Gustavo Chacin pitched a gem and the offence and bullpen both came through late in the game to spoil Labour Day in Baltimore. Hopefully, the Jays can use this win to propel themselves out of the late-season doldrums.
On Sunday, Rogers advertised that this game would be broadcast in HD, but it turned out that it wasn't. (Probably few were watching on this holiday anyway.)
The last thing the Blue Jays need is to put out big bucks for a FA pitcher; it seems like every start is a quality start for this crew. One heavy bat in the heart of the order and the Blue Jays will be the CWS of '06.
Anyone else like the fact Steve Kline didn't want to come here?
I'm thinking about the offseason in this last month of Major League Baseball's regular season and noting the vast and prosperous crop of relievers available this season. Trevor Hoffman, B.J. Ryan, Tom Gordon, Billy Wagner, Octavio Dotel, and Ugeth Urbina are all free agents. While I'm confident Hoffman will be re-signed, if you're JP, do you go out and dig deep in the closers market?
I'm thinking about the offseason in this last month of Major League Baseball's regular season and noting the vast and prosperous crop of relievers available this season. Trevor Hoffman, B.J. Ryan, Tom Gordon, Billy Wagner, Octavio Dotel, and Ugeth Urbina are all free agents. While I'm confident Hoffman will be re-signed, if you're JP, do you go out and dig deep in the closers market?
A new closer is definitely in order, the question is whom do you trust? I think Frasor and Speier deserve a shot if only because there's a logjam of young guns coming up and Batista isn't going anywhere.
Of all the pitchers listed there, I want B.J. Ryan. I don't know what it is about him, but he just amazes me every time I see him pitch. He just throws, and works so fast and confidently, that I want him to be the closer for the jays next year.
Congrats to September call-ups and first time big leaguers Shaun Marcum and John-Ford Griffin, as well as Ken "I haven't even unpacked my things in Syracuse yet" Huckaby, all of who are joining Gabe "Rollercoaster" Gross for tonight's game against Daniel Cabrera and the Orioles.
According to the good Dr. Prison Fence, Marcum will be pitching out of the 'pen for the season. I, for one, am excited to see the hype in action.
I went to this game and flew back to Toronto last night. Chacin was good - really good, I was surprised to see him yanked so early at such a low pitch count when he had stymied the O's bats all day - but the offence just killed me. They had runners on in almost every inning and I'm not sure how many times they had RISP/less than 2 out and couldn't score. If it hadn't have been for those 2 wild throws the game would have been much, much closer.
That said, great game for Chacin and I'm glad we pulled out the win. And Camden Yards is a pretty sweet park. And God am I glad that we didn't get Kline - the O's fans were brutal with him and his body language certainly seemed to egg them on. He certainly seems like a bit of a douchebag.
That said, great game for Chacin and I'm glad we pulled out the win. And Camden Yards is a pretty sweet park. And God am I glad that we didn't get Kline - the O's fans were brutal with him and his body language certainly seemed to egg them on. He certainly seems like a bit of a douchebag.
It certainly seems like a high end arm in the bullpen would do just as much good for the Jays as another arm in the rotation.
You start going after guys like Ryan and Wagner and you're probably using about a third of your available funds right there. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing assuming those guys stay healthy for you.
I think though in Batista you have an average closer who can do a job. I think he could actually get better if he ever used a second decent pitch to keep the hitters guessing. It seems like he's 97% cut fastballs these days and he doesn't have a Rivera cutter.
I think two bats are a must. I don't know who those bats are or where in the field they slide in. But you need two bats that can hit middle or higher.
After the two bats, you get what you can in pitching. If you can find a quality starter in your budget go ahead. If you can't find a really good starter though I'd rather spend money on a really good reliever. For instance, I'd rather spend $7M+ on BJ Ryan than Jarrod Washburn.
You start going after guys like Ryan and Wagner and you're probably using about a third of your available funds right there. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing assuming those guys stay healthy for you.
I think though in Batista you have an average closer who can do a job. I think he could actually get better if he ever used a second decent pitch to keep the hitters guessing. It seems like he's 97% cut fastballs these days and he doesn't have a Rivera cutter.
I think two bats are a must. I don't know who those bats are or where in the field they slide in. But you need two bats that can hit middle or higher.
After the two bats, you get what you can in pitching. If you can find a quality starter in your budget go ahead. If you can't find a really good starter though I'd rather spend money on a really good reliever. For instance, I'd rather spend $7M+ on BJ Ryan than Jarrod Washburn.