Non-Phillies things

Hoppin' straight in to the "Stuff" category here.

Stuff:


Dave Cameron from Fangraphs, and less importantly, from Lookout Landing, which is a Mariners blog, points out in a tweet that Daniel Bard, despite getting his shit pushed in by the Jays twice in recent memory, is still a good pitcher.  But do you watch the games, Dave?  He says it's not panic time though.

Wood bats vs. Aluminum bats: who ya got?  I'm pretty sure I saw something on Sports Science or Mythbusters or something that claimed that both types of bat were pretty much the same with regards to ball speed and offensive contributions and so on, but maybe not.

Gregor Chisolm, beat writer for the Jays, did a little Q&A with Jays fans. Warning- there's a Papelbon question...  There is also a question about the catcher logjam that appears to be on the way within the next year or two, with both JP Arencibia and Travis d'Arnaud offering promising futures behind the plate.  My take?  If d'Arnaud is ready (which he probaby isn't), give Adam Lind the boot, and see if one of them (JP most likely) can play first base.  Between JP, d'Arnaud and Edwin Encarnacion, I'm sure the 1B, DH and C roles and be filled there.  This assumes that Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols aren't coming to Toronto, of course, which, as we all know, they aren't.

Chisolm also fields a question about whether or not Adam Loewen has a spot on this team next year, and answers by saying something along the lines of "only if they cut Teahen".  Now let's take a look at this situation for a second:  Your typical roster is going to be something like 13 pitchers, 12 position players, 8 of which are your starters.  Among those 4 bench players left, 1 is a backup catcher, and there's at least 1 infielder there. The outfield currently consists of Colby Rasmus and Jose Bautista, both of whom are locked in there for the next 3 and 4 years respectively (though I suppose Bautista could become a DH or 1B by the end of his contract if need be).  That will leave LF to one of Snider, Thames, Loewen, or Davis, and there's bound to be some kind of 4th OF role there as well.  I assume, with his speed and ability to hit lefties (not to mention he's the only RHB within the 4), that Davis is going to get that 4th OF job no matter who the everyday LF is.

I also highly doubt that a 28 year old outfielder with 40 MLB at-bats is going to get the nod over a 24 year old with 3/4 of a season of average production, or a 23 year old "can't miss" prospect, but what do I know.  The thing is, however, that Loewen is out of options, while Thames and Snider each have one left.  I'm sure that the Jays management wants both playing everyday, whether it's at AAA or the MLB level.  I don't really give a whole lot of shits which plays where, but I'd rather see Snider playing in Toronto until he can no longer prove that he deserves every chance to succeed.  Though Thames is going to be 25, and might never learn to take a walk, so he might just be best suited to be on the bench anyway.

Having said all that, what the fuck does Mark Teahen do to deserve a spot on this team?  Is it the fact that they're paying him $5.5MM next season?  I can hear you all now... "Grady, you don't just cut a guy who's making $5.5MM."  Well, technically, you're supposed to be playing those guys, because they're not supposed to be the 63rd best player in your organization.  Kenny Williams gave him that contract, not AA or JP Ricciardi-- taking Teahen was just a way of giving the White Sox $7MM in cash for Edwin Jackson.  There is literally 0 difference between paying Mark Teahen $7MM to sit on the bench and travel with the team and paying Mark Teahen $7MM to sit on his La-z-Boy drinking beer.  In fact, if the Jays DFA him, there's a chance that another team could pick him up for league minimum money, and the Jays could then save themselves $400k.

Basically, Teahen is here right now only because everyone in the system is young and raw, and would be better suited for development in the minors, same with Chris Woodward.  If Mike Mccoy gets sent down next year and Teahen is still on the team, I might lose my mind.

That really turned in to a "go fuck yourself Mark Teahen" rant much quicker than I thought it would.  Speaking of which, I guess I'm not the only one.

MOAR!-


Brett Cecil is a terrible chef, and has cut his finger for the second time in two years, which will result in a missed start.  Not really a big deal, as he was going to be shut down eventually anyway, may as well skip a start here or there.  If you don't remember, he cut his finger making a salad in spring training last year.  Well today, it was a blender.  Dustin Mcgowan will get the start in his place.  Yesterday's offday just means that nobody will get an extra day off, meaning Henderson Alvarez goes tomorrow and Brandon Morrow Sunday, both on regular rest.

Anthony Gose won some community service award for the Jays franchise.  Apparently he built a close bond with a kid with cancer in the NH area somewhere.  Good for him; AA likes these people.

The Jays also released their Webster Award winners, for the MVP of each minor league team.  David Cooper won for the AAA club, Travis d'Arnaud won for AA, and Jake Marisnick won for the low-A team.  A more complete list is here.

Apparently Adam Loewen is taking some grounders at first base with Butters before today's game.  I thought he played a bit of 1B last week in a game, but the internet disagrees.  He has played a few scattered games at 1B over the last two years in the minors though.  Let me get this one straight: Edwin plays 1B, but needs to learn the outfield, but Loewen plays the outfield and needs to learn 1B?

Dave Gershman (@dave_gershman on twitter... quite valueable for minor league stuff) confirms that Jays farmhand and apparent stud pitcher in the making Drew Hutchison has been shut down for the season.  He was re-assigned from AA to A the other day, but that was just to make a roster spot available once he hit his innings cap.  New Hampshire is in a playoff run right now, and as far as I know, his spot in the rotation has no more scheduled starts left, so I guess they just want an extra arm in the bullpen or something.

Update- MOAR MOAR!

No 6-7 year deals for the Jays this offseason.  So long Prince Fielder/Albert Pujols/infinite-term extension for Brett Lawrie.