Comments on: Father Time This

By: Norm

Norm — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:21:28 +0000

Sorry, Mike, but once again, in the interest of strict accuracy, I must point out a couple of errors:

1. Re G. Chacin — 45 runs of support in 6 games is an average of 7.5 per game, not 9 as stated.

2. Re J. Accardo — according to MLB.com stats, he was indeed 30/35 in Save situations in 2007.

(Neither corrections makes any significant difference to your basic points, however).

MW: Damn, how did I get nine? Oh, right, I divided 45 by 5. My bad. The Accardo thing has already been acknowledged, but thanks for the eagle eye!

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:14:00 +0000

Let’s not forget that most of Ash’s draft picks didn’t become so good until after J.P. took over and gave them the opportunity to succeed. We have yet to see the true depth of J.P.’s draft picks, many of them may not become great until after J.P. leaves.

Also, this argument that the team should be twice as good because their payroll is twice as high is ridiculous, everybody’s payroll is way higher than 10 years ago and it’s not because everyone has better players. Players simply make far more money to do the same job.

By: les

les — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:44:06 +0000

mike, you keep bashing ash and praising jp. let’s get the record straight. most of the good players on this team are ash’s not jp’s (halladay, wells, rios). also you referred to ryan, rolen, etc as jp’s guys, but they are free agents not draft picks. ash didn’t have the money to go after big time free agents. if he had the money then guys like delgado, clemens, green, escobar would have stayed with the team and you would have had a monster team. also clemens was a stud free agent pick up by ash. yes ash made some bad free agent moves, but what do you call burnett and ryan injured for 1/2 their contract? a player who is injured is the same as a player who sucks, neither is contributing. also rolen is injured as well, the first of many I’m sure. and you can bash ash all you want, but the fact remains, despite jp’s alleged superior managing ability, 100 M payroll, all the players that ash gave him, he has still YET to beat ash’s win total of 88 wins.

MW: I love that you comment five or six times to every post I make, and that you’re generally very wrong. As we talked about on last night’s JaysTalk, a lot of the good players here were indeed draft picks of the Ash regime – Halladay, Wells, Rios, McGowan. A lot of the good players here are ones who J.P. drafted, such as Marcum, Hill, Accardo (via a couple of trades), Overbay (key guys in the trade were J.P. draftees), Litsch. Not the superstars, but some good players. And, of course, free agents like Thomas, Ryan, Burnett, Eckstein, Stairs, etc.
But the big mistake you make (this time) is bringing up money as the reason that Ash couldn’t keep guys like Delgado, Clemens, Green and Escobar. Ash gave Delgado the massive, anvil-around-the-team’s-neck contract that hamstrung Ricciardi for three years. Clemens and Green demanded trades, with Clemens exercising a secret (and illegal) out-clause. Green was traded for Raul Mondesi, and Ash picked up that stupid $13 million option for the fourth year, by which time Ricciardi had amazingly unloaded him to the Yankees. Escobar and Delgado left because RICCIARDI didn’t have the money to keep them around, not Ash.
If you’re going to disagree with everything I say just for the sake of disagreeing with me, at least get your facts straight ONCE in a while.

By: les

les — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:34:11 +0000

mike, I am not sold on accardo. he may be a good reliever but he is far from a good closer. you keep claiming his 30/35 saves last year was good, but that is not good for a closer. you’d like to see 90%. and you’d like to see 1k/inn from your closer which accardo doesn’t give you. we need ryan back asap.

MW: He was 30/34 last year, and he’s 3/3 this year. That’s good.

By: Ian C

Ian C — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:07:09 +0000

hey Mike
while you’re busy being commish for a day – how about adding a cool twist to interleague play. When the game is in an AL park, make the pitchers hit, and use a DH in the NL parks.

Love it or not, interleague is for the fans and as long as it’s here, what’s the harm in making a change.

I fully support the balanced schedule. The Jays chances of a playoff spot would improve with more games vs lesser teams like KC and Detroit ; )

MW: I have advocated that twist to interleague play in the past, and I’d still love to see it. Add that on!

By: Skip

Skip — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:59:15 +0000

Hi Mike: I became a Big Hurt fan as I followed his comeback from those serious foot problems. His hitting style is very unorthodox, which I think I heard him mention in February when he was working with Walt Hriniak. Have you ever seen anyone else with a style like Frank’s?

MW: Yeah, lots of guys who played for the White Sox in the early 90s hit that that. Robin Ventura pops into my head immediately. Watch a tape of the Jays-White Sox ALCS from 1993, you’ll see plenty of Hriniakers.

By: avi

avi — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:54:02 +0000

How many home runs do you see rios hitting this year. I think 25-30 is reasonable. Also, is this the year he eclipses 100 RBI. That is, if he bats third all year.

MW: I can see Rios hitting 30 homers, but he has to hit the first one first. RBIs have way more to do with how many guys get on-base in front of him.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:48:38 +0000

Of course. I stand corrected. I meant Thomas. And I extend clemency to 2007 Jays as well as the weary 2008 Red Sox.
But what are we to think of Burnett’s performance tonight?He deserved to take the loss rather than Accardo.

MW: Burnett definitely was the worst Jays pitcher on the night, but that’s not how scoring works. Accardo came in in a tie, and gave up the go-ahead run, so he gets the loss. Doesn’t mean he pitched worse.

By: les

les — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:29:46 +0000

mike, speaking of sweeping statements you constantly make generalizations with no basis in fact and keep repeating it as such (just like george w). ex chacin won a bunch of games because he sucked and the team scored a bunch of runs. actually that is not true. if you look at the box scores you’ll see he pitched some shutouts, 1 run games and was 6-0 against boston, I believe. his era was high because he usually only lasted 6 innings. give credit where credit is due. it’s not easy to just win games. you are right though, if your team scores 8 runs for your pitcher that’s an easy win, just ask aj burnett. and the reason aj is a .500 career pitcher or so is not because of run support. halladay wins a bunch of games for 2 main reasons. he pitches some shutouts which gives him a much better chance at winning, ie he can win 1-0, also he pitches complete games which means the bullpen can’t blow the lead. aj doesn’t do either of these very much which is why he doesn’t get more wins.

MW: You’re right, Chacin is 6-0 lifetime against the Red Sox. In those six wins, the Jays scored 45 runs for him, an average of nine per game. Chacin has never pitched a shutout in his major-league career. I don’t understand “his ERA was high because he usually only lasted six innings.” ERA is a ratio, an average – it’s a measure of runs allowed per nine innings pitched. If you give up two earned runs over six innings, your ERA is the same as if you give up three earned runs over nine innings.

Comparing A.J. Burnett to Roy Halladay is ridiculous. Halladay is the best pitcher in the league, and one of a handful of pitchers in the majors who actually throws complete games with any sort of regularity. But, since you brought up the shutout thing, which Halladay can throw but Burnett can’t, I just thought I’d point out that Halladay has thrown nine shutouts in his major-league career, while Burnett has thrown only…………….nine. In 45 fewer starts. Glad I’m the one who says things with no basis in fact.

By: David McQuiston

David McQuiston — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:13:48 +0000

Hey Mike, why do pitchers all seem to wear those funny looking necklaces?

MW: They think it helps them be centred, or feel better or keep the wellness going or something. I’ve seen ads for it in Baseball America, I think, Randy Johnson is their pitchman. Yes, the irony has been noted.