Stealing Home: Baseball in the desert, Part 2

I wrote approximately 6,000 words about my visit to Chase Field, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ridiculous, I know; hence why I broke the Stealing Home entries into two parts. But it all makes sense, considering all that went down on a sunny afternoon in late May in the desert.

Baseball in the desert, Part 2 is up over at Globe Sports. Have a read. Perhaps the Toronto Blue Jays jersey I saw at Chase Field, which took me back in time, will have the same effect on you. I'll also tell you all about the swimming pool in right-centre field, and the town hall meeting I attended with Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall, then general manager Josh Byrnes, then manager A.J. Hinch, and 150 or so Arizona season-ticket holders.

Diamondbacks second baseman Kelly Johnson's and Alex Anthopoulos' names were linked during that town hall meeting. And I don't know about you, but I want nothing more than for Johnson to trade his Arizona uniform for a Toronto one. His arrival would mean the end of the Edwin Encarnacion era, with Aaron Hill taking E5's place at the hot corner. Think about it: Anthopoulos long desired Anthony Gose. And he got him. I hope the same fate awaits Johnson, his 129 wRC+, and his 4.3 WAR. Even if it means the Jays part with some of their young arms.

I'll never forget Chase Field, largely because of what it did to my "Schlagballbewusstsein." And I hope you enjoy my latest piece.

Also: be a dear, and let me know what you think about the new banner. Personally, I think it looks fantastic.

The Cito Effect

While you're fawning over Adam Lind's new contract extension -- and you still ought to be celebrating the deal, considering it's worth, over seven years, $45 million less than Nick Markakis' -- please do me a favour: take a minute and recall that it was "The Manager" who made it his first order of business, after he was rehired in June 2008, to assure young Lind that he'd seen the last of the minor leagues; that he was from then on, and forevermore, a big leaguer.

Let's not forget that for all the dirt thrown on Cito Gaston's name, it's been under his tutelage that Lind has blossomed into one of the finest designated hitters, and a Silver Slugger, in the American League. Clarence Cito isn't all bad. Mostly bad. But not all bad.

A Flying Start

Who does this Alex Anthopoulos guy think he is?

First he makes, by all accounts, a great trade -- if there ever could be one -- for Roy Halladay. Next: spring training, and his lauded efforts in making the Toronto Blue Jays a more transparent organization. Then AA beats out, ho-hum, the New York Yankees for the services of Cuban prospect Adeiny Hechevarria. Finally, the extension for Lindiana's Finest.

Tell me: what's not to like? While the coming season will certainly have its trials and tribulations, Anthopoulos certainly seems like the right man to lead the Blue Jays out of the post-season wilderness.

The Money Quote

"We believe in the player, just as we believed in Aaron."

- Alex Anthopoulos

An ode to J.P. Ricciardi, it makes me that much fonder of the new general manager.

Our Great Shame

You're going to have to pardon me for not being overly excited about Merkin Valdez, Alex Anthopoulos's most recent addition to the Toronto Blue Jays. Sure, 98 MPH on the radar gun tickles my fancy, but it's tough looking past the 1.72 WHIP Valdez posted in 49.1 innings last season.

While AA and the Blue Jays have moved on after losing out on Aroldis Chapman, I haven't. In the aftermath of the Cuban flamethrower signing with the Cincinnati Reds for$30.25 million, I found it curious that nobody in the front office would commit to the reported $23 million Toronto had offered. Not a peep from AA, or Paul Beeston. Post J.P. Ricciardi, I guess I'm just not used to that type of silence from upstairs.

So I did what any rational person would do: I emailed Jeff Blair. Was the $23 million offer true? According to Blair, indeed it was.

I continued to pry. Why not, from the top of the highest mountain, announce to the world that the Jays were big players in the Chapman ballgame? Why not let the fanbase know that the new regime went hard after the young, controllable prospect? Allowing the reported offer to remain unconfirmed was, in my humble opinion, a lost public relations opportunity. And, with Ricciardi out of the picture, didn't the Jays want to change their PR strategy? Sure, the Blue Jays had lost the battle, and didn't end up signing Chapman. But they could have let us all know they were doing their best to win the war.

More from Blair:

"Its the way Alex is. He believes being too open cost the Jays a Lincecum for Rios deal. Don't think saying you went after Chapman would score any PR points. It would just confirm you lost to the Reds."

Blair's right. Fuck public relations. Losing Roy Halladay wouldn't have hurt so much if Toronto had acquired Tim Lincecum. Hell, if Lincecum's a Blue Jay, perhaps Halladay remains one. And while there's no shame in losing out on a high-profile prospect to the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, or even Los Angeles Angels, there certainly is in losing to Cincinnati.

We'll have to settle for Merkin Valdez.

Brandon League a Mariner? Yep, League's a Mariner

UPDATE #7: (2:27 pm) According to the Drunks, Chavez was ranked Toronto's #1 prospect by The Hardball Times.

Chavez, from Tumero, Venezuela, had a very successful year in Lansing this season putting up a .283 AVG, .346 OBP, .474 SLG. As an international free agent, he was signed to a $2 million contract in 2006.

UPDATE #6: Rumour has Johermyn Chavez pegged as "the prospect." I have no idea who he is. Which is bloody awesome!!1

Rumours are flying around Twitter late tonight (12:15 am) that It's true: Alex Anthopoulos and the Toronto Blue Jays have acquired Brandon Morrow from the Seattle Mariners for Brandon League, and a prospect. Who that prospect is, I (still, at 2:40 am) have zero fucking idea. Nobody does at this point. David Cameron, from the reputable USS Mariner, has speculated that it might be Brett Wallace, which doesn't make sense to me, otherwise he would have went Seattle's way in the three-team Roy Halladay trade and it's not.

But let's hold on a second here. I'm losing focus. What you need to do right now is pray for our good friend Lloyd the Barber from Ghostrunner on First. First Doc. Now League. They were right: life isn't fair. If you read GoF, and I assume you do, you know how highly we, the community, think of League.

Moving along: Brandon Morrow. Everyone and their mother is high on this kid. He strikes out a ton of batters, and walks plenty of them as well. I'm sure he'll get along great with The Manager. At the end of the day, as long as "the prospect" isn't Brett Wallace or Travis Snider, we're good. (Except for Drew. Sorry mate.)

In a perfect world, the prospect is Lyle Overbay. He was huge in 2006. Tremendous upside, and he's a Washington boy!1

Here's what the 2010 Blue Jays rotation looks like:

Ricky Romero

Shaun Marcum

Brett Cecil

Brandon Morrow

Marc Rzepczynski

A good left-right mix, with Scott Richmond as the long-man, and Brian Tallet back in the bullpen where he belongs.

Here's what we know for certain: Alex Anthopoulos is doing work. He's putting his stamp on this team.

Playoffs!!1

UPDATE: Here's David Cameron with some insight on Brandon Morrow ...

Plus fastball, inconsistent curve, minus minus command. Has potential, still needs a lot of work. A.J. Burnett upside. But in terms of development, he's basically a Triple-A starter. Very raw.

Burnett is dead to me, so fuck him. But there's nothing wrong with raw talent. It's a good thing this team's got one Roy Halladay, and Brad Arnsberg, to teach Morrow the ropes. Oh ...

UPDATE #2: My man @dlbrows posted the following link on Twitter, from The Mockingbird, about Brandon League and his 97 MPH sinker. You know, the pitch nobody else in baseball throws. If this rumoured trade is fact, League will be sorely missed around these parts, no matter how good Morrow is. To these eyes, he was always the closer of the future.

UPDATE #3: I hope "the prospect" is not R-Zep. It can't be R-Zep.

UPDATE #4: The Seattle Times's Geoff Baker believes in Brandon League.

UPDATE #5: (1:38 am) It's not Wallace. We knew this already. Because there was no way that was happening in the first place. But it's good to know know.

Tom and Alex

The Toronto Blue Jays are not likely to qualify for the post-season for a good, I don't know, year or two. In order to pass the time, let's vote Tom Cheek onto the final ballot for the 2010 Ford C. Frick Award, and send him on his way to Cooperstown. Lord knows he deserves it.

At the time of writing, Cheek trails Jacques Doucet by 20 votes (337-317).

Four-thousand, three-hundred and six games. (I wrote it out for dramatic effect.) In a row. In a row!1 More importantly, Cheek was voice to the calls of your life; to the "the sound of summer." It takes less than a minute. I don't ask you for much; please vote.

Make Us Proud, Alex

I'll be at my cubicle Monday, but my heart and mind will be in Indianapolis, with Alex Anthopoulos at his first Winter Meetings as general manager of our Blue Jays.

Some interesting nuggets from The Star's Richard Griffin: if you want to see Anthopoulos, you'll have to go to his room, not the other way around. And meetings are lined up with "several clubs." To be a fly. Hopefully Dick figured out which floor AA is staying on.

There is some bad news: The Cito arrives on Tuesday. I've completed my 180. I used to love Cito Gaston. Now, the thought of him being involved in decisions that will greatly alter this franchise makes me ill. Where did we go wrong, Cito?

UPDATE: As of 11:00 am, Tom Cheek is in the lead 387-359. Let's keep it going ...

The Prime Minister of Defence. (And Some Raptors & Leafs Shit.)

Welcome back, Johnny Mac.

At two-years and $3.5 million, the PMoD becomes baseball's most expensive pinch-runner, because Lord knows the Cito won't use him as he should: as a defensive substitution. (We need a Cito countdown.)

Now, I'm going to go on bit of a tangent here, but when I googled "John McDonald" yesterday, the first result returned was from Bleacher Report. What the fuck, Google? Is this the level you have stooped to? How much is Bleacher Report paying you? Bleacher Report? Bleacher fucking Report? Fuck Bleacher Report. Jesus.

(Full disclosure: I actually have a Bleacher Report account. It's the worst of my many humiliations. It was set up to feed all my blog posts to their site. Think TwitterFeed. Fuck off, don't ask me why I did it. I've asked, repeatedly, for the lovely guys who work there to delete my account, but they're being pricks. It might have something to do with the fact that whenever I write "Bleacher Report," it's preceded or followed by the words "fuck" or "fucking.")

Anyway, many Blue Jays supporters don't know what to make of the McDonald signing. Will Johnny Mac start at shortstop? Does Mac even matter, with Mike McCoy and his .405 Pacific Coast League OBP waiting in the wings?

Well, I'm here to tell you that Johnny Mac does matter, damn it, and that his signing is a bloody significant one. Because it might be the biggest one Alex Anthopoulos and the Blue Jays make this winter. And if that doesn't send a shiver down your spine, or have you reaching for the bottle of Redbreast, you're a more stronger-willed man than I.

Here's to building, folks. I mean: Building!!!1

Some Raptors and Leafs shit:

• I'm not even going to begin to wonder how the fuck it's possible for the Toronto Raptors to lose 116-81 to the Charlotte Bobcats. Back-to-back? Fuck a back-to-back. I don't care if a team has played 12 nights in a row, there is no excuse for losing 116-81 to the Goddamn Bobcats.

• On a happier note, does anyone yet own an Amir Johnson jersey? One of us really ought to. He's been an absolute fucking treat off the bench for Jay Triano.

• The Toronto Maple Leafs won last night. Seriously. Ron Wilson's boys are playing .750 hockey in their past four games. You know that that means: it's only a matter of time before that 11 point gap between the Northeast Division leading Boston Bruins is down to eight. (Another Leafs win, and another overtime loss.) Playoffs!!!1

UPDATE: I'm dealing with a severe migraine. It's been made even worse thanks to the news that the Blue Jays have signed Alex Gonzalez. I know, not that Alex Gonzalez, but old wounds, man. They still hurt.

So long, Marco Scutaro. I'll always remember the good times: 2009, when you hit .282 out of the lead-off spot; when you walked 90 times, posting a .379 OBP; when you stole second base after taking a free pass. All while playing sublime defence. You won't soon be forgotten. If you end up in Boston, I'll hate you. Especially if you're playing behind Roy Halladay. (Excuse me while I throw up in my fucking mouth.) But your memory, Marco, will live on. In the form of two draft picks. So, thank you. And Godspeed.

Anyway, my sports columnist man crush Jeff Blair breaks it down in a way that, if you weren't drinking last night, you certainly will be tonight:

"[The McDonald and Gonzalez signings] is about managing a 25-man roster; about ensuring, frankly, that 4-1 losses do not become 8-1 losses and drain a young starting rotation and bullpen."

Something to look forward to. Right?

Blair isn't the only writer at The Globe who was on fire today. From Michael Grange, about last night's Raptors debacle:

"In fact I’m thinking of introducing a new term to the local basketball lexicon: When an opposing player pulls a rebound off the defensive glass and dribbles the length of the floor for an uncontested fast-break layup; having to neither think of passing or even changing direction, it should be called A Raptor. As of now Gerald Wallace leads the NBA in Raptors though I think it’s a safe bet that Rajon Rondo will challenge for the lead by the time the Celtics are finished with Toronto on Friday. Embarrassing."

Toronto: where "Embarrassing" happens.

A long, cold, harsh winter ...

Cito Gaston isn't going anywhere. So saith Jeff Blair in yesterday's discussion about the playoffs (and the Blue Jays). And according to Blair's colleague Robert MacLeod, pitching guru and father of the staff Brad Arnsberg is soon to be relieved of his duties.

You tell me: how the hell am I supposed to believe in Alex Anthopoulos if he agrees to keep Cito around, while allowing Arnsberg - in whom I trust - to leave? I'd really rather not get started on the wrong foot with Toronto's new general manager.

It's all happening backwards.

A new president should hire a new GM, and the new GM should bring in the manager of his choice. The interim president shouldn't be appointing a new interim-but-maybe-not-interim GM, even if it is an in-house promotion. Said new GM shouldn't be agreeing to keep the current manager, in whose honour there's recently been a reported clubhouse mutiny.

It all certainly bodes well.

And this, from the Blair discussion ...

eyebleaf: "Jeff, on a scale of 1-10, what are the chances Doc is a Blue Jay on opening day?

Blair: "One."

It's going to get worse, before it gets better.

Lamentation

I've had 40-odd hours to mourn. I'm ready to talk about it. The loud music you heard Saturday night? Yep, party at Richard Griffin's house.

J.P. Ricciardi had to go. It was clear he'd run his course in Toronto. But not without one final public relations nightmare to pave his exit. According to Dave Perkins at The Star, the infamous Paul Beeston, he of "the plan," went to the moguls of the Rogers empire during the middle of last week seeking "the okay to fire Ricciardi." Clearly the interim president wanted to send a message to Jays fans that, you know, he's actually doing something.

Before he could, the Beest had to help put out the fire that was CitoCity (TM Ghostrunner on First) burning. And after an apparent "mutiny" in the clubhouse, I believe Cito Gaston will once again be an ex-Blue Jay manager. Which means he will have to retire from baseball. Because if the past is any indication, he might be out of a job for a while.

It's been a helluva second go-round with Cito. In 2008 he came and saved the day, yet only 14 months later it seems just about everyone - fans, players, fellow coaches - is sick of him. I hope he'll one day pen a memoir, aptly titled "The Cito Effect," so I can learn what Jeremy Accardo did to him, the logic behind playing Kevin Millar, and why he hates Randy Ruiz.

Anyway, J.P. I've said my piece about him. Many times. And people noticed. I've also made peace with his departure. It was inevitable. Ricciardi said it: "... it just wasn't quite enough." And he's right. Under Ricciardi's name, the Blue Jays finished in second spot in the AL East only once. In eight years, the team never finished a season within single digits of the division winner; 10 games was the closest they got, back in 2006. J.P. isn't a robot from the future, sent back in time to destroy the Toronto Blue Jays, as some in this crazy city will have you believe. But it's time for a change. (So, this is what it feels like to be a Republican.)

It hurts because I believe J.P. leaves Toronto a jaded man. A jaded general manager, at least. He believed he could succeed. He believed in what he'd learned in Oakland. He believed in Moneyball. He then believed in money, period. He believed he was the man able to scale Mount AL East. I did too. But he failed.

By all accounts, Ricciardi was as passionate as they come. He wanted badly to win, and he leaves Toronto with Roy Halladay giving him the respect he deserves. I'll miss his love for the game. I'll miss his feud with the media. Even his Boston accent. Most of all, I'll miss him referring to guys as "the player."

Ricciardi's legacy will live on. Unfairly, it is tied to Vernon Wells, and the anchor that is his contract. But on the other side are Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, Ricky Romero, Travis Snider, Brett Cecil, Mark Rzepczynski, Shaun Marcum, Jesse Litsch, J.P. Arincibia, Jake Marisnick, and more. J.P. has left his mark on this team. For the better.

That's not to say his replacement, Alex Anthopoulos, doesn't have his work cut out for him. He does. But Anthopoulos doesn't have to tear down the foundation, like Ricciardi did. What he needs is direction from ownership, and long-term vision, something sorely lacking around these parts of late. I'm not worried, though, because Anthopoulos is CANADIAN, which can only mean that he will undoubtedly be the best general manager in the history of all baseball general managers.

In a sick and twisted way, for all the hate leveled at Ricciardi over the past couple of years, I want Anthopoulos to fail. Because it became far too easy in this town for people to point the finger at Ricciardi for all that is wrong with the Toronto Blue Jays. It isn't, and never was, that simple.

In all seriousness, Anthopoulos's story is, straight up, an inspiring one. At 23, an unpaid intern with the Montreal Expos. At 32, general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. Here's hoping he can apply some of his life's trajectory onto the Blue Jays.

The winds of change are upon us. We wait for the next domino to fall.

So long, J.P. Ricciardi. It was a pleasure. You did good.