Comments on: This Halladay Fellow May Have A Future In Baseball

By: Mark from Thorold

Mark from Thorold — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:00:16 +0000

Hello Mike …….the caller from St. Thomas was correct…Rios and Overbay deserve to sit….Rios’s head is not in the game and Overbay is not mentally sharp…I cant wait for Snider,Arencibia and Dropiak plus Campbell to arrive………this team needs young blood plus a manager like Lou Pinella who will get in the face of lacluster efforts like Rios…….what happened in the Milwaukee Brewers dugout last week when Fielder went after another player would never happen with the laid back jays……….they need a culture change and laid back Rios and Wells have to go……..you will never win anything with a team with no leader………your comments Mike!!

MW: Weren’t a lot of people wanting John Gibbons fired because of the incidents with Hillenbrand and Lilly?

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:14:47 +0000

Hello Mike……If Johnny Mac can save you a run or two a game with his defence isnt that more favourable than him being a weak hitter hence the confidence he gives the pitching staff….I say package Burnett, Ecstein and Zaun… if Arencibia’s defence is above average why not bring him in now and see how he does……….your comments.]

MW: Hence isn’t the right word there, but that’s a debatable point nonetheless. Package Burnett, Eckstein and Zaun for what? And Arencibia’s defense isn’t above average, from what I understand.

By: AK

AK — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:41:46 +0000

Mike,

are you saying that Jeter is not a clutch hitter, or is you opinion of him simply limited to saying that he is no bettter in clutch situations than the rest of the time?

MW: The latter.

By: Mark Dimanno

Mark Dimanno — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:58:51 +0000

Hi Mike………Could you envision Arencebia being the Jays starting catcher in 2010 with Snyder being full time DH in the same year…….Plus if AJ gets traded to the Phillies for Carrasco and the SS Donald plus another prospect would you consider this a good trade for AJ…Your comments Mike…………..Thanks!!

MW: I can definitely see Arencibia and Snider getting a lot of playing time in 2010, I think they’ll both be up here this September. If the Jays can get Carrasco and Donald for Burnett, everyone who wants J.P. fired should take a five-year vow of silence.

By: Mark Dimanno

Mark Dimanno — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:59:15 +0000

Hello Mike……Everyone talks about Snyder ,Cecil and Arencebia but look at the stats on kids named T.Collins, Cody Crowell,Campbell and Estanga……These kids have tremendous sta
ts…… do you know much about these prospects?

MW: Campbell is the only one I know a lot about – terrific young hitter.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:23:41 +0000

Hey Mike,
Litsch drove me crazy with that second inning. A nice lead is good for any pitcher but especially Litsch because he works quick and throws strikes, but he came out in the 2nd and was way too fine. Only 3 of the 9 hitters in the inning got a first pitch strike, he walked the lead-off hitter and hit a sure double play candidate. He needs to get his command back or could be number 7 on the depth chart for starting pitching next year.

MW: And yet, he should have been out of the inning having allowed just one run.

By: FLIPPER

FLIPPER — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:41:15 +0000

Hi Mike.. A.J. is going nowhere on the deadline .. You can take that to the bank.. Dusty is out for a bit, when Shawn gets back after the break it might take a bit to get back on his feet,and Jessie is stuggling with his command, The last thing you want when you got a small hole in the pitching is to dig a deeper hole. A deal involving pitching for pitching makes no sence at all at this time..A power bat and maybe a nice prospect makes sence only if J.P. is ready to fold the tent on the season and I don’t think its in his make-up.. Whats your take on this Mike?

MW: My take is that you have to be realistic about things. It’s going to be very difficult for the Jays to get back into the race, given their position and all the injuries, so digging a deeper hole with the pitching staff doesn’t really matter. What matters is making this team better any way possible.

By: Neil

Neil — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:09:05 +0000

No insult intended. I meant to say your comments regading Jeter I find have been very ignorant, being that this guy started contributing to championships from a young age. How hard is that when playing in yankee stadium. Cut the guy some slack.

MW: And yet, the numbers prove exactly what I was saying.

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:58:02 +0000

Mike can you posts some of Jeter’s stat’s

1. Career Avg. RISP in playoff and Regular season

2. What is Jeters career average
with two outs and two strikes
Playoff/Regular season

3. Tell me who think has a better inside out swing than Jeter.

Please post this, because many of your comments about Jeter seem just flat out ignorant.

MW: Here’s the best I could come up with, despite the insult (no, you’re ignorant!): Jeter is a career .316/.387/.459 hitter during the regular season. His career numbers with RISP are .311/.405/.435 (basically the same). His career numbers with two out are .300/.389/.432, and with two strikes he hits .231/.323/.328 (couldn’t find two strikes and two outs). In the post-season, he hits .309/.377/.469.
So…..we have an .846 OPS in general, an .840 OPS with RISP, an .821 OPS with two out and an .846 OPS in the playoffs. Oh, also a .651 OPS with two strikes. What was it that I said again? Oh, right – “He’s a great hitter, no doubt, but no better in the “clutch” than he is the rest of the time.” Stunning in its ignorance, that statement.

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:44:51 +0000

Hey Mike, Why do you always dispute the fact that A.J Burnett is basically a .500 pitcher when over his career he is 78-74 which is basically .500
This is something that has been said last week by Rod Black and Pat Tabler during a Jays broadcast, and boadcasters that call the games all season long are no fools. Another thing I have heard you day many times, is that there is no such thing as grinding in baseball, Rance Mullinicks someone who acually did play the game would beg to differ. I have heard Rance describe Eckstein as a player that grinds out every at bat, Many of Ecksteins at bats have been more than five pitches, due to his ability to constantly make contact in a 2-2 count no matter where the pitch is located. When one can force a 5 or more pitch @ bat I would say that the batter is in a grind. So would Rance. Jesse Litch has also been rererred to as a pitcher with the ability to grind out innings. I would take that to mean that, even if he get’s into trouble alot in ballgames he consistantly find’s his way out by staying in or around the strike zone.

Lastsly

Mike Don’t you find it strange that you defend A.J Burnett an inconsistant pitcher, making a tone of cash(basically stealing money), yet you destroy Jeter a career .300 hitter which has had great playoff performances,and numerous world series titles under his belt. I guess I understand why people think that Rogers has influence on what you say and don’t say.

MW: I don’t dispute that Burnett’s career record is basically .500, I dispute the notion that that fact means anything significant about his ability. Darrell Rasner got the win today despite going five innings and giving up four runs. I have never said that there is no such thing as “grinding” in baseball (though we’re debating semantics here), what I have said is that “wanting it more than the other guy” doesn’t matter in baseball, like it can in hockey or football. A.J. Burnett isn’t stealing money, he’s making what the market says he’s worth, and he’ll make even more on his next contract, and I don’t destroy Derek Jeter. I just believe that he’s not close to as good as everyone thinks he is, and the facts bear me out.