The three games with Baltimore provided an interesting perspective on
the bullpen, for both the balance of this year as well as next.
In the opener three men who were not exactly being counted on as major contributors at the start of this season - Brian Tallet, Jeremy Accardo (not even in the organization until last month), and Brandon League - combined on a two-hitter, filling in for the suddenly indisposed Ted Lilly.
In the second game, two men entrusted with important roles in the pen from day one - Scott Schoeneweis and Justin Speier - imploded gloriously, wasting the best start of Shaun Marcum's brief career.
In the finale, B.J. Ryan did exactly what they're giving him all that money to do.
As sure as eggs is eggs, Speier and Schoeneweis will not be back in 2007.
Schoeneweis, alas for him, will be going onto the free agent market. With his ERA currently reading 6.88, he may have to wait a while before someone offers him more than a minor league deal for next spring.
Speier will take his numbers on the free agent market and someone will give him a couple of million dollars a year to do what he does right now. It won't be the Blue Jays, and having never been a Speier fan, I'm not too concerned. (It has long been my belief that Speier is a fine pitcher unless, you know, the game is actually on the line.)
With Speier now on the DL, and expected to be out until early September, the Jays can, if they like, get a head start on seeing how next year's bullpen works. Ryan is the closer, of course; Accardo, League, and Frasor are the RH set-up men; Tallet is the LOOGY; Downs is the long man and one of Rosario/McGowan is the Apprentice. That's seven relievers, which is at least one too many, but there are no signs that the Blue Jays are going to lead the way back to sanity.
No manager can live without a LOOGY, and the Blue Jays are carrying three left-handed relievers. Tony LaRussa must be so proud. I don't think there's any chance of Downs being considered for the actual LOOGY role. The fact that Downs can be effective for multiple innings is a skill that his manager, rightly, is reluctant to waste. We might also note that Downs' habit of throwing breaking balls in the dirt is not really what you need when the runners are already on base. Tallet sometimes shows signs of being very well suited for the situational lefty role - lately especially, he seems to come into a game, retire the first three hitters, and then the line drives start ricocheting around the outfield.
The best place for a rookie pitcher is long relief, Earl Weaver used to say. The Blue Jays obviously don't believe him. They seem to believe in tossing a young pitcher into either the starting rotation or late-inning short relief situations. If he drowns, well, at least he's not a witch. Maybe he can learn to swim at Syracuse.
Running the team is complicated, and every single one of us following the team can point to moves they strongly disapprove of - the Arizona trade, the Milwaukee trade, the Ryan signing, the Molina signing, the Burnett signing - but if there's one thing about this organization that makes me crazy it would be what seems to be an almost Steinbrennerian impatience, coupled with the attention span of a hummingbird. They make plans, and change them three days later. I don't know nearly as much about this game as I like to let on, but I do know this.
You must judge slowly.
Slower than that.
Much slower than that.
In the opener three men who were not exactly being counted on as major contributors at the start of this season - Brian Tallet, Jeremy Accardo (not even in the organization until last month), and Brandon League - combined on a two-hitter, filling in for the suddenly indisposed Ted Lilly.
In the second game, two men entrusted with important roles in the pen from day one - Scott Schoeneweis and Justin Speier - imploded gloriously, wasting the best start of Shaun Marcum's brief career.
In the finale, B.J. Ryan did exactly what they're giving him all that money to do.
As sure as eggs is eggs, Speier and Schoeneweis will not be back in 2007.
Schoeneweis, alas for him, will be going onto the free agent market. With his ERA currently reading 6.88, he may have to wait a while before someone offers him more than a minor league deal for next spring.
Speier will take his numbers on the free agent market and someone will give him a couple of million dollars a year to do what he does right now. It won't be the Blue Jays, and having never been a Speier fan, I'm not too concerned. (It has long been my belief that Speier is a fine pitcher unless, you know, the game is actually on the line.)
With Speier now on the DL, and expected to be out until early September, the Jays can, if they like, get a head start on seeing how next year's bullpen works. Ryan is the closer, of course; Accardo, League, and Frasor are the RH set-up men; Tallet is the LOOGY; Downs is the long man and one of Rosario/McGowan is the Apprentice. That's seven relievers, which is at least one too many, but there are no signs that the Blue Jays are going to lead the way back to sanity.
No manager can live without a LOOGY, and the Blue Jays are carrying three left-handed relievers. Tony LaRussa must be so proud. I don't think there's any chance of Downs being considered for the actual LOOGY role. The fact that Downs can be effective for multiple innings is a skill that his manager, rightly, is reluctant to waste. We might also note that Downs' habit of throwing breaking balls in the dirt is not really what you need when the runners are already on base. Tallet sometimes shows signs of being very well suited for the situational lefty role - lately especially, he seems to come into a game, retire the first three hitters, and then the line drives start ricocheting around the outfield.
The best place for a rookie pitcher is long relief, Earl Weaver used to say. The Blue Jays obviously don't believe him. They seem to believe in tossing a young pitcher into either the starting rotation or late-inning short relief situations. If he drowns, well, at least he's not a witch. Maybe he can learn to swim at Syracuse.
Running the team is complicated, and every single one of us following the team can point to moves they strongly disapprove of - the Arizona trade, the Milwaukee trade, the Ryan signing, the Molina signing, the Burnett signing - but if there's one thing about this organization that makes me crazy it would be what seems to be an almost Steinbrennerian impatience, coupled with the attention span of a hummingbird. They make plans, and change them three days later. I don't know nearly as much about this game as I like to let on, but I do know this.
You must judge slowly.
Slower than that.
Much slower than that.
