadcaster and former MLB player who loves the game, talking about it on air, on television and in social media, Sportsnet Radio The FAN 590, home of Toronto Blue Jays baseball in in Toronto has a rare employment opportunity. The perfect candidate will be compelling, entertaining, engaging, witty, thought-provoking, insightful, opinionated, and must know and love everything about baseball. And that’s just for starters. We want a person or team that want to win. We want leaders. We want people with passion.

Responsibilities:

  Colour commentary for spring training and all regular season and play-off Toronto Blue Jays games. Commitment - Feb - October. 
  Participate in Blue Jays radio/television conversations/interviews as requested.
  Participate in Baseball Central @ Noon program. 
  Write articles for digital twice per week.
  Aggressively use and react with social media. You must have a twitter account and use it.
  Web based fan chats once per month.
  Additional duties relating to the Baseball brand as requested.
  Must be able to travel.

Qualifications

  Must have a minimum 4 years in pro or semi-pro baseball experience.
  Must have a minimum of 4 years broadcast experience in radio/television or combination.
  History with the Toronto Blue Jays an asset. 
  Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
  Must have proven ability to work both independently and as a team player with minimal supervision.
  Must be able to follow direction of management.
  Must be able to sufficiently prepare for each game and deliver a fresh product to the listeners each day.
  Ability to work in a fast paced environment as a team player.
  Able to communicate to 25-54 male demographic.
  Excellent sports knowledge - particularly baseball.
  Able to execute the sports entertainment format.