A Fractured Support System

Since returning from the disabled list on June 29th, Roy Halladay's won a single game. Why? No, certainly not because of the trade rumours. That's ridiculous. Doc's an incredibly well-paid athlete; that shit comes with the territory. Harry Leroy can't get into the victory column because the Kevin Millar batting cleanup led Toronto Blue Jays can't be bothered to give him any God damn run support.

June 29th vs. Tampa Bay: zero runs. Doc departed after six innings; the Jays struck for their only run of the game in the 8th inning.

July 4th at New York: five runs. Clearly, that's about as good as it gets for Halladay.

July 9th at Tampa Bay: two runs.

July 19th vs. Boston: three runs. A masterful Halladay performance in a 3-1 win.

July 24th vs. Tampa Bay: two runs. Garzafied.

July 29th at Seattle: two runs. Toronto was two-hit over seven by Ryan fucking Rowland-Smith.

Yesterday, August 4th, vs. New York: three runs. The Jays left eight runners on base last night. Individually, 16. While Doc threw another complete game. For shame.

That's seven games, and 17 runs; an average of 2.43 runs when Doc's been on the mound. In other words: absolutely pathetic. What breaks my heart: six of those seven starts have come against Tampa Bay, New York, and Boston. Halladay deserves more. Halladay deserves better.

It's during moments of weakness such as this one that I begin to wonder about 2010. Sure, Toronto can boast a rotation of Halladay, Ricky Romero, Shaun Marcum, and any combination of Brett Cecil, Scott Richmond, Mark Rzepczynski, and Jesse Litsch. Who knows, maybe even Dustin McGowan. But no rotation will make up for the fact that this team just can't get it done offensively in the AL East. I'm looking right at you, Vernon Wells. And, please, J.P. Ricciardi, get Millar the fuck off my favourite team.

The Best in the Business

If you had to ask me to choose between The Globe and Mail's Jeff Blair and SI's Tom Verducci, I couldn't do it. Both of them know their baseball. And both of them just "get it."

Saith Verducci, from a must-read piece about the lunatics who think the Jays were "losers" at the trade deadline because Ricciardi didn't pull the trigger on a Halladay trade:

"So what did people expect? That the Blue Jays should lower their asking price on the best pitcher in baseball when they didn't have to move him in the first place? Would compromising when they didn't have to do so put them in the 'winners' category? Ownership really didn't want to dump such a popular franchise player, anyway."

There's more. Please use it freely as ammunition against the Ricciardi bashers (especially: Joanna):

"Toronto is not Cleveland, with its budget problems, Pittsburgh, with an organizational model that has been a complete failure, Kansas City, which is awful but still wastes money on second-tier journeymen who don't know how to win, or San Diego, which will check out of the contending business for the next couple of years until its farm system improves. Toronto's problem is that it is a good team in the wrong division. 'Good isn't enough,' Ricciardi said. 'You have to be great.' The Blue Jays have won between 83 and 88 games seven times in the previous 11 years, have a winning record in that span with more wins than the Cubs, Diamondbacks and a dozen other teams -- and still didn't sniff the postseason. Eight National League teams made the playoffs in that time with 88 or fewer wins."

Nope, playing in the AL East has nothing - nothing at all - to do with the fact the Jays haven't played October baseball since 1993. And keep calling it an "excuse." It's not. It can't be. It's reality.

Here's some Blair. Just the goods, and no bullshit, as per the usual:

"Call up Travis Snider. Ship out Kevin Millar. Do something. Never mind cowboy up. I’d rather see cowboy out. I mean, manager Cito Gaston announced an open audition for the cleanup spot before Tuesday night’s game, and it’s not even mid-August. How does that happen in the American League East, anyhow?"

Cito. He's a stubborn, stupid, silly man.

One more link. I'm not happy about it, but thanks to Drew - LtB's most recent post over at the always resourceful Ghostrunner on First, I will cease mercilessly hating on Rod The Bod Barajas. But that .288 on-base percentage is still disgusting.

Ricciardi's One-Man Defence Team

A "P.R. Campaign Against [Roy] Halladay"? Painting Doc as the "bad guy"? Fuck off. Look, J.P.'s got bigger issues to deal with. Like, I don't know, securing the best possible package in return for Roy Halladay. By next week.

Think about it for a second; everyone but me hates Ricciardi. He knows that. Why would he bother trying to sully the reputation of one of the finest men to ever wear a Toronto Blue Jays uniform, in a city where not many - not enough - give a shit about the Blue Jays to begin with? He wouldn't. He's got more important shit to do, like field calls about Jason Frasor, Marco Scutaro, Rod Barajas, and Scott Rolen.

Ricciardi and the Blue Jays aren't worried about the casual fan, because the casual fan isn't worried about them; the casual fan's been apathetic for years. It's the nature of this city's relationship with baseball. When the Blue Jays, eventually, become a winning team again (one day), the casual fans will be at the Rogers Centre, filling the seats. Not at home, sulking about how the Jays supposedly wronged Halladay during his final days with the team.

Nothing's changed. We've known for some time now that Doc was going to test the market. Here's what Ricciardi was quoted as saying on July 8, in the New York Post:

"We have kept him from free agency twice and I don't think we have the resources to keep him from free agency a third time, so I have to investigate what is out there ..."

- J.P. Ricciardi

There's more. In the same blog post, Joel Sherman wrote that the organization and Doc had talked teams:

"Ricciardi said that Halladay has provided a long list of places he would not be willing to play, but the Toronto GM would not say if either New York club was on that list."

- Joel Sherman

So when Ricciardi tells the scribes that Doc's going to test the market, can we all try to not lose our shit? Please? Don't fall into the media's trap; we all know, without a doubt, that Doc isn't the bad guy.

We also know that public relations isn't Ricciardi's forte. The world would be a better place if he'd just keep his mouth shut for one God damn day. But stop and think about the situation before you want to tear Ricciardi a new one. You don't think Ricciardi wanted Burnett to stay in his rotation? You don't think he wanted to add a bat like Bobby Abreu's to the lineup? He simply didn't have the cash. And now we're here, at the potential end of an era for the franchise, because Doc is going to become a free agent after the 2010 season. And that means he must be moved. Now, in the winter, or next July. He must be traded. Deal with it.

Fortunately, there are some people out there who do get it.

Here's Mike Wilner; he and I are on the exact same page:

"The other big piece of news was the revelation that Roy Halladay has told the Jays that he won’t sign an extension with the team before testing the free agent market after next season. ... Good for Roy Halladay. Were I him, no matter how much I loved it here, I wouldn’t re-sign without at least dipping a toe in the free agent waters. ... As I’ve said many times, there are 27 teams that have a better chance of making the playoffs than the Blue Jays do - every year. Halladay wants to win, and he’d prefer to win in Toronto, but he knows what he’s up against in the A.L. East until the Jays commit to competing financially with the big boys."

- Wilnerology (reference h/t: Ghostrunner on First)

Odds and Ends:

Yes, the Jays did lose yesterday afternoon, for those of you that still care. Kevin Millar, batting cleanup, was of course the Jays' top performer on the day. The Tribe ended up taking two of three from Toronto, on the road. Yeah, that's about right ... After Jo-Bau's 0-for-4 performance, in which he left four runners on base, and costly error at third base, The Bautista Appreciation Society is looking for new members ... Goodbye David Dellucci. You left us, well, not too soon. You should have never been here in the first place ... I'll be live blogging Friday's Chicago White Sox vs Detroit Tigers 1:07 PM matchup over at The Score. I have a feeling it will be a touch less climactic than Thursday's White Sox game. What a mind-blasting catch. It's officially impossible to not like Mark Buehrle ... Doc's on the mound tonight, so I'll be at the game. If you're not there, I trust you have a good excuse. I'll tell Doc you said thanks ...

UPDATE: Go and read The Tao of Stieb's takedown of Griffin's bullshit blog post. It's spot fucking on. And it's no longer a one-man Ricciardi defence team. I'm The Tao's assistant; secondary legel counsel, yo.

The Airing of Grievances

The Blue Jays are nine and a half games out of a playoff spot. So why the fuck did last night's loss sting so bad? Forget "Playoffs!!1", the new rallying cry should be ".500!!1"

Lyle Overbay's my boy. I've been a staunch supporter of the man who swatted 46 doubles, and put up a career high .880 OPS, in his first season with Toronto, back in 2006. But the pride of Centralia, Washington messed up last night. Look at that picture; he knows it. When it comes to Loverbay, his defense is usually reliable, and I'm rather enamored by his impressive .375 OBP; he's one patient cat. But the fact that he hasn't driven in a single God damn run in the month of July - 14 games - really irks me. Hitting wise, I'm beginning to think that 2006 was an anomaly. I don't see Overbay ever coming close to 92 RsBI again. (This is where I start drinking.)

Honestly, I'm tired of wondering, and bitching and moaning about, why Vernon Wells is hitting third, or fourth, in this lineup. Southpaw on the mound be damned. His .685 OPS in the three-hole is the lowest of any spot he's been placed in the batting order. His .287 OBP from the same spot is downright laughable. (Wells' .309 OBP, overall, and .523 OPS at the SkyDome, makes me want to bang my head against a wall. Repeatedly.) While V-Dub's scored 53 runs, good for second on the team, the earliest he should be batting is sixth. Hell, put him eighth. Definitely not third. I don't know what the fuck Cito Gaston is thinking sometimes. I love the guy, but his lineup antics have him well on his way to overstaying his welcome. (You know I'm frustrated when I'm sitting in the basement taking shots at The Cito.)

Can someone pretty please explain why Kevin Millar is still playing, let alone on this team at all? He's clearly cut from the same cloth as Brevonn Mencherstewart. Here are his monthly OPS numbers: April: .909; May: .647; June: .598; July: .526. I'm not the brightest mother fucker around, but does anyone else notice a trend? This team is two games below .500, with rookie after rookie throwing on the mound every night, and still employing Millar? Fuck off. Fuck a "clubhouse guy." Release his ass, Ricciardi. Free Travis Snider. For the love of God, free AAA All-Star Randy Ruiz, he of these statistics down in Vegas: 95 games played, 21 home runs, 85 RsBI, 227 total bases, .394 OBP, and .985 OPS.

I miss Gregg Zuan. Yeah, I said it. Rod Barajas is OK, it's just that I don't believe any Major League Baseball player should have an on-base percentage below .300. It's unacceptable. Rod's coming in at .283, with an OPS of .685. Quite pathetic. Quite. Back in 2004, 2005, and 2007, when Zaunie played over 100 games for our Blue Jays, he put up OPS numbers of .761 (.367 OBP), .729 (.355 OBP), and .752 (.341 OBP) respectively. Respectable, at the very least. To put it in perspective, in those three years mentioned (2004, 2005, and 2007), Zaun walked 171 times. In his entire MLB career, spanning 763 games, Barajas has walked 135 times. These will be, I hope, your last couple of months of watching The Captain behind the plate. Enjoy them.

Back on July 1st, 2008, Dustin "Fuck Off" Parkes, of Drunk Jays Fans fame, put together a Blue Jays YouTube montage to the tune This Year, by The Mountain Goats. The 2008 Jays were floundering near the .500 mark, unable to hit, and about to fire their manager. Needless to say, it was a brilliant montage, and the song was most apt. You know me; I love a good montage. (Who doesn't?) Thanks to MLB's batshit insane copyright standards, Parkes' work no longer exists. Now, I don't have the wherewithal to create my own montage, so I'm just going to post the song. The 2009 Blue Jays are flirting with .500, can't hit, employ one stubborn manager, and are on the verge of trading Roy Halladay. The more things change, the more they stay the same ...

"I am going to make it through this year if it kills me."

.500!!!1

And a reminder: I'll be live blogging Thursday's Jays/Indians matinee over at The Score. Join me. We can be depressed together. 12:37 PM first pitch.