Anyone heard anything about this?

There was a wires item about the Yankees signing Walker about two weeks ago. I linked to it at the time, stating that if the situation in NY ever got so bad that Walker had to pitch for them, that Jays' fans could cheer him on without reservation.

Fresh off another disappointing Thomas at-bat (in the 5th inning), I can't understand why the strategy would be to pitch him inside. Those appear to be the only balls that he can hit these days. Anything on the outer half of the plate gets lofted lazily into right field, with Thomas only able to awkwardly lunge at those pitches. Right now, Thomas and Wells are just killing this team. And Glaus becoming a part-time player isn't helping matters much either. How much lower can this offense sink?

Does anyone want to make fun of the Cubs?

You mean how a team with nine corner outfielders and no centerfielder can't catch the ball? How a pitcher looking at Zito money has imploded so badly in his contract year that he's punching his own teammates? That the predictably apopleptic Piniella is on his moral horse about locker room fisticuffs (of all things!)?

Death, taxes... and the Cubs.

"Well, wouldn't you lead off a guy with a .600 OBP?"

And getting on base 2 out of 5 times lowered his OBP. Still rather have Clark on the bench or filling in than a zillion pitchers who rarely seem to be needed these days.

It looking like McGowan is starting to lay down a nice foundation of performance. I'm sure he'll have a couple more rocky games this season, but he really does look like he belongs at this level now.

And  to echo Gerry's thoughts on Philips, brutal effort last night , coupled with Fasano's performance today it looks like there will be a decision to make when Zaun comes back.

"(Phillips) put down the right sign to the wrong pitcher," Burnett said. "I saw a heater and I was supposed to throw a hook."

I'd complain about Thomas if he wasn't walking so much.

Right now, the walks are all Thomas is bringing to the table. A 220/350/390 line from a DH is simply not cutting it. I've always been a Thomas fan, so it is very difficult to see him so hapless, but right now he looks totally overmatched. Any success he's had has been on sub-90 MPH slop hung over the inside half of the plate. We keep hearing about how his 2006 started much the same, and that perhaps we shouldn't be overly worried, but I think counting on a similar metamorphosis two straight years is not realistic.

 I would like to know how many wins you cost yourself by resting your healthy star players over the course of a regular season.

...not as many as you'd lose by not resting them.  162 games is a grind, I'm a big Ripken fan but I think the team suffered at times because of the streak.  Although heating up lately (helping my pool) I don't think Tejada's power outage is entirely due to baseball's stricter steroids policy. 

Not to mention the need to keep your bench from getting rusty, the fact that Glaus will need more days off if he's going to be around all year and Gibby having to try something to get Wells going (it worked!)

It will be interesting to see what roster move they make to replace Overbay, who has a broken hand.  There really is nobody at Syracuse who has good numbers for the season, either for average or power.   Cosby is hitting over .300 at AA, and has a season of AAA experience, and may represent the best internal choice.  Assuming Stairs is going to take over as the regular 1B against most pitchers, I would think they want an OF.  Griffin??  Mottola??  Lydon??  Maybe they could make a deal for a decent 4th outfield type like one of the excess guys at Texas (Marlon Byrd, Victor Diaz) which shouldn't cost them too much.

Let's hope Marcum is OK - the rotation is just starting to look like a real strength.

I agree, that our pitching of late has been outstanding.

Just saw that Vlady hit a walk off two run homer to beat Baltimore.

Blue Jays:  27-29

Orioles: 27-30?

And since I stuck up for the guy during the offseason, I've gotta say: Brian Tallet has definitely rewarded the Jays' faith in him. I think he's finally earned some respect around here...

Well then I guess I should admit that I may have been very wrong about Tallet.  Time will tell, but he's certainly earning my respect.

Interesting development in the Globe Blog - the Jays will start Ohka on Wednesday to give Burnett an extra days rest.  His high pitch counts in the past two starts being cited as the reason.

I wonder if this decision was made during his last start as his pitch count rose, or if there has been a slower recovery in his arm this week.  I think I'd prefer the Edwin Jackson matchup to the Scott Kazmir matchup for Ohka. 

With Monday off, they could have skipped Ohka altogether this time through and sent him out against the Giants instead.  Hmmmm.

As for Overbay's replacement, Thigpen got the start at first today for the Chiefs.  He's got an .880 OPS against lefties.  Someone else to think about.

I don't like it, but could see Gibby keeping Sal AND Philips up when Zaun returns, and giving Philips some time at first.

Hi Ryan,

That would be the two of us against the world on the merits of Tallet. 

I don't mind saying I told you on this one. It was a good call.

Regards,

Lefty

I searched back on Tallet comments as far back as last August.  Ryan and I both supported him on August 14th. Here is what I wrote on January 25th.

In defense of Tallet last season was like an age 29 rookie year for him.

He was a fairly highly regarded prospect in the Cleveland system before arm trouble. He missed more than a year between 2003 and 2005 seasons. 

Ricciardi apparently said today, Tallet is not in the mix for set-up as he gave up to many walks. Thats true 31 of them in 44 appearances or 54.1 innings. But if look a little closer we find that he gave up 17 of those walks in only seven of those 44 appearances. And we should also note he only gave up 45 hits in those same innings last season

Maybe its going out on a limb a bit, but personally I think he will yet prove to be one of Ricciardi's best scrap heap pick-ups.

Yes, I know, even a blind man will find a nugget every once in a while. And I would not point this out, but Tallet had so many detractors I just think it appropriate to give the guy his props. Its easy to folow the crowd, but there wasn't any crowd giving analyses on Tallet's talent.

Jays might find themselves in a bind with Overybay's injury. While there's no doubt that they could use an additional outfielder on the club whom do you drop from the 40man roster to make room? Zambrano, Towers, Houston, Diaz, Thompson ...

Anybody else notice that Brian Wolfe was summoned from the bullpen yesterday rather than Frasor or Towers - not sure whether that was a specific matchup issue - or whether the latter two have simply fallen completely out of favour. Given their limited use and a day off today I struggle to see how Towers (in particular) is still on the club given his potential for mediocrity in the NL, nor how Frasor has yet to be pawned off on an NL team looking for relievers (Phillies, Dodgers, Braves).

While it's still early, I was looking at the Braves roster and it seems they've got a need for a strong arm in the pen, a number five starter, and a nice bat off the bench to spell the youngsters in the OF/1b. If the Jays decide to sell Frasor, Ohka and Stairs would certainly solidy the Braves run for the wildcard. And conversely, Yunel Escobar would look great in a Jays uniform.

     A couple of notes:

       1)  There's a growing feeling that the Jays shouldn't have pampered Frank Thomas quite so much at spring training. Remember how he was treated with kid gloves -- the only guy on the roster who could choose his opponents, his games, his plate appearances, whether to travel, and anything else he wanted.  It was rationalized with the implication that Thomas was a genius who had a unique preparation system and knew how to get himself ready better than anyone else.  He didn't even face any opposing pitchers at the start of the Grapefruit season.  In retrospect, he probably should have been facing the top pitchers as soon as possible.   It's hard to imagine how the Jays could have exempted him from the routines that everyone else needs to get ready for major-league pitching.  (Jeff Blair makes the same point on the Globe website, so I'm sure the whispers are getting louder.)

     2)  Looking at the Syracuse roster  (and excluding the small-sample-size of Lind, Vento and Fasano), the top OPS stats are held now by Thigpen and Adams.  Both have been hot lately.  Adams is hitting .455 with 15 RBIs in his last 8 games.   I'd like to see both Thigpen and Adams getting a promotion soon.  The injury to Overbay might be a good opportunity to see what Thigpen can do.  (His latest game at 1B might not be a coincidence, as noted above in this thread.)  As for Adams -- his throwing errors seem to have diminished this year.  I know it's a very controversial idea, and Hill deserves some stability, but I'm actually one of those who would like to see Hill at SS if Adams can handle 2B.   It could be a huge boost to the Jays offence if it works out.

I know it's a very controversial idea, and Hill deserves some stability, but I'm actually one of those who would like to see Hill at SS if Adams can handle 2B. 

I'm worried about a Pokey Reese/Michael Young thing happening. Both were stellar defensive second basemen who became mediocre defensive shortstops, more than just a minor degradation of their defense. While an argument might still be made that those moves opened up a position that's easier to stock, and were thus justified, I'd be tempted to leave a very good thing alone and let Hill start piling up the gold gloves right where he is. Adams is just not good enough to force such a  chain of events.

Tallet's made some improvements from last year: In 2006, he had 1.19 Ks per BB; this year, it's up to 1.55 Ks per BB. And his strikeout rate has gone up as well, from 0.69/ip to 0.77/ip.

He's also walked most of his batters this year versus right-handed hitters: 8 Ks & 9 BBs, though righties still only hit 106/270/211 off him. He's got more control against lefties - 9Ks, 2 BB, though lefties can at least hit him to the tune of 241/281/310.

Jason Frasor also seems to be back on track now - just 7 baserunners in hs last 9 innings pitched. Hopefully Gibbons will start spreading out the late-game duties, and not rely on Janssen/Downs/Accardo every night. With League seemingly on track, I'd like to see Janssen get stretched out with an eye to putting him back in the starting rotation.