The Blue Jays have optioned Steve Delabar to Buffalo, presumably to work on his command.

the right move, imo. even he says he knows the mechanical adjustments he needs to make....problem is there's no innings for him up here while he struggles. use those options and get him back on track. hopefully he makes the adjustments he says he knows how to make.

Just thought I'd check how the Jays and Yankees rank at each position for sOPS+ (OPS+ vs others at the same position)...
CA: #11-15 in the AL are the east division, Baltimore-Toronto-Boston-NYY-Tampa in that order (Jays 83, 82-84 for others but Tampa at 48)
1B: Tor #2 at 144, NYY #4 at 104
2B: NYY #5 at 111, Jays #9 at 96
3B: NYY #4 at 113, Jays #9 at 100
SS: Jays #8 at 96, NYY #13 at 82
LF: Jays #5 at 120, NYY #10 at 89
CF: NYY #2 at 123, Jays #8 at 94
RF: Jays #1 at 149 (30 points ahead of the crowd), NYY #10 at 86
DH: Jays #7 at 108, NYY #14 at 56 (ouch)

So the Jays are ahead of the Yankees at CA/1B/SS/LF/RF/DH while the Yanks have the edge at 2B/3B/CF.  Funny that the AL East all have poor hitting catchers this year.

It is curious to see a lineup with 2 switch hitters followed by 3 RHBs, a switch-hitter then 3 LHBs.  I understand why Gibbons did it., but it does make it easy if the Yankees to match up if they need to go to the bullpen. 

At first glance, the Yankees seems to have the edge on pitching, but they've allowed 7 runs more in 3 games less.

It is curious to see a lineup with 2 switch hitters followed by 3 RHBs, a switch-hitter then 3 LHBs.

Maybe this is Gibbons' way of saying -- go ahead, take out Tanaka, I dare you!

That's a good gutsy call by the Jays to demote Delabar (while keeping Jenkins etc).  They need to be focused ruthlessly on success this season, even if that means demoting a pitcher who was an all-star last season.  Jenkins has clearly pitched better than Delabar in recent weeks, and Delabar still has options, so send down the all-star and give him the time he needs to revive his mechanics.

Looking more closely at how Jenkins has pitched in June, one can't escape the suspicion that he simply out-pitched Delabar and flat-out won the competition for a position in the 7-man bullpen (temporarily anyway).  Jenkins could easily have been demoted to make room for Kawasaki today, but he's been valuable to the Jays this month.  He's pitched 8 innings (including some relatively high-leverage innings) and allowed zero runs and only 6 base-runners.  Aside from one 2B, he's basically just scattered a few singles and a couple walks.  He's held the opposition to a .419 OPS.   Very small sample, I know, but I've had the impression that Gibbons increasingly trusts the guy.  Jenkins could still easily be demoted if Delabar returns to lights-out performances in Buffalo, but he's opened a few eyes anyway.

I don't think there's any doubt that Delabar was optioned down because he is the inferior pitcher to Jenkins right now, and it's absolutely the right decision. Delabar is only a phone call away if he shows he has regained the command he needs to be able to get ahead of hitters so they are forced to swing at his breaking ball.

I maintained all winter Kawasaki was the team's best option to start at 2B vs. RHP, so I'm happy he's back. A good team won't lose games because Kawasaki is out there - he does enough on all sides of the ball to contribute to a winning team. I hope he can pick up where he left off last season, which was hitting .247/.341/.340 vs. RHP.

Fans shouldn't expect the Jays to win tonight, but I do want to see them have some quality ABs and at least compete vs. Tanaka. I'll take a hard fought one or two run loss, to set the tone for the series that they won't go away. If the Jays can win 3 of these 6 games coming up vs. the Yankees they will be in very good shape for the run up to the trade deadline.

If the Jays can keep working Tanaka to the tune of 20 pitches per inning (unlikely, admittedly), it will help their chances a lot.

Tanaka is very tough, and even tougher when the home plate ump is calling pitches below the strike zone strikes.

Kawasaki sure set the right tone for Stroman with that great play.  He seems to have relaxed and there was a little more snap on the off-speed stuff in the 2nd inning.  I love watching him pitch.

Does Lind have the cast off ?

Tanaka's a little lucky to only be down one. Almost at 60 pitches thru 3 is still nice, though. Especially since the ump is giving him a generous zone to say the least.

Good approach so far. We gave a chance to get on him if we keep this up.

Yikes. Less than 4 innings out of Stroman. This game could be very taxing for the bullpen.

I thought Stroman looked decent. His two PAs against Gardner hurt him, though (the drawn-out PA in the first, and the HR in the 3rd).

I'm still not sure whether Stroman is destined to be a starter or a reliever.

I did not like the pitch selection at all during Stroman's start tonight and it sure didn't help matters that he was squeezed. As glad as I was to be rid of Arencibia, I have been somewhat less than enamoured with Navarro's performance behind the plate. It could just be perception, but he seems to treat every pitcher like they are Beuhrle and is not nearly aggressive enough with the fastball. Add to that an inability to frame borderline pitches and the Jays pitchers seem to be fighting an uphill battle too often. Take a look at tonight's strike zone map - it tells an all too familiar story.

Couldn't get any swings and misses, on any of his pitches. And that one rinky dink homer on a pretty good pitch. Tough.

And again brooksbaseball says the ump has really bailed out tanaka tonight with 7 or 8 strikes called on clear balls, with no corresponding calls making up for it. It's getting annoying.

It's too easy to blame the catcher rather than the umpires.

Our zone gets called pretty fairly seems like.

Its our opponents who according to pitch f/x are consistently getting 5-10 extra strikes per game.

10 SO's from Tanaka and then 3 more. I wonder if there is a "Tanaka effect" ?.if so hope it doesn't continue into tomorrow night.

Hilarious. Kawasaki triples.....so the ump decides to take things into his own hands and strike gose out himself.

At least the Jays made the Yankees' bullpen work. Small victories.

What a fricken joke. Not one strike thrown to gose and the ump still manages to strike him out looking. That's embarassing.


Final count from pitch f/x:

NYY: 13 balls called strikes, 2 strikes called balls
TOR: 2 balls called strikes, 1 strikes called balls

Well that was an interesting strike zone tonight.

Wish we had someone like Mark Cuban running the Jays to call out the biased and/or incompetent umpiring. Just frikking disgusting the way they've been screwing over our team.

Unbelievable. Just finished the game (PVR). Brutal umpiring, how is anybody supposed to hit off of Tanaka when he's getting a strike down by the ankles? His splitter becomes THAT much better.

I expected a tough game and would've LOVED to steal one tonight. Was hoping to leave with the Yanks at .500.

I'm not sure the TV strike box can be trusted for high/low.  The box seems to be the same height regardless of how short/tall the batter is.

Gose is 6' 1". Despite what the ump seemed to think on the final pitch, he isn't Eddie Gaedel.

Against the Yankees, I always expect that. Sometimes the ump is more generous with established all-star pitchers, but Tanaka is effectively a rookie.

It doesn't happen often that a bunch of ball/strike calls early significantly affect a game.  This was one of them.  Tanaka did not have his good stuff and was pretty wild (the 4 straight balls to Gose early on would be indication enough of that).  He was racking up the pitch count until the ump bailed him out by adding several inches at the bottom of the zone (consistently) and a few inches outside the zone sometimes.  It is likely that he would have been gone by the end of the 5th at the very latest with any kind of reasonable ball/strike calls and the Jays may very well have had another run. 

There were a couple of take-aways for Marcus Stroman from that game.  First, in the long run, he does need to use his changeup more when he is in Yankee Stadium facing a bunch of LHHs.  The LHHs can foul off enough good fastballs and wait for a slider to yank down the line (Hello, Brett Gardner) to run up pitch counts and score a few runs.  Second, if the umpire is giving the other pitcher a very low strike, use it.  Stroman's pitches at that height were either right at the inside corner on right on the outside corner.  The umpire did have a kind of "consistent" strike zone with a dip that began 4-6" from the outside corner.  I suspect that Stroman wouldn't have got the call even if he put pitches right where Tanaka was getting calls, but there would be no harm in trying.

I don't know what it is about Yankee Stadium.  When they get that monkey off thier back, I will believe they are contenders

It's not just "Yankee Stadium calls", IMO....this is the fourth time in five games that we've been entirely screwed by the home plate ump. And its not our catchers....because our zone has been called pretty fairly. But that's four times in 5 games that our opponent has received a ridiculously bigger strike zone.

Yesterday I counted 13 yankee balls called strikes, only 1 strike called balls. 2 to 1 for the Jays.

the baltimore game 3, I count 10 to 1 for the orioles, 0 to 1 for the jays.

Orioles game 2 I count 12 to 1 orioles, 3 to 0 for the jays.

and nothing beats game 1 against the orioles....especially since this was proven control vet Buehrle vs. raw rookie Gausman.... I count 16-0 for baltimore, 2-2 for the Jays.

I'm not ready to draw any conclusions quite yet, but this is starting to get annoying, and if it keeps up much longer is a legit gripe.

There is a well-known home team advantage for strike zones.  I don't know if you can quantify how important it might be in the overall  "home field advantage" but I would guess that it is one significant factor.  In last night's game it was particularly important because it allowed Tanaka to stay in the game longer.

Haven't seen this year yet, but Rasmus is back and Gose is back to Buffalo.

And as you can see from the linked article, the effect is most pronounced in high-leverage situations (which would explain Gose's last at-bat).  What was unusual was the number of calls outside the zone early in the game with a starting pitcher struggling for his control.

I wonder if Jordan Baker's age, 32, played into this as well. Young umpire. Yankee Stadium. Star pitcher for the home side.

Expected Stroman's poor outing - he's a hyper guy and with all those friends & family in attendance, the adrenaline must have been sky high.

Norris's breakout season seems to point to him being the major carrot the jays will dangle in a package - I think with Sanchez this close the jays may be reluctant to move him as he's likely to help in their "window" - bittersweet

The Jays will probably move 1 of their catchers in a package - I would keep Thole/Kratz and move Navarro - I wonder what package Texas would want for Odor/Sardinas - either would look good at 2nd.

That seems plausible, Chuck.  Tanaka may technically be a rookie but he pitches like an established star.

Incidentally, Gibbons barked to the home umpire a couple of times about the strike zone during the game but was entirely low-key about it afterwards. Two thumbs up.  The league office is, I am sure, well aware of brooksbaseball, and probably has its own software that does the same thing.

Yeah, and the players refused to bark at the ump, too, which is a nice change from previous years (even though I was dying to see one of them erupt at him). Hopefully that attitude change pays off down the road.

I would be surprised and disappointed if Norris is traded. I doubt that AA intends to trade top prospects. I know that will disappoint some but I believe it is the right thing to do. Imo, his trade ammunition will be roster players such as a catcher, Francisco and Rasmus....maybe Santos.....and secondary prospects.

"Tanaka’s Bold Brushstrokes Paint Blue Jays Into Corner"  By ZACH SCHONBRUN    NYT    JUNE 17, 2014

Interesting to read the New York Times’s account of Tanaka’s ‘gem’:  not a word about a generous strike-zone of course.  All about his ‘artistry’ etc., following up the metaphor in the title of the article--as above.

Perhaps it was a masterpiece, Dewey, in the style of A.J. Pollock's uncle Jackson.

"Rasmus, however, is a .222 hitter who bats .157 in his career versus the Yankees."

Would be a good time to regress to the norm, but coming off the DL, I'm not really hopeful.

I never had a problem with Bautista, an elite superstar, barking at umpires' incompetence, so I am VERY confused by statements like this -

"Yeah, and the players refused to bark at the ump, too, which is a nice change from previous years (even though I was dying to see one of them erupt at him). Hopefully that attitude change pays off down the road."

If you're complaining the Jays are getting bamboozled by the umpires then you are suggesting this attitude change hasn't paid off yet, and you seem conflicted as to what you actually want to see in terms of reactions from your favourite team. Personally, I don't think it matters one bit how much Jose Bautista does or doesn't chirp the umpires in terms of how many calls he gets, so I'd rather see our players react passionately to getting screwed when it's absolute in their mind that's the case.

I too have never had an issue with our players displaying their dissatisfaction with poor calls. The Red Sox and Yankees have been of the same ilk since the worm turned most recently for both franchises and it does not seem to have harmed them in the least. Heck, even Official Scorers are not immune to the on-filed antics of players like Ortiz. What I would prefer is that umpires actually just call a good game.

In the meantime (where art thou robo-umps) I also find the it an odd view that as our catchers don't normally lose strikes within the zone they aren't culpable. Good pitch framers excel at exactly what the Jays outside of Beuhrle do not seem to get, and that is calls outside of the zone. This is entirely subjective on my part, but both Thole and Navarro seem to give up and stab at pitches they determine as balls far too often, essentially making the call easy for the plate umpire. I have not seen enough of Kratz to form an opinion. I guess I just find it far easier to believe that the Jays catchers could do more to alleviate the current imbalance than subscribe to a burgeoning league-wide umpire conspiracy against the team.

Gibbons and Anthopoulos arguably also have a role to play here. AA could make some public comments indicating his dissatisfaction with the WWF-quality umpiring, and Gibby could throw a good old-fashioned hissy fit or two on the field, (metaphorically) kicking the ump's butt for good measure.

Good pitch framers excel at exactly what the Jays outside of Beuhrle do not seem to get, and that is calls outside of the zone.

It think it's 2% pitcher, 1% catcher and 97% umpire.

Aren't those stats available somewhere anyway? Percentage of missed calls for each ump would seem relevant.

First time through the order, the Jays have been swinging at a lot of balls out of the zone.

Yeah, but they would have probably been called strikes anyway.

"If you're complaining the Jays are getting bamboozled by the umpires then you are suggesting this attitude change hasn't paid off yet, and you seem conflicted as to what you actually want to see in terms of reactions from your favourite team. Personally, I don't think it matters one bit how much Jose Bautista does or doesn't chirp the umpires in terms of how many calls he gets, so I'd rather see our players react passionately to getting screwed when it's absolute in their mind that's the case."


I don't see how angering the ump can help anything, and i think it's probably naive to think pissing them off doesn't effect them at all.

I can't wait to see the home team strike zone advantage when the teams move to RC next week.

Doesn't look like Whitley will last more than 5 innings.

I wonder if Lawrie's hand is broken.

Lawrie really hurts the team by not getting his hands out of the way of those inside pitches. My guess is he could be out for a while.

If Lawrie goes on the DL, Francisco can cover 3B and Dan Johnson can get a shot at DH.

The X-rays on Lawrie are negative, and he is day-to-day.   The Jays may have dodged a bullet.

Hopefully he's not day-to-day the way Rasmus was before he missed 33 games.

Bruises aren't the same as hammy strains.

I don't love celebrating competence, but since i was on the umps the last week, i have to give this home ump props for a fair zone tonight.

This team is really struggling to score runs right now. It's as though the Cardinals pitchers messed them up somehow. Since that sweep of the Tigers, the Blue Jays have yet to score six runs in a game. In fact, they've only scored five twice in that span.

Very good news about the lack of a fracture in Lawrie's hand. Hopefully he misses less time than Lind (bruise on June 14) ends up missing.

Also, I realize my first statement of "this team is really struggling to score runs right now" is likely the most obvious thing said about this team since: "Hey, this Lawrie guy has a lot of tattoos."

Bats are still afraid? Jobu, where are you? Why have you forsaken us?

Oh, never mind.

Sorry Colby, but Gose catches that one.

I thought that was a ball that Rasmus would get to.  Maybe he was shading McCann into left with Cecil on the mound. 

Christ this team has become incredibly boring to watch...again. Hopefully its a one month blip, but... My wife will be happy to have the tv back i guess until his bipolar team switches the on switch again.

Come on guys, this isn't rocket science, it's just entertainment. Entertain us. Please.

Bats are still afraid? Jobu, where are you? Why have you forsaken us?

Hats for bats, keep bats warm.

Mike, I thought the exact same thing. It wasn't really hit that well. The ball hit on a line right at you is the toughest one to judge as an outfielder and I wonder if that was a case of Colby being a little bit rusty. It's not like a dude with a hamstring injury is gonna be shagging a lot of fly balls while he rehabs.

I guess it's tough to go from a Filet Mignon to just a really solid pepper steak. It's easy to miss that which you don't have.

I really hope someone didn't steal Jobu's rum. Then again they Jays aren't even hitting the straight ball.

On the Cards - I don't know if they messed the Jays up, but perhaps they discovered something? Anyone notice a change in the opposition's approach? Eyeballing it both English and Francisco have been pitched a little differently of late, but I think it started before Detroit.

Some unsolicited advice for John Gibbons.  The pitch selection when Cecil is brought on with runners on to face the lefty is different from when he is brought on at the start of an inning.  In the former situation, the pattern is invariably curveball, curveball...In the latter, there are many more fastballs.  He needs to throw more fastballs, and the best way to have that happen is to bring him on to start innings.  In tonight's game, if you were willing to use him, it would be better to bring him on at the beginning of the inning to face Gardner, Jeter and Ellsbury. 

The season is at a tipping point, although the Jays are in OK shape with a win tomorrow. The team is thin, battling aches and pains, and has holes.

In past seasons' tipping points through the Ricciardi and Anthopoulos eras, the GM has opted not to make any trades, to shrug his shoulders, to call up retreads, to make excuses, and to lose copiously. Will this season be different?

"tipping point" when the jays are comfortably in first place?

Brett Cecil is going on the DL. His groin bothered him tonight and he needs rest to get it better. I assume Rasmussen will be back up.

It has to be Mike D. This season is about keeping Jobs, President, G.M. and Manager. All three are on the line.

There has to be time to review what is different, what has changed since the Detroit series. Why? The offense has been generally and consistently poor and before that it been consistently very good. Everything else is just not 100% or even close.

"tipping point" when the jays are comfortably in first place?

The Jays are 3 up, 2 in the loss column, on Baltimore, who sits fourth in the wild card standings. You and I probably differ on how we define "comfortably."

Ok, rephrase without adjectives: "tipping point" when the jays 1st in ALE, 2nd in AL, 4th in MLB, with the 2nd or 3rd biggest division lead in baseball?

A division lead or not, even rose coloured glasses must be a wee bit concerned about the team right now. The offense is really lacking anything resembling thunder (both in home runs and with RISP) and a trip to Cincinnati isn't likely to fix that. The fact that the starting pitching has remained impressively solid through this rough patch is probably the only thing keeping this team out of a 2-11 run. Bautista and Edwin (and probably Melky) are too good for this to last much much longer, but pitching can also go into slumps and that would mean bad trouble right now.

The Jays are facing adversity for the first time this year really.  In April they had no expectations so the 4 game losing streak, sub 500 on May 12th were not real issues.  The 9 game winning streak changed all that, especially when shortly followed by a 6 game streak.  That 15-2 streak shifts them from a 26-29 team to the 41-32 team they are now. 

Of course, you take out the best streak for any team and you get worse results.  The famous 1984 Tigers team that started 35-5, remove that and they are a 566 team (92 win pace, but not as nice as the actual 104 they had with that streak), 2nd to the Yankees from that point on that season which means absolutely nothing in the end as the Yankees got nada while the Tigers have the WS ring for '84. 

The Jays need to figure out a few things. 
2B: Tolleson & Kawasaki - good stories but I wouldn't count on the fairy tale lasting
3B: Francisco & Lawrie - only one can play at a time (once Lind is back), do you keep up the 2B/3B shuffle or find another solution or does Francisco's story end soon?
CA: 3 headed monster not productive offensively, but each has a role (Kratz with Happ, Thole with Dickey, Navarro otherwise) - do you upgrade? Do you send Kratz down?

Starters: Buehrle/Dickey/Hutchison seem like locks, Happ has been solid but Stroman, while a key to the future, might not be ready. What do you pay to get a new ace? It won't be cheap.
Bullpen: Janssen & McGowan have been solid, but Loup, Cecil, and Delabar (now in AAA) all have 5+ BB/9 rates.  Santos looking good so far since returning but not reliable yet, Redmond not trusted in pressure situations, Jenkins an 8th man in the pen (ie: AAA/ML flip as needed with others).  Will Loup, Cecil and/or Delabar recover and give a solid 3 at the back?  Or solid 6 if all are good plus Santos?

There are issues to be addressed.  What issues AA can deal with and what the cost is will be key to the 2014 season.  Me?  I'd be keeping the Phillies on speed dial with their season in danger of collapse and expensive guys who could fill a few holes (Cliff Lee in rotation, Carlos Ruiz behind the plate, Chase Utley at 2B).  Talk about one-stop shopping (Lee a 118 ERA+, 115 OPS+ Ruiz and a 131 for Utley).  The 3 of them though have salaries of $25 mil, $8.5 mil, and $15 mil respectively.  How far will Rogers go, as I cannot imagine them eating that much salary ($48.5 mil).

"A division lead or not, even rose coloured glasses must be a wee bit concerned about the team right now."

We're fans, and we'd be concerned by losses even if the team was running away with the best record in the league.....but that doesn't mean we need rose colored glasses to see that a two week slump for a team with one of the best records in baseball is not some sort of crisis.

Just 13 days ago we were smashing the hell out of the tigers, sweeping them and winning our 7th series in a row.....but now our offense has dried up for a whole four series. We've gone 4-8 since, scoring an unsustainably low 2.25 runs per game. That won't last.

Heck, we haven't even been swept yet in this mini slump.

Meanwhile the mlb leading giants are in a 1-9 slump, while the tigers are in a 5-12 rut.

Meanwhile in LA, baseball remains awesome.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-most-perfect-non-perfect-game/

The Jays playoff% seems to have dropped from about 85-90% to 65-70% during their slump (per BP and ESPN). That seems significant, although it's only June, so these numbers can change easily.

Isn't playoff% (not how pretty it looks to see the Jays atop the AL East standings for a while) what matters?

Playoffs vs. Not Playoffs is of course a bigger deal than First Place vs. Wild Card, but it is quite a significant advantage to avoid the sudden death Wild Card game. And perhaps particularly so for the Blue Jays. Right now the Wild Card teams are Detroit and LA, followed closely by New York and Seattle. LA is comparable to the Jays in not having a clear-cut Ace starter, but the other 3 would have a real advantage in being able to run out Scherzer (or Sanchez) or Tanaka or King Felix.

With the new format, wild card teams are not likely to advance.

Adam LInd's bone bruise was most unfortunate.  This was a series where they could really use his bat, what with Cabrera struggling and none of the other LH bats even modestly warm.  Dan Johnson might have been useful in this series.

As for upgrading the team, the easiest thing is an everyday second baseman.  I like Kawasaki and Tolleson, but you could do better.  A LH bat to play the corner outfield and give Bautista and Cabrera occasional time off would be a good thing too.  Upgrading the pitching is harder.  You don't really need depth.  The five starting pitchers are all throwing reasonably well and Hendriks is doing great things in Buffalo and is ready to step in at any time.  Obviously David Price would be a tremendous asset, but it is unclear whether Tampa would trade him within the division.

"A LH bat to play the corner outfield and give Bautista and Cabrera occasional time off would be a good thing too."

If the Jays were in agreement about this, wouldn't it be as simple as playing Gose in centre and Rasmus in a corner? Of course, that would mean actually having Gose on the roster, which would mean giving up the 3-catcher dream.

Speaking of catchers, I find the suggestions above in regards to trading a catcher rather odd. Which of the 3 is purported to have any noticeable trade value?

You could play Rasmus in a corner.  I don't think that the club is ready to make him a 4th outfielder, and his mix of good power and poor on-base ability isn't ideal for this offence.

I was picturing Gose as the 4th outfielder, with Rasmus shifting to a corner on the days when Bautista or Cabrera get a breather.

how many breather days are we talking about for them?

The 3 catchers right now have minimal value - they'd be a toss back to help a team get by until an internal option was ready.

If the Jays were to go nuts I still say Philly is by far the best match. They should be rebuilding....
18 hitters used - 6 under 27 years old (pre-prime), 5 of 6 have OPS+ sub 80 with 3B Cody Asche being the only solid hitter there
22 pitchers used, just 1 starter under 29 (David Buchanan) who has a 63 ERA+

This is an old team and unlikely to improve soon.  They also have a $177 mil payroll.  They have an anchor in Ryan Howard ($25 mil a year though 2016 plus $10 mil buyout for 2017), 2 1/2 years at $25+ mil a year for Cliff Lee, Utley is $15 mil this, $10 mil next with 3 years of options after that, Papelbon is $13 mil a year through 2015/6 (16 option is likely as vesting).  That is a lot of money tied up.  The Jays could justify taking on $48.5 mil (Lee/Utley/Ruiz) which would change things drastically for the Phillies going forward but it also would take up a tons of payroll here.  It would shift the Jays from $137 mil to $185 mil which has to be beyond Rogers willingness to spend.  How to save?  Morrow is $8 mil/$1 mil buyout, Navarro is $3 mil this $5 mil next, Romero $7.5 mil this and next - that would save $18 mil this year (from $185 down to $167).  Cabrera could shave another $8 off this year cutting it to $159.  Now, this year figures are also listed above as full when it is just 1/2 a year left (roughly) thus the extra (if Philly took on those guys for this year mainly with just $12.5 in 2015 then done) would be $11 mil not $22 mil thus putting it at $148 mil total payroll which might work for the bean counters at Rogers (just shy of a magic number at $150 mil).

Now, next year would be a headache for AA as he'd have raises and the like to deal with but if the Jays got to the playoffs he would be in a much better position.  The Phillies meanwhile would clear out a ton of salary space for 2015 and could start rebuilding with some prospects from here mixed in with the payroll relief.  Would either team go for it?  I doubt it but it is fun to speculate about what it would take to make it work.

Oh yeah. You could definitely do that, Jonny.  If you had an everyday second baseman (who has enough defensive ability to play shortstop in a pinch), you could probably have Gose here and the three catchers (with Navarro also serving as Lind's platoon partner).  Your bench would be two catchers, Francisco and Gose.

Thole's batting has suffered as the season has gone along.  He's not going to be able to deliver value if 73% of his balls in play are ground balls, and 14% are line drives.  He's got to even that out at least to 55% and 20%, and ideally 50% and 25%.  It might be rust.

CURMUDGEON ALERT:

Deep breath...it's a Marathon..we are nearing the half way mark. Stay composed...

Our starters seem solid(ish) (at the moment) - the problem is our hitting. Hitting is simple (not) - to quote a great (on who's shoulders I now stand) "...all you have to do is hit a round ball with a round bat and hit it squarely." Untill EE, Da Beast, Lind and company get it going - we won't be going. Seriously, I expect everything to be fine. Breathe - my pretties, breathe. Thank you...

Grjas - (in a comment above) says "Come on guys, this isn't rocket science, it's just entertainment. Entertain us. Please." Actually, Grjas - it's much more complicated than rocket science - rocket science requires knowledge and then engineering - hitting a baseball requires all that plus getting several hundred muscles, a brain and a set of eyes, to work as a team and calculate the orbit of a vicious little white ball traveling at three times the speed of light (it might as well be - as once it's about 20 feet away from the plate the hitter can no longer even see it - he's going by where he thinks it is now - based on how his internal computer projected it). Also, playing the Evil Empire, in their own Gotham City, aided by their paid off umpires - is NOT entertainment - it is torture. I hates torture, I hates the Evil Empire, I hates umpires...I hates scotch - oops - a bridge too far there...

On a slightly different rant...I think about Hutchison, Stroman, Norris, Osuna, Sanchez and several other shiny trinkets and I loathe the idea of trading them. They are MY precious - and I loves my precious - nobody but ME can have my precious...sigh.

However, when we traded Tony and the Crime Dog for Alomar and Carter I thought the same - for a while.

AA - be careful. A trade of beautiful trinkets can hurt for a generation if the return doesn't end up glowing like gold on steroids. Be careful- there be dragons ahead.

A LH bat to play the corner outfield and give Bautista and Cabrera occasional time off would be a good thing too.

Even a competent RH bat would work. Bautista and Cabrera could DH against LHP. Not entirely a rest, but kind of a rest. Though this does bring with it the same issue that we've seen before. When a RH reliever comes in to face Mr. RH Bat, he's stuck in the game unless the team wants to give up the DH.

But I do agree that something needs to be done to rest the regulars.

As for the Gose idea, sure, let him be the 4th outfielder, even playing a corner when Rasmus probably deserves to instead. We've seen this scenario many a time where entrenched veterans are given their set positions and the young upstarts must be the flexible ones, even if they are the better defensive player.

I wonder if the team is keeping Gose down to give him regular playing time to see if he can, once and for all, make a statement in AAA to warrant consideration for next year's roster. If he does well, maybe the team doesn't feel the same urgency to pursue Rasmus. If he flounders, maybe they do.

Delabar is back, Cecil to DL.

A second baseman, a quality SP, and a RH bat / fourth outfielder...sounds a lot like last off-season's shopping list!

Incidentally, I think AA is probably going to run up against the same problem he confronted in the off-season. Non-contending teams know he's desperate(ish) to win and will be asking for an awful lot in return for their players.

I think Samardzija (not Price) is probably the Jays' top target (his contract is cheaper and he has less wear and tear, and a trade with the Cubs is probably more realistic). The Jays are probably still close to their budget limit. However, I predict that the Cubs' asking price will be too high and that the Jays will look to Plan B (whatever that is). The Jays might focus on an infield acquisition instead, if this proves to be more affordable.

One potentially useful player who might be available cheaply is Colon (I had suggested him as a bargain bin pickup in the off-season).

Colon started off slow this year but over the last month he's been on a nice run and has lowered his ERA from 5.84 to 3.88.

He might be a useful Doyle Alexander-type SP down the stretch for the Jays. Not sure if the Mets would be willing to move him. They might want to keep him for 2015.

An infield acquisition makes more sense.....possibly AA trades a roster player and a secondary prospect......the name of Aaron Hill has come up......

as for the jays pursuing Rasmus, I would say there is zero chance of that happening....and no QO either. I'm sure AA would move him if he could. I do believe the team will pursue Melky.

I assume we are hoping for a quality SP in trade because of the Innings limit for Hutch & M Stroman.

The big variable we don't know is what the TV ratings spike means for the dollars for the Jays.  Since Rogers owns the Jays and Sportsnet they get immediate profits if the team does well vs the old days when the TV deal was written in stone.  Bigger crowds at home would've helped too but at least it didn't collapse after last years team did.

As to why the shopping list is the same, well, what changed?  Not much.  We know Hutch is solid, Happ is a 5th starter, Stroman has talent but is he ready (2.91 ERA in 4 starts, but 4.66 in last 2 (5 R in 9 2/3 IP)).  Another month is a good idea to wait on that one - if a great deal comes take it but I know I'd not want to trade Stroman in any deal right now - guys in AAA/AA/A sure but Stroman is looking like he could be special.

It is fun speculating on adding rather than on subtracting isn't it?

A list of organizational 4th OF options:

CF RH K.Pillar (25): MLB 148pa, 0sb, .578ops / AAA 395pa, 14sb, .833ops
CF LH A.Gose (23): MLB 446pa, 22sb, .652ops / AAA 1046pa, 64sb, .713ops
CF RH D.Mastro (28): MLB 276pa, 24sb, .578ops / AAA 747pa, 48sb, .766ops
CF RH M.Mesa (27): MLB 16pa, 0sb, .971ops / AAA 550pa, 19sb, .781ops
RF/LF RH S.Tolleson (30): MLB 208pa, 2sb, .682ops / AAA 2040pa, 62sb, .777ops
RF/LF LH A.Chambers (27): MLB 99pa, 2sb, .584ops / AAA 1513pa, 58sb, .773ops
RF/LF RH B.Glenn (27): MLB 00pa, 00sb, .000ops / AAA 164pa, 2sb, .879ops

As an aside, Girardi is using Betances an awful lot.  He's thrown 41 innings in 38 appearances already this season.  He had an elbow ligament reinforcement procedure in 2009 and seems to be a candidate for further arm problems.  You would think that Girardi would take his foot off the accelerator. 

If the Jays are leading the division after the break the trade deadline AA will be in the same position Ash was with his incentives in 2000. If he does nothing and the Jays make the play-offs, no credit. If he does nothing and they don't no big deal as there were no expectations. If he does something and they don't make the playoffs, at least he went for it in their best shot in a decade and a half. If he does something and it works out -- contract extension.

I am fairly certain this team is better than the 2000 team -- but there's something very familiar about this situation.

Very good point christaylor.  I remember 2000 and how Ash blew the wad.

In 2000 what trades were done?

• Darwin Cubillan and Michael Young to the Texas Rangers. Received Esteban Loaiza (ick)
• Brent Abernathy to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Received Mark Guthrie and Steve Trachsel.
• Peter Munro to the Texas Rangers. Received Dave Martinez
• Also the weird John Sneed to the Phillies for Rob Ducey then sending Ducey back to the Phillies a bit over a week later for Mickey Morandini.

Thus 3 pitchers, an outfielder and an infielder were added after the dust settled in early August.  Loaiza actually pitched well with a 141 ERA+ before crashing the next 2 years here just to go win 21 (2nd in Cy voting) the year after he leaves.  Guthrie was 'meh' in middle relief, Trachsel was painful to watch and had a 96 ERA+ in 11 starts.  The cost was not much outside of Michael Young of course who would've been very nice to have especially from 2004 on (when he hit for a 109 OPS+ while at SS/3B mainly). 

So that is the challenge for AA.  Ash got one useful player and 4 'meh' guys and lost a HOVG (Hall of Very Good but not HOF) talent plus some secondary guys.  Get someone here who pitches like Loaiza did that year and that would be nice but I'd rather not give up that level of talent.

Of course, Gillick gave up Jeff Kent to win his first WS and that was worth it (painful years later, but worth it).  So that is the risk.

"as for the jays pursuing Rasmus, I would say there is zero chance of that happening....and no QO either. "

I think you're massively underestimating what the market for Rasmus will be. Last offseason Curtis Granderson got 4 years and $60M as a free agent. He was coming off a season in which he posted a 98 OPS+ and played only 61 games. Granderson never had a bad year with the bat like Rasmus did in '11 and '12, and he steals a few bases. But Rasmus is 4 years younger and plays better defence.

I'm not saying Rasmus will get as big a contract as Granderson, but unless he gets seriously injured it will be a no-brainer for the Jays to make a qualifying offer.

Who was the better prospect in July of 2000, Michael Young or Brent Abernathy?

I don't know, Jonny.  Rasmus' defence according to the metrics has been horrible this year.  It's a very small sample, of course, but there was a noticeable deterioration prior to his DL stint.  If that deterioration continues and he continues to post an OBP under .300, there probably won't be a QO.  Let's guess that one or both of his defence or offence will return to his career norms.  Both ZIPS and Steamer project that his offence will return to essentially career norms, but that he will be a slightly below average defensive centerfielder over the remainder of the season. 

I'd put this issue in the "we'll see" category.

CF C.Rasmus (27): 2810pa, .753ops, 103wrc+, +0.0uzr/150, 3.0war/650pa

No Lawrie or Lind in tonights lineup.

I agree....:)  AA would have to have no brains to make Rasmus a QO.....the QO wiil be around 15 mil....what if he accepts and team is stuck with him......Not only is he worth less than half that imo, it would probably kill the opportunity to bring back Cabrera. When will people realize that Rasmus is not a good plater....2 more poor plays in the OF last night.....OBP is horrible.....sure he's likely not as bad as he has looked so far this season, but 15 mil....let someone else pay it if they are that foolish. I maintain that Gose is more valuable to the Jays right now and that Colby should be moved asap if any taker can be found.

Rasmus has not had a 650 PA season in his career.  His seasonal fWAR totals are 2.6, 4.0, 0.5, 1.1, 4.5, -0.2 (to date).  When you put in a QO, you don't want to be thinking about the past- but rather what the player is likely to do in the future.  It's not at all obvious what Rasmus is likely to do in 2015.  If he continues the way he is going so far in 2014 to end up posting a season comparable to 2011 and 2012 offensively, I am pretty sure that there won't be a QO.  On the other hand, if he hits the way he did in 2013 for the rest of the year and plays decent defence in centerfield, you'd think that there would be a QO. 

If Samardzija actually turned down 5/85, I'm fairly certain AA has zero interest in acquiring him. He wouldn't give him that deal today as a FA; forget about parting with assets to do so.

Since May 10th, Melky is hitting .252/.307/.381. I'm not convinced he needs to be playing everyday for this roster, and especially not as the #2 hitter. Count me among the group that would like to see Gose on the roster getting the bulk of the starts in CF, with off days for Bautista, Rasmus, Cabrera, Lind, and Encarnacion worked in by using 6 players for 5 spots.

Rasmus hasn't been good defensively this year. His numbers are not good enough for a corner outfielder. Not one above average anyway.  Toronto's record is much better when Rasmus hasn't played and while you can't pin that on him, that doesn't exactly spell MVP either. You want him to be one of the most expensive player on your team?

If Rasmus is healthy from here on out it is a no-brainer to do a QO.  An everyday CF who is solid on defense and has had two 4+ WAR years is easily going to get $15 mil a year over 3 years I'd think and possibly over 5 years or more if he has a strong finish to 2014.  If injured again then it gets trickier.

Agreed, it's an absolute no brainer.

Rasmus will always inspire polarized debate because no one knows who the hell he is. He is sometimes great, sometimes crummy, sometimes middlin'.

Who's willing to wager on what 2015 Colby will look like? I imagine the latter half of this season will be used as a benchmark.

I am not a professional lip reader but I am pretty sure I could read Gibby's "chat" with Melky there. "You can't get F&*%n picked off like that."

It's hard to watch them play really.

jays get picked off 2nd, yanks get a lucky squib hit, 1-0 already. yankee stadium is annoying.

Seriously, the Yankees are killing us. I remember last year at one point both the Yanks and Jays were .500 in games that they didn't play against each other. This is when the Yanks were 10 games over .500 and the Jays were 10 games under.

Hutchison's getting squeezed.  This is getting old.

insanely frustrating inning.

and after calling it super tight vs. hutch......the very next batter, ump gives phelps a massive wide zone on both sides to strike out colby.

anger rising.

Shall we have an over/under contest on the net Yankee plus mark (vs. the Jays) on strike zone calls according to brooksbaseball at the end of the game?  I'll say 10.

anger falling.

ha, and now the ump "forgets" that that was strike 3 by hutch. just silliness.

my television may not survive this game.

oh my lord.

this is unbelievable.

Calm down, uglyone.  There are few more innings.

OBSTRUCTION ON A PLAY WHEN THE GUY MADE THE PLAY INCREDIBLY EASILY!?!?

AND THEN HE TRIES TO CALL BOTH OF THEM OUT!?!?

urge to kill rising.

Totally bizarre umpiring.

Interference, not obstruction. In the end it had no effect.

The umpire somehow managed to originally call them both out.  Which is roughly the equivalent of the home plate umpire forgetting the count.

Kevin Barker minding the shop with Jamie Campbell. Isn't he Mr. Hazel Mae?

really don't like that bunt call by gibby.

huge inning for hutch here. 91 pitches, top of the order coming for third time through. one run game. if he can get through this one he salvages a passable 5ip/3er start, which looked out of reach after the 2nd, and keeps us in this game.

let's see what the kid's made of.

The bunt is fine if Reyes can hit the ball out of the infield. The Yankees managed 3 sac flys in this game alone.

Sometimes it's hard to sit and wait for the 3 run homerun.

I hope the Jays officially make a complaint to the Commissioners Office about this series. I've seen better umpiring in Little League games.

death by a thousand paper cuts this series.

It always is.

I thought I'd seen almost everything there is to see in baseball, but then I managed to see the Blue Jays somehow lose 16 straight (and counting) at Yankee Stadium.  Maybe (hopefully) now I've seen it all.

I envisioned a world where the Jays lose to Tanaka but get the next two and leave NYC leaving the Yankees 35-35. This is definitely not what I envisioned and is clearly the darkest timeline.

The metaphor I'm thinking of is people who win the lottery and then manage to immediately squander the whole thing.

Hopefully the Jays aren't the baseball equivalent of those people.

Well, Henriks, Happ, Dickey for the next 3 vs the Reds.  Hrm.  Lets hope for the best.

As the Jays are facing the Reds, it's probably time to own up to another of my errors.  I felt that the Reds had mishandled Billy Hamilton by leaving him at shortstop for too long, with the result that he couldn't hit and he couldn't field.  Good so far.  When they moved him, I figured that he would probably learn the position and be OK defensively and perhaps passable with the bat.  Wrong-o.  He has taken to centerfield like a duck to water and probably should win a Gold Glove.  Despite putting up only a decent basestealing line 29/8 and with a less than ideal OBP of .313, he's a very good player.  He is 2 years older than Dalton Pompey (OK, I'll stop with that). 

Billy Hamilton's slash line of 277/313/400, for an OPS+ of 97, is a surprise to many. So, too, is his play in CF.

We'll see what the second half of the season brings. Pitchers will be making adjustments.

What does a dollar get you? An ex-Jay.

The A's will probably turn him into a serviceable player.

Chuck, even if pitchers do make adjustments, I think Hamilton's play in centerfield will make him a valuable player one way or the other.

Chuck, Mills has had an exceptional start in triple A.  I think he may have figured something out, and in the case of Mills, I might mean that literally.  He's got the engineering degree from University of Arizona.

I always liked Brad Mills. I hope he succeeds this time.

On a different note, this team is playing with three catchers and three outfielders. If Dickey were lights out with Josh Thole, who seems to do almost nothing but catch Dickey, then perhaps there would be some justification for his roster spot but Dickey's results have been average. This lack of having a 4th outfielder is like playing Russian roulette. Sooner or later the gun is going to go off...and the three outfielders they do have are not strong defensively. This roster imbalance needs to be addressed very soon.