Welcome to the Official Outsports Toronto Blue Jays thread!

As any Jays fan would know, the "in flight" refers to radio broadcaster Jerry Howarth's trademark expression "...the Blue Jays are in flight" when the Jays score their first run of a game.

We've placed third in the AL East for the past several years and frankly I don't see any reason why that would change. GM J.P. Ricciardi made plenty of moves in the off season (particularly in the pitching department), but constrained by a $50 mil. payroll (the Yankees infield costs more than our 25-man roster) there was not much he could do.

These players will hopefully repeat their stellar 2003 seasons: Roy Halladay, Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells.

Looking for repeat strong performances from: Aquilino Lopez, Reed Johnson, Frank Catalanotto

Looking for improved performances from: Eric Hinske, Josh Phelps, Orlando Hudson, Kevin Cash, Chris Woodward

Welcome new pitchers: Miguel Batista, Ted Lilly, Kerry Lightenberg, and former Jay Pat Hentgen

Possible early call-ups: Guillermo Quiroz (catcher), Alexis Rios (outfield)

Say good-bye to: Kelvim Escobar, Mark Hendrickson, Cory Lidle, Tanyon Sturtz, Trevor Miller, Cliff Politte, Tom Wilson, Bobby Kielty, Mike Bordick

Keep this as your mantra: "curse of Frankotite...Travis Lee..." Repeat often.

Canmark, I'm of the philosophy that good pitching is better than lots of hitting power. That's why I voted for the Jays to win the AL East. The bottom of their rotation is more consistant than other teams. And they give run support to their pitchers, most of the time.

I am not sure Halliday will win 20 again, as the opposing teams will try to match ace for ace, but he should be close to that. Batista will get 15 wins, but will start slow in switching leagues. If Lilly, Lightenberg, and Hentgen win 12-13 games each (not too much of a stretch if they are healthy) the Jays would have 75 starter wins. I think "conventional wisdom" expect 25% of wins to come from the bullpen, so the Jays could expect to finish with 94 wins. That should be enough for 2nd in the AL East, and the Wild card.

Your thoughts?

The Jays lost or let go of something like 9 of their pitchers, with Cy Young winner Roy Halladay and closer/set-up man Aquilino Lopez as the two main returnees. But much of what they signed or traded for are iffy.

Miguel Batista joins the AL for the first time. He's never won more than 11 games a season.

Ted Lilly (who, I believe, has a minor injury now) was 12-10 with a 4.34 ERA last season, and is 22-24 lifetime.

Pat Hentgen has only won 9 games in the past 3 years due to assorted injuries, although he did pitch well in the latter half of '03 and won a Cy Young with the Jays... in 1996.

Kerry Lightenberg is a decent reliever, with a career 3.09 ERA.

Terry Adams, Valerio de los Santos, Jayson Durocher, Justin Speier are also added to the mix.

Returnees include Josh Towers, Justin Miller, Bob File.

Adequate, but not really outstanding. Compare with, say, the Chicago Cubs (wins in '03): Prior(18), Wood(14), Maddux(16), Zambrano(13), Clement(14), plus Borowski(33 saves), Farnsworth(92K in 76 inn.), Hawkins(9 wins, 1.83ERA). Now there's a solid pitching staff.

Glad to see you started a Blue Jays thread, Canmark. There are certainly more MLB teams represented on the board than last year, and it's still over a month before the first games of the season! While I prefer the Mariners to the Jays, the latter team gets a lot more TV exposure here, despite the fact that Seattle is much closer.

BPT, I agree the Jays have a realistic shot at a wild card spot this year, and 94 wins should be enough. But it depends on how competitive the AL West is, I suppose, and I wouldn't rule out the wild card emerging from that division. I think we are both assuming the New York Yankees will win the AL East. Certainly it will be an interesting and tough race in the east, and Baltimore's potential should not be underestimated. In fact, I don't rule out the Orioles finishing third, ahead of Boston.

The focus for the Jays in the offseason has definitely been on pitching and they have an impressive lineup. Otherwise, the team seems to be essentially the same as last year, with familiar solid key players such as Eric Hinske, Vernon Wells, cutie Frank Catalanatto (sp?) and of course Carlos Delgado. I heard the other day that Delgado's $18 million salary represents 40% of Toronto's payroll this season! As for Hinske, I wish him well...he had a bit of the 'sophomore jinx' last season after winning the Rookie award in '02.

[ February 27, 2004, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: Marc ]

The Jays have been without a Canadian-born player for a few years now, but North Vancouver-native, utility infield hottie (the Star says he has the "chiselled looks of Mark Messier") Simon Pond is on the bubble.



[ April 01, 2004, 02:19 PM: Message edited by: canmark ]

The last Canadian-born player that I can think of who played for the Blue Jays was pitcher Paul Quantrill, now with the Yankees. And speaking of the Yankees, I noticed the Jays don't have a regular season game against them until July 21, more than a week after the All-Star game! Their schedule against AL East opponents should be more evenly distributed than that. So the Jays better hope for a good first half to carry them into those 19 games with the Yankees. I recall their record against New York last year was decent, although they lost big time (14-5) in a preseason game on Saturday.

The Jays held their own against the Yankees last year... it was the Devil Rays that gave us fits!

This year our home opener is against Detroit, and we're the opponent for Boston's home opener.

In interleague games, we're home to the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Expos, and play away in San Francisco, San Diego and Montreal.

Jays go public with Pride Day with the Blue Jays in article in the Toronto SUN.

Some very positive quotes from Blue Jays president & CEO Paul Godfrey.

Inspired by scottie's (on the Outsports board) work on Gay Community Day with the Phillies, I've been working with the Blue Jays on this event since last September.

Outsporters are invited to attend this event, which takes place during Gay Pride Week in Toronto, and is an "official" Pride Week event.

You can check out my website for more information: gaybaseballdays.com

Very nice website...with a link to my Outsports article on the Phils' gay day last year. I'm so honored.

So is there going to be an Outsports contingent attending? The plans I had with my brothers to see the Phillies/Red Sox in Boston that same weekend have fallen through so I'm available again. We can perhaps arrange to stay in the same hotel, as with our Montreal gathering last year...or we all can bunk with canmark. wink (Perhaps a separate thread for this is a good idea.)

[ March 26, 2004, 05:52 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Good news on the Gay Community day...too bad I won't be in TO at that time. Somebody should have a homeplate wedding!

The Jays traded fourth outfielder Jayson Werth to the Dodgers for relief pitcher Jason Frasor. Simon Pond will make the club as back-up outfield/infield.

Pitcher Justin Miller has been ordered by MLB to wear long sleeves when he pitches because his tattoos are a "distraction" to hitters.

Imagine if the NBA had that policy. wink That seems wrong. How is it a distraction if the hitter is watching for the ball? When the arm is moving as quickly as it does, I don't know that the tattoos would stand out. And tattoos are so prevalent today that it really shouldn't distract anyone at any rate. And what about a hot summer day -- why should he be made to cover up if other players aren't?

[ March 30, 2004, 06:35 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Have got upper deck tickets for the Jays home opener vs. Tigers on Monday. Am going with my dad and brother. Anyone else going?

Yikes! Not an auspicious opener for the Jays, Canmark. They lost 7-0 to Detroit!

Not an auspicious start, indeed. The Jays were baffled by Tigers pitching (no laughing!), and Halladay lost the opening day start for the second year in a row (I was at that game last year also, against those damn Yankees). Of course, last year he ended up winning the Cy Young, so...

Still, we might have done better with Eugene Levy (who threw out the first pitch) on the mound.

Canmark, the Tigers pitching staff may still be mediocre overall (and that's saying nothing about their atrocious defense, at least based upon their spring training performance) but opening day starter Jason Johnson is a decent and highly underrated pitcher IMHO....the Orioles chose not to resign him this winter solely due to salary considerations (he ultimately signed a 2 yr, $7 million deal with Detroit), which I said at the time was a BIG mistake by the O's in letting him go, particularly given Baltimore's highly inexperienced starting rotation (Sidney Ponson, notwithstanding)....Johnson started 32 games for the Orioles last season and finished with a 10-10 record (to go along with a respectable 4.18 ERA) and had he received even modest run support Jason EASILY would have won another 4-5 starts that either resulted in no decisions or heartbreak losses.

I'm not saying the Tigers are NOT going to finish with the worst record in the A.L. (although the Rangers, whose pitching staff is even WORSE, may give em a run for their money in that area) but while he may not be a #1 starter Jason has definitely earned a spot in virtually any team's rotation, despite the lack of notoriety that he has received to date.

[ April 05, 2004, 05:42 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

Complete game shutout for Doc Halladay, his first win of the season. Yay!

The Jays are the last remaining team still winless at home (0-6). frown

The good news is it's still early enough for the Jays to turn it around. But being winless at home is a problem.

Jays now 0-9 at home and sport the worst record in the Majors. frown

Yay! Jays finally win one at home, defeating Curt Schilling and the Red Sox.

What? Curt Schilling LOST A GAME??????? eek!

Well the Blue Jays' 'winning streak' didn't last long. I haven't followed baseball too closely yet this season, but I did see parts of tonight's 11-3 blowout by the Orioles. Baltimore has totally dominated Toronto so far this season, with four wins, three of them by huge margins. Actually the Orioles' success hasn't really surprised me, considering some of the high-profile acquisitions, but I didn't think the Jays would be this bad (they're even worse than my other team, the Mariners )

[ April 23, 2004, 10:45 PM: Message edited by: Marc ]

Forget bobbleheads, on July 24th, the Jays are giving away a Babooshkah doll:



For Mother's Day (May 9th), they're giving away an (ahem) shower curtain. :confused:

Shower curtain!?!?! The Phillies gave pink baseball caps to women yesterday (they're on the road on Mother's Day).

What you call Babooshkah dolls the Phillies call nesting dolls. Last year it was the regular players, this year it's the starting rotation...



[ May 03, 2004, 01:44 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]

Roy Halladay outdueled Pedro Martinez to win 3-1 on Roy Halladay bobblehead day. Darn, I wish I was at the game!

The latest rumour circulating is that Carlos Delgado will be traded to the Dodgers for Juan Encarnacion and a pitching prospect. This has been denied by both the Jays and Dodgers. Delgado's $18.75 mil/year contract expires at the end of the year.

If the Jays are shopping Delgado, wouldn't they be better off receiving a bundle of quality prospects? That deal you mentioned looks a little light IMO for the Jays to accept unless LA was going to pick up the rest of Delgado's contract for the year.

Went to the Jays game last night. Terrific performance by Roy Halladay. Major league debut for Jays' #1 outfield prospect Alexis Rios, who got his first major league hit. Samuel L. Jackson threw out the first pitch.

Mark this in your calendars: William Hung to sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame on May 30th.

My voice is no longer shot to hell as it was last weekend, but even if it were, I'd still sing better than William Hung.

According to the Toronto Star, "bringing in the lovable loser cost the Jays about $5,000, plus expenses for Hung and his mother, Helen Chan."

So, they can spend $5,000 to bring in Willian Hung, yet when I asked them to bring in Billy Bean to throw out the first pitch for Gay Day, they said there's no money in the budget. :mad:

Apparently his appearance attracted a lot of media attention:



[ May 31, 2004, 09:05 AM: Message edited by: canmark ]

I saw that too Canmark, and he was awful! Actually I had never even heard of William Hung, since I guess I'm one of the small minority who don't follow American Idol (or Canadian Idol, for that matter). Like you, I'd much rather see the Jays spend money on bringing in Billy Bean for Gay Day! I read his book Going the Other Way recently and enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Blue Jays seem to be on a bit of a roll lately, notwithstanding yesterday's loss to Texas. With the hockey season almost over now, I'll be paying more attention to baseball. I didn't realize the Jays had so many players out of action...when I saw the lineup yesterday, I thought are these really the Jays?? No Carlos Delgado, no cute Frank Catalanotto, no Kevin Cash, no Chris Woodward, and no O-Dog! I didn't know that Bobby Estalella and Frank Menechino had been acquired by Toronto; I thought Frankie was still in Oakland. They play my 'other team' the next few nights in Seattle, hopefully I'll catch one of the games on a non-hockey night.

Was there an increase in attendance thanks to the brilliant vocal stylings of William Hung? Or did they waste over five thousand bucks?

Attendance actually went down (30,704 on Saturday; 22,225 on Hung Sunday) despite the fact that Hung Day was also Mr. Sub Sportsbag day.

Congratulations to Josh Phelps (who is 25 but has the face of a 16 year-old)...he scored his first career grand slam last night. I just wish he had chosen to do it against any team other than the Mariners. frown

Tom Cheek, the broadcaster who had called every single Blue Jays game for 23 years (4,306 regular season games, plus post-season games), finally had to miss a game due to the death of his father.


The Blue Jays are the walking wounded, with the following all injured or on the DL: Roy Halladay, Carlos Delgado, Frank Catalanotto, Orlando Hudson, Chris Woodward, Greg Myers, Kevin Cash, Justin Miller, Justin Speier.

That's a pretty impressive streak. I wonder how many games Vin Scully has missed over his career?

Poor Tom Cheek. Not only did his father's death end is 23 year broadcasting streak, but he was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.

The Jays, meanwhile, have fallen to last place in the AL East, and their top 2 hitters (Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells) are both on the DL, with their top pitcher (Roy Halladay) just coming off the DL.

The Jays are off to San Juan for a 3-game series vs. the Expos. Puerto Rican native Carlos Delgado will re-join the team, but will not play.

----------------

Who from this team will make the All Star team? We really don't have any one who deserves to go. :confused:

Josh Phelps, whom the Blue Jays seemed to have given up on, is coming off a monster 3-game series vs. the Mariners: 6/9, 3HR, 13 RBI, including an upper deck HR on Wednesday's game (Japanese night--I was there). Only 11 times has a HR been hit into the 500-level at SkyDome--twice by Phelps.

---------------

Woo hoo! Carlos Delgado, who's been a stiff since coming back from injury, just hit a 3-run HR off of Eddie Guardado for a come from behind victory to finish off a sweep of Seattle.

[ July 08, 2004, 07:23 PM: Message edited by: canmark ]

At the break, the Blue Jays record of 39 and 49 (4th in the AL East) may actually be the good news.

While the MLB pooh-bahs trumpet a basball renaissance, the Jays find themselves the only team in the AL averaging less than 20,000 fans/game. Attendance dropped from last year's SARS-induced lows by 13%, the largest drop in the AL.

You know, when I saw the attendance numbers for the Gay Day there, I was worried that the Jays would decide it kept fans from the ballpark. But those numbers are normal now?

I guess I haven't been to a Jays game since the mid-90's.

JC, let's take the last Jays game before the All Star break as an example:

- Sunday afternoon
- opponent is Anaheim
- Jays photo day promotion - fans can go on field and take photos of Jays players before the game

... announced attendance: 17,573.

So, when you can't draw 20,000 for a Sunday afternoon promotional game, well, there's something wrong.

And the Jays are the team that once held the Major League record for attendance. In fact, I'm pretty sure that 3 of the top 5 attendance/year numbers are by this very same Blue Jay team. They've fallen so far. It's so sad.

And given the way that I was treated when I tried to organize gay day--and bring them paying customers!--well, I have little sympathy for them.

J.P. Ricciardi asked Carlos Delgado to waive his no-trade clause so that he could start soliciting offers... and Carlos said No. Yay! So barring any major changes it's likely that Delgado will remain a Jay for the rest of the season.

It seems to me that Ricciardi is anxious to get rid of Carlos, and replace him with his own guys. But Carlos, who's played his entire 14 year career with the Blue Jays, and is the franchise leader in HR and RBI, and was second in MVP voting last year, has always been faithful to Toronto and the Jays.

Although I feel that Carlos is willing to take a big cut in pay to stay with the Jays, I don't see Ricciardi making a fair offer to him. I--and others--are becoming tired of Ricciardi's talk about rebuilding for a date which keeps getting pushed back. Ricciardi's trying hard to leave his mark on the team, but one questions if his strategies will produce results. Also, one questions Rogers' desire to win. Rumours that the payroll will be lowered from the current $50 million do not bode well considering we are in the same division as the $180 million Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles.

Given the lack of excitement, poor marketing, and pessimistic prospects for the future, it's no wonder that the Jays have fallen to last in the AL in attendence... when a dozen years ago we were first in the major leagues.

After being shutout by the Rangers last night, and dropping our 5th in a row... the Jays are now last in the AL East. frown

With Miguel Batista on the mound, the Jays were cruising into the 8th inning with a 5-1 lead... and before you know it Mark Teixeira is hitting a slam off of Vinnie Chulk and the Jays lose 7-5. Waaaaaaaaa!!!! frown

Pat Hentgen announces his retirement.

He's just 35. But considering how players who should retire tend to hang on, perhaps he's made the right decision.

The Blue Jays just traded veteran Terry Adams to the Red Sox for a minor league 3B prospect John Hattig.

Adams had shown flashes of effectiveness... and flashes of ineffectiveness, too. No big loss.

-----------------

Carlos Delgado drove in his 1,000th career RBI with a 3-run HR off Victor Zambrano in the first inning of today's game vs. the D-Rays.

[ July 25, 2004, 01:31 PM: Message edited by: canmark ]