His replacement will be current first base coach Mickey Brantley, who did such a fine job as interim hitting coach when Barney was unable to join the team in the season's early going.
Can the enthusiastic, passionate Brantley coax more power and more production out of the Jays' currently slap-happy lineup? What do you think?
Yes, who's on first.
What? We're not doing the bit?
So when does the magnifying glass swing to JP Ricciardi?
No, they don't. The Jays are exactly average in terms of hitting the ball on the ground - they rank 15th of the 30 teams in baseball.
Last year, yes, there were probably a few too many balls on the ground (though it should be noted that in the SkyDome, hitting the ball on the ground was an advantage - on the fast turf, flyballs turn into outs, while groundball skip for base hits). That has changed this year.
Big-time - I suspect that it's going to make a very big impact on how offense works at the dome. The fielders, I think, are still adjusting to the fact that it takes the ball considerably longer to get to them than it did before.
As for the coaching change - well, what do I know? I know, however, that it's generally true (in classrooms across the land) that no matter how good a teacher you are, there are always going to be students that you just don't click with.
How could JP say he sees a lot of the same problems as last year after such a small sample size?
There is obviously more to the move than the small sample of statistics. I'm still not sure why they kept him on after last season... in a way this is similar to the Lightenberg situation and I'm glad they were decisive and cut bait.
As for Hinske, after seeing him this year I'm puzzled as to why it took Barnett so long to help Hinske make the necessary adjustments. Obviously reforming your swing and approach isn't easy to do in the middle of a season. But surely if Barnett was aware of Hinke's flaws(and he should have been) they should have been addressed last year, or the year before for that matter, rather than allowing Hinske to struggle the entire season.
In the end I think the demise of Barnett was the complete lack of progress by the young hitters, Rios being the prime example.
The main effect of Skdome 1989-2004 was that it increased the number of doubles and triples hit (homeruns increased very very sightly). This is because a linedrive hit to the gap had a greater chance of getting to the wall.
If my memory is accurate, this was also true of Exhibition Stadium.
Couldnt disagree more. If Barnett is healthy enough to be involved in the games then he's healthy enough to be fired for poor performance. It's not like he's out on his deathbed or something, in which case I would probaby agree with you that it's in very poor taste. But in this case Barnett is attending the games (at least the ones on the East Coast) and as far as we know is fulfilling his job duties. Having surgery in the off season should not be a reason for not firing a guy you no longer have faith in.
The two who never played pro are now gone, along with one of the two who never made it to the show. And while Arnberg for Patterson is not a whole lot more ML playing experience, both Brantley and Whitt managed a fair bit more than a cup of coffee...
Indeed (unless your name is Alomar, of course.) I think you end up with a slightly different required skill set as a result - your shortstop needs a big-time throwing arm, like Alex Gonzalez.
And conversely, on the new surface, the infielders playing more shallow should give them a better chance of getting an out on the little dribblers.
You may well be right that the biggest impact will be on balls hit into the outfield. Because the difference is very very visible. Line drives hit this stuff and just die. I'm under the impression that it's supposed to get more lively as it gets played on more but right now, I don't see how you get a ball between the outfielders on the ground.
Anyone else notice this? One year ago, the Jays staff included two men who never played pro ball (Tosca and Barnett), two men who never played in the majors (Breeden and Butterfield) and three men who had very brief ML careers (Patterson, Walton, and Gibbons.)
The two who never played pro are now gone, along with one of the two who never made it to the show. And while Arnberg for Patterson is not a whole lot more ML playing experience, both Brantley and Whitt managed a fair bit more than a cup of coffee...
He's always been nice to me. Did he do something to you, or are you referring to allegations from one specific columnist with an obvious axe to grind? Why people parrot this over and over again is beyond me.
He's always been nice to me. Did he do something to you, or are you referring to allegations from one specific columnist with an obvious axe to grind? Why people parrot this over and over again is beyond me.
The way Tosca was fired never sit well with me. Not the firing, just they way it was done.
yahoo has a longer story about this up now.
Okay, I missed it then. Please give me the specific incidents and the documentation, which you are implying does not come from one specific Jays-unfriendly source. I specifically would like to see the "day one" stuff.
How often are people who are fired happy to be fired? How many of them end up in an interview where they're fed leading questions and have their answers spun to fit a specific agenda?
Amen.
The contract aside, I don't quite get saying "he's awful" on the basis of two lousy appearances (out of ten) in April. You need to see a little more than six innings of work from the guy.
I might mention that my pick for NL Cy Young went and put up four really lousy appearances (out of five) this same April. I feel pretty good about that.
it’s a bad offense, they didn’t finish second to last in the league in scoring last year just because of injuries and the hitting coach.Er, yes, that's exactly why they finished second-last (the former more than the latter). How else can you account for that same offense finishing among the league leaders the season prior?
As of now, Rios is in the crosshairs. If he doesn't respond in the coming series, don't bet against his going to Triple-A Syracuse when the Blue Jays leave for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium in New York, beginning on Friday.
Blair's BBRSS rating is Sheet Metal, so when he says something is up, it probably is.
I dont understand? You would prefer the Jays go and get Randy Johnson to use as a LOOGY? What does his year as a starter have to do with him being used in lefty relief? I dont get the correlation.
Make that, his "BBRRS rating is Sheet Metal". (For those who don't know, BBRRS = Batter's Box Rumour Rating System.)
Good news. Myers appears to be done. And now we will get ample opportunity to make use of a great nickname/catch phrase (Ken "I heart" Huckaby).
JP was asked about this rumour and said they have no plans on trading Gross whatsoever. And he was pretty emphatic about it. I suspect that if the trade rumour was true, it never got to the stage where they figured out what might be coming back.
Yeah, I was bored and felt like putting David Pinto's DBD Database to use. :)
Link: Here
Juan Encarnacion? Why?
It makes no sense to attempt to acquire a ballplayer who is off to a hot start, but at age 28, has demonstrated pretty clearly that he is a below average player. The single most important offensive ability is the ability to get on base, and for a rightfielder, Encarnacion is at or below replacement level in this regard. He's got some power, but nowhere near enough to have any real value.
I wouldn't think so, but PECOTA absolutely loves him. Here are his PECOTA comps:
Albert Belle, Jesse Barfield, Bob Watson, Dale Murphy, George Foster, Charlie Spikes, Ron Swoboda, Dave Winfield, Pete Incaviglia, Leon Durham.
Some of these comps, IMO, are insane (Winfield?!?). If he turns out to be the next Leon Durham, that wouldn't be at all bad.
Cool. Between him and Reeder, the Jays have a 2nd outfielder.
Tom Umphlett, Jay Johnstone, Jim Piersall, Jesus Alou, Hal Jeffcoat, Al Cowens, Roberto Clemente, Jim Wohlford, Rick Manning, Jeffrey Leonard.
There's two guys on the team that I wouldn't trade no matter what - Roy and Verno. Top flight players at top-flight positions. (I know some don't believe that Wells will regain his 2003 form, but I'm not one of them).
The only reason I would include Wells with Halladay is that, outside of Gross, there are no outfielders coming up. Otherwise I would seriously consider moving him. I would imagine Wells could fetch quite a bit.
Maybe if Rios' bat comes around he could make a solid centerfielder.
But doesn't Crash have the same resume?
In his one season as a semi-regular, Huckaby threw out 32.7 of attempted base stealer (18 of 55); he also allowed a club record 13 passed balls. On the other hand, the pitchers had a 4.28 ERA with Huckaby catching (and he caught more innings than anyone else), and a 5.27 ERA with the other catchers (mainly Wilson and Fletcher). Which is huge if it actually indicates a real skill rather than just a one-year fluke.
Crash was never on any team for his defense. He always found work because he was adequate defensively and a decent LH stick. I suspect - I have no way of knowing - that management decided that Myers was never going to start hitting playing just once a week. He needed to go to AAA and get some regular at bats. Because if he's not hitting, you might as well play Huckaby. But Myers is probably thinking that there's no way he wants to ride the buses ever again - if he doesn't get a bite from another ML team, he'll just go home to California. Like he was going to do last year anyway.
Shannon Stewart was a fine leadoff hitter in the minors, and upon his arrival in the majors. He really did not make progress in his 20s, and his defence took a lot of criticism. I personally thought that the criticism was too strong.
Rios arrives to the majors without Stewart's fine strike zone judgment, but possesses much more power growth potential. We will see if that develops.
