I wasn’t being literal since I don’t think you concede an out in the cleanup spot. It’s just that they have a pretty good idea at this point that the chances of Stairs and Wilkerson having a major offensive outburst is minimal and chances are good that the best they’ll get is maybe a base hit or a walk.

Their numbers are more characteristic of bottom of the order hitters and not key bats in a contending lineup.

If you’re going to run those kinds of numbers out there, then the organization might be better off letting guys with a future take their cuts rather than players with a past.

Let’s face it, .197/.322/.315 and .188/.333/.266 are the lines for decent hitting pitchers but no manager is expecting major production from that, plus the AL created the DH so guys with those kinds of numbers don’t have to take their cuts.

Heck, would you have them DH over Carlos Zambrano .351/.351/.526, Mark Hendrickson .273/.294/.394, Brendan Looper .343/.410/.429, Brandon Backe .323/.382/.484, Micah Owings .275/.339/.373 and Jake Peavy .286/.323/.357?

Heh (just a little hyperbole since it’s less destructive than throwing things in frustration).

Anyway, thanks for the possible explanation—it makes sense. Still, Ricciardi had to bear in mind that the status quo may have made the players wonder how serious J.P. is about 2008. I’m guessing the pitching staff might have appreciated another bat sooner rather than later and importing a hot stick could have taken some of the pressure off the rest of the lineup since it seems to me they’re squeezing their bats tighter than Carl Pohlad with a dollar bill when a big hit is needed.

They’re abysmal in the seventh inning or later with men on second and third/none out and bases loaded/none out.

Most recently, in the 9-4 win against the Rays, they loaded the bases with none out in the seventh inning and the two runs came in on a bases loaded walk and sac fly—their numbers in that situation are flat out awful (bases loaded/men on second and third—none out in the seventh inning or later)—only in a game where they were down 9-1 in the ninth to Baltimore and 6-0 to the Rays did they really capitalize in a big way. Generally they get what few runs they garner in that situation with walks, errors, wild pitches and sac hits.

This year, they had that situation 14 times and in the other 12 (bases loaded/men on second and third—none out in the seventh inning or later—often in close games) opportunities they had bases loaded, none out eight times and came away with five runs—three on walks, two on a sac flies—and hit into three double plays. On four occasions with second and third, none out they came away with four runs—two on sac flies, two on groundouts and went 0-fer (with the sacs juiced/second and third and none out). Again, the only significant production where base hits were struck was in games where they were down by six or more runs in the final inning.

Ouch.

Anyway, I’ll be working the Friday game against Seattle so I’ll probably pop my head in and say a quick hello (not to worry, I’m nowhere near this verbose in person)—you’ll recognize me, I’ll be the ugliest guy in the press area.

Best Regards

John

MW: From my impression, it looked fair, too, but Halladay was the closest to the ball.

Which begs an obvious question: Why hasn’t Ricciardi found one?

I love Stairsy as much as the next guy but at the moment putting either he or Wilkerson in the lineup is almost to concede two outs.

Stairs is batting .197/.322/.315 (Thomas was batting .167/.306/.333 over 16 games and was cut … Stairs’ slump is almost three times as many games) since mid-May and averaging a strikeout per game. Wilkerson’s last 30 games have been good for a .188/.333/.266 yet that was our 4-5 spots in the batting order against the Yankees July 12.

Why Ricciardi doesn’t realize that other than a little defense he’s getting almost zero value from two roster spots–neither is making much money so neither represent a significant sunk cost.

I cannot fathom why J.P. doesn’t at least plug these spots from within the organization. Even if the call-ups produced no better at the plate, they would at least have more options defensively and would get valuable experience. Without Stairs available Gaston may be inclined to try other options at cleanup (where Matt has batted in five of the last six games and hit .125/.263/.375 with 8 K while doing so).

Obviously, the Jays chances to compete this year are slim and the window of opportunity to upgrade is closing yet Ricciardi isn’t even willing to try tinkering from within when he has one player that was released from the worst (or close to it) offensive team in the AL for a lack of production and a player whose age and prolonged slump are decent indicators that the end of the line has been reached yet no action is taken.

To me, Ricciardi’s biggest mistake is that he’s unilaterally driven up his costs of acquiring offense. As the season has gone on and the Jays’ needs been too obvious to ignore, other GM’s know how desperate J.P. is to pick up a bat and would set their price accordingly. Had Ricciardi opted to do something earlier when it was obvious that the Jays were struggling–but not necessarily as desperate–other GM’s leverage would be reduced somewhat.

Ricciardi has created other team’s leverage for them.

Is this the reason why he has been unable to even find a league average (.247/.334/.420; 13 HR) DH?

If that’s the case—then why not take a flyer on someone within the organization?

However, the fact that Ricciardi has done nothing is a damning indictment of how he manages the 25-man roster. Ideally, you want your 25 best organizational options (accounting for injuries) to be on the major league club—if that is what the Jays have now on the parent club then the organization is in abysmal condition and the person responsible for it must be held accountable.

What’s holding Ricciardi back from finding a DH? Money is not an issue insofar as the costs of Wilkerson and Stairs are concerned; he has two potential roster spots he can make available if he wants to cobble together a platoon yet J.P. sticks doggedly to the status quo.

I wonder if J.P. realizes that this club and his inaction in the face of easily identifiable problems and a solution that you refer to as being “relatively easy” to remedy (insofar as finding a DH goes) goes on his de facto résumé.

Would Lind even be on the parent club had not Gaston taken over? The left field issue was solved for him if Gaston was the big reason he was promoted—he cannot expect the DH problem to be resolved in a similar manner.

Best Regards

John

MW: You make a lot of sense, and I don’t disagree (after all, I was the one who said that DH is pretty easy to upgrade). Here’s what I think is going on: Once Thomas was released (I assume that’s the player to whom you’re referring above, and not Richie Sexson), they handed the job to Stairs, who hasn’t done it. But while he was busy not doing it, the Jays started winning, and the urgency wasn’t as great – they could afford to let him hit his way out of it. Once June happened, they could have made a move, but I don’t think there was a market yet, and once the end of June happened, the Jays were so far up the track that they had reached that zone in which J.P. felt he had to wait for the team to start playing better, showing him that an acquisition would really help. I’m not saying I agree, I’m just saying that’s what I think his thought-process was. None of that is to say that a move from within the organization wasn’t available to be made, but to what question is Buck Coats the answer? Also, I don’t get why having Stairs OR Wilkerson in the line-up is conceding two outs.

All that is true. However the ’04 version hit better overall and better with RISP. They weren’t great. But they were better than this club. We have won more games this year, but I think that’s down to good pitching beating good hitting. Neither version of the club hit for power.

I wasn’t trying to prove that we were destined to finish last, but it does strike me that there are some similarities there. There are two major differences: the pitching staff and the payroll.

You said somewhere here in a post that hitters aren’t hard to find. But where can we find one right now? You’ve discussed many times what’s out there for next year. But unless I’ve missed it, which is certainly highly possible, you haven’t said who you think we stand a chance of getting this year.

MW: Because they’re not looking to go outside the organization to improve the hitting this year. Why give up an asset to get a quick fix when they’re going to finish up the track anyway?

A lot of people have suggested upgrades at Short and Catcher in the offseason. Looking at the available talent, it likely won’t happen.

Available behind the plate are Kendall, Barrett, Olivo, Ross, LoDuca, Estrada, I-Rodriguez, Varitek, Zaun and Barajas. Not a stellar crop. The Jays pick up the option on Barajas, but who else do they sign? Maybe Ross?

At Short, the only guys that would be considered an upgrade would be Orlando Cabrera and Furcal. But they won’t come cheap. The next best available free agent is Eckstein.

I have been a JP basher no doubt, but i won’t be blaming him if we don’t upgrade at these two positions, there just isn’t much talent available.

If healthy, maybe the best option is to move Hill to Short and sign Orlando Hudson. Would it be fair to say that Hill would likely be better defensively than Eckstein or Scutaro?

thanks,

MW: There’s no question that Hill, if healthy, would be better defensively than Eckstein or Scutaro. But free agency isn’t the only way to change the roster over the off-season.

On a more pleasant note, great HR Derby, great (if a little long) All-Star game, let’s get ready for the rest of the season

Jeter Should of been the MVP because he was the best player in the AL in 06. It had nothing to do with the NY hype machine. I can’t spell but I know alot more about baseball then you do dink.

MW: I guess I’ll let you get away with the insult because I let the other guy do it, too. Work on your spelling, though.

I think everyone would agree that the Jays need to add some more power to contend in 2009. I was looking at the free agents, and there are some interesting guys available. Burrell, Bradley, Ramirez, Teixeira, Dunn, Thome and possibly Griffey (club option for 09). Teixeira would probably be too costly, and he likely ends up with the Yanks. Burrell, has 25 bombs already, but i am nervous over guys who have career years when playing for a contract the following year. Dunn will obviously not be signing with the Jays anytime soon (thanks JP), so that leaves Ramirez, Bradley, Thome and possibly Grif. Of all those guys, i’d love to see Thome or Manny in a Jays uniform.

Two other interesting options. Dallas McPherson has hit 32 home runs in 300 atbats in AAA, while batting 306 with a 404 on-base. The only scary thing is his strikeout rate (115 in 300 atbats). The other guy is of course Barry Bonds, who would come very cheap.

Add two of those guys to the lineup and we could finally be a contender. Of that group, which two or three would you think would be the best fit?

thanks,

MW: McPherson really seems to have turned things around, but he’s not available. Bonds we know won’t happen. I’d love to see Manny and/or Thome here. Two terrific bats, either one of which would help the Jays a ton.

Sound good or bad for Jays future?

MW: The Reds wouldn’t go near that trade – they’d be dealing the best, second-best and fourth-best players in an 8-player deal. The Braves wouldn’t touch that either, not even close. It all sounds pretty good for the Jays’ future, though.

MW: It’s a big if, but I doubt this concussion is career-threatening. Maybe season-threatening. I would hope that there’d be a chance they’d move him back to short if it was easier to get an impact second baseman.

MW: As of now, only on the blog.